Random Things That Happen To Your Body When You Fall In Love (12 items)

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  (#1) Love Is Basically An Addiction

  From a strictly biological viewpoint, love is essentially processed by the brain in the same way as a dependency. Dopamine and oxytocin are two of the biggest feel-good chemicals released by the brain, and they flood our bodies when we fall in love. These chemicals are not discharged willy-nilly, nor are they unloaded all at once. At different times in your attraction to the other person, chemicals are released at different levels. So, you are gradually experiencing more and more euphoric feelings the more time you spend with your love, creating a deep attachment to both the feeling and the object of the feeling. .
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  (#2) Your Heart Physically Races

  While it is, of course, the universal symbol of love, the heart is also having a very literal, physiological experience when you fall in love. A racing heart is one of the first things many people notice when they are developing the warm-fuzzies for someone special. There is a biological basis for this. Adrenaline and norepinephrine released by the brain instigate the primal fight-or-flight response. This is what gives us typical anxiety symptoms like racing hearts and sweaty palms. Love encourages adrenaline and norepinephrine release, so that may not be anxiety you're feeling. You might be in love.
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  (#3) You Get Tongue-Tied

  Norepinephrine is also likely behind that awkward, antsy, butterflies-in-the-belly feeling that accompanies falling in love. And with awkwardness and antsyness often come an inability to get words out clearly and correctly. Sometimes, just the sight of the other person is enough for our brains to let out a good dose of norepinephrine, getting us flustered and tying our tongues. It's all part of the anxiety response.
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  (#4) You Feel Sick

  The term lovesick is thrown around a lot, but can you really be sick with love? In a way, yes. Cortisol is a stress hormone that is released in anxiety-provoking situations, and the introduction of new love into your life surely comes with a fair share of anxiety. Cortisol can have a bearing on appetite, making the blood vessels in the stomach tighten and sending blood away from the abdomen. When your appetite goes, it's not uncommon to feel sick to your stomach.
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  (#5) Your Pupils Dilate

  We've all seen old cartoons where one of the characters falls in love and their eyes grow outsized and pulsing with affection. While that response may be exaggerated, it's not entirely off the mark. According to the Scientific American, "Studies have shown that our pupils dilate wider than normal when we are excited about something and even someone." The reason? It could well be the rush of dopamine that comes with falling in love, which can have an excitatory effect and cause pupil dilation.
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  (#6) You Feel Intoxicated

  Oxytocin, one of the main biochemical culprits responsible for the bodily sensations of falling in love, can also make you feel relaxed. Very relaxed. Studies have shown that the response produced by oxytocin and the response produced by having a drink are practically identical. Different areas of the brain are stimulated, but the response is the same. Both chemicals are also associated with reduced levels of fear, making us bolder and more open to trying and doing things we wouldn't normally do when not "under the influence."
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  (#7) You Can't Sleep

  For some people, falling in love can be compared to a chemically induced high. Or that's what one study has found, anyway. All the happiness and excitement might cause you to require little sleep or even food. You generally feel better in most areas of your life. As one magazine explained, "When you fall in love, your brain releases a veritable dopamine monsoon. This chemical stimulates your brain’s desire and reward circuitry by triggering an intense, addictive rush of pleasure and giddy focus."
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  (#8) Your Voice Changes

  Though it may not be the first symptom anyone looks for when falling in love, voice changes are not uncommon. Research shows that voices tend to get softer when you fall in love. Women's voices often fall into huskier tones, while men's rise to a more feminine lilt. "The study said this effect 'represents desire for affiliation and intimacy' and is a 'way to communicate affection and relational connection - 'I am one with you,'" the Daily Mail explained. Your voice with others usually remains the same; it only changes when speaking to the one you love.
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  (#9) Your Sex Drive Spikes

  Obviously, lovemaking in the early stages of a relationship is always heightened and at a different level than it is in more long-term scenarios. But the novelty of intimacy with a new person isn't the only thing driving you and your new love into the sack. When you first fall for someone, the body experiences a spike in appetite. This is probably due to increased testosterone in both men and women in the early stages of love. As one Harvard study put it, "As it turns out, testosterone increases libido in just about everyone." Unfortunately, the libido tends to wane as time goes on.
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  (#10) You Lose Your Composure

  Love can make even the strongest and most stalwart grow weak in the knees and lose all composure. Brain imaging has shown that being in love reduces activity in three key areas of the brain: the amygdala, the prefrontal cortex, and the frontal cortex. These are the regions that control things like analysis, judgment, and delaying gratification. With love prompting less activity in these areas, you are more apt to lose your composure and do silly things. If love is making you feel a bit air-headed, this is probably the reason.
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  (#11) Your Sense Of Smell Is Affected

  The sense of smell can be a powerful connection to our emotional lives and our storehouses of memory. Smell can also be a prime indicator of true love. The theory of pheromones - chemicals produced by the body that we can detect in one another through smell - has long been debated. In recent years, a DNA-related explanation has been suggested. This theory says that we "are capable of sniffing out certain parts of our potential partners' DNA that make up their immune system... to determine whom we're compatible with."
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  (#12) You Can Die Of A Broken Heart

  While it's certainly not something you want to think about in the early stages of love, it is actually quite possible to die of a broken heart. Clinically, the condition is known as stress-induced cardiomyopathy. When you're in the grip of overwhelming love, or any stressful situation, your brain is raining down all sorts of stress hormones throughout your body, and these hormones can take a toll on the heart. A broken heart might manifest as a heart attack-like event. The good news is that most people with stress-induced cardiomyopathy don't die from it or even experience long-term damage.

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