Propranolol

[Sweetleaf]

My psych med people want to give me this for my anxiety.

Do any of you have experience taking propanolol? Any thoughts/knowledge/advice? She would be giving me a 10mg dose that can be done up to 4 times a day.

It's a beta blocker, that's about all I know about it. I knew about beta blockers as a musician, because some people with stage fright and/or performance anxiety would use beta blockers during auditions, performances, etc.

Stage fright and performance anxiety, in regards to music, have never been an issue for me. So I knew about such meds in the past, just never had a need for anxiety meds until PTSD came along.

The idea is it removes the physical anxiety symptoms, or that's how it was pretty much explained to me. (I got a wordier explanation than that lol, I just don't remember all of it)

I have also read (since coming home - she didn't say anything about this in the office) - that there is some research suggesting that propanolol can change how people process memories - maybe making reprocessing them easier?

It would be really great if it's able to reduce my physical anxiety symptoms.

I spelled the drug name wrong lmao. Prorpanolol.

I spelled the drug name wrong lmao. Prorpanolol.

Annnnd a legit typo. Propranolol. Holy shit. Sorry >.< I am so out of it right now.

 

[Virtues]

I was on it. It didn't work at all for me. My anxiety comes from racing/intrusive thoughts of something bad going to happen (mostly to my kids) and me not being able to prevent it or keep them alive once it does happen. I took it, and the thoughts kept coming. I came off of it, because I didn't want to be taking a pill just to take a pill.

 

[ILoveLife]

I took it. Didn't work for 'staying home anxiety' but worked for a driving exam.
My pdoc doesn't want to prescribe it but I can't remember why though. She said something about not being viable long term.
Sorry can't be of more help.

 

[digger]

I know people who have found it really useful, but my experience of it was more like Florian's. I think if you find the physical symptoms of anxiety frightening and difficult to manage, it's probably worth trying, but it wasn't helpful to me in terms being able to manage my thoughts any better.

 

[Victory]

It didn't work for me, but I'm a big believer in "open every door." Especially since no one has some up with the magic bullet to fix PTSD. If it helps you, wahoo! If it doesn't, then it's another thing you can cross off the list. Just. Keep. Trying.

 

[Snowflakes]

I take 20 mg twice a day. It’s an old school blood pressure reducer and works by lowering your heart rate so, when you start taking it, you may get slightly dizzy when getting up suddenly. It helps to take the edge off a low level anxiety episode but not as well as a benzodiazepine. The difference is propranolol is not habit forming. It does help with the shaking during an anxiety attack.

 

[Suzetig]

I found it very helpful because physical symptoms of anxiety would send me into a panic attack and I’d not be able to get out of the physical loop. It’s not a psycho-active drug, which means it doesn’t affect your thoughts or emotions but getting some relief from the physical symptoms can give you enough headspace to process stuff in a more helpful way.

 

[bellbird]

I used to be on propranolol for essential tremor, for which it is a first-line treatment. It definitely has the potential to reduce physical symptoms of anxiety like shakiness.
It will lower blood pressure, which is something to be aware of. It worked really well for my shakiness initially, but over time (several years) the effects wore off, even when I'd go up on the dosage. So I no longer take it anymore. It also comes in XR form, though I'm not sure how high the dosage needs to be before an XR equivalent dosage is available. But if you're taking it up to 4 times a day that will probably have the same effect.
Like with most meds, give it time to work :) and I hope it does work well for you.

 

[Sweetleaf]

Thank you all for responding, it's good to hear your input.

If it helps you, wahoo! If it doesn't, then it's another thing you can cross off the list. Just. Keep. Trying.

Thank you. The encouragement is nice to have.
After having a horrible anxiety reaction to my bupropion dose increase, I've become kind of afraid of trying new medications - the thought of them maybe destabilizing me for a while, is kinda frightening.
I don't want to let one bad experience stop me, though.

I found it very helpful because physical symptoms of anxiety would send me into a panic attack and I’d not be able to get out of the physical loop.

Maybe that is why my pdoc is wanting to give me it - I have been diagnosed with panic disorder now too, on top of PTSD and all the other stuff. Dont know what to think about that, though I don't deny I totally have problems with panic, panic attacks, and it's impacting my life for sure.

I have a lot of problems with physical anxiety symptoms. Sweating, shaking, nausea, wanting to piss and shit and just expel everything from everything, palpitations, fast heart beat, chest pain, numbness in my hands/forearms, feeling like I'm going to die, like horrible shit is going to happen, feeling like i can't breathe, etc. That stuff all cranks itself up further, causing more panic and more symptoms of it. lol

I have times where I am panicking about my panic, while knowing it's just a panic attack, but I'm panicking about the fact that I keep panicking. Other such things. Such as not being able to sleep due to the fear of not being able to sleep - the thing that I feel keeps me up the hardest during that though, is the physical anxiety symptoms e.g. fast heartbeat. Self-fulfilling prophecy shit lol.

So I am hoping that this drug will help me out at least some, because those physical symptoms are a problem for me for sure.

It’s not a psycho-active drug

That is something I like about it. I would prefer not to impair myself in other ways to help me with anxiety and panic and stuff.

 

[MatthewO1987]

I was taking them for a long time due to stress headaches (not in that high of a dose) it didn’t make me feel any different at all.

 

[Fadeaway]

I actually wondered if I was given a placebo because it didn't do anything. The first time I tried it my diaphragm was so tight and I couldn't relax it to breath properly, so it didn't help with the physical symptoms either.

 

[whiteraven]

I was on this for a long while. When I finally got off of it, I realized it really slowed me down - I mean, I was seriously fatigued all the time. Also, the withdrawal was brutal. Landed me in the ER twice with ventricular tachycardia.