Inderal (propranolol) or beta blockers

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lost561
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02 Oct 2013, 6:14 pm

Do you have experience with this medication?

What were your symptoms prior to taking the medication & how did it help?



Last edited by lost561 on 03 Oct 2013, 2:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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02 Oct 2013, 8:09 pm

I take propranolol.

I specifically asked for the medication to replace klonopin (for anxiety) after reading studies about it helping eye contact and working memory in adolescents and adults with ASD.

Symptoms from before: I have moments where I suddenly cannot cohesively understand anything in my environment--where I experience all of the sounds, sights, smells, etc. but without assigning any meaning or priority to any of it. It's highly distressing and I often start shutting down when this happens frequently.

For better or worse, propranolol keeps me from shutting down. So, I may have more days where I don't need to just sleep. However, I may have more semi-functional days where the "not cohesively understanding anything" happens more frequently.

One specific thing propranolol helps me do is drive. I believe I am a better driver on propranolol and may even be able to listen and talk a little while driving if I have taken propranolol.



lost561
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03 Oct 2013, 2:02 pm

screen_name wrote:
I take propranolol.

I specifically asked for the medication to replace klonopin (for anxiety) after reading studies about it helping eye contact and working memory in adolescents and adults with ASD.

Symptoms from before: I have moments where I suddenly cannot cohesively understand anything in my environment--where I experience all of the sounds, sights, smells, etc. but without assigning any meaning or priority to any of it. It's highly distressing and I often start shutting down when this happens frequently.

For better or worse, propranolol keeps me from shutting down. So, I may have more days where I don't need to just sleep. However, I may have more semi-functional days where the "not cohesively understanding anything" happens more frequently.

One specific thing propranolol helps me do is drive. I believe I am a better driver on propranolol and may even be able to listen and talk a little while driving if I have taken propranolol.


I'm glad to hear it helps.

I sometimes get the fight or flight response and was wondering if this would help me out as my psychiatrist has been tweaking my meds and my anxiety has started to come back.



franknfurter
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03 Oct 2013, 2:31 pm

I take propranolol for anxiety and am quite pleased with the help it gives. it certainly stops the physical effects and calms me, I am on the smallest dose at 10mg 2 pills twice a day.



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03 Oct 2013, 4:58 pm

On fight or flight: for me, propranolol keeps this from being very acute. But, it doesn't just give a "blanket calm", if that makes sense. It seems as if before things started to spiral out of control. On propranolol, right before things spiral out of control--they plateau and stay there. But, this still means I feel highly anxious, just not "out of control".

So, it can help me handle being in places I could not ordinarily handle. But, it then becomes necessary to be proactive above releasing all of this anxiety. Shutting down used to provide that relief.

I wanted to be certain that I properly explained that.

On the plus side, it's the only anti-anxiety medication that I've taken that doesn't make me sleepy.



lost561
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04 Oct 2013, 7:54 am

franknfurter wrote:
I take propranolol for anxiety and am quite pleased with the help it gives. it certainly stops the physical effects and calms me, I am on the smallest dose at 10mg 2 pills twice a day.


Glad to hear it helps.

If you can and don't mind , please go into further detail.



Derpy
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04 Oct 2013, 8:33 am

I take beta blocker but for a heart condition called atrial fibrillation.Stops my ticker going crazy and beating at 200 + bpm.Can be very scary.



steve30
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04 Oct 2013, 9:25 am

I had propranolol for a while a couple of years ago to help with anxiety. It helped a little bit by making me feel less shaky etc.



SteelMaiden
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04 Oct 2013, 9:26 am

I take propranolol for migraines. I'm on a really small dose: 20mg / day , because I have a volatile blood pressure which means that on a daily basis I have attacks of near-fainting due to my blood pressure going to 60 / 30 or thereabouts. I have to drink a large amount of a sugary drink to bring myself back to normality. So obviously I've got to stay low on propranolol. It works well for my migraines, I only get them a couple of times a week now (as opposed to most of my waking hours) and they aren't as bad as they used to be (I used to cry from the pain and I don't cry easily). However I get tired on this dose, my blood pressure has been more volatile, and my heart rate hovers around 60 as opposed to 80 which it used to be.

It doesn't have any effect on my anxiety / meltdowns / AS, but that's probably because I'm on a mini dose.


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franknfurter
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04 Oct 2013, 10:57 am

lost561 wrote:
franknfurter wrote:
I take propranolol for anxiety and am quite pleased with the help it gives. it certainly stops the physical effects and calms me, I am on the smallest dose at 10mg 2 pills twice a day.


Glad to hear it helps.

If you can and don't mind , please go into further detail.


well its quite hard to explain, basically is stops me from going into a panic attack, so it stops my heart rate from going up, and helps with the shivering, muscle locking and hyperventilation and other panic symptoms which is a life saver in terms of going about my daily life.

But it does not stop my anxiety thought processes so I can still be anxious in my head but it wont give me bad physical symptoms. my stomach can also still get upset even on propranolol.

I feel it calms me down, but its hard to say really, because it could be a placebo affect. but it most certainly stops physical manifestations of anxiety and this is only on the smallest dosage.