Any experiences with propranolol?

[orlamug]

I've just been proscribed this for feeling physically anxious (not really mentally anxious) and night time insomnia anxiety. Anxiety feeling is probably due to lack of sleep due to insomnia.

Anyone tried this medication? GP says its mild safe and not addictive.

I found it fine. It does have soporific effects which I appreciated as an insomniac.

Bloody wonderful stuff. Sorry for your loss.

It helped me to feel more psychically calm definitely!

Thanks everyone, took 1 10mg tablet last night a bit before bed and slept for 6 hours so fingers crossed for tonight. I am finding it very calming indeed which is lovely.

I was prescribed it for vestibular migraines caused me assorts of issues. Heighten anxiety, increased insomnia, interfered with my memory and lower my blood pressure which was fun given I already had low blood pressure. Wasn't on it long as the effects outweighed the benefits.

It's like anything, it's trial and error to find what works for you.

@orlamug I definitely think perimenopause is a factor in my anxiety. I've read that driving anxiety is very common in perimenopause. I remember my mum stopping driving in her mid 40s after having panic attacks on her commute to work and she's not driven since. It's so limiting for her so I'm determined to overcome it!

20mg every weekday morning to help me start work. I'm Audhd and will always have anxiety as part of my life, this helps me manage it well.

My almost 20 year old dd was prescribed this for anxiety and took the first dose a few days ago. She had terrible nightmares after taking it. has anyone else experienced this?

Yes I had absolutely awful nightmares on propranolol, I think it might mention them in the side effects leaflet? I suspect like a lot of side effects they improve once you get used to the drug....I had to give it up because it lowered my heart rate and blood pressure too much.

I use it for headaches associated with long covid, it works well for me with no initial side effects

I started to get panic attacks (I blame the menopause) and propanolol really helped. And because of this, I don't take them any more, but always have them to hand (if that makes sense) because my brain knows there's no point in bothering me with a panic attack when my pills are available. So just having them in my bag has stopped the panic attacks. Weird!!!

I love propanolol. I take it if and when.

I’ve been on propranolol for a few years now and it’s been fantastic! I also struggle more with the physical symptoms than the emotion behind it- heart racing, palpitations, feeling faint, feeling nauseous- which feed into a vicious cycle by making me even more anxious about feeling ill. Propranolol cuts through that cycle and gives me space to deal with the emotion without getting trapped in that spiral. The GP is right that it’s not addictive and seems to be pretty safe (depending on any underlying conditions and interactions with other medications, of course), I use it about once or twice a week right now but have taken it daily in the past, and I have never had any withdrawal or felt the urge to take it unnecessarily.

I hope you find similar success with it! I know a few others who are prescribed propranolol with varying degrees of success, but most seem to find it helpful.

I take it when my anxiety is really high and it’s really helpful. No horrid side effects either

Do you find that if you have anxiety and the propranolol help that the Dr will usually proscribe more to keep on hand? I have about 84 tablets for now which I think will take me a while to use up. I suppose if I feel I need more I will make an appointment and ask, it seems like people get them proscribed for flying, public speaking and performance.

Yes peri and meno does seem to ramp all these feelings up to the max!

I took it for migraines and it stopped working. I had a long break then tried again. Not sure if it’s still working as I’m on ajovy now so my migraines have reduced.

@audiehd Thank you, so far so good, seems to be good for the physical symptoms and if I can reduce that I can deal with other things.

Yes, my GP seems quite happy for me to keep them for 'stand by' purposes

I was taking at least one daily when my anxiety was high. GP said I could take up to 3 daily. It is nice knowing that I can take them if need be but I usually find that one (or occasionally two) daily is all I need. Obviously check with your GP if it's ok to take more than one tablet but it does seem to be the standard dosage advice on the information sheet.

In Scotland you can use the Daylight app, an anxiety treatment which is great!

You can get it here i think if you are in Scotland?

www.bighealth.co.uk/daylight