To go to the GP for this

[onetwothreeover]

I love horse riding (eventing and showjumping) but had a few too many bad falls (including a rotational where my horse flipped over a jump and landed on me) I somehow escaped them all unscathed but it dented my confidence in my riding

I still adore competing and the buzz and the thrill but my pre competition nerves are horrific now. I often have to throw up multiple times before I go on, and I am absolutely terrified that I’m riding badly and everyone is judging me or saying W.T.F. is she doing. It makes me mess up and not do as well as I could and whilst I adore competing, my nerves are spoiling it

if I go to the doctor, can they do anything for me or give me anything to stop the nerves? I just want to enjoy it without becoming so worked up and stressed and self conscious because as soon as I get in the ring I fall apart out of stress. I took propranolol in the past which made no difference at all to my anxiety so wasn’t sure if that was it and nothing else could be given or if the GP could give me something to stop the nerves but also not knock me out and leave me drowsy or too relaxed on my horse lol x

I'm no medical expert but I did have a fried who experienced similar before performing (musician), and her gp prescribed Betablockers. This was some time ago so I'm not even sure if they are still used but I know they helped.

Personally I don’t believe u should go straight for pills. This is a mind over matter issue. Learning to control your anxiety and breathe deeply when u feel it coming on. Try whim hof method of breathing and cold showers and hopefully that will help your brain reset? Good luck

i would contact your local mental health team to get some therapy and maybe CBT

Sorry I probably didn’t explain it very well. I’ve always been like this so it’s not purely from the falls, but that’s made it a lot worse. I tried all the mindfulness and breathing exercises and I’ve had therapy from a specialist sports therapist but I’m still really struggling so wasn’t sure if there was such a thing as a pill that could even help me x

I've seen Propanolol (a betablocker) used for so many types of anxiety.
Regularly for day to day anxiety and also for "performance" anxiety as you describe. Definitely worth a chat with them if you feel you've exhausted all other methods!
For me, they helped me calm everything down so that I could be more rational with my coping mechanisms - knowing that physically things weren't haywire.

Enjoyment for things like this is so important and if you're getting that reaction to it then it's definitely worth exploring.

Good luck!

Hi @onetwothreeover i agree, i wouldn't take meds for it. I think you need to find a way to get through it. For me music, omg it just zones me out, could you try that?
Hope you find a solution soon x

Have you considered NLP therapy? It’s really effective at removing phobias or negative beliefs/feelings.

Is it just competing or riding in general?

One thing that changed my nerves totally was boring myself
I went from having to be on the lunge to cantering across fields by myself

So I got on, got off. Got on, walked a circle, got off. I bored myself so much with walk that I trotted. Then it was "that was shit, I should redo that transition"
Also had to remind myself how many times I had ridden with no incident. Had lots of lessons, did a few clinics as well

If it was a low dose of Propanolol, you might just need more. I heard a sports psychologist on R4 this morning and, to paraphrase, he was saying they're the same feelings lots of people get. Some people feel excited and use this to motivate themselves, other turns the feelings into anxiety and worry. It's about recognising the feelings and dealing with them differently.

Maybe a self referral to Talking Therapies in your area to have some CBT intervention would help.

I would go back to GP and discuss. You might need a higher dose or a different beta blocker to get the desired effect. You might well find that having an effective remedy and taking it a few times would improve your confidence so that you don't need it every time in future (knowing you have it in your pocket if you need it can be very reassuring!) It sounds like you are getting horrible anxiety symptoms. It is all very well saying 'mind over matter' but the reverse can sometimes work very well too ie sort out the physical symptoms (caused by all the adrenaline pumping around your system) and your mind may well quieten down too.

So sorry. Missed the part where you've already tried propranolol! It may be worth trying again if you've since gained some other "in the moment" coping strategies from the therapy?

Have you heard of EMDR therapy?

I would give that a try before the medication, definitely. All the best.

Yeah I wonder if maybe I didn’t have a strong enough dose of propranolol- I can’t remember the exact specifics but I’m certain it was a very low dose because I remember the GP was hesitant to prescribe me them because im severely asthmatic and was considering something else but decided to give the propranolol and said if I had any issues with my asthma to stop them (I didn’t have any issues)

I would say yes.. they would prescribe you some beta blockers to help

The propanalol everyone is talking about is fab.. That's a beta blocker, low dosage. Not quite like going for heavy anti anxiety tabs