Coming off propanolol

[MummyTo3Beauts]

I've been taking 10mg of propanolol twice a day for about 3 weeks for my anxiety.
I was wondering if anyone has any experience with it or more so coming off it? I felt good when I woke up this morning so decided not to take it, which my doctor said I could stop taking it if i wanted!! Anyway as usual I woke up tonight after about half an hours sleep to my heart racing but checking on my Fitbit it went up to 150. Could this be a side effect of not taking it or just my usual panic attack?

It actually 5 weeks, don't know if that makes any difference.

I wouldn't have thought missing one after only a few weeks would cause that, more likely waking up anxiety (which is horrible and propanolol works wonders for). You would worry if you were are sweating abnormally and have chest pain along with the heart racing (more than with usual anxiety).
Given that 160mg is the highest daily dose, you shouldn't worry about withdrawal too much from your dose. Cut down to one a day first if you like.

@Twillow thank you so much for your reply. There's was no seating or chest pain just heart racing, clammy and shaking. And of course the feeling of impending doom can I ask, do you suffer from nighttime anxiety?

It might be that your body has got used to the medication and is giving you a push of adrenaline to self correct. My daughter uses propranolol to treat birth marks and it's simlliar to a blood pressure medication that I've been prescribed before. I've been told by my GP that these medications are extremely time sensitive and wear off quickly which can cause changes in your blood pressure. Perhaps the medication has dropped your blood pressure and you're feeling it going back to normal or your feeling the effects of adrenaline more?

If you're only on 10mg a dose then you're fine to stop. I'm on 40mg a dose and I'm fine to stop if I want. If you take it for heart issues you have to do it with medical advice.

Why do you think the anxiety has gone? They're an as an when pill, you can't predict when anxiety will happen as you've found out.

Exercise is a good replacement for beta blockers if you want to come off them. You might not feel like it when it hits in the middle of the night though.

10mg is nothing so you won't be receiving any side effects - the shortness of breath sounds more like a panic attack to me. I found 10mg did nothing for me, I've always had the 40mg tablets. Remember though it only works it short bursts. It's not like an anti depressant where it builds up over time. I was prescribed it for anxious situations so would only take it when I needed to.

I’ve had propanol for over 20 years to take as and when I have a panic attack. It’s not addictive nor is there any withdrawal effect.

Ten mg is nothing, I have it for big presentations at work, basically stage fright, so if I feel anxious I take one, they are twenty mg and my doctor said there was nothing in them basically at that dose. I can take up to three a day.

So you're on an incredibly low dose. Whatever is going on with you at night isn't down to the medication,

Realise I got my propranolol and bisoprolol mixed up (have been prescribed both at different times). So will ask for my misleading posts to be removed.

Thanks for the replies, I'm already on sertraline and have been for 5 years. They gave me the propanolol to take alongside it but when I felt better yesterday I decided to stop taking it daily and just have it when I felt I needed it. Several people have suggested that my ad's may need changing but the doctor doesn't seem to think this would be the case

been on 100mg for years i would say dont stop any tablets without consulting a GP first

The whole point of propranolol is you can take it as and when. It's a beta blocker that only works for so many hours. If you're still waking up with anxious feelings then I would continue taking them.
I also have taken sertraline before - those you obviously wouldn't just stop. x

On that small a dosage you should be fine to just stop. I take 40mg 3 x daily and don't notice if I miss a dose so I'd guess it's just the anxiety causing it.

Thank you all for your replies, spoke to my doctor and he said to stay on the propanolol for now