10mg of propanolol?

[Handletree]

I’ve been having extreme anxiety out of the blue since Saturday over climate change. Felt completely fine for years and then something switched in my brain. Can’t eat, sleep, shaking and hyperventilating etc, struggling to function and feeling in a state of extreme panic. Called doctor and she has prescribed me propanolol. I had actually calmed myself a little bit before I started taking them but I’m not sure what to think. The thoughts are still kind of there and I feel mildly anxious this morning. But how can pills work when this is an external problem? Anyway, I’m pretty sure she told me to start on 10mg and up to 20. I took 10 last night and feel no different. Is this too low a dose? I also don’t know whether I’m supposed to take them at the same time or spread throughout the day.

Ok don't go by what you read on the internet.

BUT I use them for anxiety before big meetings etc and I usually take 30g something 40. Or is it mg? I don't know but the pills are 10 and I often take four of them.

My GP was v calm about it and sort of said I could take as much as I like - they also come in 40mg sizes so I think you taking 10 will have not much affect.

Also these pills won't stop your thoughts, they'll only address the physical symptoms of anxiety eg palpitations, trembling etc.

Yes, I have 10mg tablets but thought that was odd since the standard dose is 40. Even moving up to 20 doesn’t seem much. I’ve really been struggling to function day to day and have lost half a stone so I don’t know why it’s so low. I think the aim was to stop the physical symptoms and she told me to look on the nhs site to look up generally looking after yourself and mindfulness while she makes a referral for talking therapies. It all seems stupid though tbh because this is a real thing that is happening so I feel like they’re trying to keep me artificially ‘ok’ when I shouldn’t be.

Maybe I should go straight to the 20mg tonight then? See if that’s any better.

In what way will you suffering extreme anxiety symptoms help with climate change?

What other strategies are you using at the moment?

Nothing, I’ve never had anything like this before and am struggling to control my thoughts. Previous problems were mostly depression and a sort of general/social anxiety which went on for years but I could eventually reason with myself and see that my thoughts were irrational. But this isn’t the same sort of problem. My failsafe calming technique was always thinking that even if the worst case scenario did happen... it’s not a big deal, we will survive and the world will keep turning. So that’s not going to work for this one. I keep crying and panicking when I look at the kids or having surges of adrenaline like I need to protect them right now. As I said, I had calmed myself last night a bit anyway but I’m not sure how. I managed to eat a small meal. Tbh, I did read some stories about climate change which made me feel slightly better cos it looked as though leaders are taking it seriously and coming up with plans so it’s a good start, but I know the flip side of that is when I hear stories that are scary again. And the what ifs creep into my brain with the good stories anyway and I get little jolts coming from my heart.

Obviously I mean in my chest, not coming from my actual heart

This is very low, I also have them for big presentations etc and it's the forty mg. my doctor also told me there was nothing in them basically,

I'd go back. Did you explain to her thr full extent of your mental health issues? Because ten mg is going to be stunningly ineffective.

Is there anything else going on in your life that may be causing this reaction but instead of addressing it you're focusing on climate change? Have you had mental health issues in the past?

Yes I was very upset over the phone and did explain it all to her. I had long term mental health problems years ago for which I took 200mg of sertraline and had long term therapy. Depression/anxiety but it went on for so long that I didn’t always know if I was asleep and dreaming or awake and kind of lost touch with reality. Consequences were irrelevant because I wasn’t sure anything was real. But I’ve never had anything like this blind panic for days.

I think it’s because it involves my children. I do have a tendency to worry about them a lot and am now wondering whether that has been more anxiety rather than normal mom worrying that I thought? I know I jump to worst case scenario and spiral into negative thoughts and terrible outcomes. I’m gutted that I’ve been feeling this way because I thought I was a genuine ‘success story’ and fixed for life.

Like I said, I have actually calmed myself a little bit anyway so maybe I don’t need the tablets after all? I’m just a bit concerned that it is dependent on the more positive things I’ve read and it’ll all come crashing down when I see something I don’t like. It was actually something a poster mentioned on here that set it off.

No there is nothing else going on. I was about to eat my dinner on Saturday night, read something which scared me and just instantly started retching, shaking and felt like I was in a daze. A bit like I was in shock or somebody had just died. It was an instant reaction and I can’t believe it happened.

I think you need to go actually see the doctor. What you describe, I think you know is not a normal reaction, it's extreme, and indicates something is very wrong that you need help with, for your sake and for your kids.

Thanks for the responses, I do plan to call within the next week but have now been taking 20mg instead. It says i can take this twice a day, so I've had some in the evening and some in the morning. I have actually calmed myself down from the initial extreme reaction now and am coping better. A few times I have felt almost relaxed and back to normal but most of the time it's just there in my mind with the accompanying low level physical symptoms. How long should it take to properly kick in? I have noticed that I feel calmer with a more steady heart rate about an hour after taking, but I can feel that it has come back now. Is it something that will build up over a few weeks or will it keep wearing off like this?

Propanol isn't like an anti depressant that takes a while to get working properly. It's a beta-blocker which stops adrenaline from doing its job. It works when you take the pill and for several hours afterwards. When you take it your heart can't get as fast as it would naturally so it helps with palpitations etc. I got prescribed it for physical symptoms of anxiety a few years back but I found I couldn't go for a proper run when I had taken one as I physically couldn't get my heart rate up high enough! So if you find they help stop you having chest pains etc caused by high adrenaline then take them, also take them if you know you physically react in a certain situation. But don't wait days for them to build up as that's not how they work