Clonidine for excessive blushing?

[PinkCosYouAreSoVery]

Has anyone tried Clonidine for blushing/flushing linked to social/performance anxiety?

I am about 7 weeks into Sertraline for social anxiety and its starting to help with feeling calmer and not getting as anxious before certain events/meetings/socialising,but its not helping with my awful blushing! I have propranolol for occasional use for times when I know I will suffer anxiety but I need something that helps with going red. Its awful my face, neck and chest stay red for quite a while and its so obvious. It can happen during a normal conversation that I shouldn't react like that to, if I bump into someone I know unexpectedly in the supermarket, if im asked a question in work etc. I know I will have to stop the propranolol if I am prescribed clonidine but the blushing is the aspect which I hate most, rather than the racing heart, trembling etc.

Waiting to hear back from the GP to see if they will prescribe. So if you have used Clonidine for this reason...

Did it help?
What was your dose?
Any side effects?

Insights gratefully received as there are not many threads on it at all :) Thank you kindly.

I also blushed horrendously, OP. It's torture isn't it?! I could even feel my stomach get hot (apparently stomachs blush!).

If it's any comfort, I blush far less now I'm older and care less about what people think of me. And research has shown that people tend to like 'blushers' as they're regarded as trustworthy and sensitive.

Sorry I have no advice about the medication- just wanted to offer solidarity.

@Phyllis321 thank you! Its so awful isn't it! Im glad you are suffering less, I can only hope!

Have you tried hypnosis or other non-medical avenues? Maybe worth a try.

I used to blush a lot - it’s awful. I don’t know about drugs but stopping giving a shit about it and just looking people I the eye when you are having your worst blush works.

Hello ... I've just done a search on this medication to help me with my horrible debilitating blushing. Mine hasn't gotten better with age so now I'm trying to pass it off as "time of life" 😂. Please can you let me know your gps reaction and if you found it worked .. Thank you ..

Thank you to everyone who replied, im sorry I didnt respond before. I haven't tried any kind of CBD/hypnosis etc, im a bit skeptical and feel more like I need something medical.

Thanks for the solidarity people! I try not to care too much about stuff but it's not working.

So to update, I got the clonidine from the GP, but I stopped taking it as I got constipated. I dont think it did much to help but I only tried it for a couple of weeks. I read on the leaflet though it can take 2-4 weeks to start working so im tempted to give it another try.I seem to be blushing more than ever at the moment and im sure it has something to do with stress levels being high again. @Eviewink if you try it please let us know how you get on.

Out of desperation I had a couple of sessions of hypno for blushing about 10 years ago as it was really affecting my much-loved career. It worked. Not immediately but the results were noticeable within a few weeks, which boosted my social confidence. I was so sceptical about hypno and still dont fully understand how it worked. I feel so liberated now and have gone from not being able to speak in meetings to chairing large, high-pressure committees.

Hi OP

Non medical intervention can work very well for social anxiety/blushing. Particularly CBT. If you're not sure about it you could try some self-help CBT based guides. If you Google this a few should come up but NHS Inform and Moodjuice are good. It won't cause immediate change but may help you understand the thoughts and behaviours that are maintaining the social anxiety and tips for challenging/altering these. Good luck!

@eractually @kate288 Thank you, maybe I'll have a look to see what hypnotherapy is available locally to me, it wouldnt do any harm would it...

@PinkCosYouAreSoVery How are you doing with the clonidine ? Have exactly the same issue as you . I have tried clonidine on its own , I have tried propanalol on its own . Neither worked . My next trial is sertraline alongside propanalol. I am desperately trying to find a solution to the blushing. Please update us .

Hi there, I tried clonidine for about 3 weeks and then stopped as it didn’t seem to help.

I also tried sertraline alongside propranolol but the sertraline didn’t help me either, though everyone is different when it comes to anti depressants so hopefully it will help you. Propranolol does help me for meetings, presentations, social events but I need something more ‘full time’.

Currently I’m trialling 20mg citalopram, (with propranolol), think im on week 3 but not sure it’s doing anything yet apart from making me constipated. I had asked to go on venlafaxine as the NICE guidance specifically states it’s for social anxiety but was advised to try another SSRI first as the venlafaxine is ‘bringing out the big guns’ and has more side effects. I’ve heard it can be very difficult to come off too but I think I might still ask for it if the citalopram does not help.

good luck and let us know how you get on with the sertraline.

Thank you . I will keep you updated. Fingers crossed something helps . Until you have experienced the blushing you don't know how debilitating it is to your life, I have never experienced anything like it .

this is such a battle in my life right now. its the worst its ever been. debilitating. to the point im having PVC (intense heart pulps) often. im currently taking propranolol and buspar. no relief. it anything its getting worse? so im desperate to hear if you have found any breakthrough? please update us on your journey, thank you

I feel for you because I am exactly the same. I never used to be like this but now I actually dread going to appointments or seeing people whilst I'm out . It is debilitating .It makes me feel like I'm going to pass out . I have tried clonidine, I found it didn't help at all . I do take propanalol when I know I'm going to have to speak to someone. I'm not even sure that helps . I would probably say it helps slightly with the palpations, but does nothing for blushing. I would at this stage try anything as it really affects my life .

Blushing is an emotional response, triggered by the sympathetic nervous system, therefore it's more appropriate to work with the mind rather than the body. As others have said hypnotherapy can work.

Hello all. Hoping some of you will see this, it’s my first post and not sure how this all works. A major blusher here … I have studied it extensively and even started a PhD in the history of blushing before I had to put it on pause when my daughter arrived. Please PM me if any of you blushers would like to chat - I’d really like to start organising a small online meetup for us to chat about it

Hi I’m interested in talking. My whole life I was ADHD, super confident and loud and bubbly and didn’t care what anyone thought. However I stopped taking drugs (mainly cocaine) 1 year ago and ever since I have uncontrollable blushing! Mainly at work when people talk to me. When I stopped taking drugs I also came off my citalopram which I had been taking for a few years. So last month my doctor decided to put me back on it as propranolol alone wasn’t making much difference with my blushing. The first 3 days of taking it again after being off it almost a year, I felt amazing at work, back to my old self. I was laughing, joking, approaching people without a care in the world and I thought I was fixed. However after a week of taking the citalopram, it’s like my body has just gotten used to it, and I’m back to blushing. So I tried taking 20mg, and I just feel really tired but I’m still blushing. This is something I’m really struggling with as I’m 23 and this has never happened before in my life, it just started February 2024 and hasn’t stopped since…. I’ve blushed at my 2 previous jobs and at my current one all during 2024. I really don’t feel myself. But I’m not depressed or anxious, it’s literally just uncontrollable. I’ve noticed I blush more if I’ve made some minor mistake at work and a manager is showing me how to do it correctly. Or when any manager approaches me. Some loud, over confident men when they’re looking into my eyes talking to me I start blushing then they say why are you going red and I want to run away and die!!! I have no idea why this is happening but it’s ruining me. Then the fear of blushing sometimes can cause me to blush even when I’m alone

@Itz Can you drop me a private message

Yes please, I've suffered for years and tried medication, cbt, hypnotherapy to no avail..