Propanalol for anxiety induced nausea - HELP!

[Nannon145]

I have started really suffering with nausea and acid reflux and we are thinking it’s from anxiety. The doctor has prescribed me Lansoprazole for the reflux and Propanalol for the anxiety to take as and when needed to help with the anxiety and hopefully the nausea.

Has anyone else had this before and found it helped? Feeling so fed up of feeling sick, exhausted and like this all of the time.

Propranolol didn’t work for me I’m afraid. I didn’t sleep properly when I took it and when I did I had some really horrible dreams and nightmares. I was prescribed it for migraine and an overactive thyroid.

Please read the leaflet that comes with it. The only way you will know it works for you is by taking it and it does work for a lot of people.

Propranolol has been a game changer for me with anxiety, slows my pounding heart rate and really chills me out

Mine isn't taken as and when though, it's taken ongoing twice a day

@Iamclearlyamug have you gained weight on it? I am on 80mg daily and it has helped my anxiety massively but I have put on a stone. May not be due to the propanalol though.

@Iamclearlyamug was it just a pounding heart you tended to get with the anxiety or did you have any other symptoms?

@Gateoverriver I have taken it as and when, but my problem is I never feel particularly anxious enough to take it, it’s all very sub-conscious with me so don’t know whether to just try it everyday. I have noticed I’m struggling to sleep the past couple days so weather that could be linked.

OP, try taking it in the morning instead of at night and when I took it, it wasn’t as and when, it was every day.

Do you know what's causing the anxiety?

@Eyesopenwideawake i haven’t been the same since having my daughter - she’s 2 next week. I think it’s got something to do with that and it’s also constant panic about getting poorly and then having to look after her when I’m ill.

Hi OP. I get nausea with my anxiety which then sends me spiralling as I'm so anxious about being ill. I take propranolol as and when I need it which absolutely does help. I also take an anti-nausea tablet at the same time if I'm feeling bad - I have them due to chronic migraines with nausea. Perhaps you could ask for some for when it's really bad?
I hope the propranolol works for you and you start feeling better as it's such a miserable feeling

Was your mum (or other significant adult) a worrier? Or is there anything in your childhood that you can recognise as a pattern in your current behaviour?

The problem with constant mental panic is that it triggers the flight or fight response in your body - the sympathetic nervous system - and having that in constant overdrive can cause health problems over time as your ability to fight infections, to breath deeply and to digest food are all affected.

Although it might not be directly relevant to your situation this video on anxiety will help you understand what it is and how you can work with it rather than fighting it.

Propranolol is a beta blocker which slows the heart rate. It did nothing for me except make me nauseous.

Sertraline and talking therapy helped with my anxiety and omeprazole is a wonder drug for acid reflux.

I appreciate different things work for different people but that's my experience.

You say you don't feel particularly anxious but the fact you're having physical symptoms of anxiety is a warning sign. I dismissed the early signs of my anxiety and I ended up having panic attacks.

My therapist described anxiety in a really way -

It's like a bucket filling with water, your brain is the bucket and your thoughts/worries are the water. If you don't deal with the thoughts and allow them to build and build then eventually the bucket (your brain) will reach capacity and overflow (you'll become overwhelmed).

I'd recommend seeking some counselling. I found talking therapy more beneficial than CBT but again, everyone's different.

@Eyesopenwideawake i have always been a worrier. I used to worry about dying when I was a child. Would be up all night panicking about it. So it is a common thing with me. never needed anything when I was younger and never felt poorly like this with it.

@SheldontheWonderSchlong thank you - when you’re bad with it, do you tend to take the Propanalol regularly? Or still when you need it?

@StepIntoMyOffice thank you - I have actually enquired with a private therapist in my area this morning as I think it’ll do me good talking about it. Just so expensive! The doctor did talk about sertraline but wanted to put me on a medication that worked instantly to see if it helped in anyway before trying one that took a while to help.

Propranolol was brilliant for me for panic attacks, it helped my anxiety because I wasn't having them so badly or so often. It was combined with talking therapy though. It did make me very tired but no other side effects.

When we live with a fear for a long time it's easy to convince ourselves that it must be true, otherwise why do we have it?

If your daughter screamed in the night that there was a monster under her bed, would you grab her and run shrieking into the night? No, of course you wouldn't.

That’s because you knows there isn’t a monster and that those fears are the fears of a child. Whilst we can easily understand why the child has those fears, we can recognise they aren’t necessary. Equally you wouldn't (I hope!) tell your daughter off for having these fears - you'd comfort her and reassure her because you know, as an adult, that there's nothing to be scared of.

By the same token there will be times when your mind brings forward fears about something that you know, rationally, are not warranted or justified. Yes, there will be times when you are ill and, when they happen, you will cope - just as you always cope with anything that life throws you way. When you feel panicked, think back to a time when you dealt with a situation and got through it.

And have a look at that video 😉

@Nannon145
I just take it when I recognise I'm starting to get jittery and it almost always helps, but in conjunction with the anti nausea tablet when I need it because then I can reassure myself that I definitely won't be sick.
I think when it was first prescribed I took it regularly, but I get anxious about taking medication regularly (I hate my brain!) so decided to drop-down to as and when.

Propranolol has worked wonders for me. It can cause some nausea so I make sure I don't take on a totally empty stomach. It has lowered my blood pressure into safe range and massively curbed anxiety which was debilitating.

@Eyesopenwideawake thank you. I will definitely give the video a watch.

@SheldontheWonderSchlong thank you. I started feeling nauseous this morning which I assumed was from over thinking everything that’s going on and I do feel better after taking a tablet about an hour ago. Maybe that’s just the way to go forward from now on.

@Nannon145
I definitely take it less than when I first started. I think it helps knowing I have it and knowing it works - I'm less anxious about feeling anxious iyswim!
Hope things start getting better for you soon