Does propranolol make anyone else feel weird?

[CreatingHavoc]

Propranolol makes me feel heavy and uncoordinated. I take it every now and again for anxiety / palpitations but I can't really function properly on it. I've also started getting migraines and gp has suggested I take it daily but I'm not keen. Are there any other beta blockers that do the same thing but without the heavy, uncoordinated feeling? I can't take a triptan for migraine as they interfere with propranolol and I do feel I need a beta blocker of some sort. Any better options out there?

Maybe as it’s for occasional use it needs to be a lower dose?
I used to take a higher dose daily, then I came off it for a number of years before restarting. I find just taking half a 40mg tablet is generally enough to stop the jittery panic when I’m just taking it as and when, and it doesn’t zonk me out. I used to be on 40mg 3 x a day. I’ve no clue how I functioned tbh.

@Brobdingnagian I should have said, it's the lowest dose 10mg. I wonder if the side effects would wear off after a time.

I get exactly the same with bisoprolol and that was at 2.5 which is low- I now take 1.25 just before bed and I'm
Much better on that - as the strongest period of it is when I'm asleep, feels like it's wearing off in the morning.

@Crikeyalmighty is your GP OK with it being taken in the morning ? I came off it because it made me feel grotty but they've just put me back on it.

Yes I took propranolol daily to help with the prevention of migraine. I felt like I couldn't think clearly and I was 'slow' with my thinking. I came off it and eventually found my migraines were hormone related, came off the pill and take sumatriptan on the onset of migraines.

Can cause crazy dreams

I had the same issue and had to stop taking it OP. My blood pressure is a the lower end of normal on a good day and propranolol lowered it even more. It made me feel physically grotty and did nothing for my anxiety symptoms so I was happy to give it up.

It makes me feel really sick and dizzy. I've been in it for 5 months now and still feel the same after every dose!

I found I couldn’t sleep properly on it-whether I took it at night or in the morning. I just couldn’t get into a deep sleep-I was exhausted!

@OnlyFrench no idea as I take it at night -

Does it lower everyone's heart rate? I was feeling spacey on 10mg looked at my garmin and my heart rate was 47 so all it did was increase my anxiety that I was going to die.

Only took it for work related stress.

You often get side effects when you start taking g medication, but can find you a just to it over time so that you can function more normally.

Propranolol wasn't to bad, but candesartan is another blood pressure medication often used to treat migraines. I had less side effects with but didn't work for me.

By the way why can't you take triptains? There is no counter indicator with propranolol and these drugs can be taken together. I certainly was taking a much higher dose (upto 260mg daily) and still taking triptains.

I take it for migraine and anxiety and no side effects but I know other people that found that the side effects wore off after a while of regular use.

Just give it a bash, take daily for 6 weeks and review. But you have to not fixate on what you think you feel, otherwise you can talk yourself in to feeling side effects that aren’t there.

If after 6 weeks it’s not for you, stop. Nothing has to be permanent.

@DaemonMoon yes it lowers mine to around 50 to 56

I take it for overactive thyroid to slow down my heart rate which was swinging between 82 and 117😳 it keeps dropping it to 53 so it's doing its job but it's making me feel worse. I felt shattered all day before but it's worse on the propanalol. I take 40mg twice a day

That's actually the point of it. And as the heart isn't working so hard (because the drug is blocking takeup of particular chemicals such as the ones secreted when anxious), blood pressure decreases.

Yes it makes me feel extremely weird, like I’ve had a night boozing! Took it for anxiety but it made me feel worse quite honestly so I had to switch to antidepressants

@NeverDropYourMooncup yes I take it to lower blood pressure which was slightly on the high side but not horrendous for my age - ( around 138/88) on average. I couldn't tolerate the usual blood pressure tablets- now they did make me feel odd- so low dose beta blockers were suggested and I am ok with them -

Gave me almost acid trip level hallucinations.

3.75 Bisoprolol here for Atrial Fibrillation. My heart rate is in the 30s when asleep and hovers around 50 -60 during the day, a bit higher when doing exercise like walking uphill I don't do gyms.

It should make me knackered but it doesn't seem to affect me at all (knock on wood). At the start I was on 5mg but the heart rate was at near death levels so they reduced it a bit.

It is to settle my heart rate, but the bonus is that few things bother me as much as they used to anymore.

Thanks for all these replies everyone. I think I will just have to find other ways to calm the palpitations and prevent migraine as I can't function for a couple of hours after taking the propranolol. I had bad palpitations this morning and knew I couldn't take it because I had to do the school run, last time I took it I was so dizzy I had to stay in bed for over an hour until the dizzyness subsided.

@MigGril it says on the sumatriptan leaflet not to take with beta blockers. Turns I can't take it anyway as it's sulfa based and I'm allergic.

I'm extremely sensitive to meds in general so get way more side effects than most people. I have to be really careful, hence reading the leaflets thoroughly.

@CreatingHavoc my H took it once and said it was like walking through treacle mixed with a permanent hangover- I'm ok on beta blockers, but only a very low dose indeed - I think it's a really individual thing