Perimenopause - anxiety turned into panic attacks. Will beta blockers help in short term?

[fortyfifty]

This has all been building for several years and probably got worse over the past two but was masked somewhat due to covid as everyone else seemed to be feeling flat and anxious.

Since Christmas I've been feeling flatter and flatter and with more regularity experiencing those feelings of doom that come over me at random times.

I was poised to go to the GP and request hrt. I've now done that and have appointment next week. But in the past 2 days I have been in a state of panic. - probably related to the news - and had full on panic attacks all day. Struggling to eat. Retching feeling sick. Constant fast beating heart. Not able to concentrate on anything. I don't think I can bear these physical feelings much longer. Should I ring my gp today and request beta blockers? Would they likely prescribe them? Would they help?

Hopefully HRT will really help. Perhaps try mindfulness or find someone to talk to about your worries if at all possible 💐

Why not consider trying something other than drugs? The first line of treatment for this is often talking therapy like counselling, mindfulness or meditation. You could access apps like Headspace, for instance. I'd suggest calling the helpline of MIND for advice and they can point you in the right direction of self-help, like apps.

Also, exercise is very effective, especially walking in green spaces like a wood or even just a quiet lane if you can access that. MIND website covers all of these things too.

It sounds like you need to 'quieten' your mind and simple things like deep breathing, mindfulness and relaxation techniques may well help.

Believe me - I am the self help queen. Ive exhausted the list of doing the other things. These feelings are related to hormonal fluctuations. I can ve perfectly fine sometimes. There's not usually a specific event associated to the anxiety.

Most recently I've been taking magnesium and b vitamins. I do walk every day. I can't do meditation, it makes me more anxious, but do pilates and deep breathing when I am most anxious.

Nothing quietens the mind and nothing takes away the physical sensations. I have to wait it out for how many days until it lifts.

I should have added that I have many other symptoms of perimenopause, physical and mental, ilbut the full on panic is a new one.

Call MIND helpline. They are able to advise. I still think it's worth trying again with apps like Headspace as it does take practise to allow these things to work.

Also, yoga rather than Pilates, where you focus on breathing.

l have suffered panic attacks in the past, they are horrific, after years of seeking help, trying every trick in the book and under the sun to get rid of them, l just gave up, didnt do anything to try and stop them, mask them, avoid them, stopped all coping mechanisms, cbt, positive thinking, just let them come even encouraged them to do their worst and guess what, yes , they went and now panic free for years. Medication will only offer relief, not a cure.

Sorry you're feeling like this OP

If you have other perimenopause symptoms too, I think you might find HRT really helps. My panic and anxiety have been much more manageable since starting HRT. I also cut coffee down to 1 cup a day in the morning and I try to walk or run whenever I feel those panicky feelings building up.
I don't know if you use social media a lot but I know that doomscrolling through Twitter is making me feel dreadful at the moment and I need to have a break from social media. The news is just so awful, it's hard not to feel anxious. The key is to get it under control so it doesn't take over.
Keep doing what you're doing. Ask the GP for HRT. Cut out social media and caffeine. Drink chamomile tea. Have warm baths, listen to soothing music, and be kind to yourself (this is all advice I would do well to take BTW!).

Thanks. I only had one coffee a day but I've stopped that this week and I'm having a social media and news break. We'll, except to allow reels of dog videos and stuff like that. My Instagram is free of doom as I don't follow many.

I'm sure it's helping but it's so hard to distract myself from my own thoughts when my body feels in a state of high alert. Also not helped that I work from home. DH is coming home for lunch to walk with me.

I wish I could do meditation but any focus on my breathing has always made me more anxious. Nature is a good distraction though so I'll hopefully get out in the garden this weekend.

Hi op
I went on beta blockers 2 weeks ago ,propranolol, 3 times a day .
I’m the same age ,well I’m 48 ,I’m not showing any menopause signs yet .
But I have recently gone on the waiting list to be assessed for autism and adhd which my doctor thinks could be causing my horrendous anxiety.
I have had CBT and two lots of counselling and nothing worked
The beta blockers I think are working ,I do feel less wound up ,less ready to blow up ,and more chilled.

I have propranolol prescribed as needed. I haven’t used them much. I can take up to three a day, but have taken a total of 4 since they were prescribed. So I can’t really speak about whether they work, but the GP was certainly not reluctant to prescribe & it is helpful to know they are there if I need them. For choice, I will always use other options, but there is certainly no harm in having them available.

Try adding a vitamin D supplement. Apparently lots of people with anxiety and depression are very low in vitamin d. I only recently found this out. I'd been taking vit d since the beginning of the pandemic and had kind of forgotten to in the last couple of months. I'd begun to feel jittery and get tension headaches in the last few weeks (similar to whenI had postnatal anxiety yearsago). Started taking the vit d again and felt much better within a week.

I’ve used them OP and they do help. I had 40mg of propranolol for my peri anxiety. It really helps the thudding heart for me. I hope you feel better soon x

Thanks everyone. I spoke to a lovely GP and she prescribed some. I only had to take one yesterday. Hormones have fluctuated and the other things I am doing have helped dampen the physical symptoms of panic for now.

I have got back on to vitamin D this week too, after lapsing, having taken it throughout most of the pandemic.

You're describing symptoms that are very similar to the ones I started with about a year ago. I was prescribed beta blocks as I worked myself into such a frenzy my heart rate was through the roof. I took them for about a month then gradually reduced the dose. I think they may have took the edge of the worst of my symptoms which gave me chance to do a lot of reading around the topic (never ever been an anxious person or experienced anything like it before). I was also offered CBT and that along with reading helped me enormously. Like a PP has written I now recognise when the anxiety is creeping up and I don't fight it, I make whatever adjustments I need to get through it and it will then subside. I've just accepted this is it for me while my periods are regular. As soon as my cycle changes I will certainly pursue HRT.
You will get through this.