Beta Blockers

[deno1617]

Could I please ask whether anyone has been prescribed beta blockers to help with anxiety problems?
My doctor is treating me for severely high blood pressure (now settled) and I am on Prozac for depression but my anxiety levels remain high. I have tried all the usual things but nothing works! I am so tired of this constant level of anxiety - it wears me out completely!
I am due to see my doctor again next Monday and wondered whether I should ask about beta blockers and whether they would help with my anxiety.
Any opinions would be gratefully received.
Thanks,
Diane

[honeybee3939]

Hi Den

Here are some links that may help hun.

Betablockers
Beta Blockers - new user seeks help please!!! (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2400)
propanalol (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1967)
Beta Blockers (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5969)
Meeting up Bristol/South West (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6827)
new to propranolol (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6891)
beta blockers (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7392)

Love

Andrea
xxxx


"If you have a worry turn it into a problem, you cant solve worrys but you can solve problems"

[tommythomson]

Diane

I'm on beta-blockers. I was very against it to start with but my worries were unfounded.
Beta-blockers are used to regulate your heartbeat. They make your heart work more efficiently. They reduce the physical symptoms of anxiety and tend to keep me more calm.
When I went to see my doc I was in a right state. I was anxious and very upset that this was happening to me. She done me the prescription straight away and on my next visit I appologised to her for doubting her advice.
Your doc will explain what the tablets would do and if you're suited for them.
Have you tried relaxation cds and breathing exercises?

T

[deno1617]

T
Thanks for your reply - I have tried relaxation cd's, breathing exercises, rescue remedy drops. I have even seen a mental health worker but still this anxiety remains. I have read books, searched the net, talked to people. I feel that I know why the anxiety is here but I just cannot control it well enough to be able to lead a normal life. I am off work and have been for almost 6 months - I just feel my life consists of fear and panic at the moment and I hate it!
I will talk to my doctor about the beta blockers when I see her as she knows one of my main symptoms (apart from anxiety & panic) is that I have "missed" heartbeats, fluttering and racing heart etc - maybe the bb's would help with that too.
Thanks again,
Diane
x

[juicyluce]

i take beta blockers for my anxiety - wasnt sure at first whether i should however i now find they help me a great deal, particularly if i feel shaky or wobbly.

Luce

[deno1617]

Thanks Luce - I appreciate your reply. Glad you have found some relief by taking beta blockers. Just got to keep my fingers crossed that my doctor will agree to let me try them!
Cheers,
Diane

[deno1617]

Update on this post:-

I have been to the doctors today and she has now agreed to let me go on beta blockers to reduce my anxiety levels.
I am on propanolol - 10mg 3 x a day which I can increase to 20mg 3 x a day if not enough after 2 weeks.
I have taken the first one - keep your fingers crossed for me!
Thanks,
Diane
xx

[sandie]

Hi there

Just a word of reassurance about propanalol.

I'm 53 and have never suffered with anxiety or stress until November last year. I was prescribed 3 x 40mg propanalol per day to combat the severe palpitations and distressing symptoms I was experiencing. At the time I recall my GP saying he was prescribing a fairly low dose.

They have proved invaluable. I would of course rather not be on any meds, and when I am having a good day, I try to only take two tablets - one at the start of the day and one before bedtime. On VERY bad days, I have taken 2 (just before christmas when things were very bleak). The prescribing advice with the tablets actually mentions appropriate doses for various symptoms/illnesses.

I hope that these will not be a very long term or permanent part of my life. WHEN my life is more certain and less insecure, I hope to be able to discard them completely. BUT FOR NOW, I see them as vital to my physical and emotional well being. My GP is a 'tough-love' kind of doctor. He was VERY anti sleeping tablets, and although he prescribed them when my life went off the rails back in October, he saw them purely as a short-term answer, was EXTREMELY guarded in the way he prescribed them (only ever half a pack at a time), and at the beginning of December refused to give me any more, even though I was still only getting about 3 hours sleep a night - with or without them.

I think therefore that he seems to know what he is about, and I don't believe he would be giving me the beta blockers the way he is if he didn't feel they were the right path for me.

Hope this is reassuring and helps in allaying some of your concerns.

Sandie

[sandie]

Sorry guys

Just a quick correction to my reply above ............

On VERY BAD days I have actually taken 4 (just before christmas etc).

Sandie

[deno1617]

Thanks for that Sandie,
I must admit that I feel relieved that I may (finally) have something that may help with my anxiety problems! I am not really worried about taking any medication and believe that if it will help me - then I'll take it!
My doctor spoke to me at length about what beta blockers do and if, in a month, I do not feel they have helped sufficiently, then she will take me off them and I will try HRT patches (as I am peri-menopausal).
Anyway - I have (yet another) month off work and have to go back to see my doc on my birthday (12th Feb).
Hugs,
Diane
xx