Back from the Doc's for first time

[MatthewH]

He agree's i'm suffering from anxiety, and has given me propranolol. I actually have no idea what it is, except its Beta Blocker, and to take one as needed. Anybody have experience of these? I'm worried now that he wanted me out the office as fast as possible, and that he just chucked the first thing at me.
Anyway, back to work now i suppose.

[gypsywomen]

i have taken them for 2 years ,there very could for keeping panic attacks at bay,,,i dont have side effects .think there good no harm in trying them i take 10 mg a day

[Vixxy]

Hi there. Propranalol is a good first medicine to try as it doesnt play around with your brain chemistry. It works by stopping your body reacting as strongly to the adrenaline in your blood. Yes you can still have anxiety and panic attacks on them, but they reduce the severity of the attacks.
I take 10mg x3 a day.

[MatthewH]

The doc gave me 40mg to take when needed. I suppose i'm just going to have to get out and about and see what happens. He told me take them before going somewhere i might think i need them, but how on earth can i pre-empt an attack? How quickly do they work? As in, if i took them out with me, when i started to feel the onset, would i be able to take them as and when, knowing they would kick in quickly?

[Bill]

He told me take them before going somewhere i might think i need them

I presume he's telling you to take them before you go into any situations that frighten you because they stress you. I guess then this could be at work, in crowded shops, on transport etc. I would also then guess that he thinks you must have a good idea when you think you will need to take them beforehand. Perhaps also he feels you must be feeling very stressed in your job but all he can offer to help you cope are meds. Maybe then there is too much stress in your life that you feel you can cope with and perhaps then finding ways to ease those stresses would then pre-empt your attacks because you'll feel more relaxed.

I'm afraid to say that when we go to the doctors saying we feel "ill", they can't pull out of their computer or drawer a counsellor, psychologist and therapist to help us find ways to deal with the issues and thoughts causing our anxiety but then they can't let a patient go without doing anything so they prescribe ad's because that's all they have to hand for relatively immediate relief to our anxiety symptoms caused by worry and stress.

Having said all that, reading one of your old posts from a couple of years ago I found the following...

My dad died when i was 5 of diabetes, and my mum has an overactive thyroid. Whenever i feel just a tiny bit sick, it always suddenly gets worse. I feel like i need an escape route. Its like, if im driving down the road i know i can pull over to the hard shoulder, but if i was in a restaurant, i dont think i could bare to try and get to the toilet. I worry ill be ill while in the middle of my food, and then make a fool of myself.
Ive found that gradually, ive managed to get to stages where i know im comfortable. After my first panic attack i didnt want to leave the house. Now i can happily go to the supermarket, go for walks and even go out to the cinema. Im not saying i feel perfect all the time, but im slowly getting better with time.

My guess is your loss triggered a health anxiety which then caused you to dwell on every sensation which then made you feel afraid and so caused worry which then caused your first panic attack. I think this is the root to your problems because it triggered your first attack which are now re-created in situations where you feel stressed because you're afraid of the panics returning. The key is to learn not to "think" or dwell on how you might feel but to concentrate on what's going on around you.