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Re: New to Propranolol
Yip that's exactly it! Sounds crazy, it first started in my twenty's and went away but after a bout of health anxiety a couple of years ago it remains (or should I say I keep fueling it). I do have anxiety and when the sensation is at it's worse my nose can actually throb! I feel very much alone as I've never come across anyone that has the same problem. On a good day I can bat it away but it seems to have a grip of me at the moment.
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Re: New to Propranolol
Well it seems obvious to me that it's something like sinus pressure, possibly allergy/seasonal related? Have you asked your Doctor about the nose pressure?
Also, you're not alone. Loads of people experience sinus pressure.
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Re: New to Propranolol
The doctor just said that it's anxiety but I agree with you and think the pressure is in my sinus area. Not sure if I'm tensing muscles in that area. It's not seasonal, happens the more anxious I get. It's an odd one, any advice/suggestions are most appreciated as the doctor doesn't seem to have a clue. When I sit down or lie down it goes away and it's never there when I wake up. As soon as I shut my eyes and do meditation it also goes away. I think it is some kind of muscle tension. When I consciously breathe out I think that releases the pressuee/tension as well.
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Re: New to Propranolol
Well in that case it just seems to be 'one of those things'. If it goes away under certain conditions, it's almost certainly anxiety related.
I have absolutely no idea why you've been prescribed propranolol. At best, placebo. It will have no effect on the sinus pressure or your monitoring behaviour, and it's really you focusing on it that's the issue here.
The cause is most likely a number of contributing factors including muscle tension or even odd breathing whilst anxious.
What you really need to do is practice not focusing on benign triggers, whatever they might be.
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Re: New to Propranolol
Agree, I've got a therapist lined up to help me with refocusing although I do feel I have all the "tools" to do this myself. It is a habit, tensing myself without realising. It's not easy though.
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Re: New to Propranolol
Health anxiety isn't the same as general anxiety. You can have the tools to cope with the symptoms of anxiety, but if you are habitually fanning the flames of health anxiety (focusing on benign things) the tools you have a reactionary response rather than a preventative one.
Better to deal with the cause of the anxiety (your focusing habit) than the aftermath.
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Re: New to Propranolol
I see, so any suggestions on how to do that in your opinion just in case I'm missing a trick? :-)
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Re: New to Propranolol
For me it was just long, hard practice. You have to re-learn NOT focusing on every little sensation. Your brain has become hyper sensitised to notice everything, and you have to re-teach it to ignore things. It's not a fast process, but it's the only real way to recover from HA imo.
The tools you have for anxiety will be effective in the short term to deal with the symptoms of the anxiety, but it's the unnoticed habits you've picked up that those tools won't deal with at all. For example next time you feel the sensation behind your nose, try and be mindful of what you do and how you react. It's likely that you'll don something like immediately stop whatever it is you're doing, you might tense up, you might touch the area around your nose etc etc. These are all autonomous responses that will signal danger to your subconscious. So next time you feel it try and deliberately do something else instead. It really doesn't matter what it is, as long as it's not hyper focusing on the thing you've been told isn't an issue.
For me, whenever I used to pander to my focus (historically my heart rate), I would say 'no' out loud and walk away from wherever I was. I physically removed myself from the situation. It sounds stupid, but you're telling your subconscious that there is nothing to fear here. You have to practice this hundreds and hundreds of times though. There's no quick fix for ingrained, habitual behaviour.
Of course it goes without saying that you can do all this perfectly, but if you Google symptoms nothing will work, you will start to obsess again.
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Re: New to Propranolol
Thank you so much I really appreciate the time you have given me today, it's amazing how someone else's words can help. :-)