I don't know if I want to start

[fuggamoose]

Hi guys,
I'm new to the forum and I'm looking for some advice. I suffer from anxiety and mild agoraphobia along with emetephobia. Recently it's becoming worse so I went to my doc who prescribed me 10mg of Propanolol twice a day. I've not started taking them yet....I don't know if I want to.
I've been on Venlafaxine 75mg a day and coming on and off them was evil, it was really awful and I don't want to go through anything like that again.
I've heard that Propanolol makes you dizzy and faint, I'm really worried about that now. I don't want to take something which is just going to add to my worries.
Does anybody have any experience or words of encouragement?
I am so glad to have found this forum, it really is useful for me and gives me support which I so desperately need!

Charlotte x

[nanny]

Hi Charlotte

I have been on propranolol for years i take 160mg per day and i have never felt faint or giddy, i also take other meds along with them, they have helped.

I would give them a try if i were you, honestly they are nothing to worry about especially if your doc has prescribed them.

[sazz_1984]

Hi,

I am also in the same boat!

I was prescribed 80mg once a day last summer. I made the mistake of reading the side effects!

I have never dared to take these tablets once and my anxiety is now worse than ever.

I am considering trying them, although I feel that 80mg is a bit much to start off on, so I may go back to the docs and see if they can recommend splitting the dose somehow.

I'm sure I am just being paranoid about the whole thing.

Having read most of the posts, a lot of people seem to get on fine with them and only a few have reported quite minor side effects.

I am yet to read a post about someone fainting due to it!

I hope we can both pluck up the courage to try these out!

Sarah x

[fuggamoose]

Thank you for the replies. I still haven't taken one yet but I feel better to perhaps take one soon.

Sarah - it is hard when doctors prescribe you meds which could in theory make you feel worse. I'm always so scared of taking new meds I had quite a bad experience with Effexor so I'm especially worried. They gave me Effexor when I was 15 and had never tried any other anti-depressant so it was quite a shock to my body. 80mg of Propanolol does sound a lot, I'm sure you can split it, but it seems like there are many others who are taking higher doses.

Can I ask what your family/partner thinks of meds? My mums been pushing me for a little while to get back onto something. I finally came off the Effexor about 6 months ago and was doing ok, but have had a little set back and any sign of slight weakness my mum's pushing me for the pills. My partner's different he was happy I was off them. I hate being pulled in different directions. I know it's my choice, and at the moment I don't want to be on them which causes arguments with my mum. How ridiculous. I'm 22 and still fighting with my mum!

Is it just me or do you sometimes just want to curl into a ball and stay there forever?

[nettles]

I'm glad I found your post! My doctor prescribed Effexor to me this week as my emetophobia (with resulting anxiety and depression) have been getting worse. I've had bad experiences with prozac and seroxat so he said this was a different antidepressant. I've read lots of bad things about it on the internet, and it says nausea is a very common side effect - no much good for an emetophobe! Can I ask whether it helped you at all?

Nettles

[fuggamoose]

Hi Nettles,

It did help me to start with....when I was first prescribed it when I was young it took a couple of weeks to get used to it but in the end it did help. I'm afraid to say it but I did feel nausous when I first started taking them and also when coming off them. I booked two weeks holiday from work when I went on and off them so that I could do it slowly and if I felt like crap then I'd be home safe. I was never actually sick with it, but felt it. Not to the point that I thought I'd be sick though.

Everybody is different though so you might not feel as bad as I did. What dosage have you been put on? I've been on Effexor twice. The first time definitely helped me, the second time did for a bit but after about 8 or 10 months I felt exhausted all the time and the GP said to up my dosage from 37.5mg to 75mg which actually just made me feel worse, so I ended up coming off them totally.

Hope this helped you. x

[daniela]

Hi Charlotte, i'm in your same situation. I'm presently on paxil, 2 months ago doctor prescribed propranolol 10 mg 2x a day for my anxiety. Read the side effect and got scared. I tell myself I should start taking them but I never do. What I was thinking of doing is maybe start by splitting the 10 in half and take 2 x 5mg for the first times.

Daniela xox

[fuggamoose]

That's not a bad idea Daniela. Perhaps I'll think about doing that too. It's funny how we constantly worry about stuff but our help e.g. the meds, make us worry more. Ironic. If you're starting soon Daniela good luck! I'm going to give it a couple of weeks just to see how I do without them.

x

[summer82]

Hi,

I am also in the same boat!

I was prescribed 80mg once a day last summer. I made the mistake of reading the side effects!

I have never dared to take these tablets once and my anxiety is now worse than ever.

I am considering trying them, although I feel that 80mg is a bit much to start off on, so I may go back to the docs and see if they can recommend splitting the dose somehow.

I'm sure I am just being paranoid about the whole thing.

Having read most of the posts, a lot of people seem to get on fine with them and only a few have reported quite minor side effects.

I am yet to read a post about someone fainting due to it!

I hope we can both pluck up the courage to try these out!

Sarah x

im also in this boat lol I have 80mg tablets sitting next to me now and I have been searching for information on them (it's how I stumbled on this site incidentally) I think I'm going to start them tonight. this is mostly to do with the positive feedback they seem to be getting on here. shall we all just go for it? lol and see how it goes?

[nikkinik]

Hi,

My Gp prescribed me these back in Nov or Dec I think.. theyve been sat in my drawer ever since!

When I took my prescription to the chemist the pharmasist asked me if I had low blood pressure, I said I did, and he said it might be best talking it over again with my GP.. as I believe they lower your blood pressure a bit.. so the last thing I want is to be feeling faint on top of the other 101 symptoms!

Im worried about it making me faint, sick or mess with my tummy..

Just swallowing tablets brings on a panic attack for me!