Posted by MB on July 18, 2001, at 11:53:23
In reply to Re: beta blockers for anxiety/panic? » gdog, posted by Elizabeth on July 18, 2001, at 8:53:40
> > a friend just told me that she takes blood pressure meds - she called them beta blockers - for her anxiety associated with ritalin. she said they easily resolve the physical symptoms associated with anxiety, like palpitations, racing heart, shakes, etc.
>
> That's exactly what beta blockers do, yup (they're also used to treat high blood pressure and certain cardiac arrhythmias; people with asthma generally can't use them). The most commonly used one is called propranolol (all their names end in -olol).
>
> -elizabethI just watched a really stupid (and pretty funny) movie about kareoke (called "Duet"). Anyway, there's a scene where a woman gives one of the characters a beta-blocker for his stage fright. It made me laugh, I had forgotten about beta-blockers. A pdoc gave propranolol for anxiety once...it was a funny, yet unpleasant experience: I felt like I weighed 300lbs and like my body had swollen up into a sphere (like the Stay-puff marshmellow man from Ghostbusters--LOL!). I had to drink a pot of coffee just to function (which, sadly, counteracted the beta-blocker--heh heh). Oh, well...
poster:MB
thread:70518
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010714/msgs/70639.html