Posted by mulva on August 15, 2009, at 21:20:56
I am a mid-thirties female with chronic low-to-medium-level anxiety and PMDD. I am really liking propranolol for relief from my anxiety, especially during the "bad" half of the month. I used to feel like I needed a massage every week for my ever-present muscle tension, but now I always feel pretty relaxed when I'm taking it. My boyfriend tried it and said, "I feel like I'm taking a bath." I am a lightweight so I only take 5 mg a few times a week. It does make me a little bit loopy and tired, but I sort of enjoy those feelings - it's a nice change from feeling frantic and stressed out. My anxiety used to build up and overwhelm me and lead to depression, so I actually feel less depressed now too.
My only slight concern is that I seem to be gaining a bit of weight around the belly, despite working out more, and I feel hypoglycemic after my regular workouts (cold, weak and extremely hungry). The two reasons I stopped taking prozac were weight gain and anxiety, so this new weight gain is somewhat frustrating. I also felt hypoglycemic on prozac, much more than I do now. I've tried pretty much everything at this point and am done (at least for now) with benzos, SSRI's, SNRI's, buspirone, st. john's wort, 5-htp, gaba, kava, etc, etc.
Are there other beta blockers that have less effect on blood sugar / weight that still block the bad stuff (adrenaline)? Does anyone have experiences to share / know the pluses and minuses of bopindolol or nadolol?
Also, I read a posting on another thread that propranolol when taken long-term can actually increase the activity of beta receptors (or something like that) .. so that when you stop, you'll feel more anxious than before. Which is concerning as well.
Any advice / information would be greatly appreciated!
poster:mulva
thread:912339
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20090727/msgs/912339.html