DOSE:

10 mg

oral

Pharms - Propranolol

(daily)

BODY WEIGHT:

180 lb

About 6 months ago I started having serious panic/anxiety attacks at work in the morning. I have been at this job for years without anxiety problems, so I'm not sure what brought on the attacks.

Visited the doctor, and was prescribed propranolol, a beta-blocker that is supposed to help lower blood pressure. 10mg/day in the morning.

For the first few days I didn't notice much of a difference, other than not having anxiety attacks. So far, so good.

Over the next few weeks, my mental health and job performance started to decline. I work phone sales, so having positive energy and focus is crucial to success with the job.

While working I felt a complete lack of connection when on the phone. I felt as if I had to force out any enthusiasm whatsoever. It was terribly frustrating considering I have always been comfortable on the phones and a top-producer.

In my personal life, I started feeling too drained to do anything. I felt completely unable to summon any positive feelings about my living situation/girlfriend/general circumstances in life.

At this point, about a week after starting on propranolol, I hadn't even considered that the medication could be the source of my problems. I figured I was just being a negative peice of shit. I felt useless and unable to communicate clearly or feel much emotion at all.

So... After about two weeks of negative thoughts swarming through my head about everything, and feeling like my soul was flattened and lame, I put 2 and 2 together and stopped taking the propranolol.

Some google research indicated that beta-blockers can have this effect on some. Something I wish my doctor would have told me when they prescribed it.

The first day off it, I felt 100X better. I am able to smile and laugh, I can focus way better, and I have much more control over my thoughts.

Overall, I was glad it stopped the anxiety attacks, but the change in my personality was such a shitty thing to struggle through.

Exp Year: 2020	ExpID: 114023
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 31
Published: Feb 6, 2020	Views: 3,795
[ View PDF (to print) ] [ View LaTeX (for geeks) ] [ Swap Dark/Light ]
Pharms - Propranolol (72) : Difficult Experiences (5), Medical Use (47), Not Applicable (38)