# Propranolol (Inderal) my experiences, feedback



## riptide991 (Feb 1, 2012)

Hey guys,

So my doctor gave me propranolol since I asked for something when dealing with approaching girls. She told me to take it daily and so far I have been taking 10-30mg and playing with doses to see how I feel. I discussed this with my doctor and even my concerns with how it may block the effects of Effexor. She told me that typically adrenergic reward pathways are linked to the alpha receptors which propranolol doesn't touch.

Anyways, I have noticed that I've had much more energy recently. I don't think this is a coincidence. It just makes me more outgoing and energetic. Has anyone else experience something like this? I would assume this stuff would make me tired. I did get tired the first day but that was just a coincidence as I have not experienced it since.

I read a few studies that it actually increases norepinephrine release particularly at the alpha receptors.

I've been going through studies to try to make some sense of it. I did find some studies showing that a1b receptors are more linked to reward. I also found an interesting one with cocaine.



> *β-Adrenergic Antagonism Alters the Behavioral and Neurochemical Responses to Cocaine*
> 
> Glenda C Harris1, Mohsen A Hedaya2, Wei-Jian Pan and Peter Kalivas Ph.D1
> 
> ...


What is everyone's experience with this? I did go jogging today and I did not notice any performance hit. My heart rate and blood pressure is also normal so maybe the dose is not enough to affect those parameters.


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## ricca91 (Mar 11, 2012)

kehcorpz said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> So my doctor gave me propranolol since I asked for something when dealing with approaching girls. She told me to take it daily and so far I have been taking 10-30mg and playing with doses to see how I feel. I discussed this with my doctor and even my concerns with how it may block the effects of Effexor. She told me that typically adrenergic reward pathways are linked to the alpha receptors which propranolol doesn't touch.
> 
> ...


I took propranolol for about 6 months, it definitely makes you more outgoing, I think mainly because of the decreased fight or flight response that you experience, for example, when approaching girls.

Also, propranolol is used to "detach" the emotional component from something stressful which happened in the past, that's why it's used in PSTD. It depresses the activity of the amygdala, reducing fear.

I love propranolol, but since I'm taking a beta blocker mainly for HBP and tachycardia, I had to switch to nebivolol because propranolol just stopped working suddenly and my BP went back to high.

Nebivolol is excellent and works as well as propranolol for anxiety, but it's still quite expensive.

Usually, the doses used for HTN are from 80 mg upwards, so 30 mg is a fairly low dose which doesn't depress myocardial function and therefore doesn't cause exercise intolerance.


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## wrongnumber (May 24, 2009)

It's the only effective med I've used for my anxiety. I've been taking propranolol prn for a decade (sometimes with breaks that lasted several months). I take at minimum 40 mg up to 80 mg, and I'm always incredulous when people say they get a response at 10 - 30 mg, since I'm lightweight and female. I've never noticed propranolol to fatigue me, but I don't know about your energy boost. Interesting finding though.


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## riptide991 (Feb 1, 2012)

ricca91 said:


> I took propranolol for about 6 months, it definitely makes you more outgoing, I think mainly because of the decreased fight or flight response that you experience, for example, when approaching girls.
> 
> Also, propranolol is used to "detach" the emotional component from something stressful which happened in the past, that's why it's used in PSTD. It depresses the activity of the amygdala, reducing fear.
> 
> Usually, the doses used for HTN are from 80 mg upwards, so 30 mg is a fairly low dose which doesn't depress myocardial function and therefore doesn't cause exercise intolerance.


Ahh I hope it doesn't detach memories from good emotions like happiness. But if this is true then it should treat anxiety from both a physical and mental level which is good. Glad that it won't be messing with my workouts. Thanks for the info!



wrongnumber said:


> It's the only effective med I've used for my anxiety. I've been taking propranolol prn for a decade (sometimes with breaks that lasted several months). I take at minimum 40 mg up to 80 mg, and I'm always incredulous when people say they get a response at 10 - 30 mg, since I'm lightweight and female. I've never noticed propranolol to fatigue me, but I don't know about your energy boost. Interesting finding though.


Well, today I'm going to try 40mg when I go shopping just to get a feel for it. It's such a dirt cheap drug so you can play around.


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## ricca91 (Mar 11, 2012)

kehcorpz said:


> Ahh I hope it doesn't detach memories from good emotions like happiness. But if this is true then it should treat anxiety from both a physical and mental level which is good. Glad that it won't be messing with my workouts. Thanks for the info!


In my experience, it doesn't! You can enjoy everything, but "bad" experiences (such as rejection from a girl) don't have such a big impact on your self-esteem or hurt your feelings at the point of them being unbearable. But that's just the effect it had on me!!

Keep us updated!!


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## hammerfast (Mar 8, 2012)

it's for high blood pressure


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## a real psych (Apr 17, 2013)

I wish it worked for me. I tried it for case presentations in med school. It made me dizzy and silly. 

It's definately a useful drug for situational anxiety of many kinds. 

I believe research is very scant on it disconnecting emotion from experience. And regardless of pathways involved, experience just doesn't bear that out. The old inderal/depression myth in cardiac patients still floats around but has no actual basis in fact.


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## CoolRanch (Mar 24, 2013)

It's a miracle drug for me when I can get it. I'm still able to function, though I do feel my heart rate lowered, that takes some getting used to. If I'm on Inderal I could literally give the state of the union address and not miss a beat. From my research, albeit I'm not an expert it's also a non-addictive relatively safe drug.


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## Alienated (Apr 17, 2013)

I was on propranolol for a couple of years, but it was to off set the side effects of anti-psychotics. I got tardive dyskinesia and it finally dissipated after a year. I was on so many heavy duty meds I took just as many for the side effects. $5,000 a year .I hope it works for you, it did help me with the tremors.


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## yay (Dec 31, 2012)

I wonder what separates propanolol from other betablockers like metoprolol?
I took meto years ago and it helped by lowering the pulse in scary situations but if propanolol can even help with PTSD then this is a totally different mechanism. Now I wonder if this is a unique feature of propanolol or can alo betablockers do this?


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## riptide991 (Feb 1, 2012)

Glad to hear about the good experiences.

I find that it also helps me focus better. This is not a placebo effect there is quite a noticeable increase in focus. I have tested not taking it and all times I am able to sit there and just read and ignore everything around me. It could be that beta adrenergic receptors may cause an internal restlessness that may not be noticeable until you actually disable the receptors and act without its effects. I've been taking 20mg in the morning and 20 mg later in the afternoon daily now. I also noticed that when I drink any caffeinated beverage the mental effect is really powerful yet i'm still calm and collected. When I say the metal effects I refer to concentration and focus. I really do think this is mediated with the potentiated alpha activity.


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## Stevebo (Mar 6, 2012)

Inderal is wonderful!!! I've been using it for over a year now for presentations. The funny thing is im probably more scared than anyone in my class without it. But with inderal classmates always say im super confident in my peer reviews. LOL


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## catcharay (Sep 15, 2011)

Well I'm actioning my plan of taking this daily (40 mg). It's fantastic for my fears of presentation and I'm more confident in communicating my ideas orally.


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## Randomdood13 (Dec 10, 2012)

When I'm on this I find it stops the physical symptoms but in my mind i'm still anxious and things so it's not ideal. It gets you through the day type drug.


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## catcharay (Sep 15, 2011)

My intake of 40 mg/day for 2.5 weeks has been making me tired (2 naps a day, if possible)
I'm female, 55 kg. Just a consideration for others planning on taking this

This morning I went without it and there is a marked difference with my motivation for studying a test (tomorrow)


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## riptide991 (Feb 1, 2012)

catcharay said:


> My intake of 40 mg/day for 2.5 weeks has been making me tired (2 naps a day, if possible)
> I'm female, 55 kg. Just a consideration for others planning on taking this
> 
> This morning I went without it and there is a marked difference with my motivation for studying a test (tomorrow)


Are you splitting it up throughout the day? I know if I take 40mg at once I get tired but if I take 20mg in the morning and then again late afternoon I'm usually fine.


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## TheCanadian1 (Sep 14, 2009)

I found it worked for initial anxiety approaching a social event, but did not assist me in social situations or give me extra energy to socialize.

I believe I suffer from low dopamine levels, but was being treated for low serotonin at the time.

I do not use it now, as I have overcome the majority of my debilitating anxiety.


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## doverjxp (May 3, 2013)

It's the only effective med I've used for my anxiety.


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## catcharay (Sep 15, 2011)

kehcorpz said:


> Are you splitting it up throughout the day? I know if I take 40mg at once I get tired but if I take 20mg in the morning and then again late afternoon I'm usually fine.


thx Kehcorpz, today I did just that and it was better. This will be my new daily dose schedule


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## Alyson0711 (May 16, 2013)

*Wow thought it was just me*

I just googled a moment ago to see if its possible that propranalol can give you more energy and your question was what I found. I'm on 40mg 2-3 times a day and have been on it around 4 weeks now for anxiety and panic attacks. Not only has it made me feel much better and less anxious, the energy and enthusiasm I have now since started is unreal. I was always really lazy but now I feel I have so much energy I want to find things to do.


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## TheCanadian1 (Sep 14, 2009)

Alyson0711 said:


> I just googled a moment ago to see if its possible that propranalol can give you more energy and your question was what I found. I'm on 40mg 2-3 times a day and have been on it around 4 weeks now for anxiety and panic attacks. Not only has it made me feel much better and less anxious, the energy and enthusiasm I have now since started is unreal. I was always really lazy but now I feel I have so much energy I want to find things to do.


Are you on any other meds?


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