# Will 225mg of caffeine reduce the efficacy of propranolol?



## bluebluesplayer (Jan 16, 2009)

Hi guys, my doctor once said that the effectiveness of propranolol (taken for anxiety) will actually be reduced if it's taken with caffeine. Will 225mg of caffeine (say, from 5 cans of diet coke) severely reduce propranolol's impact on the body? Has anyone noticed this?


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## Porterdog (Sep 17, 2010)

Its Caffeine... What do you think...


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## bluebluesplayer (Jan 16, 2009)

Thanks for the reply. 

Has anyone here noticed that 40mg works better than 60mg to help with eliminating the physical signs of social anxiety?


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## Oioioi123 (Nov 1, 2011)

Porterdog said:


> Its Caffeine... What do you think...


Why would you say that? It's not an obvious cut and dry question. What's your scientific reasoning behind it? Beta blockers lower NE, I'm not sure exactly by what mechanism caffeine works but I took the 2 together and had no problems. I can see it maybe being slightly dangerous, betas slow down your heart rate and caffeine will increase it. If you wanna err on the side of caution listen to your doc, but I personally don't think moderate amounts of caffeine are gonna effect your results from the betas too much. They didn't for me anyway


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## Porterdog (Sep 17, 2010)

Oioioi123 said:


> Why would you say that? It's not an obvious cut and dry question. What's your scientific reasoning behind it? Beta blockers lower NE, I'm not sure exactly by what mechanism caffeine works but I took the 2 together and had no problems. I can see it maybe being slightly dangerous, betas slow down your heart rate and caffeine will increase it. If you wanna err on the side of caution listen to your doc, but I personally don't think moderate amounts of caffeine are gonna effect your results from the betas too much. They didn't for me anyway


Caffeine pretty much has the opposite effect of propanolol. Caffeine raises Norepinephrine/Epinephrine/dopamine etc whereas propanolol lowers them.

Sure it isn't a major thing, but if your on a med because your fight of flight system is running overdrive, it would be irresponsible to take Caffeine. It would be pretty much like drinking alcohol on SSRI's. Plus theres the fact that the OP's doctor even said it..


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## Akane (Jan 2, 2008)

> Originally Posted by *Porterdog*
> _Its Caffeine... What do you think..._
> Why would you say that? It's not an obvious cut and dry question. What's your scientific reasoning behind it? Beta blockers lower NE, I'm not sure exactly by what mechanism caffeine works but I took the 2 together and had no problems. I can see it maybe being slightly dangerous, betas slow down your heart rate and caffeine will increase it. If you wanna err on the side of caution listen to your doc, but I personally don't think moderate amounts of caffeine are gonna effect your results from the betas too much. They didn't for me anyway


Stimulant combined with something that is suppose to decrease adrenaline and stop the fight or flight response... Result seems obvious to me even before we get in to the details of the pharmacology. The worst medication reaction I've ever had was actually taking 2 medications that should simply have cancelled each other out. I've stacked together a lot of combos that worked similarly without issue but that one time I crossed 2 meds that had opposite effects I nearly ended up in a padded room to keep from injuring myself because my brain was trying to do and feel 2 totally different things. Went in to a complete panic emotionally, was crying so hard I was practically screaming.... Caffiene luckily seems to be nice and simple when you counter it. I often take valerian root to counter caffiene because they have the opposite effects on adenosine receptors.


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## barry1685 (May 25, 2011)

In my experience caffeine reduces Inderals effectiveness. If a beta blocker is taken with a stimulant it stops the effects of norepinephrine. The dopamine action still remains in touched. So if you want a nice relaxing caffeine buzz take a beta blocker. FYI though your dr is right about the effectiveness of beta blocker being lowered.


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## Huk phin (Oct 30, 2011)

On the flip side, you can drink more caffeine without getting the jitters. Theoretically. :wink


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## Oioioi123 (Nov 1, 2011)

Huk phin said:


> On the flip side, you can drink more caffeine without getting the jitters. Theoretically. :wink


That's what I found. The beta blocker decreased the effectiveness of the caffeine, not the other way around


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## barry1685 (May 25, 2011)

Oioioi123 said:


> Huk phin said:
> 
> 
> > On the flip side, you can drink more caffeine without getting the jitters. Theoretically. :wink
> ...


Doesn't necessarily decrease the effect of caffeine. Dopamine increases and stays that way. Norepinephrine is lowered which causes the energy. Dopamine is more euphoria/pleasure.


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