Propranolol for anxiety?

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with propranolol for anxiety caused by their UC.

I was doing really well on Remicade but the first 8 week maintenance interval was too long (I also started running again and got bad bronchitis at about week 5, which didn’t help, I’m sure) and I started to backslide pretty badly. The next dose of Remicade wasn’t enough to pull me out, so I went back on Pred (30mg) and did the second maintenance dose at 6 weeks. about a week out from that dose I started to feel much better, though my drug levels are too low so we’re going to 7.5mg/kg Remi for the next infusion and keeping me at 6 weeks. But I digress.

I was able to keep it together mentally through a fall and winter of being so sick everyone assumed I’d have surgery this spring. But once I started to get my life back, and then having that yanked out from under me, my anxiety has been through the roof. And I know it’s causing GI issues. I have just been hyper-focused in how I feel at all times, to the point I make myself sick worrying that I’m going to get sick. It’s madness.

I talked to my GP who agreed with my assumption that this was temporary, until I got some consistency back in my life, and she thought Propranolol would be the way to go over a psych-acting anxiolytic.

I’ll be taking 40mg 2x/day for 2 weeks, to try and break the feedback loop of disastrous thinking, and then situationally, as needed, after that. Her preference for a beta-blocker was also based on the tendency for SSRIs and other psych meds to cause GI disturbance, though I see that D is a potential side effect of Propranolol. I am just trying not to think about it. 😜

I’ve also tried CBD oil, which seems to take the edge off, though I think it’s more because it gives me the sense that I’m doing something to regain control, and not any real clinical response. Which is fine with me. But if anyone has any thoughts on dosing CBD for anxiety I’m open to that, as well.

Good to hear!

I’ve got my first two doses in and so far, so good. I was a little worried about my blood pressure, which is super low to begin with (usually around the 100/60 range) but it seems fine so far.

I already exercise as much as I’m physically able (which is still not as much as I’d like, but I’m balancing physical stress with a not-very-healed colon). The issue is very situational — specifically, leaving the house—and it has not mattered how much exercise I get in in a day because it’s the leaving that triggers the response.

Beta blockers work by thwarting norepinephrine, primarily, which causes the fight-or-flight responses, including GI symptoms. Without the rush and wane of stress hormones I should in theory be able to better regulate my mental response because the feedback loop of stress-symptoms-more stress-more symptoms is interrupted.

I am definitely considering therapy. I did a round while in grad school, when my anxiety was a little bananas, and found it super helpful.

Celeriac said...
I already exercise as much as I’m physically able (which is still not as much as I’d like, but I’m balancing physical stress with a not-very-healed colon). The issue is very situational — specifically, leaving the house—and it has not mattered how much exercise I get in in a day because it’s the leaving that triggers the response.

Beta blockers work by thwarting norepinephrine, primarily, which causes the fight-or-flight responses, including GI symptoms. Without the rush and wane of stress hormones I should in theory be able to better regulate my mental response because the feedback loop of stress-symptoms-more stress-more symptoms is interrupted.

I understand. I hope it works for you.