Beta Blockers (Inderal, Propranolol, Atenolol) For Anxiety
Beta blockers are often used off label for anxiety disorder, particularly things like social anxiety disorder, because they're good medications that take away the symptoms of anxiety. Beta Blockers are good to take away the racing heart, the sweating, and the high blood pressure symptoms of anxiety. Beta Blockers have been used for quite awhile to treat anxiety this is because they work quickly and can be used as needed. You can use them for certain situations. You can use them if you're giving a speech, or if you're going to a social event, or if you're going on a date, whatever the case may be. This is something that you can take beforehand and it can take away those anxiety symptoms. The most commonly used beta blocker for anxiety is called inderal or propranolol. This one is used very often because it's shown to work best as a short term treatment for specific types of anxiety. Tenorman is also used quite a bit, it’s also known as atenolol.
One really good thing about beta blockers is that they can be used to break you out of the cycle of a panic. If somebody's having a panic attack, you can take the beta blocker and it takes away that rising heart rate, high blood pressure, sweating, and allows you to break out of that cycle. It allows you to have your body calmed down enough that you yourself can regain control of your thoughts and your mind and be able to reorient yourself and bring yourself back to reality. Your anxiety may begin to seem unrealistic and you'll begin to recover.
Beta Blockers actually hold several benefits over other anxiety medications, such as benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepines are a class of medications that include Xanax, Ativan, Valium or Klonopin. Benzodiazepines come with a lot of risk. One of them being that you can become tolerant and addicted to them. They are schedule IV controlled substances whereas beta blockers are not controlled substances, so you don't have to worry about becoming addicted to them, at least physically.
Benzodiazepines have also been linked to some serious long term side effects such as dementia and mental decline. Benzodiazepines are something that a lot of physicians are really trying to get away from, and for very good reason. Often you will see beta blockers prescribed for anxiety before you see something like a benzo prescribed these days.
There was a time in my mental health journey where I took a beta blocker, I took Propranolol, also called Inderal. I took it for a short amount of time because when I would take it, it didn't work for me, it really didn't help. It didn't take away any symptoms, which can be the case sometimes with medications, they just don't work right for you. Now, I do believe that I could have tried other beta blockers because they're chemically similar, but they're not the same. So I may have done better on a different one, but I never really got around to trying it.
My doctor and I ended up trying different classes of medication instead. Beta Blockers are something that could be an option if you're struggling with anxiety, particularly something like social anxiety disorder. Ask your physician about this medication if it's something you think might work for you and might benefit you.
