Hello all, I was hoping that you might be able to help me.

About two years ago, I took the drug Inderal for a speech. After taking it I developed SEVERE panic disorder/social anxiety. I now know that I was predisposed for this to happen. Before taking the Inderal I was "normal," a bit reserved, and more nervous than most when giving speeches. But I was "normal," this is not the case at all anymore as taking propranolol seemed to bring all this to the surface. What's also particularly odd is that the social anxiety cannot be treated with benzos or anything that even remotely effects GABA function (including GABA itself, Gabapentin, androgens, MAOI's, mild gaba agonizing herbs, etc etc) Anything that effects the GABA pathway actually makes the social anxiety MUCH worse. For example, if I were to have a beer or 1mg of Ativan, I would have very bad 'rebound' social anxiety for 3-4 days!!

I'm really hoping some of you NS guys might be able to give me some clue as to what's going on or an idea as to how this is even possible.

~James

try meditation, and maybe kava kava. Note that MAOI's do not inhibit GABA, and would be expected to exacerbate anxiety.

Apparently reduces the ANS stimulation which means your supposed to sweat less when nervous, be able to talk more clearly ect. Basically it tries to keep your body at its normal levels, it tries to stop adrenaline which can cause you to feel butterflies in your stomach, increased heart rate, higher muscle tension ect.

Life mirage knows alot more about pharmasuticals than I do. Hopefully I can provide you with some useful info though.

Serotonin, or 5-Hydroxytryptamine, is a neurotransmitter involved with a number of important human behaviors. These Serotonin-producing neurons extend from the raphe nuclei in the brain stem to many different regions of the central nervous system, including the amygdala. It's believed that people with anxiety disorders may have a serotonin deficiency, or else the available serotonin in the patient's body isn't being used as efficiently as it should be.

It is known that the amygdala is needed to be functional in order to learn fear and the forebrain is needed to eliminate that fear. So we can thus deduce that anxiety in general is originating from the amygdala. In order to reduce this anxiety we need the forebrain to do this job.

I would recommend trying meditation too or some sort of stress relieving exercise like Tai Chi or Yoga.

For me at least, meditation and drawing reduces my stress and anxiety. There is actually a field of psychology known as Art Therapy in which making art is used to relieve paitents of psychological conditions.

About 6 months ago i developed a panic disorder unlike many doctors have seen or heard about. I was admitted to an ER psych unit 8 times to be injected with high doses of ativan, this was on top of my allready 5mg a day allowance of alprazolam. I didnt sleep for days at a time because i was terrified i was dying/going to die. I was completely losing my mind during the begining and almost spent time in a psychiatric ward and would have if it werent for some psychologist that essentially called the attending doctors morons for not sedating me because they were afraid of "drug seeking behaviour".

Then last month i came down with a bad virus of some sort and was quite sick with something that resembled a flu but had horrible chills to the point that i was pretty much experiancing involuntary movements and began counting down untill i had a seizure (and hopefully woke up in an ER), i got to 100 and it never happened. After three days of this i woke up and my panic disorder was completely gone, all of my other anxiety disorders were still intact but the panic was completely missing. The only other thing i did that week out of the norm was start taking melotonin as a sleep aid.

Currently im taking 30 - 40 mg daily of d-amphetamine (dexedrine) for AD/HD-IA/High Functioning Autism, which ever one it really is. If anything were able to antagonize a panic disorder amphetamines would definetly do it and i havent had a panic attack yet.

As to your question for some reason your brain is downregulating your GABAa receptors in response to their use. You usually see this sort of thing in people that are abusing huge amounts of benzos. My only advice would be stay away from all the herbs, supplements and what nots, stop drinking all caffeine and booze. Then if you really have a panic disorder get on a regimen of benzodiazepines. Normally i would never say that but panic disorder is a special situation where risking serious dependence might be worth it.

Nardil (phenelzine) elevates brain levels of GABA, not sure about the other MAOI's though.

Hmm...I'll have to look into Kava Kava some more

Was hoping you and Maximus might shed some light on how meditation might be useful. Part of me would find it easy to dismiss the efficacy of meditation...but I know there are clinical studies showing changes in brave wave patterns and what not...and there are people I respect from other forums that advocate its use. But was still hoping that you two might shed some light on its advantages.

Most interesting. Adderall causes me some serious social anxiety in general, but I am aware that since it is mixed isomers, the l-amp imparts a greater degree of peripheral effects as opposed to just plain d-amp. Can't get my hands on any dexedrine at the moment, but believe I could get it prescribed to me if I wanted. I'll definitely keep this in mind.

That's what's so weird, I haven't touched any gabaergics in months. But if I were to drink a couple beers right now the backlash I would experience the following days would be pretty severe.

I tried dosing ativan and then xanax at different doses and (unbeknownst to me at the time) it made my condition much worse. Though I do realize that there are a number of people with severe panic disorder/anxiety that are essentially able to use benzos indefinitely. Just seems that I'm a special case

What are the possible side effects of Inderal?

• Get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.
• Call your doctor at once if you have any of these serious side effects:
· slow or uneven heartbeats;
· feeling light-headed, fainting;
· feeling short of breath, even with mild exertion;
· swelling of your ankles or feet;
· nausea, stomach pain, low fever, loss of appetite, dark urine, clay-colored stools, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes);
· depression; or
· cold feeling in your hands and feet.
• Other less serious side effects are more likely to occur, such as:
· decreased sex drive, impotence, or difficulty having an orgasm;
· sleep problems (insomnia);
· tired feeling; or
· anxiety, nervousness.
• Side effects other than those listed here may also occur. Talk to your doctor about any side effect that seems unusual or that is especially bothersome.


What other drugs will affect Inderal?

• Before taking Inderal, tell your doctor if you are using:
· allergy treatments (or if you are undergoing allergy skin-testing);
· clonidine (Catapres);
· guanabenz (Wytensin);
· an MAO inhibitor such as isocarboxazid (Marplan), tranylcypromine (Parnate), phenelzine (Nardil), or selegiline (Eldepryl, Emsam);
· a diabetes medication such as insulin, glyburide (Diabeta, Micronase, Glynase), glipizide (Glucotrol), chlorpropamide (Diabinese), or metformin (Glucophage);
· a heart medication such as nifedipine (Procardia, Adalat), reserpine (Serpasil), verapamil (Calan, Verelan, Isoptin), diltiazem (Cartia, Cardizem);
· medicine for asthma or other breathing disorders, such as albuterol (Ventolin, Proventil), bitolterol (Tornalate), metaproterenol (Alupent), pirbuterol (Maxair), terbutaline (Brethaire, Brethine, Bricanyl), and theophylline (Theo-Dur, Theolair); or
· cold medicines, stimulant medicines, or diet pills.
• If you are using any of these drugs, you may not be able to take Inderal, or you may need dosage adjustments or special tests during treatment.
• There may be other drugs not listed that can affect Inderal. Tell your doctor about all the prescription and over-the-counter medications you use. This includes vitamins, minerals, herbal products, and drugs prescribed by other doctors. Do not start using a new medication without telling your doctor.

Just because a drug has been around for a long time and most people have few and/or minor side-effects, it doesn't mean that other people aren't at risk of many and/or major side-effects. That's why drug-taking should be under medical supervision. Is Inderal OTC where you are James? If not then I suggest you take that as a hint. And now go explain what happened to your doctor and ask for help.

No it's not OTC.



I appreciate that you're trying to help, but it would have happened regardless. If I hadn't obtained it over the net, I would have simply gone to the Doc's office and gotten a prescription for it, and he would have given it to me too. There was no way to foresee the outcome of taking it.

When this all started happening, I went to the doctor. He was a good doctor. Told me I might possibly be able to work it out on my own. (I didn't know just how severe it was at the time and I was hoping it could somehow be amended) When things didn't improve I began doing lots of research on the subject. I told him I wanted a script for lorazepam and lexapro. He gave it to me. SSRI's work...but they make me unbearably submissive, and quite frankly; I'd rather be a freak than a eunuch.

I can't imagine a physician would know what to do other than refer me to a specialist for some CBTish type treatment, combined with a prescription for ssri's, buspar, or benzo's. (or a beta blocker...since they are also prescribed for PD...lol) But if anyone thinks otherwise, I'd entertain the idea.

They hand out beta blockers like candy, its very common in the social phobia/GAD communities for people to use propanolol/atenolol.for off label non blood pressure purposes.

Yep, also commonly prescribed for migraines...which I also have! yay!...lol