6 ms·

That's one of the reasons I've stayed away from 'beta blocker' medications even though they're designed to tone down stage fright to a bare minimum. There are,

That's one of the reasons I've stayed away from 'beta blocker' medications even though they're designed to tone down stage fright to a bare minimum. There are, from what I've read, potential side effects that can be rather severe. As in, some real unwelcome motor/cognition changes. That's enough cautionary literature to keep me away. Strangely enough though, I'm not anti-supplement (vitamins, PH stacks, etc) in the least.

graeme 10y ago
Can you point to any papers? I'm curious. A friend (actually not me) was just asking about them. He gets anxiety, and wanted to have them on hand in case of a severe attack. But he's wary of medications generally and is on the fence about taking them.
- DigitalJack 10y ago
  Your friend should consult someone who spends a lot of time studying these sorts of things. I take a beta blocker, by prescription, for anxiety, and it does work for me. But I'd never recommend anyone else try it. I'd recommend they ask their doctor about it specifically.
- Aelinsaar 10y ago
  Ask him how he feels about diabetes.
- AnkhMorporkian 10y ago
  Beta blockers aren't great for sudden panic attacks. I took them for years, and while they're great for toning down the anxiety baseline, they don't even remotely approach benzos when it comes to mitigating severe panic. Sadly the only medications you can reasonably get out there that will address an incipient or in progress panic attack are benzos. There are other supplements/medications that are helpful (phenibut is my goto since I no longer wanted to take benzos), but none of them are fast acting or powerful enough to stop something that's already happening.
  - graeme 10y ago
    Ah, interesting. I checked with my friend, and it turns out they had gotten mixed up. They were prescribed benzos, not beta blockers. What made you stop taking them? My friend has been making good progress without them, but still gets some rough days. And what supplements/medicines do you use, apart from phenibut? (To be clear, they've already spoken with a doctor, psychologist, consulted drugs.com listing of side effect, etc.)
    - AnkhMorporkian 10y ago
      I stopped taking them for two reasons. 1. I have an absurdly high tolerance to them (and almost all GABAergics, for that matter.) I always have, and also have an absurd alcohol tolerance. So, while clonazepam worked for me, I was taking roughly the maximum dosage designated for severe seizure disorders (I was taking 18mg/day, which if anyone is familiar with clonazepam, they'll know how absurd that is.) 2. I was starting to feel dumb. I'm not 100% sure if that was the clonazepam or the quetiapine or the topamax, but one or all of them was making me forget my friends' and family's names. So, I dropped them like they were hot. I'll give a small rundown of my stack below. I certainly won't say my stack is bulletproof, and for people with addictive personalities it could certainly be actively harmful. I won't discuss dosages either, because frankly my phenibut dosage is irresponsible, but once again that goes directly towards my GABAergic tolerance. ----- Tianeptine - for depression. It's a fast acting novel TCA that works via unknown mechanisms. In higher dosages it exhibits opioid activity, and if someone suffers from addictive tendencies it should absolutely be avoided. Phenibut - for anxiety. It's converted directly into GABA in the brain. It's relatively fast acting. Some people, but definitely not all, can suffer from horrible withdrawals if they take it for a long time and then stop taking it. I've never had problems with it if I've run out though, and I take it daily. Adrafinil - for fatigue and sleepiness. I suffer from an autoimmune disorder and am chronically fatigued. Adrafinil is a pro-drug for modafinil, and gets rid of your tiredness without being otherwise stimulating. Caffeine - tiredness. I get mine powdered, but it doesn't really matter. Vitamin D - this one helped with my depression enormously. I decided to give it a try one day after my dad was diagnosed with SAD, and did a loading dose. Within 3 days the dark circles had disappeared from under my eyes and my depression lifted significantly. Those are everything I take on a day to day basis. I also have conditional nootropics for days when I'm in the mood for them/need to be extra productive. Noopept, aniracetam, oxiracetam, N-Acetyl Selank Amidate for days I'm feeling extra anxious, N-Acetyl Semax Amidate for a mental boost, and a few others I rarely use.
ZenoArrow 10y ago
> "That's one of the reasons I've stayed away from 'beta blocker' medications even though they're designed to tone down stage fright to a bare minimum." Just in case you're interested, bananas are meant to act as natural beta blockers (or more specifically, the potassium in bananas). I have no idea about how effective bananas are in reducing anxiety, but they might be worth a try.
- 6stringmerc 10y ago
  Thank you very much for sharing! I believe I have a mild allergy to them (and avocado as well) but will pursue this experiment in the name of science. A banana rich, plain yogurt smoothie sounds like a good test.
  - ZenoArrow 10y ago
    You're welcome 6stringmerc. A banana rich, plain yogurt smoothie sounds like a good way to try it out. You may want to give dark chocolate a go too, it's also meant to be good at reducing anxiety (as long as you only eat small amounts): http://www.livestrong.com/article/450142-how-does-chocolate-help-people-with-anxiety-problems/ http://www.livestrong.com/article/450142-how-does-chocolate-...

graeme 10y ago

Can you point to any papers? I'm curious. A friend (actually not me) was just asking about them. He gets anxiety, and wanted to have them on hand in case of a severe attack. But he's wary of medications generally and is on the fence about taking them.

DigitalJack 10y ago
Your friend should consult someone who spends a lot of time studying these sorts of things. I take a beta blocker, by prescription, for anxiety, and it does work for me. But I'd never recommend anyone else try it. I'd recommend they ask their doctor about it specifically.
Aelinsaar 10y ago
Ask him how he feels about diabetes.
AnkhMorporkian 10y ago
Beta blockers aren't great for sudden panic attacks. I took them for years, and while they're great for toning down the anxiety baseline, they don't even remotely approach benzos when it comes to mitigating severe panic. Sadly the only medications you can reasonably get out there that will address an incipient or in progress panic attack are benzos. There are other supplements/medications that are helpful (phenibut is my goto since I no longer wanted to take benzos), but none of them are fast acting or powerful enough to stop something that's already happening.
- graeme 10y ago
  Ah, interesting. I checked with my friend, and it turns out they had gotten mixed up. They were prescribed benzos, not beta blockers. What made you stop taking them? My friend has been making good progress without them, but still gets some rough days. And what supplements/medicines do you use, apart from phenibut? (To be clear, they've already spoken with a doctor, psychologist, consulted drugs.com listing of side effect, etc.)
  - AnkhMorporkian 10y ago
    I stopped taking them for two reasons. 1. I have an absurdly high tolerance to them (and almost all GABAergics, for that matter.) I always have, and also have an absurd alcohol tolerance. So, while clonazepam worked for me, I was taking roughly the maximum dosage designated for severe seizure disorders (I was taking 18mg/day, which if anyone is familiar with clonazepam, they'll know how absurd that is.) 2. I was starting to feel dumb. I'm not 100% sure if that was the clonazepam or the quetiapine or the topamax, but one or all of them was making me forget my friends' and family's names. So, I dropped them like they were hot. I'll give a small rundown of my stack below. I certainly won't say my stack is bulletproof, and for people with addictive personalities it could certainly be actively harmful. I won't discuss dosages either, because frankly my phenibut dosage is irresponsible, but once again that goes directly towards my GABAergic tolerance. ----- Tianeptine - for depression. It's a fast acting novel TCA that works via unknown mechanisms. In higher dosages it exhibits opioid activity, and if someone suffers from addictive tendencies it should absolutely be avoided. Phenibut - for anxiety. It's converted directly into GABA in the brain. It's relatively fast acting. Some people, but definitely not all, can suffer from horrible withdrawals if they take it for a long time and then stop taking it. I've never had problems with it if I've run out though, and I take it daily. Adrafinil - for fatigue and sleepiness. I suffer from an autoimmune disorder and am chronically fatigued. Adrafinil is a pro-drug for modafinil, and gets rid of your tiredness without being otherwise stimulating. Caffeine - tiredness. I get mine powdered, but it doesn't really matter. Vitamin D - this one helped with my depression enormously. I decided to give it a try one day after my dad was diagnosed with SAD, and did a loading dose. Within 3 days the dark circles had disappeared from under my eyes and my depression lifted significantly. Those are everything I take on a day to day basis. I also have conditional nootropics for days when I'm in the mood for them/need to be extra productive. Noopept, aniracetam, oxiracetam, N-Acetyl Selank Amidate for days I'm feeling extra anxious, N-Acetyl Semax Amidate for a mental boost, and a few others I rarely use.

ZenoArrow 10y ago

> "That's one of the reasons I've stayed away from 'beta blocker' medications even though they're designed to tone down stage fright to a bare minimum." Just in case you're interested, bananas are meant to act as natural beta blockers (or more specifically, the potassium in bananas). I have no idea about how effective bananas are in reducing anxiety, but they might be worth a try.

6stringmerc 10y ago
Thank you very much for sharing! I believe I have a mild allergy to them (and avocado as well) but will pursue this experiment in the name of science. A banana rich, plain yogurt smoothie sounds like a good test.
- ZenoArrow 10y ago
  You're welcome 6stringmerc. A banana rich, plain yogurt smoothie sounds like a good way to try it out. You may want to give dark chocolate a go too, it's also meant to be good at reducing anxiety (as long as you only eat small amounts): http://www.livestrong.com/article/450142-how-does-chocolate-help-people-with-anxiety-problems/ http://www.livestrong.com/article/450142-how-does-chocolate-...