4 ms·

If you are out there and suffer daily 'stage fright' or serious social anxiety - propranolol is the drug for you. That weird fear that sweeps over you before a

If you are out there and suffer daily 'stage fright' or serious social anxiety - propranolol is the drug for you. That weird fear that sweeps over you before a conversation - just doesn't happen. Need to talk in front of 50 people in 25 minutes? No problem. If you are crippled by social anxiety - this pill will turn you into Bradley Cooper in Limitless.

IAmGraydon 8y ago
Maybe I’m an outlier, but it had absolutely no effect on me for public speaking or social situations. I was prescribed a lot of it, tried for years and even still have some sitting around. I envy those who get the effects you describe.
- hnzix 8y ago
  Yeah it slows my heart rate and chills me out a little but it's no magic cure for generalized social anxiety in my case. I've had better outcomes from eliminating caffeine. I do like that (for me) Propranolol has minimal side effects other than mild drowsiness.
  - grezql 8y ago
    yes same, caffeine was one of the culprits for me too. i kicked it out entirely. much much better nowadays
    - mistermann 8y ago
      Cutting out caffeine reduced social anxiety? I guess I can see the connection, but I don't think I've ever heard this mentioned before, or I just haven't heard about it.
      - hnzix 8y ago
        Heavy caffeine consumption is so normalized in nerd culture that I didn't even think about my intake. A friend of mine who also has social anxiety quit caffeine and made me realize what a large effect it was having on my mood. The physical withdrawal symptoms of cold turkey are pretty eye opening.
      - blablabla123 8y ago
        Yes of course because it makes one less jittery. But I think the positive side effects outweigh the negative: drinking coffee is social and so is staying awake long.
        tekknik 8y ago
        after heavily consuming caffeine for some time it no longer keeps you awake (I can drink a monster energy drink and immediately go to sleep). If you’re just drinking coffee socially I’d be willing to bet you’re not having any symptoms that affect your daily life
- Numberwang 8y ago
  It didn't help me either. Never trust anyone saying something is a miracle drug. They are storytellers, not scientists.
- Gpetrium 8y ago
  It might have something to do with what you said about being prescribed a lot of it.
erentz 8y ago
> this pill will turn you into Bradley Cooper in Limitless That’s quite a sales pitch! Propranolol worked for me for occasional use for stage fright scenarios. It was an amazing feeling the first couple of times to be able to go into those situations without the anxiety. But far from the Limitless example, for me a couple of hours after taking it I would slow down mentally and a few hours after taking it I would be exhausted and absolutely done for the day.
grezql 8y ago
it had very little effect on me. It even caused my blood pressure to drop so much that i got brain freeze and started to forget things. coldsweat etc. I stopped using it, and learned the hard way to do public speak.
- petercooper 8y ago
  I don't know the reason, but my anecdata from talking to quite a few people about it is that some people react very poorly to it. But I guess that's true of a lot of medications that affect behavior.. antidepressants would be another great example of that.
dfischer 8y ago
To me it felt like being drunk without the nauseous parts. I was prescribed it for stage fright.
iw4i5 8y ago
The only reason I was able pass job interviews out of college was because of propranolol. it is a life saver

IAmGraydon 8y ago

Maybe I’m an outlier, but it had absolutely no effect on me for public speaking or social situations. I was prescribed a lot of it, tried for years and even still have some sitting around. I envy those who get the effects you describe.

hnzix 8y ago
Yeah it slows my heart rate and chills me out a little but it's no magic cure for generalized social anxiety in my case. I've had better outcomes from eliminating caffeine. I do like that (for me) Propranolol has minimal side effects other than mild drowsiness.
- grezql 8y ago
  yes same, caffeine was one of the culprits for me too. i kicked it out entirely. much much better nowadays
  - mistermann 8y ago
    Cutting out caffeine reduced social anxiety? I guess I can see the connection, but I don't think I've ever heard this mentioned before, or I just haven't heard about it.
    - hnzix 8y ago
      Heavy caffeine consumption is so normalized in nerd culture that I didn't even think about my intake. A friend of mine who also has social anxiety quit caffeine and made me realize what a large effect it was having on my mood. The physical withdrawal symptoms of cold turkey are pretty eye opening.
    - blablabla123 8y ago
      Yes of course because it makes one less jittery. But I think the positive side effects outweigh the negative: drinking coffee is social and so is staying awake long.
      - tekknik 8y ago
        after heavily consuming caffeine for some time it no longer keeps you awake (I can drink a monster energy drink and immediately go to sleep). If you’re just drinking coffee socially I’d be willing to bet you’re not having any symptoms that affect your daily life
Numberwang 8y ago
It didn't help me either. Never trust anyone saying something is a miracle drug. They are storytellers, not scientists.
Gpetrium 8y ago
It might have something to do with what you said about being prescribed a lot of it.

erentz 8y ago

> this pill will turn you into Bradley Cooper in Limitless That’s quite a sales pitch! Propranolol worked for me for occasional use for stage fright scenarios. It was an amazing feeling the first couple of times to be able to go into those situations without the anxiety. But far from the Limitless example, for me a couple of hours after taking it I would slow down mentally and a few hours after taking it I would be exhausted and absolutely done for the day.

grezql 8y ago

it had very little effect on me. It even caused my blood pressure to drop so much that i got brain freeze and started to forget things. coldsweat etc. I stopped using it, and learned the hard way to do public speak.

petercooper 8y ago
I don't know the reason, but my anecdata from talking to quite a few people about it is that some people react very poorly to it. But I guess that's true of a lot of medications that affect behavior.. antidepressants would be another great example of that.

dfischer 8y ago

To me it felt like being drunk without the nauseous parts. I was prescribed it for stage fright.

iw4i5 8y ago

The only reason I was able pass job interviews out of college was because of propranolol. it is a life saver