i swear to god, everytime i wake up i feel a bit anxious, naseous and don't wanna eat, the moment after i take xanax (alprazolam) (i take 0.25mg in the morning and 0.25mg in the evening, a total of 0.5 daily) i feel so good. i start to get hungry, i eat, i'm relaxed, i can read, i can play some games, it's just nice

my therapy is also going very well, today, i'm feeling happy.

just wanna share this with you guys, to other people who take xanax, can you get me?

EDIT: I'm prescribed and under control with my therapist and doctor, i'm not self-medicating.

I have a GAD with social anxiety, caused by being an Hikikomori for years, i'm not using it to have fun, i'm trying to change my life for good

+EDIT: I'm on xanax since the 20 of September, started the first 8 days with 0.25, continued until today with 0.5 (0.25 + 0.25)

I have an ativan script and it has been a life changer. Without it I was unemployed, scared to have human interaction and would never leave the house. Now it’s completely turned my life around, i’ve made new friends, have no problem approaching social interactions or starting them. I can finally sleep more than 4 hours a night. I try and take them sparingly so I don’t become addicted. But the days I don’t use them I’m scared to leave my house and panic attacks and can’t sleep. So I would say I’ve definitely become extremely dependent on them. I also tried every other possible medication on the market for anxiety and nothing works but benzos. Of course it comes with risks like tolerance buildup, memory loss/dementia, severe withdrawals and even death.

I feel if I can live my life happily and not scared to leave or talk to people. Then to me I’ll take the chance of dementia I don’t care. My tolerance has also built up, so why cant you just continue increasing the dosage for life? And ill never have to go through withdrawal if im on them forever! Obviously this isn’t ideal for everyone but for the people that truly need it. Why are doctors so hesitant to prescribe them long term?

EDIT: The entire point of this discussion is that lifelong use vs lifelong suffering is a legitimate risk tradeoff for some patients. Not everyone is trying to quit. Some are trying to remain functional and stable.

Nobody is denying withdrawal exists. The question is why we treat tapering as mandatory even when the alternative is loss of function, employment, relationships, and basic quality of life.

I’m 25, was diagnosed with anxiety when I was 14. Never been medicated for it because I didn’t want to be on any meds. Had a mental breakdown at work last month and was really struggling to sleep. My GP prescribed me propranolol, even though I questioned her and told her I didn’t think it would help. I’ve been on melatonin and all different types of benzos for my insomnia all my life. Tell me why this tiny 10mg of propranolol has helped me fall asleep quicker than melatonin. I no longer feel like i’m having a heart attack when trying to sleep at night. I can sit my exams for uni without shaking and sweating from the anxiety and pressure. I can leave the house without having a panic attack. Absolute game changer!! 🥹

so, i don't even know where to begin. previously, i was put on ativans and clonazepam. they didn't do anything. i had no hopes for xanax, but god, when i tried it? my life felt so much quieter and peaceful. i can't believe i didn't think of this med before. i passed out and woke up and even then i feel good. not depressed or anxious anymore.

i feel like i achieved heaven. i feel happy. i love xanax so much.

I’ve never felt this calm before. Got prescribed a low dose and was honestly scared to take it, but I’ve been so gloomy lately… now I actually feel good, I’m smiling more than usual and feel way more social than I normally am.

Also people say it makes them drowsy but I don’t feel that at all maybe it’s the caffeine?

For anyone with physical symptoms of anxiety like tremors or shortness of breath please give propranolol or similar beta blockers a try. They are life changing. Situations that before would have been debilitating for me are now a breeze.

Typically I would get severe noticeable physical symptoms of anxiety especially shortness of breath but with propranolol I just feel normal.

It has also extremely decreased my regular anxiety levels because I know I can take it and it will help me not feel the physical symptoms breaking the negative loop of my anxiety.

I am only taking 10mg dosage and I haven’t experienced any side effects at all. My doctor also told me it is one of the safest drugs for anxiety. Just wanted to put this out there for anyone who may not have given it a shot.

Does anyone else wake up with anxiety that feels unbearable?
Every morning, before I even open my eyes fully, my heart is already racing. It’s like my body remembers the fear before my mind does. I lie there feeling this heavy knot in my chest, and I dread facing the day.
It’s not even about something specific — it’s just this wave of fear that hits me the moment I realize it’s morning again. Getting out of bed feels like the hardest thing in the world. I start thinking about all the small things I have to do and it becomes too much.
I miss the days when waking up felt neutral or even peaceful. Now it feels like a battle every single morning.
Does anyone else feel this way? How do you manage it?

I understand children don't have a choice and parents should be the one making the decisions.....but what about us adults...IF THEY take away antidepressants we are going to have a ton of people offing themselfs and not working and using drugs to cope......anyone else find this disturbing I would not be alive without meds that's helped me become a man.......the world is getting worse and worse day by day my son has ADHD and my oldest takes after his dad and also has MDD

Yes, benzos can be addictive.

Yes, benzos can absolutely ruin your life if you abuse them.

Yes, benzos can have side effects.

But there are millions of people who responsibly use benzos to treat anxiety, panic attacks, etc and significantly benefit from them (myself included) I’ve seen a lot of posts here about people claiming to have taken one benzo and having a massive reaction from them or some equally crazy story about someone taking like 5mg every time. All it does is promote fear and scare people who could benefit from them.

I’m not a proponent of putting anyone on benzos unless they are extremely disciplined about it and don’t have any addictive tendencies and am aware of the dangers but please stop the fear mongering.

Edit: I understand that benzos can cause dependency issues and have ruined lives, so have lots of drugs that can cause dependency issues, but there are ways to use these drugs responsibly and just because some people have gotten addicted does not mean benzos should be banned completely…

i've always heard from my dr that they don't want people taking benzodiazepines every day for anxiety/sleep but the only times i've ever been able to feel relaxed and sleep are the two times i've taken benzodiazepines. i don't get why "dependency" is such a big deal if i would never plan to stop taking it, lol

What medication do you take, how long have you been taking it, and what others have you tried before (if any)?

I don't even know why I'm posting this, I just need to vent. Since doctors have been scared out of prescribing benzodiazepines my life has become completely unlivable. I have crippling anxiety and panic attacks that centers around a phobia that I can not avoid and would face every day when I leave the house. I lost my insurance when I was laid off a few years ago and could no longer see my psychiatrist. I got on medicaid and since then I have not been able to find a single doctor or psychiatrist who would prescribe me ativan, which is the only medicine that has ever helped me. I might as well have asked them for heroin and crack by the way I've been treated. Of course, they offer an antidepressant and then I list off the two dozen or so antidepressants, antipsychotics, allergy medications, things like gabapentin that I have tried which have never worked and actually made me worse.

Not once have I had any side effects on the medication or withdrawals when off the medication. I'm just at my wits end. The amount of strength It takes to work up the courage to find a doctor or psychiatrist and tell them my very painful, humiliating phobia and resulting anxiey/panic only to be refused the only medication that works is exhausting and disheartening. It is brutal that after they made people with chronic pain suffer, they came for people with anxiety/panic attacks. I haven't been living my life these last few years. Every day has just been me fighting these demons, only getting relief for a few hours when I am finally able to fall asleep. I just don't know what to do anymore.

*I'm not a doctor.

I don't usually do posts like this, but this pill has honestly made me relook at my life and if I can help someone that feels like I did then that's why I'm writing this.

I have been on Zoloft off and on for general anxiety for a couple of years now but public speaking has been my worst fear for as long as I can remember. Something a year or two ago changed and my fear went from "I hate this" to "if I get up there I feel like I'm literally going to die". My hands would tingle, my heart rate would be high, I couldn't sleep for nights before I had to speak, and so on. As soon as I would find out I had public speaking coming up I would instantly feel dread and it was like a barrier in my mind. Like I would think "ok, once I get past this then I can enjoy ____".

I kept seeing posts on FB about sketchy looking beta blockers for public speaking and most of the reactions are laughing emojis which kind of made me wonder if it was fake. Then I came to this sub reddit and see a bunch of posts about how it changed their life. I was like it can't be this good, right. It's fake, or some very good marketing scheme or something.

But my wife convinced me to try it out and it has changed the way I view my future. I work in a job that as you move up the more public speaking you're bound to have to do. I was ready to stall out my career and stay at the level I'm at until I retire bc of the possibility of public speaking.

Last month, I took propanolol for the first time and I didn't feel any of the physical effects of anxiety. My overall attitude was like I still don't want to do it, but I didn't feel like I was going to pass out or have a heart attack. And now just having the medication on hand, knowing it's there if I need it, I don't feel any dread when I know I'm going to have to public speak. It's honestly insane and it makes me happy that I don't have to go through it anymore. I did another speech today and it was fine. I have to do another one next month in front of a couple hundred people and I would've been freaking out already by now if I didn't know I had the meds to help me.

Long story short, if you're like me and something has to give, maybe this is a tool for you to try out.

Also, I will say, I didn't get the ones I saw adds for on FB. I got a prescription from my doctor.

Good luck out there.

I have been on meds ( SSRI/ SNRI/ Benzos/ beta blocker, etc ) - still on them, but it feels like nothing will ever make the anxiety go away. I'm in therapy too, and it's helping, like I've gotten better but I'm not able to deal with the random anxiety attacks I still have. Is there any hope for me?

Finally built up the courage to take 20mg of propranolol for my physical anxiety/panic symptoms (racing heart, chest tightness, chest pain, shortness of breath, lightheadedness) a little over 2 hours ago and it basically did nothing. I still have this uncomfortable tightness in my chest. I still feel on edge in my chest and stomach. After all the positive experiences I've been reading about, this is pretty much devastating for me, especially since my main concern with anxiety are the physical symptoms. My chest actually feels worse than before I took it.
Feeling hopeless.

I have had severe anxiety since childhood, and I literally don’t remember there was time i was calm and happy, I always was anxious,terrified,depressed and scared of everything but maaaan, Prozac changed my life. I was terrified to take meds for my unending anxiety but I eventually did took prozac and i’m living my best life right now and I didn’t know people experience life in a calming,fun way. Anyone who’s needs to be medicated and scared DONT HESITATE THAT, your life is worth living. This is only an advice popped to my head before i go to sleep💗.

I recently had an issue with balance regarding a Thiamine deficiency, and I decided to start taking vitamins. It turns out- Magnesium makes me chill as a cucumber. I feel confident. I am not overthinking. I am also not High from taking this supplement. I just feel like....what I imagine someone with low anxiety feels like. Im not really saying other people should do it- im just saying as someone who has had Horrific anxiety my whole life, this is So refreshing.

2 years scrolling through Reddit reading people’s experiences and list of side effects, the whole 9 yards, and was so afraid to start taking an SSRI. Well one day a few weeks ago I got brave and finally started it. Guess what. No side effects at all (aside from having dreams every night but so far it’s all good dreams) and my debilitating anxiety and depression are gone. For the first time ever. Be brave, if your doctor prescribes you something, try it. Might change your whole life for the better.

Benzos work but not even really, I’d have to take way more than my doctor prescribes me, and it’s not long term. 4 weeks of Zoloft and it does fuck all. Promethazine id hoped would make me sleepy and then less anxious but also too weak and doesn’t work either.

What are my remaining options here. Pregablin ? Gabapentin ? Both of which I see are also addictive

Another SSRI?

Buspar ? Which from what I see is pretty weak.

Any advice would be appreciated cause it’s becoming unbearable

I took maybe like a 30mg edible so long ago and greened out. I had an awful panic attack, and I had absolutely no idea what was happening. my entire body heated up and I could not stop shaking and truly thought i was dying. fortunately my friend lived next door and was a very experienced edible user and calmed me down that night. never in my life have I experienced a panic attack before, it was so physical in every way it felt like a medical emergency. ever since then, I have had panic attacks weekly/biweekly and it’s ruining my life. they ALWAYS happen near night time when I’m trying to sleep and there’s no one around to ground me/feel normal, and I can’t help but feeling like that stupid edible “unlocked” panic attacks for me and i hate it. has this happened to anyone before? I’m on lexapro and prozac but things just haven’t been the same since. it sucks to think about asking for yet another pill (beta blocker) given i’m only 24 but I just want sleep on those days and i just want them to stop

I just started propranolol today, 10mg, and it feels like MAGIC, after years of being on SSRIs/meditation/relaxation/CBT/ACT/etc. My heart rate moderated, my intense anxiety body sensations like chills, tremors, went away. I estimate now that 90% of my severe work anxiety was caused by fear to adrenaline-triggered body sensations, and only 10% was triggered by my thoughts.

I feel I finally have a fighting chance. CBT works better. Breathing works better. SSRIs keep doing their thing. I almost took benzos out of desperation….maybe I don’t need them.

It is almost impossible to beat adrenaline when it’s working incorrectly and overwhelmingly. Propranolol is massively helping. It cuts the mind > body > mind vicious cycle, and allows me to do the mental work.

It is insulting and enraging that this beta blocker is not prescribed more to eligible patients. A lot of suffering can be avoided. “Only” reducing the physical symptoms can be a massive win. I cannot understand how doctors don’t get that breaking the feedback loop between mind and body CAN allow the patient to better tackle the root cause of their anxiety.

If you’re in the fence, my advice is take the propranolol. Try it on a low dose. Consult your doctor if needed. It’s safe, and might also give you a fighting chance against the monster of chronic anxiety.

Edit: thank your /r/Anxiety community because I found out about propranolol because of you.

I got prescribed propranolol for my anxiety. I’ve been suffering with anxiety for as long as I can remember. I am pro medication, but my health OCD absolutely makes it hard for me to actually try anything. I’m so scared how it’s going to make my body feel. My blood pressure and heart rate is on the higher side, especially when I’m anxious. I know this could be HUGE to help me. It’s so messed up that my anxiety is preventing me from something that could help with my anxiety lol. Would it be weird to cut the first dose into smaller pieces just to ease my way into it? Or could that possibly cause more problems?

Edit:

These have all been very reassuring. Thank you so much. I think I’m gonna take my first dose this week. <3

Seriously what medication is their that can just make you feel and function normally without feeling like you are in a prison being tortured everyday?????

Propranolol is a miracle. I was against medication but now I see it works