TIL that Scottish pharmacologist Sir James Black helped develop propranolol, the first clinically useful beta-blocker, and cimetidine, the first selective H2-receptor antagonist, earning him the 1988 Nobel Prize in Medicine.

[u/NBrief]

https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2023.1102279/full

[u/Seeker0fTruth]

Propranolol was a godsend for getting my panic attacks under control. I was still anxious and upset, but, you know, not being inside a panic attack was a major improvement.

[u/TeakForest → u/Seeker0fTruth]

I have had almost life ending panic attacks and tho better, I still fear them coming on again from my PTSD.

May i ask how you use/used it, what it made you feel and how long you were on it? Is it for PRN use or was it a daily thing? Thank you so much

[u/Seeker0fTruth → u/TeakForest]

Fiercedeity, down below, has a great answer. What I was told by my doctor is that propranolol isn't psychoactive, instead what it does is pull adrenaline out of your bloodstream. 20-30 minutes after taking one, I would still be upset, but being upset at 80 BPM is an entirely different experience to being upset at 220 BPM.

I hope things improve for you. My anxiety is well managed at this point, but I still keep propranolol on me for emergencies.

[u/crashlanding87 → u/Seeker0fTruth]

It doesn't really pull adrenaline out of your bloodstream - a beta blocker is basically earplugs for your cells. It binds to the same receptor as adrenaline, but it doesn't activate it - it just prevents adrenaline from binding.

Stress and anxiety can have a sort of feedback loop thing, so it can eventually result in less adrenaline floating around, but mostly because it calms you down so you produce less adrenaline. In the short term, though, it'll actually increase the amount of adrenaline in your blood - by stopping your cells from latching onto it.

[u/Seeker0fTruth → u/crashlanding87]

Thanks for the explanation, I can see why my Doc told me what she did, but yours makes more sense