I'm not asking for a hookup, no locations or people mentioned. But I am after beta blockers.
How easy is it to get prescribed beta blockers via a GP? My reason is that they help me generally take things easier, and being more relaxed helps with work. Will this be enough for medication?
Another factor is that it's now on my record that I've been depressed in the past. I also understand that beta blockers can exacerbate the symptoms of depression, and so I won't get them easily prescribed to me.
A better expression of my reasons: a knowledgeable friend has told me that I experience the 'physical symptoms' of anxiety, without it necessarily affecting my mental processes. Almost like a fight or flight reaction, frequently, but without it necessarily incurring consciously negative thoughts. Something like stress, I suppose?
Apologies for the messy posting. A bit scatterbrained.
It's piss-easy. Beta blockers are approved by NICE as a for the symptomatic relief of transitory anxiety. The potential side effects aren't a worry and the cost to the NHS is negligible. Go to your doctor, say you're struggling at work because you get really nervous about giving presentations - heart pounding, palms sweating and all that. Say that you're not generally anxious in the rest of your life, but that this performance anxiety is holding you back at work. Ticks all the boxes, easy peasy. A GP would be negligent if they said anything but "You'll probably benefit from CBT, but there's a long waiting list. Beta-blockers help some people, by reducing the physical symptoms of anxiety. What treatment do you think would suit you?".
Beta blockers never worked for me, I psychically shake when I get too anxious and it also happens when I get high sometimes. I just start shaking all over almost as if I'm really cold but I'm not, just tense as fuck.
It started happening during driving tests and I seriously believe this is partly the reason I kept failing, I just couldn't stop shaking and twitching. Beta blockers didn't do shit, I was positive it was a placebo.
Benzodiazepines are ugly, dangerous drugs that should never be prescribed outside of a hospital. They are extremely valuable in a range of clinical applications, but they are fundamentally unsuitable as a treatment for anxiety. Some mad old quacks are still prescribing because they haven't done any CPD in decades; Some inner-city GPs dole them out to avoid getting stabbed, or because they just don't care.
A majority of cases of severe anxiety are the direct result of alcohol or benzodiazepine misuse. Benzodiazepine users can develop significant tolerances within a matter of days and become dependent within a few weeks. The most common side effect of long-term benzo use is anxiety. Withdrawal from benzos causes a rebound effect where the original anxiety or insomnia comes back more strongly, plus a variety of unpleasant (and often dangerous) side effects. The experience of benzo withdrawal is essentially the opposite of the drug's short term effects - insomnia, anxiety, physical agitation, psychosis and even seizures. Sudden withdrawal is fatal in a significant proportion of patients. Benzo withdrawal can last for many months in some patients and there is some evidence that long-term benzo use can cause permanent brain damage. Users are often stuck in a catch-22, where their anxiety is primarily caused by benzodiazepines, but withdrawal would cause even more severe anxiety.
Benzodiazepines are the great shame of psychiatry and have undoubtedly caused vastly more harm than good. A 2009 parliamentary report stated that 1.5 million patients are addicted to benzodiazepines; Most of those people were never made aware of the risks they were being subjected to.
Are there long term effects associated with benzo misuse. If one was misusing them for a while. Would being clean for say a year leave any noticeable side effects?
Are the withdrawal effects you mention a reasonably short term problem to overcome?
A friend of mine has been taking xanax for a rather long period, part of his bipolar meds collection.
His personal claim that they affected parts of his brain by overusing certain receptors is his own with no back up, but you know...they are known to cause brain damage.
