Beta blockers anyone?

[Forebearance]

I want to add that if you want to try something gentler than a prescription beta blocker, there are hawthorn tablets available in the cardiac section of the health food store. They function as natural beta blockers.

If you want something gentler than that, there is hawthorn berry tea. It's great in the evening to help you sleep. It is the active ingredient in Sleepytime tea. So, if pure hawthorn berry tea is too strong, there is always Sleepytime tea.

This is all for those of us who are sensitive to medications!

 

[Who Me?]

I want to add that if you want to try something gentler than a prescription beta blocker, there are hawthorn tablets available in the cardiac section of the health food store. They function as natural beta blockers.

If you want something gentler than that, there is hawthorn berry tea. It's great in the evening to help you sleep. It is the active ingredient in Sleepytime tea. So, if pure hawthorn berry tea is too strong, there is always Sleepytime tea.

This is all for those of us who are sensitive to medications!

I'm going to look into this. I started a thread about something besides propranolol or Taurine (which doesn't work that well even at high doses) since I can feel my heart beating at night and it's hard to sleep. Don't know if it would be strong enough for me though.

I don't need anything to lower my BP, just ease the beating.

How you doing @Forebearance

Has some serious drug interactions so check that out.

 

[Forebearance]

How you doing @Forebearance

I'm hanging in there, @Who Me? I hope you are too.

 

[Who Me?]

I'm hanging in there, @Who Me? I hope you are too.

Every day is a new and wonderful experience! NOT!.

 

[Remy]

I want to add that if you want to try something gentler than a prescription beta blocker, there are hawthorn tablets available in the cardiac section of the health food store. They function as natural beta blockers.

If you want something gentler than that, there is hawthorn berry tea. It's great in the evening to help you sleep. It is the active ingredient in Sleepytime tea. So, if pure hawthorn berry tea is too strong, there is always Sleepytime tea.

This is all for those of us who are sensitive to medications!

Would you believe that the other day I was researching a supplement called ouabain...and came across this article on hawthorne? It might have some relevance here as it looks like the makeup of the supplement really makes a difference in the effects.

One preparation was a blend of hawthorn flowers, leaves, and berries (extract #1), and the other (extract #2) was from a "berries-only" preparation. Fluorescent images and calcium transients were acquired concurrently. Addition of extract #1 resulted in the initiation of robust calcium transients and eventual calcium overload, while addition of extract #2 caused increased calcium sparking, initiation of calcium transients, and an increased beating rate but no calcium overload.

I am feeling pretty confident that we will find that ion channel problems play a role in MECFS, for at least a subgroup, and that increased intracellular concentrations of calcium are at least partly to blame for symptoms. So taking anything that increases calcium inside the cell would likely not be a great idea.

If it were me, I'd stick to the berry only preparations like the tea or examine labels carefully to make sure they don't contain other plant parts as well.

But if you want a beta blocker to actually help reverse the calcium overload in the cell, I think you'd still have to take a calcium channel blocker instead.

 

[Nico]

@Who Me? I know this thread is very old at this point. I had a virtual appt with a doc and they wanted me to try propranolol for OI/POTS. I'm doing 10 mg a day right now, and am supposed to go up to 10 mg 2xs a day after a week. I feel confused b/c the propranolol is making my overall condition worse - like I feel weaker and less steady. In the evening, when its worn off (I think?) I feel more at baseline, and a tiny boost of energy. But, I feel like I've wasted an entire day below baseline. It's like I'm in a bad crash. But, I've been able to read more today - so finding that interesting.

Dr. said that, if after 1 or 2 days, if I'm much worse to just stop the drug. (It was our 1st and only appt so far, I'm a brand new pt. This practice sees a lot of ME pts). I talked w/an RN in the clinic the next day, and she said that it would take around 2 weeks to get through the side effects before the benefits outweigh the side effects. I feel like I may have gotten 2 different notions? @Who Me? do you remember whether or not you had to go through an adjustment period for propranolol? This would be very helpful to know.

I tried propranolol 14 years ago for PTSD. I can't remember the dose, it may have been much higher. It did make the MECFS symptoms worse. I had told the new Dr. this, but they wanted me to try it again because so many years had passed, and this would be micro-dosing.

I'd like to know that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. (Basically worse OI and feeling weaker overall, until evening. It's only been 4 days...so I just don't know what to do!)

 

[BooLu]

@Who Me? I know this thread is very old at this point. I had a virtual appt with a doc and they wanted me to try propranolol for OI/POTS. I'm doing 10 mg a day right now, and am supposed to go up to 10 mg 2xs a day after a week. I feel confused b/c the propranolol is making my overall condition worse - like I feel weaker and less steady. In the evening, when its worn off (I think?) I feel more at baseline, and a tiny boost of energy. But, I feel like I've wasted an entire day below baseline. It's like I'm in a bad crash. But, I've been able to read more today - so finding that interesting.

Dr. said that, if after 1 or 2 days, if I'm much worse to just stop the drug. (It was our 1st and only appt so far, I'm a brand new pt. This practice sees a lot of ME pts). I talked w/an RN in the clinic the next day, and she said that it would take around 2 weeks to get through the side effects before the benefits outweigh the side effects. I feel like I may have gotten 2 different notions? @Who Me? do you remember whether or not you had to go through an adjustment period for propranolol? This would be very helpful to know.

I tried propranolol 14 years ago for PTSD. I can't remember the dose, it may have been much higher. It did make the MECFS symptoms worse. I had told the new Dr. this, but they wanted me to try it again because so many years had passed, and this would be micro-dosing.

I'd like to know that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. (Basically worse OI and feeling weaker overall, until evening. It's only been 4 days...so I just don't know what to do!)

Hey Nico, I'm late to the thread, but I'm wondering if you continued on with the propranolol? I'm kind of where you were in that post and trying to decide what my next move is.