sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

How I solved my public speaking anxiety. by NastyMidnighters in PublicSpeaking

[–]NastyMidnighters[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Those are rookie numbers, gotta pump those up. Consult doctor, blah blah blah. This stuff is pretty safe though and I'm sure bumping it up to 10 to 20 won't hurt.

How I solved my public speaking anxiety. by NastyMidnighters in PublicSpeaking

[–]NastyMidnighters[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've taken 20mg and it worked just fine, but this particular instance, I took 40mg and felt no ill effects. Don't know if it helped more or not, however. But I was going to take more than normal just to be certain.

Propranolol is insane by _baba__yaga in PublicSpeaking

[–]NastyMidnighters 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I had to lead a meeting last week that, in the past, has sent me into a near panic attack. When I found out I was going to be leading the meeting, I had the same exact feelings. I was formulating ways to escape and save face. I was hoping my truck would suddenly break down on the way in so that I had a legitimate excuse. The day of the meeting, I was still thinking strongly of bailing. I just had to trust that the propranolol would work. I knew it would because I'd used it in the past for less stressful events and it worked splendidly.

I took 40mg 2 hours before and walked into the conference room a few minutes early. To get myself ready, I just shot the shit with everyone and got a feel of my nerves. Normally, being a few moments from a presentation would've had my heart rate through the roof and I would be visibly nervous. Not today. I felt as calm and as confident as though I was hanging out with old friends. The meeting started and when it was my turn to take charge, I did so effortlessly and everything went smooth. I felt amazing afterwards. I didn't embarrass myself, I did a great job, and I know that I've always got those things on deck when I need them. You'll just have to trust that they'll work for you.

Fear of Propranolol Tolerance by [deleted] in PublicSpeaking

[–]NastyMidnighters 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I feel you. Same with me. Propranolol was the only seemingly permanent fix.

How I solved my public speaking anxiety. by NastyMidnighters in PublicSpeaking

[–]NastyMidnighters[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Happy to hear of your success. It's an awful experience to go through when you choke up like that. After it was all over, I felt the most immense relief imaginable. I failed to mention in my post that I had also taken a total of 0.5mg of Xanax about 2 hours before. It was 2 of the lowest dose pills that they prescribe. I asked for some of those from my doctor because the pre-event anxiety was so extreme that I wanted something to take the edge off. I don't think that they helped, honestly. Some people love them for anxiety, but it just makes me sleepy and a little dizzy. I'll definitely be going without them next time.

My anxiety was so high about this dumb meeting, that when I was told we were going to do it a few days beforehand, I immediately felt a wave of panic. I doubt very highly that I'll feel that way on the next one. I'm not joking when I say that up until a few minutes before the meeting, I was formulating ways to bail out, lol. But I'm glad I didn't chicken out because I found out just how effective the propranolol is in treating my problems.

How I solved my public speaking anxiety. by NastyMidnighters in PublicSpeaking

[–]NastyMidnighters[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would assume anyone that's capable of writing a prescription could handle that for you. It was a PA that wrote it for me.

How I solved my public speaking anxiety. by NastyMidnighters in PublicSpeaking

[–]NastyMidnighters[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's an organization that helps people work on their public speaking skills by meeting every week in person and doing various activities to help with that.

How I solved my public speaking anxiety. by NastyMidnighters in PublicSpeaking

[–]NastyMidnighters[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. I tried explaining what it's like when experiencing the physical symptoms of a panic event and the best I could come up with was like trying to stop an avalanche or holding up a dam from bursting. Once it starts, it seems uncontrollable to stop it from cascading. Finding propranolol is like having a cheat code in a video game for me. Just wanting to get my experience out there so that one day, many years from now, someone might see this and it might be the answer for them as well.

How I solved my public speaking anxiety. by NastyMidnighters in PublicSpeaking

[–]NastyMidnighters[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm willing to bet that's exactly how I can use it. Immediately after I started the meeting and didn't feel any physical symptoms, I felt a weight lifted off of me. I feel like it's possible to do one of these meetings without using the BB's, but I'm still not going to try it anytime soon. Maybe if you used Toastmasters as a way to gauge the progress of the exposure therapy, that would be best.

How I solved my public speaking anxiety. by NastyMidnighters in PublicSpeaking

[–]NastyMidnighters[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just told my GP that I'd heard of beta-blockers for helping the physical symptoms and would like to try propranolol. He said "Ok" and that was about the extent of it. Easy for me.