Beta blocker for showing?

[Scribbler]

@jonem004

I’ve done warmup classes that didn’t feel any better. I’ve also schooled the same course the night before and felt completely fine, so go figure.

I think my response to adrenaline is disproportionate. I don’t really understand why it’s triggered by showing though. I love an audience, and I’m confident in my riding. But throw it all together and walking out of the ring I’m all nauseous hot and my hands feel like pins and needles. It’s gross!!

I also feel like I can get poisoned by my own adrenaline.

I live a calm life but on the rare occasions something does stress me out badly, it’s like my body doesn’t want to let go of the adrenaline and it just gets rachetted up worse and worse.

It was a real revelation when I realized that my racing heart at the dentist was about the freezing and not about fear. That made me start thinking about the physical aspects of anxiety in a new way. It’s like my body can overdose on adrenaline and I need to relax and wait it out the same way you’d wait out being tipsy.

[OneGrayPony]

I take a beta when I ride (under certain circumstances). A bad fall 10 years ago left me with a dangerous reaction to any “goofy” things a horse does. My heart rate spikes and then it takes a long time to calm back down - longer than is useful for riding through things. I’ve been riding for 30+ years, so those bobbles should be relatively easy. The beta keeps my heart rate calm, so then all I have to deal with is my brain’s anxiety which I can easily get under control. The negative reaction is in my unconscious brain, which is why the beta is super useful, and a Xanax or a Benadryl only mildly. Your doctor should be able to help!

[Redlei44]

@BigMama1

Talk to your doctor. Nerves are one thing but crippling anxiety is another. Maybe those posting here don’t understand the heart pounding, dizziness, shortness of breath, vomiting, diarrhea etc. that you can experience. Beta blockers are commonly prescribed for this kind of scenario. Talk to your doctor.

This is a great point and interesting thing to think about. How much physical discomfort is too much, especially if you’ve been at it for a while and it’s not subsiding on its own? I get heart palpitations, upset stomach and diarrhea, shortness of breath, poor heat regulation, brain shutdown, insomnia, etc. from show nerves, some of those confined to day-of and some in the days leading up to the show. They are mild to moderate for the most part and I don’t consider them debilitating since I always muddle though. But not gonna lie, if a pill took away a lot of that stuff, I’d be all over it. I thought that time would help, I thought that more riding would help, I thought that better fitness would help, I thought that sports psychology would help, and they have helped, but the symptoms are nowhere close to being “fixed”, “controlled”, or even “not very noticeable”.

[Crashing_Boar]

One thing to consider is–how old are you? From my early teens through age 34, I was a daredevil in the saddle; would literally try anything. Two back-to-back “rang-a-tangs” who gave me a bunch of near misses (though no wrecks) and all of a sudden I woke up at age 35 with an unwanted “program” called “Self-Preservation” having been installed. I’m told this is an extremely common experience–age 35 or birth of your first child, whichever comes first!

It’s been with me ever since. I’ve nicknamed it Darwin, trying to be my friend. There IS a hack for in-gate nerves, though, and it’s taught to cops, firemen and soldiers going into nasty situations: Square Breathing.

Take a deep breath in through your nose, all the way down into the bottom of your lungs, over 4 seconds’ time.
Hold said breath full for four seconds;
Exhale slowly through your mouth for a count of four seconds;
Hold empty for a count of four. Repeat as necessary.

I’ve found 2-3 reps of this is capable of knocking down just about any sympathetic nervous system response you got.
(aka adrenaline dump). I’d definitely practice this for awhile, and any other similar things a sports psychologist might share, long before reaching for drugs which should always be a course of last resort and also raise fairness/ethical questions of the same sort that tranquilizing your horse for your hunter round would.

Your subconscious may be telling you you’re timing out of this phase of your training career. No shame in it–some of the greatest names in horsemanship made those names primarily standing on shank’s mare, training and teaching others.

[lintesia]

I’ve taken beta blockers for performance anxiety for many many years. I worked out that for me the ideal dose is 1/4 of a 10mg pill, which is basically a crumb.

I’ve experimented with taking it to see if it would help with show nerves and I want to say that I’m on the fence except it’s too close to being a pun! I think it made me calmer but didn’t make me ride any better.

In any case, it’s something to consider especially since the dose will likely be nowhere near the prescription dose for a heart condition. Talk to your doctor!

[short_strided]

This is 100% a personal decision that should be made with the input of your doctor. Drugs affect people very differently… I have prescriptions for propranolol and Xanax. I take them individually, or together, depending on what I’m doing. I take them for social anxiety/performance anxiety that can be triggered by my job.

For the most part, I do not feel nervous in my brain but my body feels nervous… which sounds like your issue. Propranolol works for the physical manifestations of anxiety and is my go to over the Xanax. I take 40 mg. That dose makes some people dizzy, but it works for me with no side effects. I feel like beta blockers help to lessen your anxiety over time, because you still identify the “trigger”, and then you think “on no, I’m going to freeze up”, but you don’t. So eventually you stop noticing things that previously would have caused an issue. It legitimately trains your brain/body to react differently to stimuli.

[NC001]

not a medical doctor

Im surprised how many on here are acting like taking a beta blocker is some kind of extreme response! I work in a field where oral presentations are very common and it is well known people take propranolol before giving talks. I have never taken xanax or other types of anti anxiety meds but Ive taken propranolol. The dose I took was very low and it did not make me feel drugged at all. And you can take it just when you need it.

It calms the physical symptoms of nervousness, which as a results help your mental state. And the goal is after you have successful experiences your body no longer reacts that way and you no longer need to take it.

Discuss it with your doctor- I see no reason not to get some help if there is something that works for you and your doctor thinks it is appropriate and safe.

[MissCoco]

Square breathing is my go-to as well!
I did work with a psychologist to help me get to a better place with many acute nerves situations. In addition to square breathing, there are other breathing and visualization techniques I learned over the course of a couple months, which helped me a lot with general anxiety and acute situations.

One trick I like is to put some comforting pressure on the vagus nerve, more or less over your sternum, slightly to the left. I can either just press the flat of my palm there, or I do this:
Stretch my arms in front of me, cross one wrist over the other, interlace my fingers, and then bring my interlaced hands in towards my body, pressing my forearms against my chest.
Especially together with square breathing, this really helps me ride out my adrenaline response, and turn my brain back on.

I’ll also say that if meds are a good solution for you, I absolutely don’t see an issue with using them! The only time I would feel medications for nerves would be inappropriate would be if you were competing at an elite level, where athletes are subject to drug testing/reporting.

[Mersidoats]

@jonem004

What does everyone else else do about this? I know I’m not the only one out there with nerves. I’m not above doping myself, but I don’t want to be high for safety reasons and I don’t think meditation is going to cut it because this seems like a physiological reaction.

I’ve had performance anxiety and real anxiety since I was a small child. Of course, I also wanted to be a violinist, so dealing with it was necessary. I’m talking total complete meltdowns on stage, forgetting my music, vomiting after performances, hyperventilating. And it translated to horse-showing.

Things that did not help: meditation, visualization, breathing exercises.

Things that did help: exposure therapy (playing in front of people all the time), and chemicals. My first chemical of choice was beta blockers - they did not help me at that time. I self-medicated with alcohol. Lowering my inhibitions made me less afraid of making a mistake, and I learned that I would survive mistakes - this was CRUCIAL. All of the self-help and breathing exercises will not work if your brain is in survival mode and thinks you will die. Psychological reactions lead to physiological overreactions. You need to override that.

Alcohol is NOT a good long-term solution, but it helped me discover that I needed to short-circuit my anxiety-brain somehow. So I kept having a drink while I played and eventually I could play in front of thousands of people stone-cold sober and enjoy every minute.

Drinking and horses do not mix. My trainer and I made an exposure therapy plan and combined it with 0.5mg of Klonopin (cut into the quarters) that I obtained via rX from my doctor. First step was going and schooling at the show. Then entering a really easy class. Then entering an easy class and a hard class. Then entering two hard classes, always with a test reader. And then doing tests from memory. All the time, I’d take my little teeny 1/4 of a Klonopin tab every two hours. I was never high, but I was relaxed and clear-headed. I could comprehend what went wrong and go in the ring without freezing. I had my brain back.

And by golly it worked. Two years and 8 shows later, I am as excited to go to a horse show as I was to play giant festivals. This was impossible 10 years ago. A plan, a supportive teammate (my trainer), and a little chemistry go a long way.

[Archer]

I took propranolol (a beta blocker) before my first few shows and it was magical in calming my nerves. Now that I have miles under my belt, I don’t really need it. I would say that was a win in retraining my mind and physical response to nerves/anxiety.

[RainWeasley]

Definitely discuss with a doctor or sports psych. I have anxiety, mine is more physical all the time than the usual worrying about things. I tried for about a year to get off meds and just deal with it, but all the psychological, therapeutic, diet-changing, meditating things in the world didn’t help and I lost basically a year of my life for it. Finally got on Lexapro and while it made me gain a ton of weight, I feel normal again.

Point being, when your anxiety and nerves are affecting you THAT much, especially physically, to the point that it is causing you to have trouble doing things you typically enjoy doing or need to do, you usually need a bit of help. Beta blockers might work for you, or might not. BB didn’t help me at all, I had low-tending blood pressure to begin with and it just made me feel sick. I carry low doses of klonopin with me that I break into quarters if I get panicky or just unable to deal, it doesn’t make me drowsy at all but does take the edge off. Different things will work for different people. Our body chemistries are all different, which is why it’s so important to talk to a doctor or psychiatrist that can help you find what will work for you, if they decide some chemical help is needed.

Also, don’t feel ashamed about it. Up until a few months ago, I could barely drive anywhere, had to force myself to go to work, and driving to the barn was terrifying for me. Freaking driving down the road made me super nervous. THAT’S embarrassing! Oddly enough, shows are one thing that I never really get that anxious about. Maybe I’m just so used to being nervous at weird times that being nervous for an actual logical reason is fine with my brain :lol:

Something I like to remind myself: Fear and anxiety is just excitement that’s gotten a little confused!

[BITSA]

You need a good sports psychologist. PM me if you want a few I’ve worked with. I suffer from anxiety so I get it; and I used to freak myself out so much it was not fun. There is cognitive behavioral therapy that might help; you need to learn to retrain your brain. It can get so much better. I promise!

[Kahuna]

I have used two very good sports psychologists. I have also been on Lexapro, but it was for work related stress/anxiety, and stopped taking it a few years ago. After I had a few riding accidents that required surgery, I still worked with my sports psychs. But, I have found that a beta blocker works best for me as I can take it as needed.

[jonem004]

I want to thank all of you so much for taking the time to comment. I feel much more confident advocating for my self knowing I’m not the only one who has this kind of reaction. I have an appointment set with my GP and am looking for a sport psychologist to see if I can take this on from multiple angles. Great to hear your stories!!

[Fiona_785]

@MDMom

It’s really not an extreme solution. OP, talk to your doctor.

Agreed, better to get info from professionals about this type of thing. Benzos are addictive and certain beta-blockers in low doses are prescribed safely for performance anxiety like this. Talk to your doctor. It’s not extreme. (Not an MD but I am a healthcare professional.)

[Fiona_785]

@BigMama1

Talk to your doctor. Nerves are one thing but crippling anxiety is another. Maybe those posting here don’t understand the heart pounding, dizziness, shortness of breath, vomiting, diarrhea etc. that you can experience. Beta blockers are commonly prescribed for this kind of scenario. Talk to your doctor.

Yup. Real performance anxiety isn’t just “show nerves”. I almost threw up in a flat class from the nerves of just being watched and judged. It’s an over-reaction and can really be a hindrance to one’s progress. Mentally I wasn’t afraid, but my body just reacts with such a profound response that it impedes my whole performance.

[roseymare]

Just learned that many symphonic musicians utilize beta blockers for performance anxiety.