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Single-dose propranolol tied to ‘selective erasure’ of anxiety disorders

mdedge.com

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Re: Single-dose propranolol tied to ‘selective erasure’ of anxiety disorders

#31

Post by blattimwind »

> “The effects are pretty amazing,” Dr. Soeter said. “Everything is treatable. It’s almost too good to be true, but these are our findings.”

Honestly yes. And it even sounds a bit scary, to me, that a drug that is very un-selective produces such a selective effect (erasing a specific kind of memory under very specific conditions). It sounds a little bit like striking a welding arc a couple times in just the right way next to a computer to flip a few specific bits in it's main memory -- absolutely astounding that it works, but who knows what else happened in there?

That being said I very much hope that this turns out to not produce {short,long}-term damage, because anxiety orders are very difficult to treat and are a huge waste of human ability.

Re: Single-dose propranolol tied to ‘selective erasure’ of anxiety disorders

#32

Post by intenex »

miguelrochefort wrote: post #25
oskarpearson wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please refrain from simply quoting the article, adding nothing to the conversation. It’s a blatant attempt at upvote harvesting from the TLDR crowd, and doesn’t belong on HN

The article is behind a paywall and I thought this snippet properly summarized it.

Even having read the article, I thought your chosen quote was excellent, helpful, and much appreciated. Thanks!

Re: Single-dose propranolol tied to ‘selective erasure’ of anxiety disorders

#33

Post by radosc »

cgriswald wrote: post #13
Benjamin_Dobell wrote: post #10

> The propranolol must be given within roughly an hour before to 1 hour after therapeutic reactivation of the fear memory to be effective. [...] when subjects were rechallenged 12 hours after taking propranolol the previous day – that is, after a night’s sleep – the fear memory was gone Oh wow, I'd be keen to give it a go: 1. Standing next to an edge of a tall building. 2. In a tightly enclosed space.

The idea of not having a fear of heights is generating a mild anxiety in me.

Having tried propranolol, I still had the same amount of fear but without physical manifestations of it like shaky hands or excessive sweating.

Re: Single-dose propranolol tied to ‘selective erasure’ of anxiety disorders

#34

Post by blattimwind »

miguelrochefort wrote: post #25
oskarpearson wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please refrain from simply quoting the article, adding nothing to the conversation. It’s a blatant attempt at upvote harvesting from the TLDR crowd, and doesn’t belong on HN

The article is behind a paywall and I thought this snippet properly summarized it.

> The article is behind a paywall

I didn't see one.

Re: Single-dose propranolol tied to ‘selective erasure’ of anxiety disorders

#35

Post by rjth »

I have been taking low dosage Propranolol for about a year now. It was prescribed for me for my hemiplegic migraines. Combined with exercise and occasional CBD oil it has completely eliminated migraines from my life.

This medication is absolutely brilliant and harmless. Also keeps my resting heart rate around 55.

If you struggle with migraines, talk to your neurologist, for me it was a life changer.

Re: Single-dose propranolol tied to ‘selective erasure’ of anxiety disorders

#36

Post by hnzix »

IAmGraydon wrote: post #30
ransom1538 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are out there and suffer daily 'stage fright' or serious social anxiety - propranolol is the drug for you. That weird fear that sweeps over you before a conversation - just doesn't happen. Need to talk in front of 50 people in 25 minutes? No problem. If you are crippled by social anxiety - this pill will turn you into Bradley Cooper in Limitless.

Maybe I’m an outlier, but it had absolutely no effect on me for public speaking or social situations. I was prescribed a lot of it, tried for years and even still have some sitting around. I envy those who get the effects you describe.

Yeah it slows my heart rate and chills me out a little but it's no magic cure for generalized social anxiety in my case. I've had better outcomes from eliminating caffeine.

I do like that (for me) Propranolol has minimal side effects other than mild drowsiness.

Re: Single-dose propranolol tied to ‘selective erasure’ of anxiety disorders

#38

Post by Broken_Hippo »

cgriswald wrote: post #13
Benjamin_Dobell wrote: post #10

> The propranolol must be given within roughly an hour before to 1 hour after therapeutic reactivation of the fear memory to be effective. [...] when subjects were rechallenged 12 hours after taking propranolol the previous day – that is, after a night’s sleep – the fear memory was gone Oh wow, I'd be keen to give it a go: 1. Standing next to an edge of a tall building. 2. In a tightly enclosed space.

The idea of not having a fear of heights is generating a mild anxiety in me.

Yeah, but that just makes one careful. On the other hand, not being able to climb a ladder, be too close to a window on the 3rd floor, or other such things would suck. You can then keep the knowledge that some heights are dangerous without actually having the fear.

Re: Single-dose propranolol tied to ‘selective erasure’ of anxiety disorders

#39

Post by peteretep »

blattimwind wrote: post #31

> “The effects are pretty amazing,” Dr. Soeter said. “Everything is treatable. It’s almost too good to be true, but these are our findings.” Honestly yes. And it even sounds a bit scary, to me, that a drug that is very un-selective produces such a selective effect (erasing a specific kind of memory under very specific conditions). It sounds a little bit like striking a welding arc a couple times in just the right way…

> erasing a specific kind of memory under very specific conditions

Why do you think it erases the memory?

Re: Single-dose propranolol tied to ‘selective erasure’ of anxiety disorders

#40

Post by blattimwind »

peteretep wrote: post #39
blattimwind wrote: post #31

> “The effects are pretty amazing,” Dr. Soeter said. “Everything is treatable. It’s almost too good to be true, but these are our findings.” Honestly yes. And it even sounds a bit scary, to me, that a drug that is very un-selective produces such a selective effect (erasing a specific kind of memory under very specific conditions). It sounds a little bit like striking a welding arc a couple times in just the right way…

> erasing a specific kind of memory under very specific conditions Why do you think it erases the memory?

> Propranolol achieves selective erasure: It targets the emotional component, but knowledge is intact. They know what happened, but they aren’t scared anymore. The fear association is affected, but not the innate fear response to a threat stimulus [...] This single-session therapy addressing what psychologists call fear memory reconsolidation

emotional/fear association sounds like a type of memory to me.

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