tablets

[mebreaking]

can i take half a propanolol table instead of a whole one?
also, I get bad stomach ache hours after taking the propanolol. I take it for anxiety.

[sp1214]

I believe some snooker players take this to calm their potting. You could do a self test quite easily. After taking it measure your pulse rate at regular intervals to see the effect. You may find they only have a short term effect after taking say for about 3 to 4 hours.. You could do the same for 1/2 tablet.

[Ice.Maiden]

mebreaking - NO! never crush or break the capsules, or, if taken in tablet form, take the whole thing with a glass of water. If you need to cut down on them, you need to seek your doctor's advice first.
The stomach ache could well be a side effect of these drugs - does it mention this on any included information? Stomach pains are just one of the things you can get with these drugs, and tbh, I don't know the story, but I'm surprised that these were given to you for simple anxiety, as they have more specific uses for other problems. Have a word with your GP. x

[theprof]

Sorry Ice.Maiden but you're way off the mark with your reply. I'll try to explain from the beginning.

Propranolol is licenced for use for treatment of hypertension, Phaeochromocytoma, Angina Pectoris, Cardiac Arrhythmias, Migraine prophylaxis, Prophylaxis after myocardial infarction (heart-attack) and Anxiety where symptoms are accompanied by palpitations, sweating, tremor etc.

Anxiety is a recognised medical conditions and warrants treatment to the same degree by this drug as the other specific conditions I've mentioned above. In no sense should "simple anxiety" as you term it, be considered to be a more trivial condition than the others as you appear to imply. For those that suffer from it, it is a very real debilitating condition and should not be trivialised..

In the case of anxiety, the standard treatment is 40mg twice daily, increased to three times daily where necessary. Whereas this dosage is less than that given to patients suffering from the other conditions mentioned above, the dosage has been found to have a profound effect on the well-being of the patient.

I am at a loss to understand how you can offer an opinion on this matter when clearly, you're clearly unaware if propranolol is packaged as capsules or tablets. For the record, propranolol has never been supplied as capsules since the initial patent was sought by ICI. Generic versions have always followed suite and been packaged as tablets.

(continued)

[theprof]

Gastro-intestinal disturbances are common in the patient undergoing therapy with propranolol along with a whole host of potential other side-effects.

In the event that mebreaking considers that halving the tablets may diminish the stomache ache, then he/she should go ahead and do just that to see if it works. You may be assured that the GP would suggest just a course of action in any event because it may be an effective method of lowering the total daily dosage that mebraking takes without altering the frequency. Think about it.

Finally, although these opinions are my own, I've just run them past mrsprof, who is an Oxbridge university medical lecturer and an occasional locum GP.. She's not faulted the content.

[sheribeee]

hi x well i too take propranolol 20mg 3x daily for anxiety, and panic. I began taking very small amounts and upped my dose each week as i felt comfortable.
Yon can break them in half and will have no problems, butr the effects will obviously be reduced.
It works great for me, but i found an amazing improvement with citalopram too, i take 30mg daily for my anxiety and it has made me 1000 times better!!
I hope u feel better soon, and remember you are never alone, xxx