u/Ill_Pomegranate_2279

I have been taking Propranolol 2x 10 mg daily for four months now. I don’t think it helps me a lot, and it just keeps my mind worried about my heart rate whenever I do some physical activity, specially going to swim in the sea. I am also very tired and foggy (not sure if it is because of Propranolol) and get cold feet after taking it.

I want to get off of it. My doctor said I can lower my morning dose to 5 mg for start and then we see from there. I am terrified because I read all those posts where people would got heart rate spikes, and I am already anxious about my heart. Is there any success stories without major symptoms of withdrawal or HR spikes? I know everybody is individual but I would like to hear first-hand experiences. I am also worried because I have a healthy heart and now I fear I kind of messed it up long term… my doctor said it is not possible, but he also didn’t mention any problems stopping it so I don’t know what to think. I feel so stuck and I regret even taking this med at the first place.

I have been dealing with anxiety for years, went to psychotherapy and it was really managable at the time, I was high functioning and avoided only 2-3 things that were the worst. Years went by and I guess life happened and stress accumulated, and a year and a half ago some major stresses piled up, along with really stressful work and it just escalated to the point I crashed one day after work and took sick leave. It was 4 months ago. I had really awful 10 days, then I managed to push through some activities because I couldn’t accept it, but as it didn’t really get better I started meds (Coaxil + low doses of Propranolol and Diazepam) mid May. Then I had this awful few weeks of mood swings with better and worse moments.

End of June I felt it started to get somewhat better, but still my functioning was reduced and my energy levels were awful. I went to check my blood and found out elevated inflammation markers that made me spiral, at one point doctors suspected it was some blood disorder so I basically tought I am seriously ill. Luckily, results came back fine and I guess it was some lingering viral infection, still don’t know what it was and even if it is over. Anyway, I am 4 months into sick leave and rest and I still feel mostly tired, anxious, sad and frustrated. When I try to do something “normal” it is so hard, I get tired so easily and I just feel like I will never recover. I have so many fears and health worries and I still avoid lots of stuff. I can’t even think about going back to work. I do CBT weekly for a month now, I sleep and eat well, when I have some energy I try to do some stuff around a house or socialize or go for a walk, but it usually leaves me drained and I feel like I can’t really enjoy anything because I am always on guard or it takes too much energy and I feel completely overwhelmed and have to lay down. My progress is just so slow and annoying. Sometimes I feel like there is no progress at all. Also my whole body hurts, specially my lower back, and I guess being less active could affect it (I also have some back issues from before), but I also have moments where I think I am seriously ill although I believe it is my health anxiety talking. I am really becoming desperate, I don’t know what to do, my psychiatrist is hesitant about SSRIs because he thinks it has to do also with this viral infection and hormonal stuff (I did change my hormonal BC pills right before the crash happened, so planning to switch them back and see if it will have an effect).

I am just fed up with all of that because I used to have a normal life and I miss it. It is hard to live like this and every day I have really hard moments, which by now I thought would be less intense and less frequent, specially considering all the interventions and effort I put into recovery.
I guess I am just looking for some support and maybe someone who has gone through similar stuff and can give me some advice on what to do, or at least tell me that I can hope it will get better, which is harder and harder after so many months of feeling unwell. :( Should I maybe change meds? Or give it more time plus continuing therapy? I feel stuck and helpless and frustrated and just want to feel more normal and functional.

Any comment will help. Thank you in advance!

Hey! I am 33, have PCOS and been taking hormonal BC since I was 17, so basically half of my life. I took Yaz until late 20s and I tolerated them perfectly - they helped with my symptoms and I didn’t feel any mental health struggles, no effect on libido. In my late 20s I started to have some acne, turned out my estrogen levels dropped, so my gyn switched to Belara. It was like 5-6 years ago, and since then I switched from Belara to Drovalis two times, mainly because of trygliceride levels. But now when I look back, I feel like my anxiety has just been escalating since I switched from Yaz and my libido decreased. I also gain 15 kilograms in 3-4 years, only change was starting to work full time (I am moderately active and eat mainly balanced diet, not perfect but also not bad). I really can’t tell because life was going on parallely and I did have some major stresses, also I guess my age impacts hormones, as well as ongoing stress both at work and privately, but I am curious is it possible that at least part of it is because of the pill? I last switched from Belara back to Drovalis in March, and I remember a week after switching I had the worst weekend ever, I literally cried and barely could get out of the bed. In the meantime I started some psych meds and doing regular psychotherapy, but I feel like the progress is so slow. Also, I have like daily pattern of anxiety that has been ongoing for years, which makes me think it is partly hormonal.

Did anyone had similar experiences? Do you think it is worth it to get off the pill or maybe try to go back to Yaz before considering further psych medication?

I am grateful for any experience! Thanks in advance!

Hello! I am 33 years old female, 170cm height, 85kg weight. I smoke for years, try to keep around 10 cigarettes per day, I don’t drink alcohol, try to have somewhat active life and eat balanced, not perfectly but also not bad.

I was diagnosed with PCOS at 17, and since then I am on birth control pills and do regular relevant check-ups which are fine. No other known illnesses. I am usually prone to anxiety, but mostly lived normally. Last year and a half I had some major life stresses, but I managed to just keep on going. In December 2025 I noticed I was burnt out and my anxiety started to become more intense, and I started avoiding more and more triggering situations. I also have a very stressful job on top of it, but I just pushed through. It was getting worse, I also started to have this body aches, mostly intense chest wall and back pain (I do have scoliosis and lordosis that are not perfectly managed), then I developed some health fears and panic-like moments and finally in April I crashed and took sick leave. I realized I couldn’t go on like that for a day more. For some time after sick leave I was basically just laying down and had really bad anxiety and ruminations. I go to psychotherapy regularly, and have seeked also psychiatric support so at the end of April I started taking some low dose meds (Coaxil, Propranolol, Diazepam). While I am still not able to function normally, I try to expose more to life and I feel generally calmer, I feel medications helped to some extent and I have regular check ups with my psychiatrist. Besides meds, I take daily supplements for general health and PCOS (Vitamin D, Magnesium Glycinate, Inositol, Omega 3, Probiotics).

The thing that started worrying me was that after 2 months of sick leave and all those meds and supplements and therapy I was still feeling so exhausted. I did have some emotional stresses during this time, so I was not completely stress free, but my body aches were still there (mostly milder than before sick leave) and I had occasional mild fevers like 37,3-37,4. It is sharp pain when I press all around my chest, back and ribs, and like milder pain in lower back that is pretty much present all the time. I am much less active these three months than usual, mostly spending time at home and laying more than usual, althought I do take regular walks, stretching and short bike rides most days. But I also worried I compromised my body health and immune system with being at home so much.

Anyway, I decided to check my CBC and some other immunology parameters. Last time before that, it was checked in February, before the sick leave, and it was all within normal range, except CRP that was 22. Since it is basically always elevated for years (around 8, which I connect to PCOS), I didn’t pay much attention. I also have to mention that throughout the years my leukocite counts are mostly in the upper range or slightly elevated, while my lymphocites oscilate between normal and, until now, slightly elevated (4,10 was highest).

So I went to do blood test a month ago, and leukocites and lymphocites came back slightly elevated (leukocites 12, lymphocites 5,30). My GP said to repeat it in a week and the results were basically the same. So she said to repeat it in two weeks, which was yesterday, and my leukocites are still around 12, and lymphocites rised to cca 6,10 with 13% atypical and 5 smudge cells (Gumprecht shadows), which really scared the sh** out of me! I called the lab and they asked me if I had a known cancer from before, which freaked me out. My GP didn’t want to comment much, she reffered me to hematologist. My friend which is oncologyst consulted her hematologist friend, and they both said it is worrisome and I should get checked. I also did LDH which was normal and CRP was now 6,7. Rest of my CBC, thyriod function, iron, glucose and liver enzimes are normal.

I can’t tell if I had some viral infection and when, since I basically feel off this whole time with lots of various symptoms that I mainly just put under anxiety. I did feel “sick” some time before my sick leave, and kept going to work. I now still feel off, but have some really good windows when I feel basically “normal”, but it is still not stable. Since I got these results I started to think that my body aches are from lymphoma and I easily jump to conclusion it is definitely lymphoma and that I will probably die of it. I have this hematologist appointment in a week and it is just unbearable to wait. I do have health anxiety so I am taking it into consideration, I also have my psychotherapy in few days, but this results and doctor’s reactions really put me off. I even dreamt about my potential future which I will not be able to live. I know it’s dramatic, but I am sharing honestly.

I do not have any known swollen nodes, I don’t have night sweats or unexplained weight loss. I did have some intense emotional stress the day before my blood test was done, but my GP says it is not likely to influence it. The thing that is most concerning to me is this raise of lymphocites in two weeks, plus those smudge cells. I am basically sure it is something serious and I am scared as hell.

Can someone tell me should I worry and prepare for the worst case scenario? I know no one can tell for sure, but maybe if some physician or person had similar experience I would be grateful to share it. Is there a chance it is just something reactive? Because I asked my GP and she said she doesn’t think it is from infection or burnout, but wouldn’t comment further.
I feel so scared and sad and just want to see if it is even possible it’s nothing serious :(

Thank you in advance, any advice or support is useful!

Pozdrav! Zanima me jeste li čitali knjige ove izdavačke kuće? Prijateljica mi je preporučila, kaže da ima puno super naslova, pa me zanimaju iskustva. Ja sam za sada pročitala samo “Ciganin, ali najljepši” Kristiana Novaka i bio mi je odličan roman, ali gledam po webu i imaju dosta naslova, pa ne znam od kuda krenuti. Hvala!