Propranolol or Xanax for somehow serious exam anxiety?

[Tabrid]

Hello dear friends. I have got a bad exam anxiety. Symptoms like not being able to calculate simple things like 47+14, reading the essay and realising I didn't comprehend anything in the middle of it (I am pretty good at both math and reading when I am not anxious), shakiness, cold hands, slight lightheadedness, high blood pressure... Cognitive effects are worse.

Exam I was supposed to take was next year. I was planning on things like therapy, cardio, meditation etc but due to a massive change in exam system I am forced to take two exams in next two weeks. So, sadly, I am looking for a band aid solution for now. I went to my doctor and he gave me both Xanax 0,25 mg and Propranolol 10 mg and said both can help.

What I'm asking is which would be better for me? I am planning to only use one.
I am planning to take one next week on a practice exam to see how I feel and the other two for the two succesive real exams in two weeks. (23th and 24th of this month)
Would such doses affect my cognition/performance, make me sleepy etc? Does propranolol even help with mental effects of the anxiety like attention deficiency, bad calculations etc?

Some info: Exam is the most important university enterance exam. I can't find any other drugs/supplements in my country and it is illegal to buy abroad. I use a good multivitamin, creatine, and rasagiline for other reasons by the way. My diet is pretty good.

Any insight is appreciated. Good days.

 

[ilhanxx]

Hello dear friends. I have got a bad exam anxiety. Symptoms like not being able to calculate simple things like 47+14, reading the essay and realising I didn't comprehend anything in the middle of it (I am pretty good at both math and reading when I am not anxious), shakiness, cold hands, slight lightheadedness, high blood pressure... Cognitive effects are worse.

Exam I was supposed to take was next year. I was planning on things like therapy, cardio, meditation etc but due to a massive change in exam system I am forced to take two exams in next two weeks. So, sadly, I am looking for a band aid solution for now. I went to my doctor and he gave me both Xanax 0,25 mg and Propranolol 10 mg and said both can help.

What I'm asking is which would be better for me? I am planning to only use one.
I am planning to take one next week on a practice exam to see how I feel and the other two for the two succesive real exams in two weeks. (23th and 24th of this month)
Would such doses affect my cognition/performance, make me sleepy etc? Does propranolol even help with mental effects of the anxiety like attention deficiency, bad calculations etc?

Some info: Exam is the most important university enterance exam. I can't find any other drugs/supplements in my country and it is illegal to buy abroad. I use a good multivitamin, creatine, and rasagiline for other reasons by the way. My diet is pretty good.

Any insight is appreciated. Good days.

This is all in your mind, medication is not solution, programme your brain, repeat hundreds of times to your believes, your positive hopes, after a meanwhile your mind find a momentum.

 

[GutFeeling]

Propranolol only stops the physical symptoms like intense heartbeat and shakiness, and sometimes it doesn't even work for the later.

At low doses like 0.25 and 0.5 xanax may erase your anxiety without affecting memory or being sedative, always pay attention to those sides. When I suffered from severe anxiety I was always impressed how clonazepam would stop my procrastination and other ADHD symptoms like agitation. The positive mentality mantra always sounded like a cruel joke during those a times.


I suggest you to test before your practice exam to see how you react. Good luck with your test. On such occasion is better to take a more guaranteed fix than to regret in the future.

 

[dukesbobby777]

I think both are poor choices for exam nerves. Xanax has the potential to mess with cognitive function and propranalol is used more for (as said above) the physical symptoms of anxiety. I mean, if you can’t even hold a pen because your hand is shaking, I guess it might help with that. Usually you hear about people using it when they have to perform on stage, or if they have to stand up in front of people and perform speeches (resulting in stage fright).

Although dose dependant xanax might help, but could be tricky to get right. And with exams you get one shot.

 

[Peater]

This will sound weird but I swear by sodium bicarb in OJ when I can't sleep due to over-active mind.

It even makes the difference when I've already had 1 or 2mg of cypro and that hasn't worked.

Just watch out for the foam, it reacts of course.

I must have read it here at some point, but I can't remember where.

I know you don't want to sleep, but if you take it in the day I expect it would just be calming and not soporific

 

[Missenger]

Mechanisms Underlying Tolerance after Long-Term Benzodiazepine Use: A Future for Subtype-Selective GABAA Receptor Modulators?

Despite decades of basic and clinical research, our understanding of how benzodiazepines tend to lose their efficacy over time (tolerance) is at least incomplete. In appears that tolerance develops relatively quickly for the sedative and anticonvulsant ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

4.4.3. Mechanism 6: Neurosteroids​

There is ample and convincing evidence that neurosteroids are endogenous allosteric regulators that interact with GABAA receptors to modulate both tonic (extrasynaptic) and phasic (synaptic) inhibition (for reviews, see [150, 151]). Also, acute or chronic neurosteroid treatment may change GABAA receptor subunit expression, especially extrasynaptic α 4 and δ subunits [151]. In light of the plasticity-inducing actions of neurosteroids on inhibitory signaling, long-term enhancement of the GABA system with benzodiazepines may in turn evoke changes in the neurosteroids system such as changes in neurosteroid synthesis and metabolism, although classical benzodiazepines may differ in their potency to cause such changes [152]. In support, ovariectomy attenuated the development of tolerance to the anticonvulsant actions of diazepam [153]. Moreover, co-administration of the neurosteroids allopregnanolone or pregnenolone (but not dehydroepiandrosterone) prevented the development of tolerance after chronic treatment with either triazolam and diazepam [154]. Adding to the complexity of the putative involvement of neurosteroids in benzodiazepine tolerance, factors such as GABAA receptor subunit composition, phosphorylation mechanisms, and ((extra)synaptic) localization—which are all factors that were already found to be involved in tolerance development—influence the specific dynamics of neurosteroid activity.

Pregnenolone reverses tolerance issues with benzies, just something to keep in mind, they can cause memory problems taken long-term.

 

[GutFeeling]

Mechanisms Underlying Tolerance after Long-Term Benzodiazepine Use: A Future for Subtype-Selective GABAA Receptor Modulators?

Despite decades of basic and clinical research, our understanding of how benzodiazepines tend to lose their efficacy over time (tolerance) is at least incomplete. In appears that tolerance develops relatively quickly for the sedative and anticonvulsant ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Pregnenolone reverses tolerance issues with benzies, just something to keep in mind, they can cause memory problems taken long-term.

Another interesting study:

Attenuation of benzodiazepine withdrawal anxiety in the rat by serotonin antagonists - PubMed

Administration of benzodiazepines is known to be associated with tolerance and a withdrawal syndrome on abrupt cessation. The aetiology of the withdrawal syndrome is not known but a role for the serotonin (5HT) system is suspected. The aim of the current study was to investigate the usefulness...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Single doses of 5-HT2 antagonists, mianserin (5mg/kg) and ritanserin (1mg/kg), effectively ameliorated withdrawal anxiety in the rat, returning behavioural function in the social interaction test and elevated plus maze to levels comparable to vehicle-treated animals

 

[Tabrid]

@GutFeeling I will definitely try it before the test exam and hope it doesn't affect my cognition. Thank you!
@dukesbobby777 Sad to hear that. So Seems like I will test it.
@Peater Thank you for the advice. I might try it if those fail.
@Missenger You are right. I am only planning to use it three to four times at most. What I am wondering is if they can cause memory problems in short tem with low dosage.

Are you guys certain if Propranolol only affects the body? Since it is non-selective I thought maybe it helps with mental symptoms of anxiety without harming the cognitive performance as well? And I looked hard to find any studies about Xanax short term low dosage on performance but failed to find any.

 

[milkboi]

@GutFeeling I will definitely try it before the test exam and hope it doesn't affect my cognition. Thank you!
@dukesbobby777 Sad to hear that. So Seems like I will test it.
@Peater Thank you for the advice. I might try it if those fail.
@Missenger You are right. I am only planning to use it three to four times at most. What I am wondering is if they can cause memory problems in short tem with low dosage.

Are you guys certain if Propranolol only affects the body? Since it is non-selective I thought maybe it helps with mental symptoms of anxiety without harming the cognitive performance as well? And I looked hard to find any studies about Xanax short term low dosage on performance but failed to find any.

Propranolol is fat soluble and therefore penetrates the BBB well, so it should have mental effects. The things is that not enough adrenergic activity could also lead to impaired cognitive performance, so you should just trial out both substances in a setting as close to the actual environment you’ll be tested in and see how they effect you.

 

[Jkbp]

I take Propranolol occasionally, for public speaking. All Propranolol does is stop the heart from pounding and the body from shaking. Because my heart doesn’t rev up, (first symptom of panic attack), my body is unable to go into panic attack mode, and I am more relaxed. Propranolol completely stops a panic attack from happening, so that I am able to perform well. It does not relax me in any other way and I don’t think it’s alters the cognitive state at all. I’ve taken Propranolol on many important days in my life, including my wedding day. I’ve never taken Xanax because I fear it will make me feel relaxed, sleepy, not be able to socialize.
I think it’s best for you to try both before your test. Maybe take the Propranolol before a lunch with friends and see how well you communicate/hold a conversation. I don’t think the it will affect your cognitive learning state at all.