Hi triplewater, you run marathons? wow. Great to hear the zoloft seems to be kicking in. I do think that is one of the safest ones and good for anxiety.

I got a little carried away with my response. I just happened to be 'researching' a health issue and read some stuff about beta blockers in learning about histamine. There's really a lot of controversy in prescribing them to heart patients, but I also think potent medications should be last resort, not first choice! That's one of the things that disturbed me about doctors prescribing them for anxiety, such as yours. There's been some research that that blocking the beta receptors changes the integrity and function of the heart through growth of cardiac fibroblasts. These fibroblasts are thought to damage the heart.

Not that anti anxiety medications are without risks, but I can't believe how some of these doctors let someone suffer instead of prescribing an Ambien type drug, especially as you were awaiting the Zoloft to take effect. That's really lousy medicine, imo. Beta blockers come with more risk than schedule IV drugs. Nothing wrong with using them while you are working on a long-term solution. That's one reason they exist in the first place. And what you said about treating the symptoms instead of addressed the cause-yes, it's really sad. I also wondered about the interaction of all 3 too (not the 2- Trazadone with a SSRI) as some doctors don't check.

Anyway, some beta blockers promote release of histamine by activation of mast cells that are in tissues in nerves and smooth muscles such as blood vessels and lung and intestines which causes inflammatory response. Ongoing exposure to histamine seems to be really bad as this is a stress to the body.

But in terms of beta blockers for anxiety, it's trigger of histamine constricts the airway, which can actually trigger anxiety. A lot of people have breathing symptoms with panic attacks and anxiety, and the beta blockers that have this mechanism can make you feel like you have anxiety as your airways constrict, which in turn actually promotes anxiety. This is the reason they aren't prescribed to those with asthma. Maybe the one you take is not one of those; hopefully not.

Getting carried away again....I am really glad to hear you are doing better! That is not something someone should suffer through when there are relatively safe medications that help.

Bottom line is we are the only ones truly looking out for ourselves, or so it seems.