propranalol, any side effects i should look out for?

I'm trying it for tension headaches. Low dose 40 mg. I've read it has a good tolerability profile. still it'll be helpful to hear from others.

Hi, I took Propanolol for a couple of years and never noticed any side effects at all.

I'm currently on it and it doesn't have any side effects that I have noticed.

No side effects for me

Same, no side effects

I am allergic to it and it made me swell up like a chipmunk. (Go figure!) I have taken atenolol in the past and it worked well. (Atenolol is a newer generation alternative to propranolol that lasts longer, so instead of taking it multiple times a day you only have to take it once a day.) Not sure why I am allergic to one but not the other? (I am allergic to penicillin and every drug that is even remotely related to penicillin!)

HI, can cause depression in some people....did in my case. Good luck with it all

Nausea and vomiting for me 😯

Bad headache for me, though I was taking it for anxiety, not headaches.

It can lower your blood pressure so be careful when you stand up and make sure you are stable and not dizzy. (It's really a blood pressure med).

I could not take it because it lowered my normally low blood pressure too much. No other side effects. If you have high blood pressure, then you'd be killing two birds at once with this med.

Mine too. I just stopped taking it yesterday after i found it was lowering my blood pressure.

I took it 4 times because some study showed it could make trauma treatment more effective if taken right before session. I didn't notice any improvement.

Be careful though - it can either cause or worsen depression (I forgot which of the two). Pdoc said it was unlikely to do so in my case, because I only took it 4 times, but if you take it continuously.. be careful.

I didn't notice any side effects when I was on propranolol. I think I was on a pretty high dose. I was on it for shaking, and the pdoc also tried it to help reduce anxiety. At first, the pdoc was slightly nervous about having me on it, because I have Asthma, and there are some risks (if I remember correctly), but I still didn't notice anything alarming.

"Atenolol is a newer generation alternative to propranolol that lasts longer, so instead of taking it multiple times a day you only have to take it once a day.)"


Atenolol is a heart-specific beta blocker, while propranol is a systemic beta blocker. When I was taking a beta blocker just for a benign PVC (extra heart beat) my cardiologist prescribed atenolol. When I began taking it for akathisia we switched to propranolol. It seems like tension headaches would fall into the same basket.

I didn't find that atenolol lasted longer.

Propanolol has many uses. Migraine prevention, heartbeat irregularities, thyroid problems, and a few others including hypertension. I take it for the first three. I've been on and off it (mostly on) since 1995, and find I have no side effects. However, I've had a few doctors mention it's good for anxiety. Not for me, and not for my husband. We are both on it, and have anxiety. I doesn't help a bit. I am on Xanax and he is on Klonopin for anxiety. If there is any drug that is GOOD for you, it's Propanolol, provided it doesn't cause any bad side effects. The only possible side effect I can think of is memory loss and nightmares, both of which I have, but am not sure if Propanolol is responsible. But it does help with my irregular heart beat, and that is a BIG plus, as it terrifies me.