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l…@galactose.mc.duke.edu (Lora LeMosy) writes:
>In article <2lg09o$…@apple.com>, hamma…@apple.com (Rebecca Hammaker)
>wrote:

>> I was just put on Inderal for treatment of migraine headaches.
>> Right now I’m at 80mg per day.
>> Does anyone have any personal experience with this drug? I’m
>> wondering what, if any side effects I can realistically expect
>> as I get up to higher dosages. If you’ve taken Inderal before
>> for this purpose, have you found that it helped lessen the
>> severity/frequency of the headaches? I’ve not noticed any
>> change in the headache pattern, but I’ve only been taking it
>> for about three days…

>> Thanks for any information,
>> Rebecca Hammaker

[reply deleted]
I’ve been taking Inderal/Propranolol for about 15 years now, and there
have been side effects.  Females would not be subject to some of those
effects, but I’m sure that they will be equally affected by others.  
Hallucinations are one such effect.  I well remember the ghostly figure
who would come to sit on my bedside lamp.  It was interesting, since I
knew full well it was not there.  You also have to be very careful not to
get very angry or tense.  Anything that will produce adrenalin is liable
to also produce a headache that will take the top of your head clean
off.  I am on only 40 mg/day, and I can no longer pilot an airplane for
that reason.  
—
Kenneth T. Cornelius      kenc…@clark.net

|> noticed a significant reduction in the frequency.  During the time I have
|> been taking Inderal LA I have experienced weight gain and have been
|> *diagnosed* with asthma.  (I only get asthmatic during allergy season and
|> quitting smoking has really helped so I don’t really consider myself as
|> having asthma except between late March and early June .)  I do not know
|> for a fact that the Inderal has actually *caused* either the weight gain or
|> the asthma, but I do know that it is contraindicated in people with asthma
|> so I go through a monthly fight with my pharmacist to obtain the drug.  (If
|> I ever stop having migraines entirely I may let the pharmacist win one of
|> these days.  Until then, the Inderal is *definitely* worth it for me.)

The reason that us pharmacists are unwilling to dish out things like Inderal to
people with asthma is that they can precipitate asthma attacks in asthma
sufferers. Basically, these tablets do the exact opposite of some of the inhalers
used to relieve asthma (they are beta-blockers, whereas things like Ventolin
[Salbutamol] are beta-stimulants) and so they can cause airways to constrict,
bringing on an attack. Being generally nice people, we don’t like giving people
tablets that might end up killing them. When I’m in the position of getting
as prescription for beta-blockers for an asthmatic patient, I always make sure
that the doctor hsan’t "forgotten" about the risks involved.  Having said that, I
have known people with asthma who have been quite happy on really quite high
doses of beta-blockers.

As for the Inderal *causing* the asthma, I wouldn’t like to say, but it could
certainly cause mild, latent symptoms to come to the fore during regular
treatment.

&…

|> did my last read-up on Inderal but I understand that abrupt withdrawal can
|> cause serious problems.  Perhaps someone else knows exactly what the
|> problems are.  I’m not a pharmacist, just a fellow migraine sufferer with a

All these drugs are primarily used to lower blood pressure. If they are stopped
abruptly, blood pressure can "rebound" to dangerously high levels. As always, it
depends on the patient, but in a patient who is elderly or who had very high
blood pressure before starting treatment, it could be quite a problem. If you’ve
been taking them for any length of time, see your doctor before stopping. Having
said that (why do I always say that ?), a lot of doctors I know tend to say "Oh,
just stop the tablets", which causes a lot of pharmacists I know to start tearing
their hair out in frustration.

–
Chris Richardson (Foop)
JANET: C.Richard…@uk.ac.kcl.cc.bay
Internet: f…@sg2.pcy.kcl.ac.uk (preferred, when it works)
Ignore any lines above this one – we are having problems with our mailer

> I was just put on Inderal for treatment of migraine headaches.
> Right now I’m at 80mg per day.
> Does anyone have any personal experience with this drug? I’m
> wondering what, if any side effects I can realistically expect
> as I get up to higher dosages. If you’ve taken Inderal before
> for this purpose, have you found that it helped lessen the
> severity/frequency of the headaches? I’ve not noticed any
> change in the headache pattern, but I’ve only been taking it
> for about three days…

> Thanks for any information,
> Rebecca Hammaker

I have been on Inderal LA, 120 mg/day, for 3 years.  I started at 60 mg,
then 120 mg, then 180 mg (I think at two week intervals).  I backed off to
120 mg because of severe fatigue.  I noticed a reduction in the severity of
my migraines once I went to 120 mg but it took about a month before I
noticed a significant reduction in the frequency.  During the time I have
been taking Inderal LA I have experienced weight gain and have been
*diagnosed* with asthma.  (I only get asthmatic during allergy season and
quitting smoking has really helped so I don’t really consider myself as
having asthma except between late March and early June .)  I do not know
for a fact that the Inderal has actually *caused* either the weight gain or
the asthma, but I do know that it is contraindicated in people with asthma
so I go through a monthly fight with my pharmacist to obtain the drug.  (If
I ever stop having migraines entirely I may let the pharmacist win one of
these days.  Until then, the Inderal is *definitely* worth it for me.)
Other than mild fatigue, which is infinitely preferable to having constant
headaches, I have no other problems with Inderal.  

By the way, I believe that if you show no improvement after six or eight
weeks, that this indicates Inderal isn’t the right drug for you, and the
doctor is supposed to take you off of it.  **DO NOT** just stop taking
Inderal without your doctor’s awareness.  It has been a few years since I
did my last read-up on Inderal but I understand that abrupt withdrawal can
cause serious problems.  Perhaps someone else knows exactly what the
problems are.  I’m not a pharmacist, just a fellow migraine sufferer with a
little experience.

Good luck!

P.S.  Inderal LA is a long-acting form of propranolol and may have
differences to Inderal that I am not aware of.

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Lora M. LeMosy, Box 3711, Duke University Medical Center, Durham NC 27710
USA
                           l…@galactose.mc.duke.edu

Disclaimer:  Opinions expressed here are my own and not those of my
employer.  I doubt if my employer even knows I *have* opinions.
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