Fight or flight response / beta blockers

STS1SS

STS1SS

New Member
Ok... Lets see if anyone else will confess to this problem. I have had serious anxiety problems in the past before checkrides and now it has extended to airline interviews. It is bad enough that my heart rate gets seriously elevated and my heart feels as though it is going to beat out of my chest. During an interview the other day I could barely form a coherent sentence. I was asked questions that I absolutely knew the answers to but I could not get them out. This has also cost me two failed checkrides in the past.

So today I am in my wife's medical office and one of the docs suggests that I am getting an elevateded fight or flight response. She suggests that I take small doses of a beta blocker before a checkride or interview.

I proceed to research this on the internet and find that concert musicians take beta blockers in small doses to counteract stage fright before performances and auditions. I am realizing that this is a normal condition and people often experience it before public speaking.

Any thoughts on this? Or does anyone else experience this problem? Remember this is beyond nervousness, this is nearly debilitating.

Also, it appears that beta blockers are approved by the FAA after certain tests are done.
 
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concert musicians take beta blockers in small doses to counteract stage fright before performances and auditions.

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I'm sure they take other things before the show as well.
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I've had anxiety problems like your's, but not to your extreme. If I know that I have a checkride coming up, I'll throw on some music and hit a heavy workout about an hour or two beforehand. Works for me.
 
Thanks for your response Kellwolf, I remember the only other time I posted to this board you were first (and only) one to reply. I hope there is someone else out there with a similar experience that will either reply or PM me with what they did to cure themselves.
 
I just listen to music, watch TV, or just do something that takes my mind off of the matter. Also like Kellwolf said, getting a good work out in decreases all kinds of stress tremendously. Just remember, they are human just like you, no better. Most importantly, remember you da man!
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And some places make you take a drug test immediately after the interview, so you don't want anything showing up on that
 
For the most part, Beta Blockers are used to treat angina, rapid heart rate, and high blood pressure. Yes, there are some older Beta Blockers (discovered in the 60's and 70's) and effect many body systems, and can help with anxiety. I would not recommend this for helping with situational anxiety.

My suggestion, as bad as this sounds, is to find a shrink and talk about your anxiety problem. It is nothing to be ashamed of, but it does sound like you need help. Try several relaxation techiques, such as deep breathing, projective imagery. I have taught these techniques to several migraine patients with success. Oh and I don't recommend the red wine method of anxiety reduction, then you look like a drunk.

Try looking here for relaxation techniques WebMD relaxation

Good luck
 
Sounds like me when I'd go in for my flight physical during the early years.

Relax, practice makes perfect, mellow mellow mellow.
 
Thanks for the reasonable and informative replies, especially "I wanna be ATP." I'm a pretty normal dude, really, until I get into these situations. I'll just have to deal with it and try some techniques. I was once in outside sales and I would shake with fear when going into an office to sell my product. I finally did it so much that I overcame the fear. I kind of failed my way to success. Aviation is not that way, you only get to mess up on so many checkrides or interviews. You have to answer for every one. Kind of hard to fail your way to success in this business.
 
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