I'm on Ritalin (20mg SR 2/day) and Lexapro for anxiety (10mg/day), and that pretty much takes care of everything. However, if I'm feeling a little extra anxiety because I need to be in an uncomfotable situation, or give a presentation, or have a job interview, or something like that, then I pop a 10mg Inderal, and it takes me through the situation in calmness.

Inderal belongs to a class of blood pressure meds called beta blockers. Besides lowering BP, they also block the adrenalin rush that you get during anxious moments or panic attacks. And without the adrenalin rush, the anxiety doesn't increase (at least for me).

The cool thing about these meds is they're cheap (a bottle of generic inderal is cheaper than the copayment of my insurance plan), in low doses they don't reduce my blood pressure, and you can take them as needed. In fact, I'll take them even if I think I might be headed for an anxiety-producing situation.

There are many different beta blockers in addition to Inderal. My doctor tried to get me to switch to another brand, but I didn't like it as much.

If you're the kind of person who has "situational anxiety," like I do, even if it's on top of regular anxiety, which I have, you might want to talk to your doc about beta blockers.

Is this similar to clondine? Does it make you sleepy?

I was put on Clonidine for a short while because I also have high blood pressure, and the doctor thought it would be good for both. As far as I'm concerned, it was good for neither.

The beta blockers are really a short-acting pill that you take when you need it, or when you think you'll need it. Again, if I feel that I'll be in an anxiety-inducing situation, I'll take one about an hour beforehand. It only lasts a few hours, but I've used it to get me through difficult situations for me, such as public speaking.

The doseage I take is pretty low, compared to what people would take for high blood pressure. Aside from the anxiety-reducing effect, I can't say I've seen any other side effects, including sleepiness.

I'm under the impression that many doctors are OK with prescribing these meds for this purpose, although different doctors have different beta blockers they like (in my experience).

Do some research on the web, or look it up in the huge (and now old) book "Life Extension."

Hope this answers your questions.

Beta blockers are calming, but they don't make you sleepy, as far as I know. Mostly they are used to control blood pressure, but they are also good for the "jitters" - If you've ever had your hands shake from nervousness before a job interview or a public speaking engagement you'll know what I mean. They are not psychoactive, per se - they really just help with some of the physical side effects of anxiety like increases in BP and that shakey nervous feeling. If I ever had a planned public speaking engagment to a group of people (my worst nightmare!) I'd be asking my Dr for a few Inderall to prevent me from stuttering and shaking like a 90 year old parkinison's patient!
I think most Dr's would be fine with prescribing them, unless maybe your BP was very low to begin with.

Yeah, I have my trusty bottle of Inderall when I have to do public speaking or if I'm meeting a girl for the first time. It only takes about 5mg-10mg and my nerves are as calm as a cat. Inderall blocks Adrenaline, and is rutinely prescribed for performance anxiety in musicians and singers. People with ADD tend to have problems with Adrenaline. Either we don't have enough or have too much at the wrong time.

my doc has put me on a low dose of diazopam (valium) for "situational anxiaty". Not huagly impresed with it though, Used them today for my college induction and did not think that much to them. I think i also have some sort of paranoya problem though, must do some thinking about that if i can bring myself round to doing it.