Help with blushing
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Anonymous
| I have always been a blusher, but it seems to be getting worse. It happens in meetings when I speak and anytime there is attention on me. My co-workers love to point it out, making it a million times worse. Has anyone done anything like hypnosis to make it stop. Maybe therapy? I am open to any ideas. |
Anonymous
|
If you know in advance when you will have to speak, ask your doctor to prescribe a beta blocker. I think it might be dangerous to take it every day for this purpose but at work I use to take them a couple times a week (propanolol, 10mg I think).
I noticed that after a while I didn't blush when speaking anymore even without the medication. I stopped taking it, and then after a few months started blushing again so I went back on it. I am off it right now. |
Anonymous
I don't have any advice, but I have the same problem and feel like it's getting worse as well. |
Anonymous
| Rosacea |
Anonymous
I am beta blocker poster from above. Seriously, give them a try, especially if the blushing is getting worse. Mine was also getting worse because I had started thinking "Oh no, now I'm going to get nervous and blush!" even before I was talking. That made me even more anxious. It was a vicious cycle. With the beta blockers I would still worry about being nervous or blushing, but then nothing would happen. My heart rate would stay the same, my face was cool, my voice didn't shake. After I had several successful experiences with them I didn't psych myself out anymore and I could do without them. But because I think I am just high anxiety in general after a while I needed them again. It comes and goes. I just keep a bottle and take them when I think I might need them (usually give them about an hour to take effect). If you do try them, be sure to try them out one day at home first. It didn't happen to me but apparently they can make some people dizzy or tired or whatever. |
Anonymous
| 10:08 thanks for the advice. Was your doctor open to prescribing this for this reason? Is there anything OTC that is comparable? |
Anonymous
10:08 here, sorry I just saw this. Yes, each time I got the prescription I got it from my regular doctor. The first time I got it I think I just told them that I had a lot of blushing and voice/hand shaking during presentations and a colleague had had success with beta blockers for the same issue so I wanted to try them. The only issues my doctor stressed for me was to try them out at home first (i.e., when I wasn't driving) and that I shouldn't take them more than 2-3 times a week. If you take a beta blocker regularly and then suddenly stop that can be quite dangerous. Occasional use is not. |
Anonymous
NP. I have the same problem as OP. It's not rosacea. |
Anonymous
Rosacea is several different things, bumps that look sort of like acne, and flushing. Flushing with heat or cold, flushing with wine or spicy food, and flushing for emotional reasons, including speeches, meetings, performances, etc. Beta blockers can be prescribed for the flushing kind of rosacea. Social anxiety can also cause flushing/blushing, and beta blockers can be prescribed for that as well. |
Anonymous
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I used to blush all the time. I then realized if I started to blush it was because I was in some way really tense, and the key is just to relax a little. I would say to myself "its ok if I blush, no one cares, it doesn't matter" and it started to happen less.
I don't think I've blushed in over a decade now. |
future10
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| Agree with the beta-blocker. I have Inderal and it is such a relief. |