Stutterer with Anxiety Disorder

[gladius]

Good morning all,

First and foremost, I'm very happy I found this forum after a simple google search on "Tips for Stuttering". The mutual help that we can provide ourselves can truly be an asset to our attack on stuttering.

As in introduction, I'm a 24-year old male. Because I'm now (just recently) the team leader for my team at work, I have to give daily speeches, presentations, and of course regular conference calls and plain old but sometimes brutal one-on-one phone calls. My stuttering effects me on a daily and seemingly non-stop routine.

I also have a Generalized Anxiety Disorder which is exacerbated by my stuttering problem. I've never had a serious girlfriend (probably due to the stuttering / alcohol / weed proclivity). Could a girlfriend actually improve my speech? I would think yes...

As far as medication, I take Lexapro which has helped me unbelievable amounts with no side effects for many years. However, the anxiety is never truly gone unless the stuttering is mastered, or at least understood better. I've read practically every popular book there is for stuttering BTW. They helped also.

I'm meeting with my doctor to try Inderal LA and I'm excited about taking it.

As some question points:
1.) Alcohol - Alcohol mitigates my stuttering problem - which in and of itself is a problem I truly do understand - Nevertheless, say you guys go out one night and get really drunk - the next day your speech / anxiety is awful. Is there anythng that you do get your speech "back on track"? Any really good for anxiety? Running has helped but not as much as I'd want.

2.) Experiences with Inderal LA. I'm aware of the Hope document. Who has taken it? Did it work? Can you drink alot while taking Inderal LA? (I drink alot on Lexapro with no negative, synergistic "life-threatening" effects)

3.) Who here smokes weed? Do you think it helps or hurts your speech? I think kind bud makes my speech worse as my breathing gets off-whack and I over-analyze my statements, but I love smoking it anyway and when I do get a block while high - I don't worry about it too much cause I know the dank caused it. But I do remember back in college (when I had no money :)) the schwag wasn't as speech-effecting. But, as the saying goes, Life is to short for bad pot...

4.) When you get a block talking face-to-face with one person, what do you do immediatly to overcome the block without acting overly unsual to the listener? For me, it's a mess...

I hope everyone has good week with easy, smooth speech.

gladius

[cotton]

How are you Gladius? I'm amazed you could handle your kind of work that involves a lot of communication. The stress of stuttering does accumulate up to a nasty pile by the end of the day.

I also have dealt with GAD and yes the stuttering exacerbates it too. I went on a number of medications to treat the anxiety but side effects were intolerable so I had to stop. Paxil did help me speak fluently.

1) May I ask... since you mentioned that you use alcohol. Do you have hypoglycemia? Alcohol does cause your blood sugar level to drop, thus raising your adrenaline levels. You'd feel nervous, shaky, irritable until you eat something. Maybe this is why your speech worsens the day after you drink? I had hypoglycemia but now it's under control with Magnesium therapy. I also eat smaller frequent meals throughout a day which reduces my anxiety.

2) I've taken Propranolol which is the same as Inderal. I was on it for 2 weeks and does cut my stuttering down and spoke more fluently but had to stop because - again - side effects. One of Inderal's functions is to lower your adrenaline levels. Adrenaline causes our muscles to tense up, and makes us feel anxious. People have weak points in their bodies when they are overwhelmed by stress. I read somewhere for stutterers it attacks our vocal cords. If you want a natural alternative to Inderal, Magnesium has the same effects. Though I think the difference between them is that Inderal has a more noticable effect of calming but you get side effects like fatigue.

3) I don't smoke weed because it gets me paranoid. I had a friend who swears by smoking catnip. It's just as relaxing as MJ.

4) Blocks gets me panicky but when I smile as a gesture to say how silly it is, the other person smiles and it relaxes me. You'll eventually get it out but most of the annoyance is psychological. You just have to ride out that block. Annoying as hell.

Have you tried Kava Kava? It's a muscle relaxant and is prescribed in Europe for anxiety. It didn't help my stuttering but it does help my anxiety short-term.

I hope everyone has good week with easy, smooth speech.

:) thanks. I'm g-g-getting there.

[gladius]

Thanks for the reply cotton. I really do appreciate it.

1.) The Alcohol -
Yeah, I do drink too much. Sometimes when I get home after a bad night of stuttering at the Bar - say a Friday or Saturday - I'll smoke some kind bud and drink non-stop until I pass out. At the time, it seems like a small break from the anxiety/stuttering disaster that just occured. It's an escape mechanism - I understand that.

I'm not sure if I have hypoglycemia - but I have just recently started taking 500mg of Mg and 1000mg of Calcium everyday for about 5 days. No improvements in speech noticed.

2.) Inderal -
I'm pumped about taking this medication. My doctor was very excited for me as well. I start taking it tomorrow, 80mg a day. My doctor has been taking Inderal LA for 20 years now BTW - not stuttering related. I will report how it effected me. Thankfully, I have a "high tolerance" to drugs in general. :) I don't think i'll have any side effects. I can't wait.

3.) Catnip works just as good as kind bud?!? That's cute.

4.) When I hit a hard block I usually try to say a different word - or act like I'm thinking about something. I'm not.

5.) Kava Kava -
Yeah, I heard this stuff is great but causes liver damage - You're only supposed to take it once a month. Knowing I already do alcohol / weed to excess - I shyed away from it.

Anyway, remeber, that's just me. We're all different here. Stuttering is very lonely - that's my best word to describe it.

Thanks everyone - have a great weekend...

gladius

[loone]

Hi everyone,
I am 41 years old and I have been a stutterer since I was 6. I tried every therapy and spent a lot of money without success. Can anyone help? I heard about the propanolol and buspar, is it really safe? by the way I also have high blood pressure.
thank you for your help.

[johnjohn]

I have also spent a lot of money. I'm very interested in the propanolol and buspar. The one thing a can not understand is why is my 100% fluent when I'm really drunk. Several people have told that I do not stutter when I'm really drunk. Alcohol has to do something to the chemicals in my brain, I just wish I knew, so I could maybe get those same chemicals without the alcohol.

[mary]

Propanolol is really cheap. I guess it relaxes you just like you have have had a few drinks. I have tryed it, 10mg twice a day then once a day. I makes me so tierd it is not really worth it. Plus it freaked me out because my heart rate was 30 beats per minute. That is pretty slow. As far as improving my speech, I really could see no difrence. I was more relaxed speaking and did'nt have the adrenal rush when I started to stutter.

[claragazza]

Hi Gladius, nice to see more and more people in this forum.

In answer to your questions:
1) Alcohol does reduce my stutter dramatically too. But it is true that it does not help in the end. I used to believe that drinking to make me more fluent would make it more easy for me for dating. But after having been faced a few times with comments like "what's wrong with you" from boys calling me back later and hearing my "normal" speech, I have definitly ruled this idea out.

2) no experience

3) no experience either (anyway, I fear it would be the same as alcohol)

4) Here you adresse a very sensitive subject! When I really speak with someone face to face for more than a few words, my stutter would always appear so I would not try to hide. But, when I am faced with having to answer people that I do not know and that ask me very simple question in the street (like what's the time or where's the bus stop etc...) I often pretend to be stupid for "explaining" my blocks (like I would look at my watch several times while I try to overcome the block). This makes me feel awful but I still prefer to do this if it can spare me the shame of people realising how I speak.