Hacker News Reader

Comment by daeken | Hacker News Reader

I finally admitted that it was time to start back on antidepressants, and also discovered propranolol (anti-anxiety med); it's changed my life in the most dramatic ways I can imagine.

As of today I weigh 319 lbs -- from a peak of over 400 -- and just a hair over half way to my goal of being at 240 lbs. This is the biggest change I've ever made in my life, and I couldn't be prouder to have come this far.

View on HN

That's awesome!

Btw I use your static site generator for my blog, so thanks for your OSS work!

Oh cool! Glad to hear you've had success with it. I wish there was a list somewhere of Benjen-powered blogs; I often wonder how many folks are actually using it.

That's awesome progress. I would strongly recommend trying a lifting program like strong lifts 5x5. You can start from home & get familiar with the movements you will need to learn with this: http://goo.gl/HnViBp (get the 20lb one) After you're comfortable you'll need to go to a gym where you have access to a squat rack and a bench press.

Strength is something everyone should have. The best way to build it is with bodyweight exercises (push up, squat, pull up, etc) and barbell training (see SL)... with this you can look forward to more than just a declining number on the scale.

I'm super happy for you, both for finding a drug that works for you and for changing your life to fit your vision of yourself. Way to go.

Can you say more about propranolol? Any drawbacks? I didn't think it helped with General anxiety?

It doesn't really work for general anxiety, but I personally have a lot of physical symptoms of anxiety -- racing heart, tightness in the chest, pain, etc -- which mimic (but aren't) cardiac symptoms. The propranolol (once or twice a day) completely cuts these out. When the psychological symptoms of anxiety are too much, I have Xanax I can take as needed, but that's only every other day or two.

The only drawback is that it can make me a bit more tired, but only if I'm already quite exhausted. Outside of that, it's virtually side-effect free for me.

That's awesome! Keep it up :)

Impressive! Congrats

Reply on news.ycombinator.com