Secaucus Fats
Banned
Due to medical problems I was given a prescription for Propanolol ( a beta blocker). This medication is primarily used to lower blood pressure and is also often prescribed to combat anxiety.
I have observed that the medication pretty much eliminates any symptoms of anxiety and produces a very calm "ice water in your veins" kind of state without any unpleasant narcotic effects.
You would think that such a state would be a good thing but, I am finding it to be quite the opposite.
I play my best when I'm a little wound up, a degree of anxiety and aggressiveness bring out the best in my game. Fast Eddie in "The Hustler" perhaps says it best when his stakehorse asks him how he feels and he replies "tight, but good".
IMO, pool is a game that serves as a form of ritualized combat, a way to vent our aggression in a civilized and acceptable manner, it is not a dispassionate, purely intellectual pursuit. For me the beta blocker effect is like having your testosterone depleted.
I cannot stop taking the medication because to do so would be flirting with the reaper. I wonder if what I've described is just a temporary effect.
Surely there are others here who have experienced what I'm going through and, if so, how did you deal with it?
I have observed that the medication pretty much eliminates any symptoms of anxiety and produces a very calm "ice water in your veins" kind of state without any unpleasant narcotic effects.
You would think that such a state would be a good thing but, I am finding it to be quite the opposite.
I play my best when I'm a little wound up, a degree of anxiety and aggressiveness bring out the best in my game. Fast Eddie in "The Hustler" perhaps says it best when his stakehorse asks him how he feels and he replies "tight, but good".
IMO, pool is a game that serves as a form of ritualized combat, a way to vent our aggression in a civilized and acceptable manner, it is not a dispassionate, purely intellectual pursuit. For me the beta blocker effect is like having your testosterone depleted.
I cannot stop taking the medication because to do so would be flirting with the reaper. I wonder if what I've described is just a temporary effect.
Surely there are others here who have experienced what I'm going through and, if so, how did you deal with it?
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