Performing musician and anxiety problems

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I'm a musician who teach and play guitar for a living for almost 20 years, I have a little social anxiety disorder(and bipolar ) so even today i still have a little stage fright and sometimes super anxious when I'm up on stage ,although I'm a respected musician( at least that's what i believe :-) .I used to abuse benzos and opiates for years but now i'm clean.(almost!)I'm tapering suboxone (right now i'm at 1mg a day)

But I know that benzos especially alprazolam always f**k up my guitar playing even at a low dose like 2 mg.(without tolerance).
I have to play at least one gig every weekend , depending on the places and crowd sometimes i get super anxious and ruin my performance .

I used to drink occasionally ,and 1 or 2 shot of whiskey would be always enough to made me feel confident, warm and somehow enhances my ability to improvise (I mostly play improvisational music, like trad jazz and fusion). But now Alcohol is illegal in our City at the moment.I'm not implying a saying a shot of whiskey before gig is a good thing .. 'i'm just saying it had worked for me.. its just how it was!)

Can anyone suggest me something to take or do before going up on stage..
 
Performers often resort to the common beta-blocker propranolol for stage fright/relaxation issues.

Given your past abuse of benzos though, I'm really not sure it would have much effect on you.

Having said that, it would certainly be less harmful than a benzo addiction or excessive alcohol consumption.

Do you have a doctor you could talk about this issue with?
 
Performers often resort to the common beta-blocker propranolol for stage fright/relaxation issues.

Given your past abuse of benzos though, I'm really not sure it would have much effect on you.

Having said that, it would certainly be less harmful than a benzo addiction or excessive alcohol consumption.

Do you have a doctor you could talk about this issue with?
 
I'd suggest, from personal experience, CBD. Subtle but it might well help. And I might say subtle because I am moderate in my doses. I use a capsule with Charlottes Web strain in it. Actual fine greenish grindings, not the oil, though some love the oil version.
When reading at first, I hesitated to suggest because it - how do I put this- it breaks the last 0.1% level of concentration. It's kind of the opposite of some psychoactive stimulants for ADD that give a forced focus.
That effect is not why I am recommending it, but it concerned me for a musician who may judge himself (or be judged) on the last 1/100th of a second accuracy of timing, and so on.
Of course in some genres marijuana is commonly used... lol. So who knows.
CBD, if you haven't heard of it, is essentially weed with the THC bred out.
 
Yeah - beta blockers would probably the first choice for most people. If you go with a benzo, 2mg of alprazolam is a pretty high dose. Most people would take 0.25-0.5mg for similar purposes.

Otherwise, a decent sized dose of GABA on an empty stomach can be pretty noticeably calming. Melatonin, phenibut, or CBD, as mentioned, could also be possibilities depending on how you do with them.
 
I recorded myself playing guitar improvisation with some random backing on YouTube the previous night.i drank 2 shots of whiskey and chewed up 1mg xanax.. the weird thing is.. it went pretty well.. i might still have a tolerance to benzo but i guess my problem could be just psychological..
Man! Life is confusing
 
propanolol

or methyl 2 butanol which is like alcohol but since it's not ethanol should be legal (strongly advise against this)
 
white55 said:
propanolol

or methyl 2 butanol which is like alcohol but since it's not ethanol should be legal (strongly advise against this)
Click to expand...

I wanna say that butanol is on a "watched" list for personal purchases without a research license. I could be wrong.
 
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