Hi Damon: Go for the Beta blockers! I suffered for decades with dry mouth due to performance anxiety: my best performance was always the dress rehearsal. I tried visualization, breathing techniques, swigging Scope mouth wash during performance (to make my mouth water), jogging on a treadmill as soon as possible before a performance to use up adrenalin - all to very limited success. I finally broke down and got Beta blockers and it was a great decision for me. I now enjoy performing and have been able to express myself musically in performance in a way that was never previously possible. My doctor explained that Beta Blockers can dry you out (they are diuretics) so if you are dehydrated going into a performance, they can make you even dryer. For me, it meant ever so slightly dry lips, as if chapped, but my mouth was fine. To counteract this, two or three days before a performance I make sure I drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day (what we are all supposed to be drinking daily, but that is the stuff of another discussion best had on a health list). Since doing that, I have not experienced any dryness during performance while on Beta Blockers.
Whatever route you pursue, good luck! Leslie Ossining, NY _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
