Ka. Holroyd et al., ENHANCING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF RELAXATION-THERMAL BIOFEEDBACK TRAINING WITH PROPRANOLOL HYDROCHLORIDE, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 63(2), 1995, pp. 327-330
This article evaluated the ability of propranolol to enhance results a
chieved with relaxation-biofeedback training. Thirty-three patients we
re randomized to relaxation-biofeedback training alone (administered i
n a limited-contact treatment format), or to relaxation-biofeedback tr
aining accompanied by long-acting propranolol (with dosage individuali
zed at 60, 120, or 180 mg/day). Concomitant propranolol therapy signif
icantly enhanced the effectiveness of relaxation-biofeedback training
when either daily headache recordings (79% vs. 54% reduction in migrai
ne activity) or neurologist clinical evaluations (90% vs. 66% reductio
n) were used to assess treatment outcome. Concomitant propranolol ther
apy also yielded larger reductions in analgesic medication use and gre
ater improvements:of quality of life measures than relaxation-biofeedb
ack training alone but was more frequently associated with side effect
s.