Propranolol for Misophonia
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseEarly Phase 1
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age18-65
SponsorBloom Mental Health, LLC
About this trial
The primary goal of this study is to investigate whether a one-time dose of 20 mg oral propranolol can temporarily reduce the adverse emotional and physical symptoms triggered by misophonia.
The secondary goals of this study are:
1. Determine potential predictors of response to propranolol treatment, including demographic factors, baseline symptom severity, psychometric instrument item responses, and physiological characteristics. 2. Evaluate the safety and tolerability of propranolol in individuals with misophonia.
Eligibility criteria
This trial does not accept healthy volunteersQualifiers
Age 18-65.
Able to complete study visit(s) in Littleton, CO.
Able to give informed consent.
Participant reports clinically significant misophonia symptoms, as determined by answers on the standardized "Misophonia Trigger Screening Questions for Participants" form (described separately in the protocol). Specifically, participants must demonstrate relevant misophonia trigger responses that meet pre-specified minimum severity criteria detailed on this form.
Disqualifiers
Current use of scheduled propranolol for any condition.
cardiogenic shock
sinus bradycardia (<50 bpm)
greater than first degree heart block
Trial design
Design model
Parallel
Treatments tested in this trial
propranolol
DrugA one-time dose of 20 mg propranolol
Placebo
DrugA dose of placebo taken orally
Treatment groups
20 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groupsGroup A: Propranolol PillExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Group B: Placebo PillPlacebo comparator 1 intervention
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Heart Rate
Heart rate was chosen as a primary biometric outcome because it reliably indicates sympathetic nervous system activation commonly observed in acute misophonia reactions. Given propranolol's established pharmacologic effect as a beta-blocker, the hypothesis is that propranolol will significantly blunt the heart rate increase typically elicited by misophonia triggers compared to placebo.
Time frame
Heart rate is continuously monitored via pulse oximetry during each video presentation. The continuous measurement will start at pre-intervention and end after the intervention.2
Visual Analog Scale (VAS)
The Visual Analog Scale (VAS) assesses three core emotional domains (anger, anxiety, disgust) and multiple physical sensations frequently reported during acute misophonia episodes, such as feeling hot/sweaty, heart pounding, muscle tension, trembling/shaking, and shortness of breath. Each response is rated on a sliding scale accompanied by emojis or graphics that visually represent increasing intensity of the sensations or emotions. This format leverages established evidence from acute pain and emotional-response research, demonstrating that visual analogue scales effectively capture immediate subjective states. The VAS is based on a Likert scales ranging from 0-7, 0-5, and 0-8 in some questions. Higher scores indicates more distress and a worst outcome.
Time frame
The scale will be taken immediately after each video clip intervention. It will measure the participant's reaction to each clip.Secondary outcomes
1
Grip Strength
An innovative exploratory measure of emotional and physical intensity will also be collected using a Grip Strength Meter. This measure is specifically designed for this study to provide participants with a physical, embodied way to express their subjective feelings of anger, distress, or tension following trigger exposure.
Time frame
Grip Strength measurement is subsequently performed immediately after each video exposure. This will be taken immediately after each video clip intervention in order to measure the participant's reaction to each clip.Sponsors and contacts
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Source ClinicalTrials.gov