Can a blood pressure drug rewrite trauma memories to ease fibromyalgia?
NCT ID NCT04950426
First seen Sep 09, 2026 · Last updated Sep 10, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
Researchers are testing whether propranolol, a common blood pressure drug, can help people with fibromyalgia who also have post-traumatic stress disorder. Participants take propranolol and then read their own traumatic story about 75 minutes later, once a week for six weeks. The goal is to see if this approach, called reconsolidation blockade, improves fibromyalgia-related quality of life. The trial includes 17 adults with both conditions.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- propranolol, a blood pressure drug, given with a trauma-memory reading session
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could offer a way to ease fibromyalgia symptoms by treating the post-traumatic stress that often accompanies them.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small Phase 2 trial with 17 people, so results may not hold in larger groups. Propranolol can cause low blood pressure, fatigue, and dizziness, and recalling a traumatic story can be distressing.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 2
Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.
- Participants
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17 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Aug 2021
- Finished
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Jan 2025
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Adult over 18 years old * Diagnosis of fibromyalgia syndrome according to ACR 2016 criteria * PCL-5 \> 44 suggesting the presence of a comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder * Meet the DSM-5 criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder secondary to exposure to a traumatic event according to DSM-5 criteria, both unique or repeated and regardless of the date or location of the traumatic event. * Pain relief treatment and/or psychotropic treatment stabilized for a period greater than or equal to two months. * Signature of a consent form * Patient able to understand and read french Exclusion Criteria: * Psychotic disorders * Unstable bipolar disorder * Patients with a systolic blood pressure \< 100 mmHg or heart rate \< 55 as established during the initial visit * Significant anormal ECG * Medical contraindication to taking propranolol * Adverse reactions or previous intolerances to a beta blocker * Current intake of another beta blocker which can not be stopped during the protocol, regardeless the galenic. * Current intake of a drug with potential contraindication with the propranolol, according to the summary of product characteristics of the propranolol. * Patient under legal protection, under guardianship or under curatorship * Patient having suffered a head trauma for less than a year or with clinical symptoms and neurological sequelae * Known severe suicide risk (MINI-S and medical exam) * Current opioid addiction or alcohol dependence * Patients treated for less than 2 months with antidepressants or painkillers * Patients unafiliated to a social health care * Woman who is pregnant or breast-feeding or whithout efficient contraception
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Centre Hospitalier Henri Laborit
Poitiers, France
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Centre Hospitalier Nord-Deux-Sèvres
Thouars, France
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Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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