BuSpar (buspirone)

[derrickk]

I've just started buspirone 2 days ago, at 30 mg a day, split between 2 15mg doses. I haven't noticed any anti anxiety effects just yet, but about 20 minutes after taking it, I do get a bit of a dizzy feeling. But it usually only lasts about 5 minutes. I've read that with continual use, that dizzy feeling goes away. I'll keep everyone posted with my progress

[On5thThought]

I started Buspar yesterday and I already feel a relief. I've never taken any anxiety medication before and I'm surprised that I felt relief so soon. Especially, after I've heard a lot of people say that it didn't work for them. Although it did make me really clumsy, it was a good trade for just feeling better.

[Sierpinski]

Originally Posted by skykitty

Has anyone else gotten sever nausea and vomiting from this medication? It's awful for me..

I had a manic reaction to Buspar. Very frightening.

[basuraeuropea]

this medication made me spacey, and i was frequently searching for words that would normally come to me without difficulty.

it was a poor anxiolytic - i really don't think i felt much benefit at all. it was very subtle and there was an initial increase in anxiety. all in all it didn't help me, although my anxiety is pretty severe and perhaps someone with mild anxiety or constant stress would benefit.

[Yoshii]

I was originally on Celexa, but because of it hyping me up, and worsening my anxiety, I decided to go off of it. I went to see a new doctor for a change of prescription because usual was unavailable at that very moment. As soon as I said "Anxiety", she immediately prescribed me Buspar (5mg, twice daily) without even listening to my symptoms (Panic attacks, restless thoughts, insomnia because of the restless thoughts, chronic worrying, horrible social interactions involving strangers). She literally refused to listen to what I had to say, raving that Buspar has helped two of her patients. Well, IT SUCKS. I might as well not be taking anything at all. It just gives me weird muscle spasms, and makes my palms sweaty ( or maybe that's coming from my anger at the fact that she gave me crappy pills). Well, I don't know if I should go ahead and make another appointment so soon so I can change my medication. I can't go another night without being able to sleep, I can't go another day afraid that I'm going to have a panic attack. I just want it solved. Will I look like a junkie, coming in for the third time in two months?

[Darrenlogan56]

Buspar , I took that thing for about 2 years on and off at different stages, 10mg x 3-4 a day, and all i can say for it is yes it may have SOME mild beneficial effects for people suffering chronic daily anxiety. From my experience I can't really say wether it worked or not better than placebo effect. Also I do remember having to stop the drug due to the awful dizziness and nausea I got on it. I remember days just sitting down and I would stand up and the whole room/my vision shifted to one direction kind of like when you drink way too much. And those "dizzy attacks" were a daily thing ultimately making me stop! If it ain't broke don't fix it but I suggest you have words with your doc!

[On5thThought]

Ok, so I've been on the Buspar for over a week now and I'm still having little or no side effects (not as clumsy as before when I first started)....but with noticeable relief....the side effects that some people describe here are really awful.... My only complaint is that the BUSPAR only lasts me 4-5 hrs

[dismiss]

I took it for a couple years. It was useful as a PRN, as needed, in addition to other meds.
I'm off all meds now, & use ashwagandha, theanine, & 5HTP... I keep valerian root around... Also take a broad spectrum stress formula B vitamin.
In my opinion, they work better than medication. But, this experience is all my own. I know other people can significantly benefit from medication.

[alice1]

Treatment Experience
For me, BuSpar made it easier to speak up/initiate conversation, but it didn't cause the automatic negative thought to go away (such as "they probably hate you" or "you just sounded really stupid"). So, in a way, BuSpar just made things worse by making me talk more, thus making me have more automatic negative thoughts.

[Zerix]

Buspar is a very awful option for anxiety. It only works on 40% of the people who try it... and even then let's hope you don't get brain zaps.

If you're gonna take it, it's best to take it at nights, for clearing morning anxiety.

In other words... just ditch it.

[atal]

I'm actually on three different medications. Buspirone I'm at 45mg, Clonazepam with 1mg per pill and Sertraline at 200 mg. Apparently my psychiatrist is trying to ween me off of the klonopin (when I first started it was 5mg per pill). By taking off the klonopin he wants to replace it with buspar, which is a less addictive drug. Or something like that, I don't really remember.

[Zerix]

Originally Posted by atal

I'm actually on three different medications. Buspirone I'm at 45mg, Clonazepam with 1mg per pill and Sertraline at 200 mg. Apparently my psychiatrist is trying to ween me off of the klonopin (when I first started it was 5mg per pill). By taking off the klonopin he wants to replace it with buspar, which is a less addictive drug. Or something like that, I don't really remember.

NO. Do not replace klonopin with Buspar!!! It will NOT negate the withdrawals you will get by coming off the kpins... that's a freaking awful idea! But I guess it also depends how long you been on the kpins for too which I do not know... Just be careful weaning off the benzos man... it's not pretty ><

[basuraeuropea]

Originally Posted by Zerix

NO. Do not replace klonopin with Buspar!!! It will NOT negate the withdrawals you will get by coming off the kpins... that's a freaking awful idea! But I guess it also depends how long you been on the kpins for too which I do not know... Just be careful weaning off the benzos man... it's not pretty ><

i agree. very poor plan on behalf of your psychiatrist. buspar will in no way replace a benzodiazepine.

[corvus1972]

Was taking 15mg 2x a day of Buspirone and felt nothing at all. Not even a subtle reaction or feeling.

[Pearl Buttons]

I was taking 10mg/2/day--20mg total of Buspirone per day for three months and I decided to stop about a week ago.

There was some noticeable benefits after a few weeks: it was easier for me to be personable, I could talk myself down from the nagging panicky feelings (trouble breathing, feeling faint, intense worry), and with the help of anti-histamines, I was getting pretty good sleep.

But it was not enough to relieve my anxiety, and in fact, I felt as if my level of overall worry got worse due to side effects.

About a half hour after taking it I would get dizzy and nauseous, enough so to have to have a snack and lay down. It got better after a month, but then returned and got worse. I would occasionally feel a little tick in my hands, and in the past few weeks I've been getting massive headaches. The last two were major enough for me to think that the little benefits were not worth the cost.

My Dr. also nixed my benzo rx when I started Buspirone b/c the general consensus is that if augmented, it will not show full benefit. I tried to get through the rough spots, but I started to feel physically ill. I went to a PCP who took me off of it immediately, re-issued a benzo and scheduled a full med evaluation by a psychiatrist (which has not happened in the three years I have been struggling with SA, panic, and a recent onset of GAD).

So, if there's been little in the way of a lasting benefit from Buspar, I guess the positive is that I might finally be properly evaluated for my symptoms!

[Chuwey]

I feel obligated to share how great my experience was even though I'm no longer on buspar.

I was on 110mg. No particular dosing regimine was prescribed. I took 20 every two hours (the first on wakeup), so typically 7am, 9am, 11am, 1pm, and 3pm. Then the last 10mg at bed. In retrospect, the 10mg at the end of the day makes no sense to me; the rest does.

It was the best year and a half of my life. I don't fully understand the mechanics of it, but what I'm certain of is that I felt that serotonin was increasing significantly during the day and then falling during the evening. I was always rising or falling, both directions felt fantastic, and they happened every day. Buspirone has a very short half-life, so this made sense to me. It felt like I'd taken off a very tight shoe--no more depression, no more anxiety, and not "high" either, just perfectly, and confidently, functional.

So why am I not still on it? Believe me I would be, but something changed. I was taking lexapro at the same time, and high-dose gabapentin, and a bunch of vitamins and minerals that I didn't keep track of (which I could later kill myself for). I'm not sure what I tweaked, but I did something, and I could never seem to replicate that beautiful time period again. I tried. For years. But something was always off. And when buspirone is "off," it actually makes you more anxious, not less. So evetually I bailed.

One thing I did learn: If you space out buspirone doses, the effective dose over time is higher, which is not always a good thing. For example: I was on 110mg; if I spaced those doses out evenly throughout the day, I would have been a nervous wreck; since I stacked them and then allowed the effective dose to fall, it worked (for a time).

Best of luck with this one.

[tinkertaylor]

Just found this forum and am happy I did. I've suffered from social anxiety since my elementary days. I've always wanted to join a support forum - I don't have anyone in my life who has SA or understands what I'm going through, which at times makes me feel as though I'm totally alone in this struggle; this forum is a comforting reminder that I'm not - but I've shied away from joining any online community for years since my social anxiety unfortunately extends to internet socialization, as well.

However, my doctor prescribed me buspar yesterday and I've been reading as much as I can about it this evening - which is how I ended up here. Unfortunately for me the consensus seems to be that buspar is rather ineffective, but everyone is different and you can't really know how well a drug will work for you until/unless you try it...right? I'm still remaining hopeful that buspar might actually be of some benefit to me. *fingers crossed*

Either way, I decided to join this site so that I can share my experience, be it positive or negative. I'm starting out at 10 mg/day, taken once in the evening. I will probably alter the amount/time taken at some point, but I don't want to jump into a high dosage just in case I experience negative side effects.

Guess I'll let you know how it goes...

[6 Speed]

Hey everyone, I've been taking buspar for just over a month now, it helps a little but I'm still getting pretty anxious at times. My throat gets tight most of the day and hard to swallow, concentrate on my heart beat a lot, get hot sweats at times. I still have pretty bad social anxiety on this as well.

I take 10 MG 3x a day. I was also taking prozac 1x a day but my psychiatrist took me off of it. She thinks some of these symptoms are due to interaction of the two which I dont think it is.

I was using xanax for years though and it worked like a charm but my tollerence was sky high. I wish there was another drug similar to bezos that worked like they do.

[usulmb]

The overwhelming majority of people do not get anything or no more than 10% anxiety reduction.I did know someone for whom it worked and i guess its worth a try as it seems to have a low addictive profile.I found a 5-10 % improvement but passiflora + l-theanine give me better than that and are cheaper