sunrise, I haven't had experience with buspar but I'll share my story because I think there are some parallels...

I had/have severe severe anxiety, lots of stressful life events with not enough resources to help me deal with them....sleeplessness....irritability.....severe anxiety....

I went to a psychiatrist who prescribed cymbalta. As far as I know cymbalta is an anti-depressant. But it seems docs do prescribe anti-depressants for anxiety. He was considering prescribing lexapro, effexor, zoloft, etc. but I told him I had been on all of these with no success.

He said the cymbalta takes 3-4 weeks to kick in, so in the meantime he gave me ativan. I tried it the first night, cuz I so badly wanted to get a good night's sleep. It helped. I used it on nights when I felt too anxious to fall asleep. Not all nights. On other nights I took melatonin.

Lately it is not helping me fall asleep. I take the highest dose and it takes me two hours if not more to fall asleep. It seems to have lost its effectiveness.

However, the one good thing I like about taking it at night, even though it may not help me fall asleep, is that the following day I feel more relaxed. And that is a big deal for me. cuz I used to be (in last few months) so so irritable and anxious all day. If I was to take it in the morning I'd be too sleepy throughout the day. So I take it at night and by the time morning rolls around it is not having such a strong sedative effect on me.