torticollis and buspar

Since taking buspar, I'm had a few side effects.

1.) what I would call brain zaps...weird short buzz sensations in the brain
2.) tremors in the hands and elsewhere
3.) jerks in my left shoulder
4.) involuntary turning of my head

I researched the turning problem and it's one of several involuntary movements that buspar can induce. I'm curious if others here have experienced it and did it go away. And to the medical professionals, do you think I should discontinue taking this drug? It is working well, but I'm afraid of a permanent disorder.

Have you talked to your psychiatrist about this? This sounds concerning.

There's no harm in bringing it up imo. If your psychiatrist wants to take you off one or more meds, then it's because he or she believes the side effects are not safe

not a fan of buspar. i had twitchy weirdness on it. i blamed it on the (excessive...) adderall that psychiatrist prescribed, but now your post has me thinking maybe the buspar was the problem, or at least a contributing factor.

sorry about this. i have to take a tranquilizer/"antipsychotic," and I'm sensitive to eps, td, etc. my solution has been alternative health+standard treatment. I load up on b-vitamins, niacinamide, antioxidants, etc. I tolerate the 20mgs/Abilify surprisingly well; 0 EPS, no stiff gait, no TD, no crushing dysphoria, etc.

have you run a drug-drug interactions checker on your combination? it might not -just- be the buspar's mechanism of action; it could be that there's some drug-drug combinations going on that are contributing to this.

sorry about this. have you tried anything else for anxiety, like lyrica, gabapentin, even hydroxyzine?

hope things get better for you. :-)

I see him on the 17th. Thanks!

Checking on interactions is a good idea, although my research says buspar alone can do it. I'm in a side effect chain right now. Vraylar gives me anxiety. Buspar helps with the anxiety. Buspar gives me side effects. I can't take benzos because they interfere with my sobriety. Man, one of these days is just gonna run out of drugs for me!

You've reminded me that I have a stress relieving supplement that I haven't really tried out yet.

I didn’t experience these side effects with buspar. I have with other medication so I know what you’re talking about. I’m glad you are going to run this by your pdoc on the 17th. Best wishes.

What other medications caused these side effects? Any of the ones in my signature?

I don’t remember which one right off, it’s been awhile (I have a vague memory of Effexor). I do know it wasn’t any listed in your signature line.

The chance of TD would have me calling Pdoc tommorrow just to advise I was stopping it and will discuss it at next appt...

To be clear, what is TD?

TD = tardive dyskinesia

"TD causes stiff, jerky movements of your face and body that you can't control. You might blink your eyes, stick out your tongue, or wave your arms without meaning to do so."

Got it. Yes, that started with Vraylar. Not sure how long I'm going to stay on that drug. My left should jolts once in awhile. So far it is isolated. It is less of a nuisance than torticollis (if that's what it is). If I'm still, my head turns back and further very subtly for now, but I'v seen people have a very dramatic case of it and I'm scared of having a permanent, progressive disorder.