Buspar vs benzo?

Today t suggested I talk to my pdoc about starting an antianxiety medication in addition to the Zoloft and ability that I am on. I am always nervous at the thought of starting a new med. What have been your experiences with either buspar or a benzo?

Buspar is more of a long-term med for anxiety. You take it every day, usually twice a day. I believe it doesn't have the addiction problems that can be an issue with benzos. Benzos are for immediate relief. You take them as needed (obviously within guidelines).

okay---taken em all...also know dynamics here.

All Benzos are addictive......all Benzos work for anxiety, panic.

Only other med I know which ever worked on Anxiety, Panic was Buspar...great med for some, others have different reaction to it...we all react differently to different Benzodiazepams
also.

See if you can try Buspar..non addictive...if it does not work, please ask for a Benzo, but be very careful???

"Queen of Benzos"= Xanax/Alprazolam~~~ was on it for over 20 years...half life is only 3 and one half hours...abuse of this med is very very high...I did it...tolerance builds quickly.

Better off with a "leveler" Benzo--best one I know is Klonopin-- has a 12 hour life...jus level you out?

please to pm me if you have any other questions?~~~~~~~~~pax--theo

I took Buspar for about 4 months. It didn't really help me with anxiety, but it did make me less shy and more social. Then it stopped helping with that too. I think it is worth trying first as it has advantages over Benzos (non-addictive potential). It was kind of intense to come off of, though. If it doesn't work, you could try the benzos. Another idea would be to try a different SSRI from Zoloft, which can be activating at the higher doses.

Buspar made me anxious. Hows that?

from personally being taken off of two benzos i would say buspar is better if it works. i don't know what class vistiril is in but vistiril is non addicting (i was told that by my latest hospitalization which was almost over 2 weeks ago now. (feels like so much longer tho lol)). your pdoc will know what he/she may be able to add with your current meds.

Vistaril is an antihistamine which is good for things like itching.

It is sedating so it is why it is used for anxiety sometimes. When it is used for anxiety it is often along with another med since it doesn't usually work all that well on its own. Some find it helpful some find it crap. So.. trial and error i suppose.

It made me icky and hungover so wasn't the med for me.. but since it's not addictive a lot of people try it.

Buspar made me more anxious. Vistaril didn't seem to help me much at all. I take klonopin now and it helps, but I do worry about getting dependent on it.

Have been on klonopin 2mg at bedtime for over 11 yrs & added Ativan last summer for those occasional afternoon panic episodes.

I don't have an addictive personality & my pdoc trust me after all these years to not abuse these meds .

Any AD I've ever tried made me manic. Under the right circumstances benzos can be used safely.

Don't know if this helps. Good luck!

I took 1mg klonopin for 6 months and then withdrew horribly off it. Ew hate the stuff.

Anyway I have taken 1mg Ativan for anxiety attacks combined with Ssri's for over two years with no problem. I never take it more than 2-3 times a week.

It knocks me out though. I ONLY use 1mg for panic attacks. We just added .5 mg daily in the afternoon to knock back the anxiety I get in the afternoon. Works good, just be careful.

klonopin is not as bad as xanax in dependance and addiction. i don't have a addictive personality either but those and hydromorphone caused me to almost literally die when i came off of them and i had ongoing sezures that wouldn't leave and panic attacks from hell.
but they are good if you need them. its one of those things you will just have to weight out the pros and the cons.

benzos are addictive. It took me months to get off of Klonopin and I was only taking .5 mg a day and it was hell coming off it.

BuSpar has worked great for me with no side effects other than getting rid of my anxiety.

I wish I had a Buspar success story to relate, but it did nothing for my anxiety and panic issues, some of which may have been caused by Prozac I think. I tried taking it for a few months, but it did not help. I had no problems quitting it cold turkey. I then reluctantly tried a few different benzo's - Serax, Klonopin, and finally Xanax XR. Xanax is the only one that seems to work for me - it doesn't make me high or tired, it just controls the anxiety. Klonopin and Serax both made me sleepy and high, which I did not like.

I don't have an addictive personality either, so my pdoc is not worried about me abusing it. However, there is a huge difference between addiction and dependence. I am not addicted to Xanax and do not abuse it, however my body is physically dependent on it. That is, when I lower the dose to a certain point, my body starts to withdrawal, which is very uncomfortable. The issue with lowering the dose to this point is that you can't be sure whether what you're feeling is all the withdrawal symptoms, or if it is also your anxiety condition coming back strong because the meds are not there to control it. My guess is that it is a combination of both, at least for me when I dropped down too low.

My suggestion would be to try to find something in a class other than the benzo's and only go to them as a last resort. I have been on Xanax for over a year now, and I can honestly tell you that my tolerance has not built up - in fact, the dose I'm on know is a fraction of what I was on 9 months ago, and I'm doing fine. At some point I will probably reduce and quit it completely, but right now life is full of anxiety for me, so it allows me to function. Being stressed and anxious all the time is not healthy for you, so it is a trade off. Good luck!

I've never tried Buspar, but I've had success with a high dose of Klonopin. I'm on 1 mg 3x/day + 2 mg at night for a total of 5 mg daily. Been on this dose since 2007. I don't abuse it, but I'm definitely physically dependant on it - I ran out of my prescription once and it took a couple of days to get it refilled, and I thought I'd died and gone to hell.

splitimage

I take Xanax XR 3 times a day ...love it

watch out for those benzo's. They are addictive, and you don't have to have an addictive personality either, because it's a physical addiction. I never abused Ativan, but I am going through hell withdrawing from it..I have never been so sick. And it can literally take years to get past the withdrawal syndrome. I wish I had never taken the blasted things.