[Lauliza]

Hi everyone - I've been on many meds throughout my life with some success but and some misses. The successes were always accompanied by weight gain so I never stuck with them.

Currently my pdoc has me on Prozac 10 mg/ day, Adderral 40-60 mg / day and Buspar 20mg/day. I take a low does of Prozac because it helps immensely with PMDD at 20 mg and I stay on 10 for maintenance. If I go higher than 20mg my depression gets worse. I had low expectations for the Buspar as I took it years ago and it did nothing for me. With the Prozac however it seems to do something. It has a subtle dulling effect on my anxiety and I have hope for it. The problem is that afte taking it for a week I began feeling foggy and physically exhausted. Even with Adderall I find my motivation decreased and I feel lethargic. I was wondering if anyone else had experience with this med combo and had any strategies about how to best time the taking of their meds. The first things I tried was taking Buspar at night but I have a hard time waking up; I'm nervous that taking it during the day will make me tired. I have klonopon but want to try relying on it less and I think Buspar shows hope. I know most people find it useless, but it anyone has had luck and has advice I'd love to hear it.

Are you taking the Buspar in two doses per day or one? Your post seems to imply just one dose. More than one dose per day is more typically given.

I was told by a psychiatrist once that Buspar isn't effective for most people, but that when it does work, it works very well. I have a friend who has been taking it off and on for years for anxiety and it works really well for her.

I tried it once for about a month but got so extremely jittery that my doctor stopped it.

I'm not sure what to tell you except to check about how many times per day you should take it.

It would be great if it would work for you.

[*Laurie*]

My daughter (age 30) has severe generalized anxiety - has had it since she was a child. She takes BuSpar (and Celexa) - she's been on BuSpar for many years and finds it very helpful. For example, traveling is pure hell for her when she's not on BuSpar, but when she is she can travel with a minimum of anxiety. She splits the dose (am/pm).

[pbutton]

I have been on a Buspar/Lexapro combo for about a year and find that it really helps. I take my Lexapro at night w/20 MG Buspar, and then the other 20 Buspar in the morning. I have always been told to take it twice a day. I had to work up to the 20 Mg Buspar dose, as it made me a bit dizzy/confused for about 20 mins when it kicked in. I was up to 30 MG at one point, but found that it made me a bit too dizzy, so we backed down on it.

Other drugs have made me very very very tired (Ritalin, Viibryd, Zoloft, and I can nap on Adderall if I am tired, otherwise I'm fine) but I don't seem to have that issue with Buspar.

[Lauliza]

Thank you for your responses. My doctor did prescribe it to be taken twice a day but since I tend to forget meds, I tried at first to take all 30 mg together, which wasn't a good idea. So now I just take 15 at night with my Prozac and I've been fuzzy/slow in the morning but haven't felt much else. It's clear I need the second dose to get a therapeutic benefit, I just need to find the best time to take it. Maybe beaking the other dose in half and taking twice will help?

[*Laurie*]

I think it's better to break it up, yes. And use one of those daily pill things to help you remember your doses.