[sunrise]

I'm going to go see my PCP about my buspar prescription later this week. I've been on it for over 2 and a half months, for anxiety. First few days were hard to take, but after that, I loved it. After about a month, though, it stopped working. I became convinced it was because the pills in my second month's prescription were made by a different manufacturer (grasping at straws), but the 3rd month's prescription (yet another manufacturer) didn't have the effects I liked either. Sigh. I'm not sure if this med ever really took away my anxiety. It's like it made me feel so good, I didn't mind being anxious, or didn't pause long enough to feel anxious, if that makes sense. The med was a real "upper" for me. I had tons of energy, the ability to stick to tasks and finish them, increased pleasure in simple things (the feel of a breeze on my face, the taste of strawberries, the red glow of the morning sun on the mountain), increased sociability, and things that had caused me anxiety seemed not such a big deal anymore. I loved it! Now, I get none of these benefits. The only effect I feel from the drug is about a half hour after I take it, I feel kind of tingly from the waist down, maybe even a tad staggery. My anxiety has increased the last couple of weeks due to some intense events, which don't promise to go away soon. I'm having trouble sleeping. It is hard to have felt so great on buspar and to now have it be ineffective. Is it common for a med to lose its effects so soon like this?

When I first went to my PCP, she wanted to put me on Lexapro for anxiety, but I declined in favor of the buspar. Probably when I see her this time, she will recommend the Lexapro again. I know it's an anti-depressant, but does it help with anxiety? (She also gave me Xanax to use last time, until the buspar kicked in. I only tried it a few times, and it put me right to sleep. I don't really want to take a sedative, as I need to be alert with really sharp mental acuity for the days ahead.)

Any thoughts appreciated...

[debbie_tabor]

Bummer! (Am I allowed to swear in a very English way?) What a let-down. I don't think buspar did anything for me ever which is fairer really.

[withit]

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.

[sunrise]

Thanks, withit, your story is very interesting. I took Xanax again to help me with sleep last night, only a half pill (0.125 mg), and it was enough. I think the half life is so short that it doesn't affect me the next day, as I certainly had a very anxious episode this morning when at the doctor's office. There was this new nurse there that treated me really terribly and made me furious at her. I did not treat her well in return. (Cat fight.) And when the doctor finally saw me, I told her everything had been fine that day until I came to her office and tangled with the new nurse, and then I burst into tears. AAAACKKK! This is so not me. I am calm, cool, collected. I don't get angry at nurses. I don't cry in the doctor's office. If there was ever any doubt in this doctor's mind that I am stressed out and overly anxious, well I cleared that up for her!

Anyway, she was interested in the effects I experienced with Buspar, but says they are not typical ones. She also said the fact I am taking Xanax to help me sleep means my anxiety problem has not been corrected sufficiently by the Buspar (honestly, I feel it is not helping at all now). So she prescribed Lexapro for the anxiety. So I'll give that a whirl. First, I want to try one more prescription of Buspar as I still have this niggling belief I want to put to rest that my first bottle of the stuff worked because of its formulation (it was a different manufacturer). So I've identified the desired manufacturer (Ivax) and will order the Ivax Buspar from my pharmacist. I'll give it a few days and if that doesn't work, I'll get started on the Lexapro. Meds!