Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 5145

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buspar side effects

Posted by Jeff on April 21, 1999, at 19:21:01

Is anyone out there experiencing agitation or nervousness from Buspar.
I've been taking it for three weeks, moving up from 7.5mg (half pill) twice a day to 12.5mg am and 7.5 pm.
I still have quite a bit of anxiety and about an hour after a dose a start to feel a kind of rush or nervousness. I can't tell if this is just agitation as a side-effect of the drug, or if the drug is actually causing more anxiety.
I don't understand how something supposedly used to reduce anxiety can potentially cause nervousness or agitation as is mentioned in the FAQ sheet. Has anyone had this problem? If so did you have to stop taking the drug because of it?
I'm taking it because I have depression with a large component of anxiety and the four antidepressants I've tried, Paxil,Prozac, Zoloft, and Effexor all caused enough agitation for me to quit. My doctor decided it might be best to just go with the anti-anxiety drug,Buspar and try to calm things down. At this point everything I take seems to cause more nervousness.
What kind of side-effects have you had from this drug. I'd really appreciate any advice or experiences you may have had. Thanks for your help. Jeff

 

Re: buspar side effects

Posted by jeff on April 23, 1999, at 14:35:11

In reply to buspar side effects, posted by Jeff on April 21, 1999, at 19:21:01

> Is anyone out there experiencing agitation or nervousness from Buspar.
> I've been taking it for three weeks, moving up from 7.5mg (half pill) twice a day to 12.5mg am and 7.5 pm.
> I still have quite a bit of anxiety and about an hour after a dose a start to feel a kind of rush or nervousness. I can't tell if this is just agitation as a side-effect of the drug, or if the drug is actually causing more anxiety.
> I don't understand how something supposedly used to reduce anxiety can potentially cause nervousness or agitation as is mentioned in the FAQ sheet. Has anyone had this problem? If so did you have to stop taking the drug because of it?
> I'm taking it because I have depression with a large component of anxiety and the four antidepressants I've tried, Paxil,Prozac, Zoloft, and Effexor all caused enough agitation for me to quit. My doctor decided it might be best to just go with the anti-anxiety drug,Buspar and try to calm things down. At this point everything I take seems to cause more nervousness.
> What kind of side-effects have you had from this drug. I'd really appreciate any advice or experiences you may have had. Thanks for your help. Jeff

Just an addition to my previous question. If you've used Buspar, how long did it take to work and what dosage did you have to get up to before feeling positive effects. I'm up to 20mg/day so far, and feeling both tired and agitated.

 

Re: buspar

Posted by Shelley in Seattle on April 23, 1999, at 17:11:08

In reply to Re: buspar side effects, posted by jeff on April 23, 1999, at 14:35:11

Hi Jeff;

I have been on Celexa for 4 months, and added BuSpar about 2 months ago. I'm taking 30 mg a day. I was doing well on Celexa, & then all of a sudden I started feeling very nervous and anxious - I still don't know whether the Celexa was the cause (plus, I had been playing with the dosage --- trying to go from 40mg to 20mg), or if it was due to the added stress I was experiencing at the time (which still hasn't gone away, but the meds are working so I'm okay). I felt really panicky when I thought the Celexa wasn't working anymore, because I had a taste of being 'non-dysfunctional' and I never wanted to go back to being as depressed as I was. I'm sure all these things added to my anxiety, and my doc suggested adding BuSpar. I think it took about 10 days to feel like I was back at that functional point again, and even started feeling good again. The meds are working beautifully now, except I think I am gaining weight (I haven't yet stepped on a scale, but I find myself snacking a lot more lately). I also notice some word-finding difficulties, a bit of a restless-leg-thing, and a bit of decreased concentration. Whether this is the Celexa or BuSpar (or both), I can't say. I have no insomnia, no sexual difficulties (went away after the 6th week), none of the other nasty SSRI stuff.

I don't know if this will help much, but I do hope the BuSpar SEs go away for you. Maybe you should try Klon or something, if not? I'd talk to your doc if it doesn't improve soon ...

Good luck!

Shelley

 

Re: buspar

Posted by jeff on April 25, 1999, at 16:40:26

In reply to Re: buspar , posted by Shelley in Seattle on April 23, 1999, at 17:11:08

> Hi Jeff;
>
> I have been on Celexa for 4 months, and added BuSpar about 2 months ago. I'm taking 30 mg a day. I was doing well on Celexa, & then all of a sudden I started feeling very nervous and anxious - I still don't know whether the Celexa was the cause (plus, I had been playing with the dosage --- trying to go from 40mg to 20mg), or if it was due to the added stress I was experiencing at the time (which still hasn't gone away, but the meds are working so I'm okay). I felt really panicky when I thought the Celexa wasn't working anymore, because I had a taste of being 'non-dysfunctional' and I never wanted to go back to being as depressed as I was. I'm sure all these things added to my anxiety, and my doc suggested adding BuSpar. I think it took about 10 days to feel like I was back at that functional point again, and even started feeling good again. The meds are working beautifully now, except I think I am gaining weight (I haven't yet stepped on a scale, but I find myself snacking a lot more lately). I also notice some word-finding difficulties, a bit of a restless-leg-thing, and a bit of decreased concentration. Whether this is the Celexa or BuSpar (or both), I can't say. I have no insomnia, no sexual difficulties (went away after the 6th week), none of the other nasty SSRI stuff.
>
> I don't know if this will help much, but I do hope the BuSpar SEs go away for you. Maybe you should try Klon or something, if not? I'd talk to your doc if it doesn't improve soon ...
>
> Good luck!
>
> Shelley

Shelley: Thanks for the advice on the Buspar. I'm wondering what kind of experience you had with Celexa, SE's, time it took to work. In the past I've tried Zoloft, Prozac, Paxil and Effexor and stopped all because of unacceptable side-effects. Never tried Celexa. How does it compare to the others if you've tried any, and if you haven't just tell me a bit about how you reacted to Celexa. Thanks.

 

Re: BuSpar & Celexa -- Jeff

Posted by Shelley in Seattle on April 26, 1999, at 13:53:04

In reply to Re: buspar , posted by jeff on April 25, 1999, at 16:40:26

Hi Jeff:
It took a full month for the Celexa to start working for me. It probably took longer than normal because I started with a very small dose & worked my way up. I think this really minimized most side effects. The one SE that I forgot to mention in the last post, and the only side effect which is truly persistent & sometimes a minor annoyance is very dry mouth. I try to drink a lot of water, and I keep sugar-free hard candies around, but I figure that this is a small price to pay for felling SO much better!

When I did notice the Celexa was working, I felt like a totally different person! Not even like my 'old' self, but a new & better self! I know it sounds trite, but it's true... I had been so depressed for so many years that I had forgotten what joy & happiness actually felt like. I remember writing lists of words in two columns in my journal, on one of the many occasions that I tried to reason or logically think my depression away… In the first column I wrote down everything I thought the depression was -- all the feeling words. I needed to try to separate out what I was feeling into parts, because I felt like I was using the word depression as a blanket statement for all the negative feelings that seemed too big to face. In the second column, I listed the kinds of feelings that I wanted to have, and missed having. Words like joy, happiness, contentment, and feeling comfortable in my own skin. Etc. When the Celexa kicked in, it happened all at once and I hardly felt like 'me' inside -- I was this miserable misanthrope just the week before, and here I was smiling for no reason and feeling comfortable just 'being'. I remember describing the feeling to some as having 'mental whiplash': It took me a couple of weeks to get used to myself. Side effects were fairly mild, though I may have been made a bit anxious by it (which is counteracted by the BuSpar). The I think I started to tell you about the sexual SEs, it was extremely frustrating at first -- first I couldn't have an orgasm (this was the main problem I had with Zoloft), then I lost all desire to even try to. I think I went about 3 weeks where I can't remember thinking about sex at all (which is unusual for me!). Then, all of a sudden the numb feeling and delay just went away, and I have only had one or two occasions since where I had a slight delay (a mere 5 or 10 minutes extra -- no big deal).

I tried Zoloft, and my then-doc started me on too-high a dosage. I got all the side effects right away, and it seemed to take forever to kick in. I felt really detached on Zoloft, and I had horrible insomnia. I could only stand it for 3 months. I then tried amitriptyline (sp?), which made my mouth and nose painfully dry & constipated me. Then it was onto Trazodone to try & help with sleep. It made my head feel all woozy, and I can't stand that feeling. I felt nauseous. I did not give Traz a fair trial, I couldn't take it more than a week.

Sorry if that ran kind of long -- I hope it was of some use.

:-) Shelley

 

Re: BuSpar & Celexa -- Jeff

Posted by Jeff on April 27, 1999, at 16:44:11

In reply to Re: BuSpar & Celexa -- Jeff, posted by Shelley in Seattle on April 26, 1999, at 13:53:04

> Hi Jeff:
> It took a full month for the Celexa to start working for me. It probably took longer than normal because I started with a very small dose & worked my way up. I think this really minimized most side effects. The one SE that I forgot to mention in the last post, and the only side effect which is truly persistent & sometimes a minor annoyance is very dry mouth. I try to drink a lot of water, and I keep sugar-free hard candies around, but I figure that this is a small price to pay for felling SO much better!
>
> When I did notice the Celexa was working, I felt like a totally different person! Not even like my 'old' self, but a new & better self! I know it sounds trite, but it's true... I had been so depressed for so many years that I had forgotten what joy & happiness actually felt like. I remember writing lists of words in two columns in my journal, on one of the many occasions that I tried to reason or logically think my depression away… In the first column I wrote down everything I thought the depression was -- all the feeling words. I needed to try to separate out what I was feeling into parts, because I felt like I was using the word depression as a blanket statement for all the negative feelings that seemed too big to face. In the second column, I listed the kinds of feelings that I wanted to have, and missed having. Words like joy, happiness, contentment, and feeling comfortable in my own skin. Etc. When the Celexa kicked in, it happened all at once and I hardly felt like 'me' inside -- I was this miserable misanthrope just the week before, and here I was smiling for no reason and feeling comfortable just 'being'. I remember describing the feeling to some as having 'mental whiplash': It took me a couple of weeks to get used to myself. Side effects were fairly mild, though I may have been made a bit anxious by it (which is counteracted by the BuSpar). The I think I started to tell you about the sexual SEs, it was extremely frustrating at first -- first I couldn't have an orgasm (this was the main problem I had with Zoloft), then I lost all desire to even try to. I think I went about 3 weeks where I can't remember thinking about sex at all (which is unusual for me!). Then, all of a sudden the numb feeling and delay just went away, and I have only had one or two occasions since where I had a slight delay (a mere 5 or 10 minutes extra -- no big deal).
>
> I tried Zoloft, and my then-doc started me on too-high a dosage. I got all the side effects right away, and it seemed to take forever to kick in. I felt really detached on Zoloft, and I had horrible insomnia. I could only stand it for 3 months. I then tried amitriptyline (sp?), which made my mouth and nose painfully dry & constipated me. Then it was onto Trazodone to try & help with sleep. It made my head feel all woozy, and I can't stand that feeling. I felt nauseous. I did not give Traz a fair trial, I couldn't take it more than a week.
>
> Sorry if that ran kind of long -- I hope it was of some use.
> Shelley;
Thanks for the info. It really helps. Going to the doc tomorrow and will ask him about Celexa. I haven't tried that one yet.Sounds like the SE's are not so bad. The Buspar seems to be helping with the anxiety. I cut down to 10mg twice a day and don't feel so buzzed, but I do feel pretty sleepy.
We'll see what he says. As far as trazodone goes, it does help with sleep. I know what you mean about the whoozy feeling. For me it only happens as I'm about to fall asleep and feels kind of nice. I have noticed that it takes about twenty minutes, so I take it, get into bed and read until I feel like I'm about to drop the book and then pleasantly drift off. However, if for some reason I suddenly have to get up or answer the phone and I fight the effect and kind of wake up, it's hard to get back to sleep. In other words there seems to be a window of opportunity and if you push past it you can't get it back on that dose.
I'm glad to hear you are finally feeling so good. Its nice to hear about good medication experiences. Anyway thanks again for responding.
> :-) Shelley


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