Has anyone had to deal with insomnia from taking Buspar?

Hi, Peg!
Yes, insomnia is very common when initially starting the medication and affects about 1-10% of users. Ironically, it can also cause sedation and drowsiness in some users.
Side effects generally resolve within about a week to ten days. But he needs his sleep.
Let his doctor know he’s having this problem. They will be able to give advice as to what he can take temporarily.

I was having insomnia with Buspar as well, and I just spoke with my health professional, and he told me that it’s not supposed to be taken at bedtime. It should be taken once in the morning and once in the afternoon, hope this helps with your insomnia.

It's a common side effect:
"Psychiatric
Common (1% to 10% of users): INSOMNIA, nervousness, excitement, anger/hostility, confusion, depression, dream disturbances, attention disturbance, sleep disorder"
"Side effects have been reported to be generally mild and transient. They are most common during the first 2 weeks of treatment and decrease in intensity and frequency with continued treatment. They generally do not lead to treatment cessation."
Do talk with his doctor. This is a temporary side effect that can be managed. Perhaps decreasing his dosage until his metabolism has adjusted. Some OTC's , for instance melatonin, may be recommended.

I have been really struggling to fall asleep. Well decided to check my medicine. I found out first I'm on Zoloft read that the worst side effect is insomnia and it doesn't always go away. Thought that's just great because it helps. Then my doctor put me on Buspar for panic attacks. Well, guess what looks like its main side effect is••• you guessed it, insomnia. I have never in my life had trouble sleeping. Now once again it's 4:30 a.m. and I'm still totally wide awake This has been going on for a while. The other night, I didn't fall asleep until 7:00 a.m.! Then proceeded to sleep until 3:00 p.m. I think one or other of these may have to go.

Being susceptible to the side effects of pharmaceuticals, I learned years ago to start new meds at doses way lower than most docs prescribe. Buspar meets that criterion for sure. I’m still on 2.5 mg after 3 weeks and I do wake in the night occasionally. It’s helping already, though. Start slow. Most meds are overprescribed And P.S a basically unknown advantage to buspar is that it treats sleep apnea and bruxism. Check it out.

"Psychiatric
Common (1% to 10%of users): Insomnia"
Side effects generally resolve within days to a week or two. Report all side effects to your doctor RIGHT AWAY. They may reduce your dose until your metabolism adjusts to the medication and they can also give a recommendation for a sleep aid.
Don't suffer needlessly! Talk to your doctor.

I started taking Buspar on December 27th and can’t sleep unless I take an Ativan and it is now February 20th.
Yes it has helped with my anxiety but I think the not sleeping is worse.
I have went down from three doses a day to two and no change. In a couple of days I will go down to one.

Yes, I took it for 3 days and got insomnia. The insomina is still here 3 months later.

I don't know why Insomniacs would post something so flippant and uninformed about Buspar being prescribed by doctors off prescription, not helping with sleep and causing depression. It is not intended to be prescribed for sleep and may not work for everyone with general anxiety disorder. However, I have suffered GAD for years and was recently put on Buspar. It has worked wonders for my anxiety after 3 weeks and I had to go through a lot of sleepness nights. But I am going to give it every chance for the insomnia to go away because I cannot go back to my anxiety riddled life.

This medication does not help with sleep in fact it causes depression. Doctors love prescribing of label with dangerous medications

"Psychiatric
Common (1% to 10% of users): Insomnia, depression, dream disturbances, sleep disorders"
"Side effects have been reported to be generally mild and transient. They are most common during the first 2 weeks of treatment and decrease in intensity and frequency. They generally do not lead to treatment cessation."
Some people experience side effects with most psychotropic medications but the good news is that in the majority of cases they resolve on their own very quickly."

Started Buspar last week, 7.5 mg 2x per day for GAD that has been at an extremely high level over the last several months. I have seen great improvement in my anxiety levels, really quite amazing and so much quicker than Escitalopram that I was on and off for 10 years or so. However, since starting the Buspar, I have been waking numerous times throughout the night with difficulty getting back to sleep, not normal for me. However, with the Buspar, those times of insomnia are not so bad with the Buspar working, and my mind not racing like a runaway train of thoughts. As mentioned in other posts here, I'm going to stay the course and see if this improves over the next 3-4 weeks as I'm really satisfied with the anxiety-reducing qualities Buspar is having. I guess if no improvement, I'll likely have to make the decision to return to an SSRI, also with decent results, but numerous side effects. Crossing my fingers.

I have been on it for 5 days. I already had insomnia from anxiety and this made it worse. However, I supplemented with Ambien some nights and melatonin others. Last night I had the best sleep in years without any sleep aids! Maybe it was because I was so exhausted or maybe the side effect has moved on. I'm going to give this at least a month as it has diminished my anxiety already. I will repost if things change. If you try sleep aids make sure you check for drug interactions first, as there are some that you should not be taking with buspar such as trazodone. Good luck everyone!

So I have been on buspirone for one month now... The insomnia has definitely lightened up... I take 10 mg at 7 am and 10 mg at 7pm... I also take ability at 7 am but not at night ... I had insomnia bad for the first two week but my body began to adjust . I suggest giving it at least a month. I am finally getting six straight hours of sleep. But it has taken about three weeks for my body to adjust. I hope this helps a little. Good luck guys, anxiety has not been fun, but this medication seems to be working for me.