I was recently prescribed Buspar (buspirone) for extreme anxiety and panic attacks. I have now been taking the medication in 5mg tablets 3 times daily (once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once at bedtime) for 19 days and I have yet to notice any effect. I am still struggling with crippling amounts of anxiety. I can't sleep, I cant keep food down, my anxiety is so severe that I am constantly nauseous and on edge to an extreme degree. I don't want to live like this. I have my moments of being somewhat calm, but by and large I am in complete misery. I haven't left the house in 2 months. I don't want to die, like, I'm not suicidal, I just want to feel better and I feel like there is no end in sight. I've read online from various sources that Buspar can take up to 4 to 6 weeks to take full effect. Is that true? I'm trying to hold onto hope that this will work for me but I am at my wits end. I don't want to be on benzos, I hate them and my doctor wouldnt give them to me even if I did. And I haven't had good luck with SSRIs. I seem to be one of those unlucky few that suffer from multiple side effects every time I try them. I need help. What can I do? Has anyone else just had it take a long time for it to kick in? I want to believe there is still hope that this will work for me.
How long until Buspar starts working?
Question posted by CeresIrene on 17 Dec 2018
Last updated on 23 December 2018 by Gates89
Answers
It absolutely takes a while to kick in unfortunately but just like any drug, it doesnt have the same effect for everyone. I was prescribed it for panic attacks during my maintenance phase for chemotherapy. For me it also did more harm than good. After 2 months i was taken back off of it. They put me on elavil after that if my memory serves. I was on so many different meds that i could be wrong but im still pretty sure it was elavil. Its an older drug but it did me some good finally and I am also one of those people that seems to have a bad side effect to everything. Prehaps ask you doctor about it. If that isnt the right medication that im thinking of then i apologize. My treatments were over 10 years ago in my teen years but like i said i think i am correct.
"Buspirone in general takes at least one to two weeks to have an initial effect and generally can take up to four to six weeks to actually have its full clinical effect."
Personally, it did take about a month for my buspirone to kick in but it was worth the wait. I've been taking it for several years and it does a great job on my anxiety. I hope you can manage to get through this initial period and I hope it works as well for you as it does for me.
Try to stay positive!
Best regards and well wishes.
Thank you so much for your response. I am trying my best to hold on and stay positive. I dont want to give up on this, I haven't had too many side effects from it, so if it works it would be great for me. I have noticed some interspersed moments of calmness, but they are few and far between I am currently on day 2 of a full blown two-day long panic episode. Just generally feeling like I cant calm down no matter what. I'm starting to feel like I might be snapping out of it a bit. I just want to feel better... :(
This anxiety is hell.
Maybe your dose isn’t strong enough, I was started out at 10mg 3x day( for extreme anxiety and panic) and at like 12 weeks went up to 15mg 3x day. Maybe talk to your doc and try upping it to 10 mg 3x day. I’m sorry that you’re still feeling anxious!
Update: In my orginal response to this answer, you'll see that I said I saw on day 2 of a massive panic episode that refused to cease. After waking up on day 3 still feeling the same I began to consider it might be the buspar itself. Every time I took a dose everything was getting worse and I wasnt even noticing it until I began to consider that the buspar could be to blame. I called my pharmacist, and at that point I was in a state of pure terror so bad I was shaking violently and stuttering when I tried to speak. Through tears and intense stuttering I explained my situation to the pharmacist and asked if the buspar could be responsible for this massive increase in never-ending terror. He said it most certainly could be as buspar increases norepinephrine levels, otherwise known as ADRENALINE, and that while it works well for some, for others it does the exact opposite of the intended effect and causes extreme spike in anxiety levels. He urged me to call my doctor immediately.
I did and when they heard my state over the phone they wanted me to go to the Emergency room. I refused. I'm very poor with no insurance and our local Emergency room is notorious among residents around here for mistreating people and has even been in the news several times this year for mistreatment of patients. Anyway, they told me I urgently needed to do something to calm down, at which point I told them I had xanax on hand and they directed me to take it. I took it and calmed down significantly. This all happened on Monday, They scheduled me for a follow up to talk to me about stopping the drug which I have in the morning (wednesday). They advised me not to stop until they said so, but after doing some further research I discovered that since buspar is not a drug that builds in dependancy in the system that it is typically okay to simply quit taking it. Still, to be safe I tapered my dose down over the last two days. I took none today and I feel SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER. So much better that I am now completely convinced that what the pharmacist said was true for me. I am sad this drug did not work for me, as I desperately wanted it to and believed in it after reading dozens of positive reviews and testimonials about the efficacy and gentleness of this drug. Unfortunately for me it is not the answer. I cant believe I'm saying that because I genuinely believed that those people who had said it didnt work for them were just not giving it enough time, but after 20 days of taking it, and after seeing how bad I got, and subsequently how much better I feel since I stopped taking it, there is no denying what happened. I am posting this as a warning to others. I am sure there are many out there who will go on to be helped greatly by this drug, but if you are reading this and you are feeling like I did after taking it for a decently long time, do not rule out that it could be the very thing you hope is helping you. Call your doctor.
I totally agree with you! That’s how SSRI’s we’re for me. I really wanted the ones I tried to work. I’m sorry it made you feel so awful. That’s a terrible feeling. I’m glad you’re feeling better after stopping it!
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buspar, anxiety, panic disorder, buspirone, prescription, medication
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