Posted by Flopka on April 18, 2002, at 18:46:14
I know the response to my subject line often is "Absolutely nothin'!" However, I have been on Buspar for about 2 weeks at a low dose, and maybe it's just "the placebo effect," but, aside from the side effects, it's actually kind of helping me. I do notice a difference. (Even though it's not supposed to kick in for weeks.) Or, maybe it's the sunny, warm week we've been having. Who knows.
I believe Buspar is not indicated for treatment of social anxiety, but I thought I would try it anyway, mainly because the thought of selling my soul to Paxil terrifies me. (My sister was on it for a few months and it helped her general anxiety greatly, but she's now 30 pounds heavier with persistent tremors.) I have observed that while it doesn't do much to make my anticipatory anxiety disappear, it does seem to work in calming the anxiety I feel when I have finished with a social encounter - it just seems to fade, where before it would sometimes hang over me all day.
However, I wonder if Buspar is really considered "safe" because there haven't been many complaints about it - and if there haven't been many complaints because relatively few have actually used it. I am wondering if anyone here has taken Buspar solo (not in conjunction with SSRI's) for any significant period of time. I'm also somewhat concerned (and confused) about its relationship to dopamine receptors.
I am still taking the starter dose of 10 mg daily (5/5), and I haven't really shaken off the side effects that are supposed to go away. I sleep like a rock for about four hours each night, then wake up like a light bulb going on and cannot get back to sleep. (Since I'm used to sleeplessness anyway, this does not bother me, but I don't want to continue any longer than I have to.)
For about an hour after taking a dose, I feel very weak (but clearheaded); then the weakness goes away, and I feel pressure in my head. When I began taking it, I also had the bizarre experience of extreme drowsiness followed by incredible alertness - a minute seconds drowsy, followed by 30 seconds alertness, then a minute drowsy, etc. This seems to have gone away.
I also have noticed an enhanced sense of smell (and a dry nose), which really surprised me. My sense of smell has always been bad since a bad cold four years ago, but suddenly I could smell every person on the crosstown bus, and the lettuce in people's sandwiches! (Sadly, this too has gone away - the enhanced sense of smell, I mean, not the dry nose.)
I also hear that Buspar isn't hard to withdraw from; but then again, I'm not sure how much of that is just drug company hoo-hah and how much of it is actual.
If anyone else has any Buspar experiences to share (particularly positive ones), I would like to hear. Thanks.
poster:Flopka
thread:103458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020416/msgs/103458.html