Buspar - Worse anxiety in first two weeks, typical?
Question posted by Kanina on 23 Oct 2017
Last updated on 23 October 2017 by 96chanz
This is my tenth day on Buspar (12.5mg, split into 3 doses).
Is it typical to have worsening anxiety symptoms at this stage? On a scale of 1 - 10 (with 10 extreme), mine are pushing an 8 - all day long. This is painful.
Yesterday I was feeling like the busbar was kicking in, and today it’s like it’s a build-up backlash of anxiety.
Did anyone here experience the same where it was worse in the early weeks before it eventually got better with time as the Buspar kicked in? Please share your story and timelines!
Hi Kanina. This is typical with any non-benzodiazepine alternative medicine, SSRI's MAO Inhibitors (such as BusPar), SNRI, And some NDRI's. Buspirone in my experience from seeing patients being prescribed it frequently at the Pharmacy I work at as a certified pharmacy tech. Most patients are switched to a different medication within 2-4 weeks as it isn't effective or worsens their anxiety as Buspirone releases norepinephrine (adrenaline), which is a known cause of anxiety. If it responds well to a patient, Buspirone doesn't start helping Anxiety for 2-4 weeks. Buspirone has no immediate anxiolytic effects, and hence has a delayed onset of action; its full clinical effectiveness may require 2 to 4 weeks to manifest. Basically you are not alone in feeling how you are, BusPar and all other similar meds cause negative effects on your mood and anxiety the entire time you're on it. However after weeks of use, some patients feel the relief of anxiety caused by increased dopamine and norepinephrine, in lower doses, increasing serotonin but in higher doses decreasing it.
