Buspar and Zoloft?

[anna_0range]

hello, I just started taking Buspar a couple of days ago and i feel like its having a negitive effect instead of a possitive one. Im not quite sure if its all in my head. I feel like my heart rate fluxuates, but again i dont know if thats due to the anxiety and i just freak myself out. I did some research on it and what i found out about this medication didnt make me extatic but i figuere i would try it.

Do any of you have expeiriance with take Buspar? And if so did you have a possitive or negitive expeiriance with it?

Secondly, my therapist suggested that i take Zoloft. But i havent filled the prescription because i dont feel like it will help me at all. Ive talked to others who have taken the zoloft and have felt it made them feel worse as a person. I know its supposed to help your seritonin levels but i dont want to alter my mood.

What do you think about Zoloft?

[Robbed]

What do you think about Zoloft?

Zoloft is just like any other antidepressant. It helps some people some of the time, and can cause misery for others. Unfortunately, the only way you will know where you fall is to try it for yourself.

[square]

What I remember about Buspar was that it wasn't like a benzo. That seemed to be its greatest attribute.

I'm not being fair.

It is an alternative to benzos or a replacement. Non-addicting, non-drowsy. It has to build up to a certain level in your body before it starts working. I was told this could take weeks. I took it for a year even though it was $90/ month 15 years ago. It didn't help me at all.

Ask your doctor all about that as it's going to be different with everyone, but there might be a pattern.

I would consider trying it again.

[punkgod94]

From what I understand, BuSpar is for MILD cases of anxiety (though I could be wrong), and it does indeed take about 6-8 weeks for it to take effect. Non-addictive as well. Give it a little more time and see if you notice any positive effects. But call your doctor after about 2 weeks of being on the Buspar and tell him how you're feeling.

[Robbed]

Although I am not interested in BuSpar, I have seen alot here about it being non-addictive. Is this true in the 'absolute sense' that it can be abruptly discontinued without withdrawal? Or is it addictive in the 'SSRI sense' that the addiction is purely physical (but hardly subtle), with no psychological addiction?

[anna_0range]

It is not an SSRI, so its not comparable to xanex, or calanzipan ect..

I think pretty much the point of the buspar from what my primary doctor has told me is to clear your mind so you can overcome your anxiety mentaly.

The way she had described it to me, wich i will somewhat agree is the feeling of putting on glasses that youve needed for a while...You can suddenly see clearly again.

Ive been taking the buspar and seeing a tharapist every week. Today is my first meeting with my new therapist...So we'll see how things go.

So far on the buspar sence i posted this ive been deffinatly feeling better. The first couple of days i was on it though i did feel worse....I think my body has adapted to the medication.

I havent started the zoloft because i dont think i need it.

[Robbed]

It is not an SSRI, so its not comparable to xanex, or calanzipan ect..

I know buspar is not an SSRI (although neither is xanax). But I guess the term 'nonaddictive' kind of raises a red flag with me. After all, SSRIs are called 'nonaddictive'. But the fact is that they can be VERY much so. In order to quell fears about becoming addicted to SSRIs, the pharmaceutical industry basically changed the meaning of the word 'nonaddictive' to cast SSRIs in a more positive light (sounds a little like Big Tobacco, doesn't it?). To them, 'nonaddictive' means that the drug is not psychologically addictive - you don't actually crave the drug. But SSRIs can be VERY physically addictive - you can experience intense withdrawal symptoms if you abruptly stop using them (or even, for some people, if they are slowly tapered). In fact, class action lawsuits have been filed and won against GlaxoSmithKline regarding their insistence that Paxil be considered nonaddictive. Of course, I don't know if there are problems with abrupt discontinuation of buspar.

[square]

Glad to hear that it's working for a_O. That's great.

I quit it without any taper and without side effects. I don't remember the psychiatrist being concerned with withdrawal, but it might be different now, so ask your doctor. Benzo and SSRI withdrawals and side effects were downright freaky for me, but tolerable and not impossible and sometimes funny to endure. But it'll be different for anyone else.

Also, I think Buspar is a helper drug, in that it won't work as a stand alone. Seems to me it would be most effective with other therapies. Again, a doctor would know that.

I think I'm going to try it again.

Addictive? Does anyone hoard Buspar or stash some at work for emergencies? I don't know.

[Robbed]

Addictive? Does anyone hoard Buspar or stash some at work for emergencies? I don't know.

Then again, NOT doing this doesn't make a drug NOT addictive. The pharmaceutical industry has insisted for years that SSRIs are nonaddictive because people don't do these sorts of things with them. But anyone who has experienced SSRI withdrawal knows otherwise.

[anna_0range]

Well then i supopse it would depend on the mentality of the person taking the medication.

If they feel in a sence that they NEED the pill then sure, cant ANY pill be addicting then?

[square]

I've never heard of anyone addicted to Buspar in the same way we think of someone addicted to Benzos.

Alot of it is the individual and their potential for addiction and the expectations they place upon the drug. Some people psyche themselves out to the point of not even trying. Others go on and off SSRI's with little or no side effects/ withdrawls at all.

Try to look for positive experiences or patterns instead of negative aberrations.

More conversations for your doctor.