Posted by zeugma on February 16, 2005, at 18:04:41
In reply to Re: Buspar (buspirone hcl) - is it a placebo?, posted by todayisagiftxx on February 12, 2005, at 16:30:13
> I think if it is going to work at all, it has to be tried before you try any benzos. In my insurance carrier I end up getting sent to these large centers out of big hospitals and med schools. And they have large problems with prescribing benzos. I started out on klonopin from a pcp and they wanted me off it quick, luckily a nice pdoc there said if you need it you need it honey. But he was a resident and said unfortunatley my boss is not gonna agree on this. And when i ended up at another center i was put on BuSpar. More for side effects but it was for anxiety, i never noticed a darn thing. I came off it and saw a nurse practioner in the same practice and she put me on it again and pushed and pushed the dose almost convinced it was gonna work and I almost passed out at school one day. There is something about that med that causes extreme lightheadedness even when lying down, my mother had the exact same experience with it. I thought it was the most evil medication ever. I felt no lifting of anxiety only more and more strange weird feelings in my body. It could have been different if i had tried it off the bat but I am still skeptical but i know for a fact it doesnt work if you try a benzo first and the doctors know that but they still give it to you anyway cause they are just so hung up on not prescribing them
If one finds buspirone beneficial in any way, it might be a good idea to continue it while taking a benzo, since buspirone has antidepressant activity (I can't quantify it exactly, but it made a big difference when I added it to a subtherapeutic dose of nortriptyline, and so calling it 'weak' or strong' may be beside the point when no one uses it except in synergy anyway)it can counter the depressant effects of the benzo. As to the idea that buspirone only 'works' in benzo-naive patients, that is a myth, because however it works, it has nothing to do with benzo-type anxiolysis. buspirone is the paradigm of the shamefully mismarketed drug.
-z
poster:zeugma
thread:456681
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050212/msgs/458948.html