Medication Review: BuSpar Anti-depressant / Anti-anxiety

BuSpar (Buspirone) is a drug that is prescribed to treat people with anxiety and depression. Many times depression and anxiety go hand in hand. Depressed patients quite often complain of not being able to sleep, feeling jittery and irritable all the time. Sometimes they complain of chest discomfort, having shortness of breath, profuse sweating and a pounding heartbeat.

When I was most troubled by anxiety I had many of these symptoms. I remember thinking if I were to have a heart attack I would not even know it because the symptoms I was having felt like I was having heart trouble, yet it was actually symptoms brought on by anxiety. It is a scary feeling. I've been on a few different medications to treat my depression, and Buspar was one of them.

BuSpar is to be taken two to three times a day, I took BuSpar twice a day-one in the morning and one at night as directed by my physician. Be sure to read all the information that comes from the pharmacy. When you get your prescription, it will most likely have a notice for you not to drink grapefruit juice. Grapefruit juice enhances the effects of the drug, and actually may raise levels of BuSpar in your blood stream.

In order to treat your anxiety and depression, you need to take this drug every day as ordered without skipping doses. You may be tempted to quit at first, because you may feel like you are getting worse, instead of better. This is just temporary as the drug has to get to a therapeutic level in your blood stream. Don't give up. There can be some side effects associated with BuSpar, so your doctor may ask you to take half the tablet at each dosage time for a week to 10 days to help slowly build up to therapeutic level, and then go on to the full dose after that.

Side effects such as, tiredness, sleepiness, dizziness, headache, nervousness, blurred vision and lightheadedness may occur. If these side effects become bothersome, consult your physician. Your dosage may have to be adjusted back to half a tablet or your doctor may want to change your prescription entirely to another drug. BuSpar is usually well tolerated by patients, and only have mild side effects, if they have any at all.