Well, it appears that the author of this thread here and of course this poorly thought out, panic attack-induced thread has gone bonkers.
About two weeks ago I suffered one of the worst panic attacks of my life. Several hours (in the middle of the night, of course) of pure, unadulterated terror. If Death himself had shown up at my bedside I would not have been surprised. I was seriously, honestly expecting it.
After being convinced by my wife to go see a counselor, my PCP has prescribed for me Buspar 5mg / day taken twice per day, Effexor 37.5mg daily for one week then doubling the dose, and Xanax .25mg prn. He thinks I have generalized anxiety disorder with depression. I’m not sure about the depression, but the anxiety . . . duh.
I know a couple of people who take Xanax, and their only bit of advice is to watch out for sleepiness . . . apparently it absolutely knocks newbies on their ass. The Effexor and the Buspar I know basically nothing about. I’ve taken SSRIs in the past, and all I remember is the usual unpleasant sexual side effects.
I know many (most?) psychotropic drugs have widely varying degrees of effectiveness and side effects among those that take them. However, if anyone out there has experience with these meds, I’d love to hear about it – good and bad.
Just looking at all these bottles makes me feel like there’s something seriously wrong with me. The idea of taking so much stuff that will mess with my brain chemistry is enough to cause anxiety in and on itself. Good grief.
As always, direct your questions to your psychiatrist or pharmacist, no matter what we tell you here.
Well, with Xanax, watch out for addiction. I’m a bigger fan of “as needed” use instead of daily. Once the other drugs “take hold,” you should probably wean off and save it for when you simply can’t operate or don’t use it at all.
Buspar is generally intended to “boost” other drugs, the SNRI Effexor in this case. Buspar paired with a SS/N/SN reuptake inhibitory is pretty common. Side effects are difficult to predict as everybody is different; but it is more likely that any you experience are due to the Effexor. Re: taking drugs, maybe you have to at this point of your life, and please try to realize it’s not as stigmatized today, and may be necessary. See a therapist (PhD or PsyD psychologist) as well.
Never been on Effexor, but I’ve been on its SNRI “brother,” Cymbalta. It made me nauseated and ultimately lowered my puking threshold, so I quit it. That doesn’t mean that you’d react the same, or Effexor will do the same.
I took Buspar. I don’t remember much, no side effects.
Xanax: I have taken it, not prescribed. I am prescribed Klonopin. They work to lower anxiety. My psychiatrist laughed when he found that I took the equivalent of 1 pill/3 months or something, considering that it is a drug of abuse for some.
I work with multiple psychiatrists who say that if you want a drug with few side effects, Buspar is the way to go. Unfortunately it’s also effective for very few people, so that makes it less attractive. Their attitude is it’s worth trying, though, to see if you get lucky.
I took Effexor for a while, for dysthymia, and it worked like a charm. Unfortunately, it killed my libido dead. We’re talking root canal/IRS audit levels of unsexy, here; Scarlett Johansson in an oil-wrestling match couldn’t have gotten my engine started. As you might imagine, this was not popular with my then-fiancée, so I went back to buproprion.
I used to take Effexor (well, Venlor, but same difference) and the only bad side effect was anorgasmia. As in, had healthy libido, no problems maintaining, but couldn’t finish for the life of me. But that’s a rarity, apparently.
I’ve heard that Xanax can be quite addictive, my pcp gave me I think 12 tabs to last a month. So hopefully that’ll limit any ability to over-indulge.
As far as the sexual side effects, I had those years ago on Paxil. I’m willing to put up with them again if it means I can get some semblance of a life back.
The Buspar is the one I’m mildly concerned about, simply because I can’t find any personal anecdotes from someone who’s taken it. Is it not often prescribed?
Effexor is incredibly difficult for many people to wean off of if they’ve been taking it for a while. There’s a phenomenon called “brain zaps” that happens to many people when they stop taking SSRIs and SNRIs that can be disabling.
I wouldn’t recommend it as first-line therapy, but if it works for you, use it.
As for Cymbalta, I can’t figure out for the life of me how that ever got on the market. That is some nasty stuff.
Just a heads-up, the “brain zaps” start if you miss even a single day. I don’t know if they get worse if you stop taking it completely, but it’s not unbearable for a single day. Still it’s good to know that if you feel vertigo and have tinnitus and feel a jolt with every step you take, that’s withdrawal and not you having a brain tumor or a stroke or something, and it’ll go away a few hours after you take your next dose.
When I was having anxiety with thyroid hormone imbalance I was prescribed Buspar. It was totally ineffective. But I suspect it was a poor choice on the doctor’s part.
I have helped wean people off Xanax and a year after cessation of use they are still experiencing disabling panic attacks. This is a drug I’d avoid.
We have a friend whose cat was on Buspar (buspirone) when he stopped using the litter-box. The veterinarian said that the cat’s misbehavior was due to anxiety. It worked magically, but had to be given for the rest of the cat’s life.
Those brain zaps… holy cow. I had to do some serious weaning to get off of Effexor specifically for that reason. They drove me nuts! I was also 17-18 at the time, so in comparison to everything else that had happened in my life up until then it was probably worse than most of my experiences. If it happened now I probably wouldn’t have as much trouble with it.
In my experience, Buspar is pretty much a boring drug. I’ve been on it before as well and don’t remember any noticeable difference. It wouldn’t surprise me if the few people that have any positive results from it are simply experiencing a placebo effect. I wouldn’t worry about Buspar.
You’re on such a low level of Xanax that the potential for abuse is low unless you start supplementing your supply from the streets. Your entire prescription is 3mg for a month. I’ve seen people take 3mg at once. Take it if you need it, it’ll definitely help. Don’t take it if you don’t. If you’re just kinda edgy then I would skip it though. Even without a physical dependence it will reduce your ability to cope on your own, so avoid daily use.
My cousin is a veterinarian, and when he was in private practice, he prescribed Prozac for a cat who refused to use the litterbox. It was in the early days of Prozac, and was almost a joke as a last-ditch measure before euthanasia, but it worked.
A psychiatrist I was seeing prescribed Effexor for depression/anxiety last summer, and while the side effects weren’t awful, it was enough for me to want to go off it. I had muscle weakness while taking it which made it difficult for me to ride my bike. I normally ride 16 mi a day, so having trouble riding was not good for me. I also felt very full after eating a small amount and eating a “normal” amount would trigger my gag reflex. In addition I felt very jittery and would get a weird sensation in my legs that made it difficult to sit still. The Effexor alone had no effect on my anxiety- in fact Effexor can actually increase anxiety.
My psychiatrist didn’t seem to think the side effects were a big deal, so I weaned myself off it. I felt dizzy and vaguely nauseous when I completely stopped taking it, but I didn’t get brain zaps. I was fine after a week or so.
My general practitioner prescribed me Zoloft and I’m seeing a new psychiatrist at the end of January.
I took Buspar for a while. It did absolutely nothing for me. I might as well have taken Pez.
Unfortunately, there’s no way to know ahead of time if it will do anything for you. You just have to try it for a month or so and find out. Stay in touch with your doctor. He’ll probably want to adjust your dosage as you go. If you feel like your symptoms are getting worse, don’t hesitate to call your doctor or even go to the hospital.
There’s no reason to feel bad about taking them. It doesn’t mean you’re a freak or anything. Honestly - probably half the people you know are taking something or other. If you need a medicine - take a medicine. Unfortunately, our understanding of brain medicine is still in its infancy and you have to make due with trial and error for now.
That said, at this point I think people should always assume that any drug they take long term will have a withdrawal stage. Again - keep in touch with your doctor if you decide to go off it. He may have instructions for that.
Brain zaps - just a weird little feeling. You’ll know it if you feel it. It’s no big deal but a little strange at first. It gets better after you’ve been on a drug for a while.
Paxil was the worst libido killer I experienced. And no, it isn’t your doctor’s fault if a drug doesn’t work; they can only predict so much. Buspar commonly doesn’t but it’s worth a try. What a good doctor should do is help you pick based upon what worked and didn’t work in the past - maybe it’s time to try something besides an SSRI like Luvox if Prozac, Paxil, Celexa, and Zoloft didn’t work.
