People who suffer from anxiety may worry a lot, experience fear, and find it difficult to concentrate. Buspar tackles these problems and other symptoms such as breathing heavily, profuse sweating, and sleep difficulties. It’s important to note that this drug is an anxiolytic, not an antipsychotic. Therefore, it should only be used to establish balance in cases of anxiety.
How to Consume Buspar Tablets
Buspar should be consumed following a physician’s directives. The medicine also comes with a leaflet so that you can keep abreast of the drug information. The doctor may change the dose, depending on your response but you shouldn’t consume more or less than what is recommended.
You can take the medicine without food. However, the drug’s bioavailability increases when taken with a meal. Consequently, you should consume Buspar at the same time and manner all through the treatment period.
Some tablets have marks indicating that you can split them, enabling you to ingest smaller doses. You should ensure the drug is split correctly; it shouldn’t be too big or small.
If you were using an anxiety medication before switching to Buspar, the physician will gradually reduce the dosage before placing you on Buspar. If you stop abruptly, you may have some unpleasant experiences.
The initial dose of Buspar is 7.5 mg twice daily but can be increased by 5 mg for two to three days. It shouldn’t exceed 60 mg daily.
When you start treatment, your symptoms may worsen before you start seeing improvements. It may even take a month before the medication will become effective.
Precautions for Buspar Consumption
Adhering to these precautions would ensure you benefit from the potency of Buspar:
Don’t ingest Buspar if you’ve used a monoamine oxidase inhibitor in the last two weeks.
Inform the physician about your allergies so that you won’t react to any of the ingredients in the drug.
Tell the doctor whether you’ve suffered a renal or hepatic issue, Parkinson’s disease, or bipolar disorder. Some medical conditions may stop the drug from functioning effectively.
You may feel dizzy during treatment, so avoid consuming alcohol, marijuana, or other products that may result in severe dizziness. Also, don’t engage in activities that require alertness and clarity of vision.
There’s no approval for the use of Buspar in pediatrics. A consultant should give approval before Buspar can be administered to patients below 18.
Don’t consume grapefruit and its by-products during treatment unless a health professional gives consent. It may increase your chances of reacting to the drug.
Buspar might give a false positive test result. So, ensure you inform the laboratory technician about all the drugs you’re consuming. You may also consider discontinuing Buspar for two days before going for any tests.
Although this medicine may not harm a fetus, pregnant women should consult their doctors before commencing therapy with Buspar. Similarly, lactating mothers should discuss feeding alternatives with their doctor as this drug may come in breast milk.
Store the medicine apart from direct sunlight, wetness, and warm.
Side Effects
Signals of an allergic responses to this remedy include:
- Rashes
- Swollen face
- Sore throat
- Respiratory difficulties
The common secondary effects of Buspar are:
- Nervousness or excitement
- Insomnia
- Migraine
- Dizziness
- Lightheadedness
- Blurred vision
- Fatigue
If you observe these symptoms, contact a doctor immediately:
- Heart arrhythmia
- Dyspnea
- Pain in the chest
- Easy bleeding
Most patients may not have severe side effects. However, you should remember that the doctor prescribed this drug because they know it would help you recover quickly. In rare cases, patients may have locomotion disorders, e.g:
- Stiff muscles
- Jerky body movements
- Mask-like expression
- Tremors
- Eye blinking
- Lip smacking
Ensure to inform a health professional if you develop uncontrollable or unusual body movements.
Information on Missed Doses and Overdose
It’s advisable to consume Buspar at the same time every day and tick a calendar to be sure that you’re not making mistakes. But if you didn’t remember to take your drugs at the right time, it’s better to wait for the next dosing time. However, if there’s a reasonable interval between the next dose, you can consume it.
It’s important to avoid taking a double dose to make up for the one you may have missed as this might lead to an overdose. Although overdosing on Buspar may not be fatal, you may experience:
- Stomach upset
- Severe dizziness
- Difficulty in breathing
- Vomiting
Call the emergency helpline or the local poison control team if you suspect that someone has consumed an overdose of Buspar.
Drug Interactions
The products below will react when consumed with Buspar.
- Gabapentine
- Duloxetine
- Clonazepam
- Aripiprazole
- Lamotrigine
- Hydroxyzine
- Omeprazole
- Metformin
- Lisinopril
- Lexapro
- Trazodone
- Topiramate
- Quetiapine
- Fluoxetine
- Cetirizine
- Sertraline
- Alprazolam
- Bupropion
- Cholecalciferol
Some drugs like Rifampin may speed up the removal of Buspar from the bloodstream and damage the liver. Others like azole antifungals may slow down the proces and still affect the liver.
Products that cause dizziness include opioids, cough syrups, cannabis, alcohol, antihistamines, and sleeping pills. When consumed with Buspar, you may feel extremely dizzy.
This article doesn’t contain a complete list of drugs that may interact with Buspar. To play safe, keep a list of all medications you have been consuming, including herbs. The doctor will determine whether it’s good for you to take Buspar.
Buspar Use During Pregnancy and Lactation
Buspar should only be utilized during pregnancy if it’s highly essential. Animal studies haven’t recorded cases of fertility disorders or fetal death and no data has been found for pregnancy in humans.
Additionally, a mother who was breastfeeding her three-month-old baby exclusively consumed 300 mg of Effexor and 10 mg of Buspar daily. No adverse reactions were recorded.
However, it’s not advisable to consume this drug while breastfeeding unless a health professional approves of it. Also, no information is available on the extended use of Buspar while breastfeeding.
It’s believed that a dose of about 45 mg may reduce milk flow in lactating patients. But the data to support this belief is limited. The medicine increases the level of prolactin in the bloodstream but this shouldn’t affect a woman’s lactating ability.