Connect
Anybody taking Buspar after stopping lorazepam?
I am a 76 y.o. man, fit, active, healthy. I’m in the process of weaning off lorazepam after six years of taking low doses daily. It is no easy task to cut down and completely stop taking these benzodiazepines, but I am highly motivated, doing well, no longer taking daily, and expect success.
While reducing my lorazepam doses over time, I simultaneously increased my ability to manage anxiety with improved meditation and just general living and healthy thinking skills. Nevertheless, I have lived a lifetime with varying degrees of anxiety, and so I am not resistant to some kind of pharmaceutical help as long as it isn’t benzodiazepines. Consequently, I wonder if anyone is taking or has taken Busprione (Buspar) for generalized anxiety? If so, I’m eager to hear your comments about it. Thanks!
Like
Helpful
HugInterested in more discussions like this? Go to the Depression & Anxiety Support Group.
Connect
@walkinlight
Hello, I don't know how comfortable you feel with the communication between the provider who is prescribing the
alprazolam & the buspirone & you, but I really encourage you to have a conversation with the provider re: your wish to slowly & safely wean off of the alprazolam. The provider likely would provide you with a safe alprazolam weaning dosage plan & send this to the pharmacy so to safely minimize benzodiazepine physical & emotional withdrawal effects. I'd also encourage you to ask your provider they feel it may be appropriate (or not) to increase your Buspirone dose- beginning while you're weaning off of the alprazolam, so to potentially be more helpful with what I presume is anxiety.
I, too, have been in your shoes. I was prescribed a benzodiazepine for much too long. It made me so exhausted. Yes it helped my generalized anxiety disorder, PTSD, & panic attacks. But I come from a family where alcoholism is prevalent & I didn't want that for me. I saw a different psychiatrist & he slowly weaned me from the benzodiazepine & increased the dose of my my buspirone to 10 mg. 3x/day. It works for me. But everyone's response is highly individualized.
I realized how important it is to have a psychiatrist that I connect with, feel at ease with, feel heard, & works with me.
My doctor wanted me to try Buspar to get off Lorazapam. I decided not too. Shifting from one drug to another did not make sense and it take so long for an anti-depressant to kick in and it may not even work. I stuck with a low dose of Lorazapam. No side effects for me and it works. Good luck!
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 Reaction@mikaylar What is the current lorazapam dosage for you? I am trying to taper down from lmg per day. Currently on week 5 and it's getting tougher..... 🙁
.50 mg at bedtime