Anybody taking Buspar after stopping lorazepam?

Posted by riverpark @riverpark, Apr 13, 2023

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!

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That happened a while ago and Klonopin seems to have caused me permanent damage. I should sue big pharma if they weren’t so big and super rich. My anxiety is still high from stopping it for 20 days. I still have higher anxiety then I used to have. It is a poison that you can’t get out of your system.

I can’t imagine what it would be like if they took it away. Even by dosing down a little at a time is frightening. Now it’s too strong as I fall asleep typing this comment. I just go into a trance mode even when doing something like sitting down in my recliner or on the couch watching television. I’m losing my ability to walk straight again due to klonopin fog.

I’m thinking maybe it’s long covid as I’m a former covid “survivor “ I don’t know what to do at this point except talking to my psychiatrist.

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It’s Saturday. My psychiatrist isn’t going to be there for a couple of days. This is bad news for me. The don’t want to go to an ER because they treat you in the hallways after waiting and suffering for 5 hours before I got help (and I have 2 good insurance providers that pays 100% of everything)
They left me there full of kids with sniffles who's mother could have taken them to a clinic. They we’re taking up valuable time. I ended up seeing the doctor in the hallway as no beds were available. Unacceptable. Somebody is paying for this sub-par treatment. I am still so sick to my stomach over it and there’s no relief in sight. Disgusting Government health plan favoring the big corporate hospitals. They don’t care about us peons. It’s pure evil.

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Hello,
I was using Busbar to slow down my busy brain, always thinking. I didn't feel any differently so I eventually stopped. It was mainly for my sleeping and thinking too much. I can't speak about stopping any other anti-depressant and maybe it was also for anxiety but it may work well for you. All of our issues with depression are different and I wish you much luck with Busbar. Is Lorazepam Atavan? My sister used it for years for sleep. My best.

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Profile picture for andytheman @andytheman

It’s Saturday. My psychiatrist isn’t going to be there for a couple of days. This is bad news for me. The don’t want to go to an ER because they treat you in the hallways after waiting and suffering for 5 hours before I got help (and I have 2 good insurance providers that pays 100% of everything)
They left me there full of kids with sniffles who's mother could have taken them to a clinic. They we’re taking up valuable time. I ended up seeing the doctor in the hallway as no beds were available. Unacceptable. Somebody is paying for this sub-par treatment. I am still so sick to my stomach over it and there’s no relief in sight. Disgusting Government health plan favoring the big corporate hospitals. They don’t care about us peons. It’s pure evil.

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Re Klonopin I take it for sleep. I do remember one incident when I ran out for just a couple of days and I started getting migraines right away after not taking it for that short time. A friend of min had been on it for years and she said that going off of it was hell. I feel badly for you and I can relate to the Emergency Room issues. I went in for a huge spike in my blood pressure and I waited 4 hours, was sent home and told me to get in touch with my GP the next day. That was at 2:00 am and I waited for a cab. People sniffling, coughing, etc. Not a fun time and I was told that I was lucking waiting only four hours since my friend waited 10 yours on a gurney, Really? Not fun times. By best to you.

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Profile picture for nscappa @nscappa

Hello,
I was using Busbar to slow down my busy brain, always thinking. I didn't feel any differently so I eventually stopped. It was mainly for my sleeping and thinking too much. I can't speak about stopping any other anti-depressant and maybe it was also for anxiety but it may work well for you. All of our issues with depression are different and I wish you much luck with Busbar. Is Lorazepam Atavan? My sister used it for years for sleep. My best.

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Yes, to answer your question, lorazepam is a benzo called Adavan and is hard to wean off of although not as hard as Clonazapan (klonopin).
It’s only supposed to be used for 14 days and not for years but I’m not a psychiatrist. If it works then use it.

I was given Buspar and after a trial run I came to the conclusion that it’s a mild anti-anxiety medication that did nothing for me. But like you said, everybody’s different.

Stay off the Benzodiazepines if you’re looking for an anti anxiety medication. They are poisonous and getting off them could take a year of brutal anxiety and a straight jacket and a helmet so you don’t hurt yourself . It should be taken off the market in my opinion. (I’m exaggerating about the straight jacket and helmet)

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Thank you for your comment. I really don't like taking the Klonopin because I know that I'm addicted to it. Actually I would prefer Atavan but my N.P. told me that the Klonopin lasts longer re my sleep. Even with the Klonopin my sleep is not very restful. I miss getting up feeling refreshed and not needing any meds. It seems that this problem started around 2013 after moving out of living with my sister. I thought when I moved that it would be better but it just got worse. Lucky for those who don't need any help to sleep.

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For me, klonopin is an anti-anxiety medication and not a sleeping aid. I use 100mg of seroquel for sleep. It works great for me. I don’t get my klonopin at bedtime. I take a half in the morning and a 1 mg at 4:00. I tried using Buspar but it was like giving me headaches. Like you said . Your klonopin sleep is not very restful . That’s because I don’t see it as a sleeping pill. It just makes you less anxious so it does have some purpose of helping with sleep but I don’t Think it was designed for that purpose.

Benzodiazepines are mood stabilizers in my case. They give me a slight headache and I feel nauseous and like a zombie. It stabilizes my up and down mood swings by keeping my brain’s chemical’s in check.
I hate being on it because I want to stop but I know my mood would become aggressive. Adavan didn’t bother me as much but because I was cut off cold turkey from klonopin I had to have it take it’s place but as soon as I got home I took a klonopin and my anxiety was ok.

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Yes. I take Lexapro and BuSpar for GAD. I would say they quiet a lot of negative thoughts. It's like when you baby proof and put those rubber sides on the sharp edges of a table. Only the rubber is the meds and the table is my brain! Ha!

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Profile picture for riverpark @riverpark

Thanks, Andy the man, for your very helpful comments. Sorry you had such a rough time of it!

John

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Isn’t Buspar a generic Wellbutrin? I say that because I’m on 150 mg every morning with my 25 mg of seroquel and a 0.5 mg morning dose of klonopin.

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Profile picture for riverpark @riverpark

I began taking 1mg at night, one .5 tablet at bedtime and one .5 tablet in the middle of the night. Did that for a couple of years. Reduced to .75 mg per day for a while and finally one .5 mg tablet nightly for a couple of years. This seems the Goldilocks dosage for me, not too much not too little. Nevertheless, I absolutely was dependent on it daily, worried what it was doing to my aging brain, and I knew the time would come that my tolerance to it would demand I begin increasing the dose, so I realized that I definitely wanted to be completely rid of taking this miserable drug. I tried decreasing to one half then one quarter pill daily but had poor success at that. Finally, knowing that my dosage was low enough that I probably wouldn’t have a seizure by going cold turkey, I stopped taking daily doses but did take a pill every other day at first then every three days, and so on. Now, I take a pill every few days, sometimes more often, but I feel my chances for success are very good, even though I often feel quite miserable without taking it. (This a monstrous drug to try to stop taking on a daily basis.) That’s why I was wondering if another anti-anxiety drug not a Benzo would be helpful. Good luck, nanagizer, with your challenges with stopping. It is a tough one, but easier, I think, if you just accept that it will be painful with plenty of suffering to cut down and quit, but it will be worth it, and it won’t kill you.

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@riverpark I take 1 mg of alprazolam 3 times a day and I have for the past years . They have tried adding other things to it but without success.
I am now taking gabapentin and busbroine with the alprazolam ! I want to get off alprazolam. But every time I try it is awful! I wish I could just wave a wand and this nightmare be over! Oh it helped . But it’s not meant for long term , my doctor was neglect !
So I take 1 alprazolam 3 times a day and 7.5 ml of busproin and am weaning off the gabapentin it doesn’t seem to really do much .
I ha what they call burning mouth syndrome! You talking about PAIN ! I believe it has been caused by long term use of benzodiazepines!
How can I go about coming off?? The way my doctor wants to to it I will be dead before I’m off. I’m 67

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