Buspirone / Buspar anyone tried

Hi
I will be seeing my pdoc in the next month and was going to ask if would be possible to try out this med for anything from mod to severe anxiety / racing thoughts and occasional panic attacks. I have also been diagnosed with several traits of personality disorder.

I currently take pregabalin 150 twice a day (for about 5 months) and 20mg citalopram (5 weeks and struggle with side affects of ssri's). At our last meeting I said that I no longer felt the pregabalin was combatting the anxiety so she added the ssri and suggested Chlorpromazine at 25 mg up to 3 times a day. I have since found out that this an old school antipsychotic founded in the 50's. The Pdoc told me that some of her patients with severe anxiety have benefited from this.

I have the script and have taken a couple which even at this dose are very potent at knocking you out:wacko:, but the days just seem to be one long daze and little else. I have also been worried about the short and long term side effects and quite a few horror stories. With the pregabalin I tried coming off this last week and have had the most horrible withdrawal I have ever experienced,:weep: which I was told I would not get. So have gone back on them. I have looked up the drug Buspirone which she had not suggested and wonder if people have found this helpful. She will not under any circumstances prescribe Valium and I would like medication that helps with the anxiety but wont suck your life away to a zombie blur.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions:)

Its not a particularly commonly used medication in the UK owing to its cost. I've not taken it myself but from what I've read it appears to have relatively few side effects. The only problem is, a lot of people also thought that it did absolutely nothing for them. There are a few threads on here concerning buspirone - it seems that it works best when prescribed as an adjunct to an SSRI.

As for alternatives - have you considered inositol? It appears to have efficacy in disorders such as panic, OCD and depression. There is a thread in the natural remedies section on this. It seems to be remarkably free of side effects as well, aside from some loose bowels and gas when you first start taking it.

I'd also look at magnesium supplements too. I'm guessing you've had recent blood tests for thyroid function etc?