Buspar!

[tropicalsoul]

I started taking Buspar 7 days ago and cant really tell a difference which made me ask the question.  What causes anxiety?  100 years ago did people suffer with anxiety like we do today?  Is our food supply to blame?  How about air pollution or noise pollution?  Is our environement so polluted that we are suffering?  WHAT CAUSES THIS?  There has to be an answer besides medicating ourselves with poision.  

I dis notice that it can take buspar up to 30 days before improvement is seen.  I've been fighting this for most of my adult life and am unable to take SSRI's due to adverse side effects.  Name an SSRI and I've tried it...all with horribel side effects so I'm hoping Buspar is the answer for me.  I have a doctor friend on Buspar and he loves it.  

What are your thoughts about our problem.  Is our problem due to pollution?  Does God have our problem predestined?  Do we develop anxiety over time due to stress, life or something else?  

Also...I would love to hear someone's opinion on Buspar.  

[Paxiled]

I wanted to add, as to Buspar, I truly hope it works for you.  But clinical trials don't beat placebo, so it's generally thought not to be an effective med.  It's most often used these days in conjunction with an ssri, as it seems to help some of them work better, but by itself it isn't used that much anymore.  Just didn't pan out.  But since we're all different, it might for you.  Hope it does.

[Paxiled]

There is currently no accepted scientific explanation for anxiety or depression.  Lots of theories, but it's very hard to tell which are propaganda from pharmaceutical companies trying to sell a product and which are based on reality.  For example, there is no evidence an anxious person has any less GABA than anyone else, or any less serotonin.  What the medications do is alter the way the brain normally functions to enhance the effect of GABA or serotonin, but they don't make any more of it.  The fight or flight theory is made up by psychologists, but it makes no sense, really.  Fight or flight is very quick and instinctive, and when you've gotten away from the perceived threat, the anxiety is gone.  Not so with our anxiety.  It's there with things we're not afraid of and don't threaten us, and stays with us long after the perceived threat is over.  Current research is focusing on the amygdala, which is in the primitive brain, the earlier part of the human brain.  But who knows?  My own opinion is that all the toxins we've put into our environment, plus the non-food food we eat, has pushed what was a more isolated problem into an epidemic.  It may be that the US has so much more of these ailments because we have no tribal culture here -- other than the Indians, that is.  Everyone here left their roots behind.  But we're also the most polluted nation in the world with the worst diet and the most emphasis on material gain as the marker of a well-lived life.  Lots of possible explanations, but no answers yet.

[M4Y0U]

The problem must be in your environment then

'' I do notice that if I leave town for 4-5 days I feel like a new person.''

You are stressed out, your brain is perceiving treats when there are none. Yes now that your are not self-employed anymore this may have an impact on your ego which can lead to superego (beyond your ego) problems. In psychology we say the defense for the superego is anxiety and it's weapon is guilt. Anxiety is to prevent the superego from acting and guilt is what you feel when your superego as acted. This is supposed to be for your best interests but may lead to complications like GAD.

I cannot tell you what you must change and what to do but I can lead you the way into more introspection. Take the time after each day to think about the things you hate, the things you love, what you did good today, what you did wrong, what change would you like to do. To day each day and maybe you shall find some answers.

The help of a psychologist might be very helpful in showing you tricks like this. Like you observed I'm not very good at ''dumb-it-down'' subjects related to what I learned as I learned a lot of technical stuff but have not a lot of experience into applying what I learned in psychology. For now I just try to remain neutral and unbiased and saying what I know...

Hope it will help,
M4

[tropicalsoul]

M4....you have to dumb-it-down for me. :)  I do understand most of what you just posted but still think the problem of anxiety has an answer that someone, maybe big pharma, does not want us to know.

I had a thriving personal business up until 2005 when a few laws changed and I lost it.  Everything I had worked so hard for, 7 years, was gone within 6 months.  I remember how panicked I was wondering how I what I was going to do to provide for my family.  How would I pay my bills?  How will I pay for college?  It was scarry to say the least.  

I remember the day I started working for "The Man" after being self-employed for 7 years.....HATED IT!  I was not the one making the decisions.  I was not the big-shot anymore and that seemed to trigger this anxiety problem I have today.

I guess my question now is....why has my mind/body not recovered?  Why does this seem to be getting worse?  I have a great job and I'm very good at it.  Why can't I get my mind to cooporate?  Does this get better or will it get worse as I get older?  What about male-menopause?  These qustions seem to make my mind race.  

I hate being on any kind of medication but I just cant seem to get over this dark, gloomy, anxious state.  I do notice that if I leave town for 4-5 days I feel like a new person.  We've got a good debate going here.

[M4Y0U]

The problem is not only our environment (not pollution), which is contributing to the the raise in mental illnesses, but also the evolution of human beings. The brain developed many aptitudes to protect its host.

One of them is the fight-or-flight response, it was pretty useful when you had to run away from a tiger at the time as this response transfer the energy from your visceral system to your somatic system (you HT increase, you sinus clear to promote better breathing, your muscles become more oxygenated) basically you get ready to run or fight. It's no time for digestion but time to run. This is a good stress. On the other hand the brain didn't fully adapt to its new environment and can perceive simple things as banal as an exam as a treat (butterfly in stomach, increased HT and BP, breathing faster) sounds like the flight-or-fight response doesn't it?

The brain can have trouble perceiving real treats and banal treats. This can lead to panic and anxiety disorders.

The neurobiological cause of anxiety is thought to be a decreased level of GABA (chief inhibitory neurotransmitter). GABA is involved in a lot of tasks (CNS functions, memory and learning and many other tasks). This is why anti-anxiety medications like benzodiazepines work at agonizing the GABAa receptor.

Anxiety, just like depression, is more complicated than a simple neurobiological explanation and many factors can be involved. Let it be psychological factors or other neurobiological factors related to the monoamine transporters (serotonin,norepineprhine and dopamine)

Good luck with Buspar.

The information in this post is for informative purpose only. Any change in medications and/or dosage should be addressed with a qualified physician.

M4