Paxil and Buspar as OPPOSED to Paxil and Klonopin?

[michelleanne]

Hopefully Ryan will see this and help, but for those experienced I would greatly appreciate your advice from personal experience.

Right now I am on 10mg Paxil daily and take about .5 Klonopin daily (sometimes .75).  I am going to up my Paxil tomorrow to 20mg, and want to desparately ween off Klonopin.

I believe the Klonopin is supposed to take the edge of the anxious feelings Paxil may cause when starting it.  But I've been seeing people here taking Paxil and Buspar............and now I am curious.  I have a pretty good idea what docs and pharmacists will say, but I want *your* opinion.  BTW after taking Klonopin lately I feel a little but more anxious (but it gradually subsides, but still sucks, why is this???)  Will upping my Paxil to 20mg stop this anxiousness since I've been on 10mg daily for almost 2 weeks?

Please help....

[suzi-q]

10 mg. of Paxil is a low dose and people usually go up to at least 20 to get its full effect.  I don't know if it will take away that anxiousness.  I take Paxil and buspar on a daily basis.  I used to only take the paxil, but I still had terrible anxiety in the morning.  My doctor then added the buspar 2x a day.  It helped me almost immediately.  It took away that horrible nausea and anxiety by 90 % in the morning.  Some people say that buspar isn't effective, but it has been very effective for me.  I take Klonopin only on an as needed basis.  (Which is very rarely).  Hope this helps!

[michelleanne]

Do you recommend taking the Paxil at the same time as Buspar, and then another Buspar (as needed) later in the day?  Or just Paxil in the morning, one Buspar in the afternoon, and one later on (I know this is according to each person, I am just curious).

AND, will the Buspar actually combat the anxious feelings?  Not the panic attack feelings (Paxil works for me on that), I just need to get rid of this leftover anxiety!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kat03]

Paxil and BuSpar are often used together...Paxil more so for depression and then the BuSpar to help with the remaining anxiety that Paxil may not take care of, if that makes sense.  It can take a few weeks for BuSpar to take full effect and is not used on an as-needed basis.  

Klonopin is faster acting, much like Ativan is. It gets in your system faster and leaves your system faster than BuSpar and is used often to take the edge off when introducing a med like Paxil.  When you are established on the Paxil, you can start weaning off the Klonopin.  

Unlike the BuSpar, which you would most likely take for several months or the entire time you are on the Paxil, the Klonopin could be weaned off as the Paxil gets into your system.  

If you are having some problems with the Klonopin and don't want to take more drugs than you need, I would suggest asking for Ativan to take a small dose of as needed while you up the dose of Paxil.  This is entirely personal, but Ativan can have less side effects than the Klonopin, and if you only take it as needed to take the edge off, it can be easily discontinued.  Chances are, once you are on a therapeutic dose of Paxil, you would no longer need anything to take away the extra anxiety.  

Whether a med works or not is entirely a personal thing, so I wouldn't go completely off what anyone says about whether one works or not.  

[suzi-q]

The buspar is taken the amount of times a day the doctor prescribes.  It is not "as needed"  My is prescribed 2 times a day and I take it will my paxil.  (I also take that  twice a day).  The klonopin is what I take as needed.  The buspar definitely helped me immensely.  It got rid of that horrible sick feeling that I had every morning.  It isn't 100% gone, but I do say 90%!  And that is good enough for me!!  Please talk to your doctor about how he thinks yours would work best.