Off of Effexor XR - anxiety coming back - Buspar?

[Ck111484]

Hello,
My anxiety/obsessive thoughts started about 5 years ago.
A doctor prescribed me Zoloft and it didn't seem to help much. Then I tried Buspar, which I had very high hopes for (I feel that I mostly have an anxiety issue rather a depression issue), and it unfortunately made me feel very sick for the first day or two that I tried it and had to stop.
My anxiety got a bit better for a few years, then came back with a vengeance. I went back to the doctor and we tried Effexor XR; aside from not being able to sleep for the first few days, it didn't make me feel too bad, and eventually it helped quite a bit; I was on it for about 2.5 years with only occasional, relatively mild anxiety.
During those times I took Xanax, which worked WONDERS. It really seemed to do the trick for nearly all my symptoms, even more so than the Effexor.
Now I have recently gone off of the Effexor (been off about a month), because of the cost, the fact that I felt I didn't need it anymore, and the sexual side-effects (not much of a libido).
Unfortunately, lately I have been feeling anxiety like I haven't felt since before I went on the Effexor, and am thinking maybe I need to be on something again.
After doing some research, and knowing how well Xanax has worked for me, I am interested in trying Buspar again.

My questions are:
Does the fact that Xanax seems to work so well for me mean that Buspar might do the same, as they seem to have similar effects?
And is it possible that the awful sick feeling I felt when I first tried Buspar would go away after a few more days?
Thanks.

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

Buspar and Xanax are totally unrelated medications so success with one means nothing about the other.  I suggest you ask your doctor about klonopin, a longer acting cousin  of xanax.

[Jaquta]

My personal opinion is no.  I think that if the Buspar made you sick the first time it is likely to do it again (unless it was due to psychological issues).
I find lorazepam works reasonably well for me but the buspar perhaps less so.  I had problems going on the med.  After a while I guess it was OK.  Hard to say now.  I stopped taking it ages ago.  Perhaps it did help to better manage my anxiety??

I had pretty severe side-effects from the buspar but I think they did eventually improve.  I'm talking weeks versus days.  It's different for everyone though.

Could the anxiety be from withdrawing too quickly from the effexor?
Maybe there is another alternative?

Don't forget the importance of psychotherapy in all this too.