Any thoughts on this drug for anxiety? According to wikipedia, it's anxiolytic mechanism of action is believed to be through partial agonism of 5-HT1A. It's non-addictive and side effect profile seems tolerable. Buspirone augments SSRIs and I'm on Escitalopram so that would also be a plus.

However, I take Ashwagandha which shifts serotonin activity from 5-HT1A towards 5-HT2A if I remember correctly, maybe I should stop taking Ashwagandha before I trial Buspirone?

6 days later

Buspirone is one of those drugs that looks good on paper but is actually quite weak in practice. It's like moclobemide: it seems promising but in practice it's very weak. It's rated at 6.5/10 for anxiety on drugs.com: https://www.drugs.com/comments/buspirone/buspar.html

I think ashwagandha decreases 5-HT1A activity and partial-agonism is more-or-so the same - a net decrease in activity. From wikipedia: 

when both a full agonist and partial agonist are present, the partial agonist actually acts as a competitive antagonist, competing with the full agonist for receptor occupancy and producing a net decrease in the receptor activation observed with the full agonist alone. [font=sans-serif]Clinically, partial agonists can be used to activate receptors to give a desired submaximal response when inadequate amounts of the endogenous ligand are present, or they can reduce the overstimulation of receptors when excess amounts of the endogenous ligand are present.[/font]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partial_agonist

So in short, if you have sufficient serotonin already then buspar will act as an antagonist, but if you're low on serotonin then buspar can act as an agonist. Does ashwagandha antagonize the 5-HT1A receptor or does it just decrease serotonin while agonizing the 5-HT2A receptor?
Ultimately though, you have to take buspar to see if it's good for your or not. The only annoying thing about it is its short half-life meaning you have to take it 3x a day. if you do take it, let us know how it works out for you.

a year later

I even didn't heard that drugs helps to remove anxiety. If this true I would like to give a try for it. 🙂

19 days later

I even don't know much about this. But interested to know more. Thank you!

7 years later

I was prescribed Buspirone 10 mg twice a day. I've been taking it for 12 days now. It is surprisingly effective for anxiety but does cause a side effect of mood lability. I'm going to keep taking it despite that side effect, maybe it will lessen over time or I'll figure something out to decrease it.

3 months later

Are you still taking Buspirone? How is it now? Still effective? Yeah, sometimes the side effects go away with time, has this been the case for you?

    Neuro
    Nope, I recently came off Buspar. The side effects of mood lability, irritability, dizziness and cognitive fog weren't worth it long-term. It was good for coming off long-term benzodiazepine (Lorazepam) treatment and overall it's somewhat decent anxiolytic, but I wouldn't recommend Buspar for long-term anxiety management because of the side effects.

      That's unfortunate, perhaps it's the mechanism of action that prevents tolerance to the side effects but I also suspect it's the short half-life. Maybe an extended-release version would be better tolerated. Oh well, at least it was helpful for coming off a benzodiazepine,

        Neuro
        Yeah Buspar needs to be taken three times a day. I would notice withdrawal-like symptoms if I would miss a dose.

        Yup, almost two months now off benzos, feeling pretty good about that.

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