Buspirone

Buspirone is an anti-anxiety medicine that affects chemicals in your brain that may become unbalanced and cause anxiety. Buspirone is used to treat symptoms of anxiety, such as fear, tension, irritability, dizziness, pounding heartbeat, and other physical symptoms.

Take buspirone exactly as it was prescribed for you. Follow the directions on your prescription label. Do not take this medicine in larger or smaller amounts or for longer than recommended.

Buspirone is usually taken for only a short time, such as 3 or 4 weeks. Your doctor may occasionally change your dose to make sure you get the best results.

You may take buspirone with or without food but take it the same way each time.

Get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction to buspirone: hives; difficult breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.

Call your doctor at once if you have a serious side effect such as:

• chest pain;
• feeling short or breath; or
• feeling like you might pass out.

Other common buspirone side effects may include:

• dizziness, headache, blurred vision;
• drowsiness, feeling tired;
• feeling restless or nervous;
• nausea, dry mouth, upset stomach;
• sleep problems (insomnia), strange dreams;
• stuffy nose, sore throat; or
• ringing in your ears.

This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur.

This medication may impair your thinking or reactions. Be careful if you drive or do anything that requires you to be alert.

Drinking alcohol can increase certain side effects of buspirone.

Grapefruit and grapefruit juice may interact with buspirone and lead to unwanted side effects. Discuss the use of grapefruit products with your doctor.

Cold or allergy medicine, sedatives, narcotic pain medicine, sleeping pills, muscle relaxers, and medicine for seizures, depression or anxiety can add to sleepiness caused by buspirone.

Tell your doctor about all medications you use, and those you start or stop using during your treatment with buspirone, especially:

• bosentan (Tracleer);
• cimetidine (Tagamet);
• conivaptan (Vaprisol);
• dexamethasone (Cortastat, Dexasone, Solurex, DexPak);
• haloperidol (Haldol);
• nefazodone;
• St. John's wort;
• an antibiotic such as clarithromycin (Biaxin), erythromycin (E.E.S., EryPed, Ery-Tab, Erythrocin, Pediazole), rifabutin (Mycobutin), rifampin (Rifadin, Rifater, Rifamate), rifapentine (Priftin), or telithromycin (Ketek);
• antifungal medication such as itraconazole (Sporanox), ketoconazole (Nizoral), posaconazole (Noxafil), or voriconazole (Vfend);
• a barbiturate such as butabarbital (Butisol), secobarbital (Seconal), pentobarbital (Nembutal), or phenobarbital (Solfoton);
• heart or blood pressure medication such as diltiazem (Tiazac, Cartia, Cardizem) or verapamil (Calan, Covera, Isoptin, Verelan); or
• the hepatitis C medications boceprevir (Victrelis) or telaprevir (Incivek);
• HIV/AIDS medication such as efavirenz (Sustiva, Atripla), etravirine (Intelence), indinavir (Crixivan), nelfinavir (Viracept), nevirapine (Viramune), ritonavir (Norvir, Kaletra), or saquinavir (Invirase);
• medicines to treat narcolepsy, such as armodafinil (Nuvigil) or modafinil (Progivil); or
• seizure medication such as carbamazepine (Carbatrol, Equetro, Tegretol), felbamate (Felbatol), oxcarbazepine (Trileptal), phenytoin (Dilantin), or primidone (Mysoline).

This list is not complete.

Take the missed dose as soon as you remember. Skip the missed dose if it is almost time for your next scheduled dose. Do not take extra medicine to make up the missed dose.

Store Buspirone at room temperature, between 59 and 86 degrees F (15 and 30 degrees C) in a tightly closed container. Store away from heat, moisture, and light. Do not store in the bathroom. Avoid storing at temperatures above 86 degrees F (30 degrees C). Keep Buspirone out of the reach of children and away from pets.