QUESTION:
Dear Dr. Heller,
Thank you in advance for looking at my question. Up until a few years ago, I hadn’t experienced anything like a panic attack. Then, after many upsetting events happening continuously in my personal life throughout the last 2 or 3 years , I developed brief, sporadic anxiety attacks. In the last year specifically, I grew increasingly unhappy with things not changing in my personal life and eventually developed an immune dysfunction illness (something like chronic fatigue syndrome) with one of my worst symptoms being a daily upset stomach. It is my assumption that the constant stress helped lead to these various symptoms manifesting themselves. The doctor I am seeing has helped almost all of my symptoms, but my nausea will not go away and tests aren’t showing anything wrong. This doctor thinks anxiety may be the culprit. In addition, I have seen a counselor who has diagnosed me with GAD. I am extremely affected by my stomach and am unable to do almost anything I could do before this upset stomach started (had to quit my job, nervous while driving, etc.). I finally started BuSpar 5 days ago with my doctor’s recommendation. I was reluctant to try it because medications like these frighten me.
Anyway, is there hope for a case like me? From your experience, do you think BuSpar could have enough of a positive effect for me to maybe start getting my life back – BuSpar combined with counseling, that is?
Thank you!
ANSWER:
If the GAD is your only diagnosis, yes, BuSpar can help you enormously. The effective dose is usually 15mg twice daily. If the BuSpar makes you ill, the addition of Remeron could be of enormous help. I always recommend treating all the medically treatable diagnoses listed in my screening test.