Chuck asked
I have been prescribed 20mg of Prozac and 5mg x3 of Busbar. What is the best way to wean off Buspar?
Answer
Tapering of certain medications is a common practice to prevent withdrawal symptoms or disease state worsening. This is especially true for medications that are known to cause either a tolerance or physical dependence such as with opioids and benzodiazepines.
However, for the vast majority of people, Buspar (buspirone) does not need to be tapered or weaned off of because the drug does not cause any sort of tolerance or dependence. According to the prescribing information of Buspar:
"In human and animal studies, buspirone has shown no potential for abuse or diversion and there is no evidence that it causes tolerance, or either physical or psychological dependence"
Various studies, such as this one from Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry, report that Buspar is not associated with withdrawal symptoms following abrupt discontinuation.
Nevertheless, if you have tried to discontinue Buspar abruptly and are experiencing rebound symptoms or side effects, it is important to discuss these with your doctor. They may recommend a change in therapy or even a tapering protocol. The most common tapering protocols generally recommend to:
- Reduce your dose of the medication by 10-25% every week until the drug is discontinued with adjustments based on tolerability.
However, as discussed above, tapering with Buspar generally isn't needed.
