Extreme fatigue with Buspirone

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Hello all - I'm reaching out for advice on a medication problem. I know others here have mentioned Buspirone before, so I'm hoping mostly for anecdotes related to this issue if anyone has had similar (or much different!) experiences.

I have been on a relatively low dose of Buspirone for about a month and a half now. It has helped marginally with my anxiety, although it is difficult to find the right fit because I think my anxiety mostly comes from a very poor ability to cope with certain things (i.e. CBT would likely be the 'cure', not medicine, although I'm not opposed to trying medication). Anyhow; I don't know that is has helped enough to merit the negative side effect.

Recently I've felt extremely fatigued, which I was solidly convinced for some time was partially cyclical depression (I've dealt with throughout life). However, it occurred to me earlier that the fatigue I'm experiencing is uncharacteristic and excessive; I don't feel like getting up from chairs or bed once I've sat down, and even something as simple as reading my book seems exhausting. I'm taking personal steps to ensure I try to introduce more regular exercise into my life, but the degree of exhaustion is concerning.

My little vent over, has anyone else experienced something similar on this medication? It's possible it's not the medication, I guess, so I want to know how likely that is the case. I know I will need to talk to my doctor about it, but I admittedly am nervous talking to him about medication since he isn't really happy with me in that department, as I do (embarrassingly) have a history of giving up on medications without clearing it with him first. I want to be responsible this time.

Thanks in advance for any help~

If it is the Buspar it might gradually go away over time. Maybe you can use caffeine in the meantime to deal with the fatigue until it passes?

I experienced similar after a similar amount of time but have other health stuff going on that could also quite possibly be causing the issue that started around the time I started the Buspirone. So I can’t really be of any help unless I can distinguish what’s from the health issue and what’s from the meds, but I felt like I should try to chime in since that’s one of the ones I’m currently on. (Also not looking like the Buspirone is what caused the other stuff, so no point really in going into detail here.)

It’s definitely good that you’re going to check with your doctor before giving up on it. He’ll tell you whether this is something that may go away fairly soon and you should keep going with it for a little while longer, something that’s more of a long-term effect in people who experience it and it would be a good idea to switch meds, or whether something else should be looked at as a possible cause.

I can say that I completely understand just how horrible the exhaustion can be, since I’m experiencing much the same thing even if it has a different cause. Sometimes I don’t even have the energy to properly read or write posts on WP, sometimes I’m just so done that I can’t even really do anything but just sit there. In my experience caffeine doesn’t touch this kind of exhaustion. I wish I knew something that did help, both so I could use it and so I could share it, but unfortunately I’m just about out of ideas.

Here’s hoping that both of our exhaustion eases in not too terribly long, or at least that yours is easier to remedy than mine (though I do know that eventually I will feel better, it’s just going to take some time).