Important Safety Information

What special precautions should I follow?

Before taking buspirone, tell your doctor and pharmacist if you are allergic to buspirone, any other medications, or any of the ingredients in buspirone tablets. Ask your pharmacist for a list of the ingredients. Tell your doctor if you are taking a monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor such as isocarboxazid (Marplan), linezolid (Zyvox), methylene blue, phenelzine (Nardil), selegiline (Eldepryl, Emsam, Zelapar), and tranylcypromine (Parnate), or if you have stopped taking an MAO inhibitor within the past 14 days. Your doctor will probably tell you not to take buspirone. If you stop taking buspirone, you should wait at least 14 days before you start to take an MAO inhibitor. Tell your doctor and pharmacist what prescription and nonprescription medications, vitamins, nutritional supplements, and herbal products you are taking or plan to take. Be sure to mention any of the following: anticonvulsants such as carbamazepine (Tegretol), phenobarbital, and phenytoin (Dilantin, Phenytek); dexamethasone; diazepam (Valium); diltiazem (Cardizem, Dilacor, Tiazac); erythromycin (E.E.S., E-Mycin, Erythrocin, others); haloperidol (Haldol); ketoconazole; itraconazole (Onmel, Sporanox); medications for migraine headaches such as almotriptan (Axert), eletriptan (Relpax), frovatriptan (Frova), naratriptan (Amerge), rizatriptan (Maxalt), sumatriptan (Imitrex), and zolmitriptan (Zomig); muscle relaxants; nefazodone (Serzone); pain medications or narcotics; rifampin (Rifadin, Rimactane); ritonavir (Norvir); sedatives; selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors such as citalopram (Celexa), escitalopram (Lexapro), fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem, Selfemra), fluvoxamine (Luvox), paroxetine (Brisdelle, Paxil, Pexeva), and sertraline (Zoloft); serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI) such as desvenlafaxine (Khedezla, Pristiq), duloxetine (Cymbalta), levomilnacipran (Fetzima), milnacipran (Savella), and venlafaxine (Effexor); sleeping pills; tranquilizers; trazodone (Desyrel); and verapamil (Calan, Covera, Verelan). Your doctor may need to change the doses of your medications or monitor you carefully for side effects. Many other medications may also interact with buspirone, so be sure to tell your doctor about all the medications you are taking, even those that do not appear on this list.
Tell your doctor if you have or have ever had kidney or liver disease or a history of alcohol or drug abuse. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or are breast-feeding. If you become pregnant while taking buspirone, call your doctor. If you are having surgery, including dental surgery, tell the doctor or dentist that you are taking buspirone. You should know that this drug may make you drowsy. Do not drive a car or operate machinery until you know how this drug affects you. Remember that alcohol can add to the drowsiness caused by this drug. Do not drink alcohol while taking buspirone.

What side effects can this medication cause?

Buspirone may cause side effects. Tell your doctor if any of these symptoms are severe or do not go away:

• dizziness
  

• nausea
  

• diarrhea

• headache
  

• excitement
  

• confusion
  

• fatigue
  

• nervousness
  

• difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
  

• feelings of anger or hostility

• lightheadedness
• headache
• weakness
• numbness
• increased sweating
  

Some side effects can be serious. If you experience any of these symptoms, call your doctor immediately:

• rash
  
• hives
  
• itching
  
• swelling of the face, eyes, mouth, throat, tongue, or lips
  
• fast or irregular heartbeat
• blurred vision
• uncontrollable shaking of a part of the body
• agitation, fever, sweating, dizziness, flushing, confusion, fast or irregular heartbeat, shivering, severe muscle stiffness or twitching, seizures, hallucinations, loss of coordination, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
  

If you experience a serious side effect, you or your doctor may send a report to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program online (http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch) or by phone (1-800-332-1088).

In case of emergency/overdose

In case of overdose, call the poison control helpline at 1-800-222-1222. Information is also available online at https://www.poisonhelp.org/help. If the victim has collapsed, had a seizure, has trouble breathing, or can't be awakened, immediately call emergency services at 911.
Symptoms of overdose may include nausea, vomiting, dizziness, drowsiness, blurred vision, or upset stomach.

Reference: https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a688005.html