Table 15.
Buspirone Monitoring and Dosing
| Guideline | Dose | Monitoring | Specific side effects | Specific drug interactions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| APA | – | – | Cautioned against augmenting MAOIs with buspirone, including reversible inhibitors of monoamine oxidase and selegiline, due to risk of serotonin syndrome (Sternbach, 1991; Boyer and Shannon, 2005; Stahl and Felker, 2008) | |
| BAP | – | – | – | – |
| CANMAT | Not recommended | |||
| CPG-S | Not recommended | |||
| ICSI | – | – | – | – |
| MPG | Up to 60 mg/d. Specific advice for renal impairment | Nausea, dizziness and headaches. Manufacturer contraindicates use in patients with severe renal impairment (Aronoff et al., 2007; Ashley and Currie, 2008). | ||
| NICE | Not recommended | |||
| RANZCP | Not recommended | |||
| TMAP | Starting dose 15 mg/d, increased every week by 15 mg/d until target dose of 20–60 mg/d (max 60 mg/d) reached. Dose should be divided and taken 2–3 times throughout day. | Pregnancy test as indicated. | Dizziness, drowsiness, headache and nausea | Alcohol, furazolidone, MAOIs, SNRIs, SSRIs, and grapefruit juice |
| WFSBP | Not recommended |
Abbreviations: –, not reported by guideline; APA, American Psychiatric Association; BAP, British Association of Psychopharmacology; CANMAT, Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Disorders; CPG-S, Clinical Practice Guidelines in the Spanish NHS; ICSI, Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement; MAOI, monoamine oxidase inhibitor; MPG, Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines; NICE, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence; RANZCP, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists; SNRI, serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors; SSRI, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors; TMAP, Texas Medication Algorithm Project; WFSBP, World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry.