I'm on cymbalta normally anxiety/depression free. i have break-throughs. my mom, who's a rn, will give me xanax. how do u think buspar (buspirone) will affect me?

Depends: I've used Buspar (buspirone) for patients with anxiety with varying success. Typically it's used as a regularly scheduled medication 3x a day & I've found success with this. Rarely I have used it on an as needed basis & found a few patients who have responded well. It's less potent than Xanax/Ativan but those also comes with less risk for abuse. I like to trial it at 5 mg 3x/day prn & increase as needed.

I agree with Dr. Smith's answer but would add that medications don't cure a chronic problem; but they can make the recurrences less frequent, less intense, and of shorter duration. If you have havivng problematic breakthroughs to the point that you need another medication (Xaanax or Buspar) you may want to talk to the doctor prescribing the Cymbalta - you might need a dose adjustment/augmentation