Buspirone and Insomnia: What Users Say (Page 2)

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 6, 2019

Buspirone for Anxiety "Been on 10 mg BuSpar twice daily for 2 days. I have already experienced terrible insomnia on both nights. First night, I was able to get 4 hours of broken sleep. Second night, did not sleep one wink. Experienced a panic attack last night, along with an increased heart rate and racing thoughts. The thought of continuing on with this drug is unbearable."

• CKa...
• August 8, 2019

For Anxiety "Was on a low dose of 5 mg of buspirone twice a day, then increased to 10 mg, I never actually took the 10 mg because my side effects were too bad. First of all, it did nothing for the anxiety, but it did make me more moody and irritable (probably because it made me feel so crappy). Had vivid, terrible lucid dreams at first, but that went away after a week. I had a constant headache that didn't go away, was more tired, very dizzy, nauseous, yet had cravings, had to pee all the time, hot flashes and sweating, insomnia, also felt achy. Doctor wants to prescribe this instead of benzos, but I don't have any of those side effects with benzos, and they actually do something for the anxiety!"

• Viv...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 26, 2019

For Anxiety "I would warn you to be very wary of this drug. Started as a way of being able to control anxiety and depression, and so I could lower my dosage of diazepam. It made everything worse. This was at the lowest dose. Insomnia, nausea, groggy, tired. Only tried this as the SNRI did not work either. Use this at your peril."

• Ano...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 21, 2019

Buspirone for Anxiety "The side effects of BuSpar for me were worse sleep, anger, weight gain, and tiredness. My anxiety got worse, I had an erratic heartbeat, and it made my eyes feel really weird. This drug made me completely dysfunctional, exhausted, nauseous, and also out of it. So distracted, and it made my ADD worse."

• MrK...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 3, 2019

Buspirone for Anxiety "I took BuSpar for anxiety, and it made me feel as though I was high or drunk. I was up and down all night sweating, it made my eyes feel really weird and my head, when I laid down, almost like I was still moving when I wasn't. The worst was the insomnia and the terrible nightmares it gave me. I only took 5 mg twice a day, and I could not function on it. There were other minor side effects, but I cannot remember the exact details."

• Jam...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 10, 2019

For Anxiety "Took buspar for 6 days at 5 mg three times a day. I stopped taking it because it made me feel 4x worse. The medication made me feel suicidal, dizzy, light-headed, it ruined my appetite, gave me insomnia, and hallucinations. 7 weeks later I’m still feeling some of these symptoms! This medication has ruined my life, stay away."

• Bos...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• June 27, 2018

For Anxiety "This medicine actually increases my anxiety and makes sleeping so hard to obtain."

• Kay...
• April 8, 2018

For Anxiety "I have severe social anxiety. I've had it my whole life. I was on Ativan for years, and I wanted to get off them. So my doctor prescribed me Buspirone (busbar). Well, what a nightmare!!! The first few days, I felt like I was going to die. My heart was racing, I could feel my heart pounding out of my chest. I couldn't sleep, made me speed like crazy. Awful. Scared me so bad. It was so bad, about a week in, I had to go to the ER. It made my anxiety 100 times worse. I had to go to the ER in an ambulance, I couldn't breathe. I only gave this a 1 because I had to put something, otherwise, it would have been 0. If you have bad anxiety, I wouldn't recommend this. But if it works for you, that's great. We are all different, but it was a total nightmare for me."

• PTS...
• March 27, 2018

Buspirone for Anxiety "Makes my anxiety tremendously worse, even after months of use! Don't believe the fake big pharma comments. This is not a replacement for any benzo, in any way! It is only 'known' to be 'effective' in general anxiety disorder. After my switch, I couldn't sleep for a week, dehydrated, thought I was going to die, so then they gave me Zoloft in conjunction with the BuSpar that I was already on for 2 months! The Zoloft made it even worse, I am surprised to be alive and writing this today."

• Yud...
• March 17, 2018

For Anxiety "I have been on buspirone 5 mg for 3 days. I take it 3 times a day. I never had a sleeping problem, now I can't sleep. Also, I had never been treated for anxiety. I hate taking pills, so I stopped it right now. Also, the side effects are ridiculous, so there is no reason to take it anymore."

• Goo...
• January 14, 2018

For Anxiety "I took my first Buspar last night. I was told to split it in half the first week. So my prescription was 15 mg, but my first dose was 7.5 mg anyways... 20 min later, I was lying in bed playing a game on my phone when suddenly my vision got blurry, and then five min after that, I started to tremble uncontrollably, and then came the diarrhea. I had a hard time falling asleep too. I went from feeling just 'ok' to a full-blown freak out. Never again will I take this drug."

• Sha...
• September 21, 2017

Buspirone for Anxiety "My doctor prescribed BuSpar 5 mg 3x daily as I eased off Effexor. The Effexor worked great, except for the sexual side effects and the hardcore addiction. I have nothing good to say about BuSpar. I thought I was losing my mind. Felt severely unbalanced. Nauseated. Confused. Thirsty. Insomnia. You name it! My endocrinologist thought I might be diabetic because of family history. No, it was all the BuSpar. Why should something that is supposed to help generalized anxiety make you feel like you are losing it? I ended up slowly getting off of Effexor and pitching the BuSpar. I need something for generalized anxiety, but I am scared of another bad trip."

• Iro...
• June 29, 2017

Buspirone for Anxiety "This medication did not work for my anxiety. BuSpar actually allowed my anxiety to increase with severe insomnia and vivid dreams. It also caused severe stomach and intestinal problems. I also experienced dizziness, irritability, and incoordination. There are other symptoms from BuSpar, these are the main ones that caused me to stop taking the drug."

• Why...
• January 16, 2017

Buspirone for Anxiety "I started BuSpar because I was having anxiety with the horrendous pain from gallbladder attacks. I started out at 7.5 for three days and then was supposed to advance to 15 mg. During the week of starting this, I had to have an emergency surgery for my gallbladder. When I was finally able to take this consistently, I found that I suffered from insomnia, felt restless and nervous, dizzy, and downright horrible. I have taken it less than a week, and I have an appointment to see the doctor tomorrow. If I stop taking this, will I have withdrawal symptoms? Or should I do this gradually? My gallbladder symptoms are gone, and my body feels great after the surgery. Any suggestions?"

• Nic...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 9, 2016

For Anxiety "I am on 5 mg of Buspar 2x a day to start, and I hate it! I feel very nervous, jittery, and wired, like I drank a bunch of coffee. My ears are ringing... actually, it feels like my whole head is buzzing. My throat and skin hurt. I told my doctor this made me feel this way in the past, but she didn't care. I feel worse like this than I do when I have constant panic attacks. I am also on 30 mg Remeron. I can't sleep for more than 3 hours, and I can't eat. I am 5'7'' and under 100 lbs. I have tried Trazodone and ended up in the hospital. I can't handle these drugs. I am going through hell right now because of a life stressor, and I know the doctors are only trying to help, but these drugs are bad for me!"

• sti...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 2, 2016

For Anxiety "Dr. prescribed for anxiety... Took 1 pill... had brain zings, trouble sleeping, palpitations... will never take again..."

• Sti...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 8, 2016

Buspirone for Anxiety "It didn't help at all with the panic attacks and actually made my anxiety worse. The first few weeks, it would just put me to sleep. After four weeks, I became very depressed and had suicidal thoughts constantly throughout the day. It gave me horrible headaches, it made me really dizzy all the time, and I felt lightheaded and nauseous often. After four weeks, I could not sleep at all, and my anxiety increased along with the panic attacks. I don't recommend this medicine for anyone who has suffered PTSD or who has had high anxiety levels for a long time. It just makes things worse. After five weeks, I stopped taking this medication, I could no longer handle the side effects."

• Nad...
• September 2, 2016

Buspirone for Anxiety "I was prescribed BuSpar for anxiety. If I knew that BuSpar had the side effects that I got, I would never drink it. I drank it for 4 days only, and it almost got me killed. I started having panic attacks, I could hardly breathe, I had electric shocks, brain zaps, horrible medicine. I quit right away. Little did I know that quitting even after 4 days would cause side effects. I could not sleep for 2 weeks afterwards, I thought I was dying. Horrible medicine. I will never drink any antidepressants or anti-anxiety medicine that is not natural!!!"

• Mia...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 3, 2016

For Anxiety "This is scary. Doctor put me on this 3 weeks ago. Made my depression horrible. I'm extremely mean to my 2-year-old. I have passed out twice, one of which I crashed my car in a field! I have dry mouth, dizziness, shaking, my body will jerk. I have a rash on my neck, constipation, insomnia. I'm exhausted but just can't sleep. And that's all I want is to sleep!!! And I've probably eaten a handful of pretzels in the last week. I feel so sick all the time :( and I'm on a low dose!"

• Pet...
• July 4, 2016

Buspirone for Anxiety "Was on 20 mg Cipralex, then doctor added 150 mg Buspar. Within 2 weeks, my anxiety and depression got a lot worse, trouble sleeping, and uncontrolled shaking. Not for me."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 16, 2012

Buspirone for Anxiety "BuSpar seemed to increase my anxiety and caused sleep disturbance. I woke up several times during the night feeling anxious."

• Ele...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 27, 2021

Buspirone for Anxiety "If you are a low metabolizer like me, this may not be the medication for you. Many people don't feel any side effects on BuSpar, but my days were filled with exacerbated stress, and nights were filled with insomnia. I went two weeks, maybe I should have waited longer, but I just couldn't take it anymore. I wanted to try 6, but the thought of another 4 weeks of this nightmare was making me feel so hopeless."

• Pat...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 14, 2019

Buspirone for Anxiety "I took this med, BuSpar, for 2 weeks. My anxiety skyrocketed, could not sleep more than 3 hours. Felt zombie-like. Developed a fast heart rate and upset stomach. After about 7-9 days, did calm down a bit. I went off too many bad side effects for me. On my second day of withdrawal, body aches. My dose of BuSpar was 5 mg, 2x a day."

• Anonymous
• June 19, 2019

Buspirone for Anxiety "BuSpar helped with bipolar anxiety only slightly, but it gave me awful insomnia, with angry outbursts and the worse agoraphobia. This med did more harm than good."

• Ano...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 10, 2019

Buspirone for Panic Disorder "I also experienced my first asthma attack ever on this medication. I don't see it listed as an official side effect, but I've never encountered anything like it before, and just putting my 2 cents in. I've tried just about every SSRI and SNRI under the sun as well, so while I'm not guaranteeing it's not a coincidence, I'm pretty well past the point of attributing everything that happens to me to my medications. Aside from that, it worked maybe... 10%? But I think the majority of that was the sedation, which wears off as the sedation does. Other side effects for me were worse sleep, anger, nightmares, weight gain, and tiredness."