Buspirone and Nausea: What Users Say

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 12, 2025

For Anxiety "I have been on 5 mg twice a day for about 6 weeks. I am having involuntary movements. I try to use my mouse at work and my hand shakes. I am driving and I can feel my toes moving in my shoes. I have constant muscle spasms from my toes to my mouth. My symptoms have been worse the longer I stay on it. I also have constant nausea (which I had before and that is the reason my doctor thought I had anxiety). Of course, I can't get into the doctor, so I will start to lower my dose. I can lay down without getting muscle twitches all over. I have tried a couple of others like Zoloft and was very angry after just 1 pill. I thought everyone was looking at me and I was very argumentative. I need to try something natural and not chemical."

• mis...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• March 13, 2023

For Anxiety "I was one of the ones where this one didn't work at all, and I am now working my way off slowly by 5 mg increments, and I am down to 5 mg three times a day. I have been removing drugs in an attempt to see which meds have been causing me to feel panicky and nervous. As I eliminated, I thought buspirone would be one of the easier ones to be rid of since it didn't work. Unfortunately, I removed an SSRI that hid the majority of issues with buspirone. I am now having panic attacks several times a day (each time I take them) and have entered mania several times, especially around my cycle. Going off them is supposed to be easy as they have a short half-life and should be out of your system in 2-3 days...but for me, I get really bad side effects even after weeks of dropping. I get brain zaps, dizziness, nausea, and depersonalization. I don't want to prevent someone from trying it as it does work for some, but just keep in mind what you may have to go through if you have to quit and taper."

• Not...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 27, 2023

Buspirone for Anxiety "Started slowly on BuSpar, 5 mg morning and 5 mg nights. After a few weeks, went to 10 mg morning and 10 mg a night. By the time I had increased to 20 mg a day, I wasn't sleeping much at all. My anxiety doubled. Tingling, tight chest, odd breathing, nausea, shaky, crying, and more. Ended up back at the doctor, with elevated blood pressure (never have had that), and all the other side effects, and he took me off it completely cold turkey. I could not recommend this. Also, during the 6 weeks I was on it, I didn't feel ANY relief whatsoever from my anxiety. Actually, I think it made it way worse. I was so hoping it would work, but not for me."

• Vet...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• March 25, 2022

For Panic Disorder "Was prescribed this medication by the VA. I was on it for over a year. It made me feel dizzy and nauseated the entire time. The worst part of this was trying to get off of it. The withdrawal was severe, despite being tapered off of it. My brain felt like it was being electrocuted, I would get intermittent zaps for about 3 weeks after stopping the medication. My heart would race, I experienced sweating, couldn't sleep, and had terrible nightmares."

• Try...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 17, 2022

For Anxiety "Oh man, so a little bit about me. I am overly sensitive to every medication or anything such as caffeine. If there is a medication with side effects, I get it. Let’s talk about the weight gain in my arms and extended abdomen. It’s kind of rubbish because I’m so nauseous all the time and haven’t been eating, but still gaining weight. Headaches, yup. Sore throat, yup. This drug is messing with my hormones and is giving me cysts on my ovaries, and it burns to pee. I got a UTI test, STD test, and the gyno said everything is fine. This is not doing it for me. Terrible."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 15, 2022

Buspirone for Anxiety "I started this drug at 10 mg TID after being on Wellbutrin for 2 years for anxiety and losing effectiveness. I felt fine the first two days, but on day three, I felt very nauseous, dizzy, loss of appetite, and just overall 'off.' On the fourth day, I had the worst panic attack I've ever had, and I haven't had a panic attack in over 5 years. I had full body tremors, palpitations, confusion/difficulty concentrating, unable to focus, photophobia for over 3 hours following the attack, and it happened again the next morning after I hadn't taken the drug in over 12 hours. I will never take this again."

• Rea...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 11, 2022

For Anxiety "I do not recommend this drug! It did nothing but give me every dang side effect there was, and finally got so bad not being able to breathe and sleep that I had to go to the hospital. Also, this will leave a metallic taste in your mouth, and you won’t be able to taste your food the next day. This made me worse, not better. I am also sensitive to medication and have a drug history from my late teens. So the chemicals in my brain are unbalanced and my tolerance for meds isn’t high. This made my paranoia of taking medicine worse. It affects everyone differently. I was scared to take it and glad I did because now I know it’s not for me. Nausea, dizziness, tiredness, chest pressure, ear ringing, metallic taste, bad dreams (during small brief moments of sleep)."

• Rob...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• February 9, 2022

Buspirone for Anxiety "Unfortunately, nothing works for my anxiety except benzodiazepines, but those are controlled and have a bad rep for being abused and sold on the streets. So now I’m on Vraylar, Pristiq, Wellbutrin, Trileptal, BuSpar, and gabapentin instead of just benzos. I’m on expensive maintenance drugs, which have caused me to gain weight, get acne, develop tremors, brain zaps, headaches, and nausea. Thanks, doc, for drugging me up really good."

• new...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• February 5, 2022

For Panic Disorder "I was given this as part of a cocktail that my psychiatrist gave me since no other meds seemed to work either. She just wanted to keep increasing. I have emetophobia, and each dose increase I'd have nausea and feel like rubbish. I stopped at 35 mg a day. It didn't work at that dose at all, and I wanted to remove the meds I am on since they just all combined make me feel worse. I can't recommend it since it didn't seem to work at all. I had no known side effects after the few weeks after the up doses, but also no benefits. Right now, I am slowly going off at 5 mg at a time. It is a med that works for some and doesn't work for others. There was a potential for it to work if I went higher, but I really did not want to."

• Oli...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 11, 2021

For Anxiety "It was the worst medication I have ever taken. Made me deathly sick. Sharp pains in my head along with non-stop headaches, nausea, diarrhea, extreme fatigue, and I could not even function throughout the days. I am trying to recuperate, it's been a week since I stopped, and my thinking process is not the same. I also feel imbalanced at times. My stomach still feels unwell. I hope I recover completely, and I will never recommend this to anyone. We are all not the same, but this is my experience with buspirone."

• Mic...
• October 31, 2021

For Anxiety "I’ve been taking this medication for two months, and I haven’t seen progress, it has worsened my symptoms. I feel dizzy, nauseated, twitching all the time. This medication is not for me. I don’t even feel like myself, I feel like a zombie. I thought this medication was going to help me, but it made me worse. My anxiety, I even lost my hair."

• Dsm...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 19, 2021

Buspirone for Anxiety "This was a mistake. Was prescribed this for mild anxiety. Took 10 mg a day for 17 days. The side effects were terrible! Dizziness, nausea, chest pain, increased heart rate, insomnia, fatigue, and more. Have been off 3 weeks and still struggling with withdrawal effects."

• Lil...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 8, 2021

Buspirone for Anxiety "I was prescribed this drug to help my anxiety through a job change. DO NOT take this drug! It doubled my anxiety, insomnia to the point that I hadn't slept in 3 nights, caused jerking motions that would wake me up when I did actually fall asleep, nauseous, absolutely no appetite, feelings of complete depression and hopelessness."

• Bon...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 8, 2021

Buspirone for Anxiety "Terrible headache, nausea, sweats. I felt like this was bad for my body. Even though I only took it for a short time, I had terrible withdrawal symptoms. Please be very careful if you take this drug."

• Nic...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 13, 2021

For Panic Disorder "I'm prescribed 5 mg in the morning and 5 mg in the evening. This medication is not for me. It gives me horrible headaches, horrible insomnia, and a really weird, sort of nauseated, seasick feeling about 2 hours after taking it. Last night, I had to take a Xanax just to sleep from taking the buspirone. That's defeating the purpose. I can't stand these side effects. Done."

• DJa...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 6, 2021

Buspirone for Anxiety "Started on BuSpar, I think 15 mg daily (7.5 mg twice daily) in April and had some general side effects with increased anxiety plus nausea. My doctor upped the dose to 3 a day, and that lasted a week. My anxiety went through the roof, so he decreased the dose back down, but I've weaned it further to half a 7.5 mg tab twice a day and will begin coming completely off soon. Since beginning in April (it's now July), I have a marked increase in anxiety, irritability, and perpetual nausea. If you are new and looking to try something new, don't be afraid to try it. This is just my experience with it, there are plenty of others who have been helped by it. I have a prescription for a low dose of clonazepam (Klonopin) that I take sparingly as needed and works for me. I tried BuSpar because doctors are getting skittish about prescribing things like Klonopin and was hoping to find something that would help."

• Ann...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 18, 2020

Buspirone for Anxiety "BuSpar should be classified as a hallucinogenic drug! I took it for one day (15 mg) with Zoloft to get off Ativan. It made me lightheaded, nauseous, nervous, speedy, and when I tried to sleep, I saw terrible images moving around in my head. I couldn't sleep at all! These awful hallucinations gave me panic attacks. I was so scared! I also had some uncontrolled jerky movements of my limbs when lying down. I called the nurse line for help because I could not reach my psychiatrist. This experience was a nightmare! I also read an FDA report that stated that BuSpar can cause Tardive Dyskinesia, uncontrolled involuntary jerking movements of the face and body. Who wants that? Do not take it!"

• Jon...
• February 7, 2020

For Anxiety "Buspar worked great for about two weeks. Now I feel very spaced out, irritable. I kept having muscle spasms and panic attacks from it. My anxiety got way worse, and mentally and physically I feel awful from this. I didn't take any today and felt 20 times better, although I still have a very weird body high from it. It is making me feel really nauseous, lightheaded, dizzy, made me paranoid, and made my PTSD way worse. I'll never take this stuff again. I just want to feel halfway normal again."

• Pur...
• November 19, 2019

For Anxiety "The third week on buspirone for anxiety, and I developed side effects of tachycardia, didn’t sleep more than 3 hours/night. I also developed tremors, fever, muscle aches, bone pain. I also developed chest pain and pressure. It became so bad I was close to fainting constantly. I thought my thyroid problems had come back. At the end of the third week, I went to the doctor who told me to immediately discontinue. I had an ECG, which was normal, and so was my thyroid. But it was the worst experience I had with a medication, and I had become so exhausted and confused I didn’t realize I had to stop until the doctor told me so. Please be careful with this medication. If it works for you, that’s wonderful. However, if you start developing weird symptoms, go talk to your doctor right away. I stopped taking it 4 days ago and am now experiencing withdrawal symptoms: depression, lots of anxiety, extreme lethargy, nausea, even flu-like symptoms, but I know it will pass."

• Vic...
• October 4, 2019

For Panic Disorder "This is the 3rd day of taking Buspar. I was instructed to take 5 mg, 3X a day. The first one I took was okay for about 30 min... then the nausea hit, dizziness, severe ringing in my ears, and no choice but to go to bed, and then nightmares. So far in 3 days, I've only taken three of the 5 mg, and I'm no better. I've taken Xanax for a severe panic disorder, 1 mg, 3X a day, and that's the only thing that's ever worked for me. I've been on every antidepressant with no results. I'm wondering if I will get better on the Buspar. Any feedback is certainly appreciated because I really would like to get off Xanax, even though it's the only thing that relieves my panic attacks."

• 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."

• Gai...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 17, 2019

For Panic Disorder "This drug made me completely dysfunctional, incompetent, exhausted, nauseous, deathly sick. Blah!!!!"

• Hea...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 19, 2018

Buspirone for Panic Disorder "I was initially started on BuSpar 5mg twice a day for panic disorder and PTSD as my therapist said I could not stay on Klonopin at her practice. I tried the 5mg twice a day for 2 weeks, then she increased it to 10mg twice a day, which I took for a month. I ended up with severe heart palpitations, dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea, and feeling like I was going to pass out, in addition to my blood pressure being raised. I ended up on a heart monitor, seeing a cardiologist, in addition to other heart-related tests all because my therapist is dead set on taking me off Klonopin. I've been on 1mg of Klonopin since 2008 and take it only as needed, mostly once a panic attack begins. I will never take BuSpar again, as I have been off of it now for about a week after all those symptoms and they are almost all gone now. Just wanted to share some of my side effects in case anyone else out there is having the same because I had a difficult time finding someone with the same side effects."