Buspirone
Buspirone, sold under the brand name Buspar, among others, is a medication primarily used to treat anxiety disorders, particularly generalized anxiety disorder. Benefits support its short-term use. It is taken orally (by mouth), and takes two to six weeks to be fully effective. Common side effects of buspirone include nausea, headaches, dizziness, and difficulty concentrating. Serious side effects may include movement disorders, serotonin syndrome, and seizures. Its use in pregnancy appears to be safe but has not been well studied, and use during breastfeeding has not been well studied. It is a serotonin 5-HT1A receptor agonist. Buspirone was first made in 1968 and approved for medical use in the United States in 1986. It is available as a generic medication. In 2020, it was the 55th most-commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 12 million prescriptions. Buspirone is used for the short-term and long-term treatment of anxiety disorders or symptoms of anxiety. It is generally preferred over benzodiazepines because it does not activate the receptors that make drugs like alprazolam addictive. Buspirone has no immediate anxiolytic effects, and hence has a delayed onset of action; its full clinical effectiveness may require 2–4 weeks to manifest itself. The drug has been shown to be similarly effective in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) to benzodiazepines including diazepam, alprazolam, lorazepam, and clorazepate. Buspirone is not known to be effective in the treatment of other anxiety disorders besides GAD, although there is some limited evidence that it may be useful in the treatment of social phobia as an adjunct to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). There is some evidence that buspirone on its own may be useful in the treatment of hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) in women. Buspirone may also be effective in treating antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction. Buspirone is not effective as a treatment for benzodiazepine withdrawal, barbiturate withdrawal, or alcohol withdrawal/delirium tremens.