Does Buspar cause weight gain/ lowering metabolism as side affect?

I've been on Lexapro for 9 years with Clonazepam as needed. My doc wanted to take me off Clonazepam as it may cause cognitive issues down the road. Enter Buspar. In all of 2 weeks I had insomnia, headaches and extreme hunger. Within an hour of taking I had anxiety and felt shaky in my brain. Like my brain was loose inside. It's so hard to explain but my brain felt so off. I stopped yesterday. Good luck everyone.

My metabolism seems to be shut down, I have gained so much weight and bloat while on Buspar. I was a size 11, now I can barely squeeze into a size 14. The tops of my legs are enormous. I look like I am pregnant. I only take blood pressure meds, nothing else. Had enough huffing and puffing. I am on a 1000 calorie diet for 2 weeks and have lost nothing. Buspar causes weight gain, I don't care what my doctor says.

I’m so glad I found this thread. I got put on this in 2016, I was 124 pounds, super tiny. As I increased it my weight went up, I’m now at 180 and counting, I hateeeee how I look, I don’t like going anywhere, I feel miserable and uncomfortable and no matter what I do it won’t go down, it either stays or keeps climbing. I also noticed my ears and face always feel flushed/hot which for me is usually when I have high blood pressure. I’m 28. I hate myself more and I feel ugly. I can’t fit in any of my clothes, being 5ft it’s already hard enough to find clothes. I cry all the time. I don’t even eat that much or snack. I’m over it. I’ve had three kids and never gained as much as I have on this.

I was wondering the same thing. I have been craved ice cream. I have not craved that since i was 100 lbs heavier a couple yrs ago. I was not sure why i Was again. Well this pill was why. Know i am off. I am done with it. I dont do pills that back me gain weight. My dr’s know that.

I am SO relieved to have found this. I seriously thought I was going crazy. Since taking buspar, I have an extremely bloated stomach and feel like I'm walking around with weights on my legs. It helps a great deal with anxiety but it also makes me extraordinarily tired. Worst of all, it makes me hungry constantly. My cravings for sugar and carbs have skyrocketed. I find myself craving things I would never thought twice a out. The urge to eat is all consuming. I have always had somewhat of a sweet tooth but this is terrible. The bloating is so bad, I feel like a 300 pound gorilla. It's a shame because I was really feeling good. Drs will try to tell you it's not the medicine because they are not on these medications! Ignore them and do what's right for you. We cant all be wrong.

Honestly the worst medication I have ever taken. I was only on it for a month and I GAINED 20LBS IN 1 MONTH. Like I was already depressed because of my weight and this medication made me feel worse! Always tired, Headaches, AND A HUGE INCREASE TO MY APPETITE. I didn't know why I was so hungry with so many cravings until I quit the medication on my own because I absolutely HATED feeling so tired and lethargic all the time from it. My boyfriend brought it up and said "It made you eat too much also." Which is TRUE. My eating has now returned to normal and I lost 10lbs within the first month of quitting that medication. Best decision ever.

I’m so glad I found this page. I have been taking buspar for about a year & a half. I started taking it more often about 6 months ago and I’ve gained at least 15 pounds. My stomach especially. I definitely have the basketball stomach everyone else is talking about. I’ve also been SUPER tired all the time and lazy. I wrote it off as being depressed or something but this makes more sense. I’m definitely going to taper off of this and see if the weight drops or energy improves. If I think about it, I’ll try to update this later for those who want to know how stopping the med helps.

As I understand, buspar is a relatively new medication so new side effects are certainly possible. I've noticed water bloating and am literally hungry all the time. Not only do I want to eat constantly, but my stomach feels physically hungry. This is the first medication that's caused this for me, and I've been prescribed practically everything for anxiety and depression over the last 20 years.

I see that some of you say buspar isn't supposed to cause weight gain by causing hunger. But I found this thread by searching the web about if it does or not. I was put on Buspar a couple months ago, and I recently ran out. I have lost weight while being off of it. And realized that I haven't had the munchies like I have been doing the past couple months.
I think it depends on the person's chemistry on weather or not it effects them in this way or not. Kinda like one medicine might make you queasy, but not me.

I was reading through these responses and glad to see I’m not going crazy!! I’ve been on Buspar for 3 weeks and I already stopped taking it. I’ve been on the journey to get the gastric sleeve and I was doing really good, got put on this medication and I’ve gained 8lbs!! It doesn’t help anyways. I lost my appetite and still gained weight. I also noticed the rounded stomach, and bloated feeling. It also gave me more headaches the longer I took it and when I would get really anxious my lips would get numb, never have I had that happen before. Anyways, I’m now going to get yelled at by the Weight Loss Clinic for the weight gain and it pushes my surgery back farther and I have to work even harder all because my doctor wouldn’t listen to me when I talked to her. Good luck everyone!

Thank you everyone, now I know why I gained some weight lately... Been on BuSpar for years "as needed" but recently started taking it 3 times a day. 22.5 Mg. when I was just taking 5mg as needed. Too many side affects including making me very tired throughout the day. I will go back to taking it as needed.. Definitely do not want to gain any weight and will manage my stress another way.

Just started it don't know yet.

I have been on this med for almost one month. Only 20mg per day. My appetite has gone right out the window! I don't want to eat at all and the sight of food makes me nauseous. I am however making myself eat enough to keep my body functioning. Lost 9 lbs so far since starting this med. Have not seen any type of bloating around my mid section. This has to be a person to person issue. I am a 38 yr old female who has a normal metabolism. Also makes me pretty shaky at night to where i have trouble falling and staying asleep