My doctor has put me on BuSpar and Xanax for my panic attacks and agoraphobia. The Xanax is fine because I've been on it before and I know it works, but it is only meant to be taken as-needed and he only gives me 30 a month. Anyway, I tried the BuSpar yesterday and experienced extreme nausea and dizziness. It actually brought on a panic attack. I took my second pill later that night, and it had the same effect. About 45 minutes after taking it, it just makes me extremely dizzy.

I called my doctor and said I'd like to make an appointment to try something else. I guess I am going to request an SSRI, but the last one I tried was Zoloft, and while I believe it was helping, I gained a significant amount of weight when I took it. I'm talking like 50 pounds. I really don't need the extra weight, as my anxiety does better when I am thin and more in shape. Does anyone know of a good SSRI that isn't known to cause a lot of weight gain?

I take prozac and wellbutrin, but you really have to discuss this with the Doctor. You have to anyway since they are prescription meds. Take care...Ed Oh, no weight gain for me with either one.

I think that is highly variable from person to person. I've been on several different SSRIs (Paxil, Zoloft, and, currently, Lexapro) and have not experienced weight gain as a side effect of any of them. At least not enough for it to be noticeable and something I could attribute to the medication as opposed to me just getting older. But I know it is an issue for other people.

My suspicion is the only thing you can really do is try different medications and see what happens. Obviously, the doctor can prescribe the meds with the least risk of weight gain, but like I said, I think everyone responds differently.

-Jeremy