Does Buspirone Affect Sex Drive? What the Buspar Trials Actually Show

Buspirone and sex drive is really two questions the internet has folded into one. Buspirone (Buspar) is an anti-anxiety medicine that works on the serotonin system. As an anxiety medicine, its sexual side effects were not among the effects listed above placebo in a 1986 side-effect tally of 984 people with anxiety. As an add-on to an SSRI, one 1999 trial of 117 people found about 58% on buspirone reported improved sexual function versus 30% on placebo after four weeks. That single, old trial carries the whole "buspirone brings it back" reputation, and the later reviews did not confirm it.

Is it the buspirone, or is it me?

If you were prescribed buspirone for anxiety, you are probably asking the first question: does the buspirone itself lower my drive? The side-effect data say its sexual side effects were not among the effects listed above placebo in one 1986 tally of 984 people with anxiety. That is an absence of a signal, so read it that way.

If you are on an SSRI and your prescriber added buspirone to bring desire back, you are asking the second question: does it work? There is one trial of 117 people, and it is the entire add-on story. The internet usually answers the two questions at once, and searches for "buspar sex drive" return the same mixed results.

The two questions pull in different directions, and they need different evidence. Before you sort out which one is yours, rule out the adjacent problems. The buspar libido question splits the same way: the drug's own effects, and the effects of the SSRI it was added to. SSRIs are a common prescription cause of a libido drop, which our guide to SSRIs and libido walks through. Stress runs the background wiring of desire, covered in stress killing your sex drive. And depression flattens wanting, which we break down in depression and low libido.

Question one: does buspirone lower sex drive?

The best evidence on buspirone sexual side effects comes from a 1986 review by Newton and colleagues, a tally of what the double-blind studies had reported. It covered 984 people with generalised anxiety disorder on buspirone and 334 on placebo. The most common effects on buspirone were drowsiness at 9% and dizziness at 9%. On placebo, drowsiness was 10% and dizziness 2%. Drowsiness did not differ between the two.

The rest of the list was small: headache 7% versus 2%, nervousness 4% versus 1%, light-headedness 4% versus under 1%, diarrhoea 3% versus under 1%, tingling 2% versus under 1%, excitation 2% versus under 1%, sweating 1% versus 0%. Most of the effects were mild or moderate.

For context, the same review put buspirone next to the benzodiazepines. Drowsiness on diazepam was 32%, on clorazepate 26%, on lorazepam 58%, and on alprazolam 43%. Buspirone's 9% sat far below every one of them, and that gap is the point of the comparison.

The honest limit: this is a 1986 side-effect tally from the double-blind studies of the anxiety indication. It is not a sexual-function study. Nobody measured desire in these people, and the list is everything those trials reported as happening more often than on placebo. Sexual side effects were not among the effects listed. That is the exact claim to hold onto, and an absence of a signal in one era of trials is an absence, so read it that way.

One more thing before you blame the buspirone. Anxiety itself flattens desire, and stress hormones run the wiring behind wanting. If the drug was prescribed because anxiety was high, the anxiety is the more proven driver. A person who wants less because of anxiety may be on a drug that nobody has shown to lower desire, and the hormonal side of the story is in stress, cortisol and sex drive.

Question two: the one trial behind the add-on story

Landen and colleagues (1999) ran a placebo-controlled trial to test buspirone as an add-on for people whose depression had not responded to an SSRI. The 117 people had been on citalopram or paroxetine for at least 4 weeks without responding. They were added to buspirone 20 to 60 milligrams a day, or to placebo, for 4 weeks. The mean daily dose of buspirone at the end was 48.5.

At baseline, 40% of the group (47 of 117) reported at least one sexual problem, such as lower desire or finishing problems. During the 4 weeks, about 58% of the people on buspirone reported improved sexual function, versus 30% on placebo. The difference was more pronounced in women than in men. The response showed up in the first week and did not grow after that. The authors read the result as a reversal of the SSRI side effect. They did not read it as an antidepressant effect.

Now the caveats, all of them. This is one trial. The sexual outcome was a secondary analysis of a depression trial, meaning it was not the study's main question. The outcome was measured by structured interview. The window was 4 weeks. Any of those alone would keep this from being settled evidence. If your search was buspirone for SSRI sexual side effects, this is the honest version: one old trial carries the whole add-on story, and nothing since has confirmed it. The chart shows the two arms.

What the later reviews did with that trial

Taylor and colleagues (2013) published a Cochrane review of strategies for antidepressant-related sexual problems. It covered 23 trials and 1,886 people. Bupropion at 150 milligrams twice daily beat placebo (SMD 1.60, 95% CI 1.40 to 1.81, three studies of men and women); once-daily dosing did not (RR 0.62, 95% CI 0.09 to 4.41). Sildenafil (three studies, 255 men) and tadalafil (one study, 54 men) improved erection scores in men, and the sildenafil evidence for women was uncertain. The review's summary names bupropion and the erection drugs as the strategies with a signal, and it says the other add-on strategies failed to show a significant improvement compared with placebo. The abstract does not name buspirone.

Luft and colleagues (2021) ran a wider net: 57 citations, with 27 randomized trials, 27 open-label studies, and 3 crossover studies, covering 33 interventions and 3,108 people. In all, 44% of trials reported success. The open-label versus placebo-controlled gap: 70% of open-label studies reported success, against 22% of placebo-controlled ones. In the meta-analysis of the placebo-controlled trials using the standard scale, 8 studies in, pycnogenol and sildenafil separated from placebo, with sildenafil the most consistent signal, and the heterogeneity was high. Buspirone is not among the named signals.

de Aquino and colleagues (2025) looked at women only: 11 studies, 859 women aged 28 to 48, with two interventions pooled. Bupropion SR at 150 milligrams twice daily improved desire (1.74, 95% CI 1.03 to 2.44), on low-quality evidence. The list of interventions studied was bupropion SR, ephedrine, sildenafil, testosterone, a root extract, a rose extract, a spice extract, and two branded compounds. Buspirone was not among them.

The signals that survived are bupropion twice daily and the erection drugs for men. Buspirone is not among the named signals in any of the three. If you are weighing add-on options, our guide to what the bupropion trials show walks through the one with trial weight behind it.

Why the effect showed in week one, and why that matters

Back to the one trial. The response showed up in the first week, with no further gain after that. If buspirone were building an antidepressant effect, you would expect a slow climb over four weeks. A first-week jump that plateaus looks like a relief of the SSRI side effect, which is what the authors read it as. If you are asking whether buspirone increases sex drive on its own, the trial does not show that.

That fits with what Landen and colleagues (2005) found in people with hard-to-treat depression on citalopram or paroxetine. Asked directly, 41% reported a sexual problem, versus 6% who raised it on their own (p below .001). The side effects tracked the length of the depressive episode, and did not track age, dose, blood level, time on the drug, or depression scores. SSRI sexual side effects do not fade with time, and they do not track the dose.

This is the part that lands hardest on the "I've tried everything" reader. If you are on an SSRI and have not felt your drive come back, waiting for it to lift on its own is not what the evidence points to. The add-on people hope for has one trial behind it. If your numbers are fine and you still feel flat, we have a guide to exactly that: numbers fine, still flat.

Two questions, two piles of evidence

Two questions get merged into one on the internet, and they have different answers. The first: you were prescribed buspirone (Buspar) for anxiety, and you wonder if it is lowering your desire. The second: you are on an SSRI and your prescriber added buspirone for the libido drop. This page keeps the two apart and follows each to its evidence. On the anxiety side, the side-effect review of 984 people did not list sexual effects among the ones that exceeded placebo. On the add-on side, the whole reputation sits on one 1999 trial of 117 people, and the later reviews did not confirm it.

What to bring to your prescriber

Bring this list to the appointment as one note. The first two items get the question straight. The rest give your prescriber the numbers to weigh, and they are short enough to fit on a page.

1. Which question you are asking. The anxiety medicine, or the add-on to an SSRI. The answers differ, and the evidence differs.
2. The timeline. When the change started, against any start, stop or dose change in your medications.
3. Ask to be asked directly. In one 2005 study, 41% of people on citalopram or paroxetine reported a sexual problem when asked directly versus 6% when not (p below .001). The question changes the answer.
4. The add-on's one-trial status. One 1999 trial of 117 people, a secondary analysis; the response showed in week one with no further gain, so if nothing has changed by week two, say so.
5. The alternatives with evidence. Bupropion 150 milligrams twice daily is the strongest add-on result (SMD 1.60, 95% CI 1.40 to 1.81), and the erection drugs improved men's erection scores. Switching or drug holidays have no randomized trial.
6. The supplement question, bottle in hand, if that is part of the conversation.

I've tried everything

You have probably been through the list already. The SSRI, then an add-on, then maybe a second one, and the wanting still has not come back. Here is the honest count of what actually has a signal. In the Cochrane review of 23 trials, bupropion 150 milligrams twice daily is the strongest add-on result, with an SMD of 1.60 (95% CI 1.40 to 1.81). The erection drugs improved men's erection scores. The other add-ons failed to show a significant improvement. The buspirone story rests on one trial of 117 people.

The levers with no trial are the ones a trial cannot reach: sleep, the weight of the daily load, and the relationship itself. Fatigue and a heavy load flatten wanting faster than any drug table can say. If the antidepressant is part of the problem, there is a separate question about what happens to desire after stopping it, covered in libido after stopping antidepressants. And if you are trying to work out whether this is a desire problem or a low season, what HSDD actually means is worth reading before you add another pill.

The everyday levers, and where a botanical fits

Start with who this section is not for. If you take blood-pressure medication, or if you have a heart, kidney or lung condition, the label is blunt: avoid use if you are on blood pressure medication, have cardiovascular, renal, or pulmonary conditions, or if you are sensitive to any of the ingredients. For many readers of this article, that sentence is the answer. Talk to your prescriber first and bring the bottle.

A few ordinary things move wanting in most people, and the free ones do more work than the internet admits.

• Sleep, in quantity and quality, since anxiety and broken sleep feed each other. Sleep, libido and testosterone covers that.
• Movement you can sustain. Exercise and libido covers the wider picture.
• Address the anxiety or the depression as the first lever, and let your prescriber judge how well it is working.
• Time with a partner with nothing expected, or solo time with the same rule.
• A botanical supplement, if you want one, as the smallest lever on the list.

NUUD is a botanical supplement built around desire in general. It does nothing for anxiety, depression, or the side effects of buspirone, any SSRI or any antidepressant, and it has no role in managing any medical condition. The formula is anchored by the NUUD Mushroom Complex™, with Muira Puama, Boiled Rehmannia Root, Tribulus Terrestris, and Piper Nigrum for absorption, on a timeline of roughly 30 to 60 minutes. If you take blood-pressure medication or have a heart, kidney or lung condition, the label says no, and your prescriber decides the rest. If your prescriber has read that label and has no objection, that is what our women's libido gummies are for. There is a men's version.

Nothing is wrong with you

If your prescriber added buspirone for the libido drop, they acted on one trial. That is honest medicine, and it is worth knowing how much is behind the decision. One 1999 trial, 117 people, about 58% versus 30% improved, a secondary analysis of a depression trial. The Cochrane review's named signals are bupropion and the erection drugs. Buspirone is not among them. On the anxiety side, in 984 people on buspirone, sexual effects were not among the ones listed as above placebo.

So if you do not feel like yourself right now, the pill is a small part of the story. Anxiety lowers wanting on its own. An SSRI is known to, and in one 2005 study 41% of people on citalopram or paroxetine reported a sexual problem when asked directly versus 6% when not. Then there is life: fatigue, load, a relationship running on autopilot. All of it flattens wanting at the same time, and no trial measures that combination.

You are allowed to want to want it again. You are allowed to want to feel normal again. Those are the right questions to bring to the next appointment.

Keep reading

• SSRIs and the libido drop: what helps
• Does Wellbutrin affect sex drive?
• Antidepressants and low libido
• Is stress killing your sex drive?
• Low libido in women
• Why is my libido so low?

Frequently asked questions

Does buspirone increase sex drive?
In one 1999 trial of 117 people on an SSRI, about 58% on buspirone reported improved sexual function versus 30% on placebo, and the authors read it as a reversal of the SSRI effect. That trial is the whole evidence base. No later review has confirmed it. The Cochrane review's named signals are bupropion and the erection drugs, and there is no trial in people who are not on an SSRI. The honest answer is one promising study and nothing since.

Does buspirone lower sex drive?
In the side-effect review of 984 people with generalised anxiety disorder on buspirone, sexual effects were not among the ones listed as above placebo. That is a side-effect tally from double-blind studies, and it did not measure sexual function, so it cannot say the effect is zero. Anxiety itself lowers desire, and that is the more likely driver of a flat stretch.

Does Buspar help with SSRI sexual side effects?
One trial says yes. In 117 people on citalopram or paroxetine, 58% on buspirone versus 30% on placebo reported improvement, and it was a secondary analysis of a depression trial. The Cochrane review of 23 trials named bupropion and the erection drugs as the strategies with a signal and said the other add-ons failed to show a significant improvement. Buspirone is not in that list, so the evidence still rests on one trial.

How long does buspirone take to work for sex drive?
In the one trial that looked at this, the response showed in the first week and there was no further gain through the four-week study. The practical read: if nothing has changed by week two, tell your prescriber, because the pattern says the effect, if it is coming, comes fast. That is the only timing data that exists, from one trial of 117 people, and it applies to buspirone as an add-on to an SSRI.

Can I take a botanical supplement with buspirone?
Ask your prescriber first. No interaction studies exist for the NUUD formula with buspirone, and the label carries its own caution: avoid use if you are on blood pressure medication, have cardiovascular, renal, or pulmonary conditions, or if you are sensitive to any of the ingredients. Be clear on what a supplement is for, too: NUUD is a botanical supplement built around desire. It does nothing for anxiety, for buspirone, or for any medication's side effects.

References

1. Landen M, Eriksson E, Agren H, Fahlen T. Effect of buspirone on sexual dysfunction in depressed patients treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Journal of clinical psychopharmacology. 1999;19(3):268-71. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10350034/
2. Taylor MJ, Rudkin L, Bullemor-Day P, Lubin J, Chukwujekwu C, Hawton K. Strategies for managing sexual dysfunction induced by antidepressant medication. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews. 2013;2013(5):CD003382. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23728643/
3. Luft MJ, Dobson ET, Levine A, Croarkin PE, Strawn JR. Pharmacologic interventions for antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of trials using the Arizona sexual experience scale. CNS spectrums. 2021:1-10. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33843553/
4. de Aquino ACQ, Sarmento ACA, Teixeira RLA, et al. Pharmacological treatment of antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction in women: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil). 2025;80:100602. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39985829/
5. Newton RE, Marunycz JD, Alderdice MT, Napoliello MJ. Review of the side-effect profile of buspirone. The American journal of medicine. 1986;80(3B):17-21. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2870641/
6. Landen M, Hogberg P, Thase ME. Incidence of sexual side effects in refractory depression during treatment with citalopram or paroxetine. The Journal of clinical psychiatry. 2005;66(1):100-6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15669895/

This article is for general education and is not medical advice. Anxiety and depression are medical conditions that only a licensed clinician can diagnose and manage, and buspirone (Buspar) is a prescription medicine. NUUD is a botanical supplement and has no role in diagnosing, treating, curing, or preventing anxiety, depression, the side effects of any medication, or any other disease, and these statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Talk with your doctor before starting any new supplement, and do not stop or change your medication without your doctor.