As a veteran "nerve case," I've tried them all--Tofranil, Mellaril, Xanax, Ativan, Paxil, Zoloft & BuSpar. All had side effects. With the first two I still felt anxious--just drugged and anxious. The SSRI's were semi-effective, but I gained large amounts of weight, slept little and had no libido whatsoever. BuSpar worked fine the first month and a half, then had a paradoxical effect--gave me anxiety attacks. Xanax and Ativan are the only thing that bring any relief, but, of course, they're addictive. However, my new dr. says it's okay to take one Ativan a day indefinitely. Keep in mind that I'm talking about anxiety relief here--none of these did much for my IBS. All antidepressants do is keep me from being totally bummed that I spend half my life on the toilet and the other half looking for one.