Help! Having severe brain zaps!

[Sola_Fide]

Sometimes correlation is not precisely causation. It could be that the pills were masking something totally different going on in your head. Zaps can be a symptom of MS, uncontrolled high blood sugar, or any number of other things that can be ruled out by simple tests. I will also second the idea of going to your doctor, both to take the aforementioned tests and also to discuss this issue. Changing your doses on your own is never a good idea, and randomly splicing in a half pill can contribute to becoming more resistant to the medication in the future if you do it often enough.

* * *

As to the "everyone's supposed to be depressed sometimes" comment, depression is not just "feeling sad" or upset. It might or might not be in the OP's case; I don't know. I do know that a lot of people think of it that way, and use medication to cope. That's not to say that there's not also a whole bunch of people who are imbalanced to the point they cannot function. In the past, these people would have been labelled and excised from society in some way, possibly isolated or eventually institutionalized, so spare me the upcoming "this is a modern ailment" speech that's already forming at your fingertips. Without knowing anything about the OP, it's pretty coldhearted to assert that they should just chew on herbs, change their diet, or just suck it up, and all will be well.

What if diet and herbs are the way to go? What if his depression is spiritual? Why not heal that? My sister is a pediatric physician and she always tries the diet and herb route before loading young people up on drugs.

If deression, suicidal thoughts, and anger are not side effects of antidepressants, why are they listed on the label?

 

[MelissaWV]

What if diet and herbs are the way to go? What if his depression is spiritual? Why not heal that? My sister is a pediatric physician and she always tries the diet and herb route before loading young people up on drugs.

If deression, suicidal thoughts, and anger are not side effects of antidepressants, why are they listed on the label?

What an odd series of leaps you've made.

I did not say they weren't the way to go; I'm not the one making assertions. I even left it open that he was one of a huge number of people that are misdiagnosed, either out of ignorance or convenience. I've known plenty of people in my life on anti-depressants where they were originally prescribed for someone who really was just going through a shitty time in their life, and didn't want to deal with it. I don't think pills were the way to go there, but I know a lot more about those cases than the OP's... which was precisely what I said in my post. We don't know anything about their circumstances, and the post was not about how to treat depression. It was about how to get off the very pills we're discussing without frightening withdrawal symptoms.

They are possible side effects, just the same as a number of other medications list side effects. In a backwards attempt to inform and obfuscate at the same time, drug & device companies have to list a lot of things that may or may not have been caused by their product, not to mention effects with very low incidence. These are described right alongside items with very high incidence and higher danger. In the case of these drugs, you are literally playing with brain chemistry. If the diagnosis is correct, you're playing around with ALTERED brain chemistry to start with. It is a definite possibility that something is going to go wrong, there.

Those are also the side effects for Chantix, btw.

You can also suffer blood clots from birth control pills, some of which become deadly.

There are any number of chemicals --- prescription and otherwise --- that can fuck you up even when used precisely as intended. That's why the diagnosis is the most vital part of any of this, because a patient has to realize there are dangerous to any "treatment" they decide to undertake. You have to know whether what's allegedly wrong with you is worth that risk.

 

[Acala]

My own unprofessional opinion is that no one should take antidepressants. Depression isn't a disease. A person is supposed to be depressed in their life at times...sometimes really depressed. Antidepressants do damage to your brain, and they cause you to be more violent and more depressed.

Anti-depressants are WAY over-prescribed. And even for people with real, chronic depression they frequently do not work. And there are much better alternatives for most people,(including mindfulness). So anti-depressants suck, by and large, and people who are taking them should try to get off of them. BUT to equate true chronic depression with just being sad sometimes is ignorant. True chronic depression exists, is not just a normal bad mood, and it can be fatal. It very nearly killed my ex-wife. There is no doubt in my mind that anti-depressants saved her.

And, by the way, many herbs contain drugs just as powerful as what comes in pills from the pharmacy. Indeed, many drugs from the pharmacy came from herbs in the first place. So becoming dependent on herbs may not be any better than becoming dependent on pills.

 

[BW2112]

I didn't just get off cold turkey without reading the withdrawal symptoms. I read it was ok to just stop taking it. I feel fine now. Maybe the feelings I had were my sinuses and the weather changing. I got off it cause it stopped working. I was still depressed, and still dealing with anxiety. It was also giving me really bad constipation.

I gotta get back into meditation. I think its the only thing that's really helped me in the past.

 

[MelissaWV]

I didn't just get off cold turkey without reading the withdrawal symptoms. I read it was ok to just stop taking it. I feel fine now. Maybe the feelings I had were my sinuses and the weather changing. I got off it cause it stopped working. I was still depressed, and still dealing with anxiety. It was also giving me really bad constipation.

I gotta get back into meditation. I think its the only thing that's really helped me in the past.

Like I said, zaps are symptoms of a number of other things as well. If you can keep off of it, cool, but it's the going back part that's worrisome.

 

[Intoxiklown]

I got off brintellix cold turkey 2-3 weeks ago, and today I feel like someone is tasering my brain. I cut one of my remaining pills in half and took that. Can anyone help with this?

You cannot quit this drug cold turkey, as it is dangerous. The "zaps" you are feeling are your brain adjusting to lower levels of serotonin, elevated by the drug. Cold turkey can cause what is called "serotonin storm", or seizures. Talk t your doctor, and for God's sake don't eat a candy bar and drink it down with a glass of cabbage juice because someone thinks all meds are evil and cause impotence, infertility, and sudden death.


Edit:

And you can feel overly anxious and depressive during withdrawal. See your doctor ASAP if you haven't, and work out a taper plan. People telling you to stay off them, or eat a crab apple are playing a foolish God with your health. Possibility of suicide goes through the roof for people withdrawing on SSRI, SNRI, and SSNRI like meds.

 

[Acala]

I gotta get back into meditation. I think its the only thing that's really helped me in the past.

NOW you are talking, Jack!

 

[bunklocoempire]

I didn't just get off cold turkey without reading the withdrawal symptoms. I read it was ok to just stop taking it. I feel fine now. Maybe the feelings I had were my sinuses and the weather changing. I got off it cause it stopped working. I was still depressed, and still dealing with anxiety. It was also giving me really bad constipation.

I gotta get back into meditation. I think its the only thing that's really helped me in the past.

Glad you are feeling better.

So something really worked and you aren't doing it... I'd love to give you a "you should know better!" lecture but I often find myself making the same mistake in some shape of form.:o

How about some encouragement instead? Good habits can be formed by practicing good behavior, get back into those good habits! You've done it before right?

Jesus and natural medicine (and diet w/exercise mental/physical) is what works for myself and a lot of folks I know, we start with that. (We TRY to start with that :o)

If that truly is not helping, THEN I/we explore the big pharma help -sparingly.

I hope you get back into what really helps you!

 

[BW2112]

You cannot quit this drug cold turkey, as it is dangerous. The "zaps" you are feeling are your brain adjusting to lower levels of serotonin, elevated by the drug. Cold turkey can cause what is called "serotonin storm", or seizures. Talk t your doctor, and for God's sake don't eat a candy bar and drink it down with a glass of cabbage juice because someone thinks all meds are evil and cause impotence, infertility, and sudden death.


Edit:

And you can feel overly anxious and depressive during withdrawal. See your doctor ASAP if you haven't, and work out a taper plan. People telling you to stay off them, or eat a crab apple are playing a foolish God with your health. Possibility of suicide goes through the roof for people withdrawing on SSRI, SNRI, and SSNRI like meds.

Well I'm still alive. I know it wasn't the best idea to go off of it cold turkey, but it's been a couple weeks now. No point in tapering off of it now. No one here told me to do it. I chose to do it. I take responsibility for my own stupidity.

 

[BW2112]

Glad you are feeling better.

So something really worked and you aren't doing it... I'd love to give you a "you should know better!" lecture but I often find myself making the same mistake in some shape of form.:o

How about some encouragement instead? Good habits can be formed by practicing good behavior, get back into those good habits! You've done it before right?

Jesus and natural medicine (and diet w/exercise mental/physical) is what works for myself and a lot of folks I know, we start with that. (We TRY to start with that :o)

If that truly is not helping, THEN I/we explore the big pharma help -sparingly.

I hope you get back into what really helps you!

It wasn't like I was trying to avoid meditation, I just have a hard time getting into a routine.

 

[kcchiefs6465]

Anecdotal or not, I know someone who can barely walk anymore as a result of their psychotropic cocktails. Neurosurgeons can't explain it and can only offer the medical opinion of, "It might be permanant."

Well, after three years of her writhing in pain, falling, and her kidneys trying to shut down as the spasms are causing her body to poison itself, I'd wager it is permanent.

It isn't as if they pimped Seroquel, Risperdal, and Paxil to millions of children in America, or anything.

For those defending the pharmaceutical traffickers, would you feel differently if Crack cocaine was being peddled to children? After all, blanket statements about the inherent immorality are faulty, at best. Maybe smoking Crack would help their mood? Or are only certain drug dealers the ones allowed to target and pimp addiction to children? At least be consistent. Why can't 'Leroy' infiltrate the schools and offer sample packs of Crack cocaine?

 

[presence]

I recommend you carry packets of hot sauce around with you and consume one whenever you're having one of these brain zaps.

The leading hypothesis is that after the antidepressant is discontinued, there is a temporary deficiency in the brain of one or more essential neurotransmitters that regulate mood, such as serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and gamma-aminobutyric acid, and since neurotransmitters are an interrelated system, dysregulation of one affects the others.[SUP][1][/SUP][SUP][9][/SUP]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antidepressant_discontinuation_syndrome


http://healthyconnectionscorp.com/2011/01/feel-burn-spicy-food-benefits/

It has been shown that eating spicy foods (the spicier the better) increases serotonin levels in your brain and releases endorphins. In effect eating spicy food can put you in a better mood!

Brain zaps are serotonin deficiency seizures; hot peppers regulate serotonin naturally.

I have personally administered hot pepper sauce to 3 different individuals having seizures; two grand mal. All three immediately sat up, looked me in the eye and shook it off.

stay the fuck away from ssri's in the future
get your head straight and don't do anything stupid

 

[MelissaWV]

I'm not sure about the OP's, but mine are not seizures, and are not cured by spicy food.

 

[presence]

I'm not sure about the OP's, but mine are not seizures, and are not cured by spicy food.

if you're having "brain zap"; however mild... that is misfiring of electrical synapses in your brain; seizure. Seizure simply means abnormal electrical activity in the brain. It does not necessarily indicate convulsion.

Have you actually ever tried a medicinal quantity of hot pepper; say a whole dried habanero while having an acute attack? That might be difficult and it could be helpful to have a loved one know to bring you some in such a situation.

The bottom line is if you're having these symptoms and you've been on ssri's in the past... you're experiencing withdrawal; as you would with any other highly addictive drug; in this case the withdrawal is neuro electrochemical in nature, and persistent.

http://transcendingdiagnosis.com/brain-zaps-and-antidepressants/

Another thing I would look into if I were in this position is lion's mane mushroom supplement. If ssri exposure has caused brain damage (and I certainly don't mean that as a dig) lion's mane could very likely cure the condition; and at worse its benign as button mushrooms.

 

[MelissaWV]

I'm aware of what seizures are. Your post referred specifically to "serotonin deficiency seizures," which is not the only cause of the woefully uncomfortable, itchy, shivery, hot/cold lighting strikes that manage to disrupt things at the most inconvenient times. I also did not say I had been on SSRI's.

And no dig taken. I have brain damage. I think it's probably just as well; if I'm this brilliant with a heap of neurological problems, I would just wind up solving the world's troubles without them (or rather, I'd know how, but I'd also be wise enough not to give away that knowledge and turn the world spoiled).

 

[pcosmar]

And no dig taken. I have brain damage. I think it's probably just as well; if I'm this brilliant with a heap of neurological problems, I would just wind up solving the world's troubles without them (or rather, I'd know how, but I'd also be wise enough not to give away that knowledge and turn the world spoiled).

We are all a bunch of broken toys.. But I had never heard of Brain Zaps before.

We used to hear the Zap when the radar passed,, but that was old radios and old radar.

 

[Acala]

It wasn't like I was trying to avoid meditation, I just have a hard time getting into a routine.

Getting a regular meditation practice going is a challenge. But it gets easier once you get some momentum.

 

[Acala]

For those defending the pharmaceutical traffickers, would you feel differently if Crack cocaine was being peddled to children? After all, blanket statements about the inherent immorality are faulty, at best. Maybe smoking Crack would help their mood? Or are only certain drug dealers the ones allowed to target and pimp addiction to children? At least be consistent. Why can't 'Leroy' infiltrate the schools and offer sample packs of Crack cocaine?

Quite a leap there. Was anyone here defending pharmaceutical companies dosing children with drugs? I must have missed that. I thought we were talking about the OP, presumably an adult, dealing with his issues with medication, presumably taken voluntarily.

 

[kcchiefs6465]

Quite a leap there. Was anyone here defending pharmaceutical companies dosing children with drugs? I must have missed that. I thought we were talking about the OP, presumably an adult, dealing with his issues with medication, presumably taken voluntarily.

I do not see the leap as being that large.

Perhaps the OP can share at what age he began using psychotropics?

And regardless, that is what is being discussed when the topic of psychotropic withdrawls is being had. While some might concentrate on the few who began taking SSRIs and SSNRIs as an adult, if I were a wagering man, I'd bet that the majority were turned out as children.

Maybe I'm off? Or maybe they give sample packs of dangerous substances to children?

They don't get to sit on any horse for good considering the evil they promote and perpetuate. Even if the substances legitimately helped, which they rarely do and which I categorize as something akin to placebo-ed brain washing, the manufacturers and distributors of these drugs are more ruthless than most any drug dealer in the city.

Forgive me but in any topic even remotely related to pharmaceutical companies, adverse side effects, etc. I am going to be the broken record pointing this out.

I have seen people from time to time defend the pharmaceutical companies and anti-depressants in general, by the way.

 

[BW2112]

I do not see the leap as being that large.

Perhaps the OP can share at what age he began using psychotropics?.

I think I was given them before I even knew what depression was. I was probably 10 maybe when I was prescribed zoloft. I've also been on prozac, paxil, viibryd, etc. I've never been on any of them for very long, much to the chagrin of my parents. The sexual side effects were always intolerable to me, especially as a teenage boy. The longest I've stayed on any of them was wellbutrin, since it didn't have that problem.

I've been on clonazepam since 2005. I have to take 4mgs a day for it to work. I've tryed to taper off of it once, but the timing is bad. I was and still am going through some stressful shit with my family. I've just been in hell since 2011 when my dad died from cancer. My mom has a fiance and I hate him. My oldest sister has gone crazy. I really wouldn't mind if I just dropped dead.