Veterans Association. That is all
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are you talking about withdraw symptoms?
When I had them (on wellbutrin) they weren’t withdrawal symptoms and could happen at almost any time of day.
It’d present when I’d get up or turn my head. I’d feel/hear a high pitched zing sound and my vision would stutter a little. Very disconcerting, especially when driving, carrying heavy items, or using sharp objects.
Went away when I switched meds.
Yeah Wellbutrin did not play well with my brain chem so I dropped it fast, I take Zoloft daily and have for several years and have minimal side effects so I just want to understand what is meant by “brain shocks”
You have no idea how happy and relieved I was when I saw the term “brain shocks”.
I wasn’t insane, I wasn’t the only one, and it’s a normal thing.
Now what’s really weird is that I had them at a young age when I don’t think I was on any medication. Certainly in the days before Prozac and the like. And I can’t recall when they stopped.
What I recognized as “brain shocks” when I was taking generic escitalipram (Lexapro) would be a feeling sort of like a short circuit in my brain for a quick flash of a moment. Like another commenter said, quick movements of my eyes or head could cause it. It was quick, and non lingering, but could happen frequently. Just a little bzzt! In the brain with a little visual stutter. It didn’t hurt but it was disconcerting until I realized it was normal when missing or cutting down doses. Sounds like it can happen for some people on the normal dose but that wasn’t an issue for me.
Never been on Zoloft, but I had the brain shocks when I came off of Prozac or Effexor. Brain shocks were never a side effect for me. They were always symptoms of withdrawal. Until my pharmacy was able to get my meds refilled, the only escape was sleep.
Last time I went digging, the typical option was a second antidepressant medication to use temporarily as the withdrawal period happened. The idea was that you wouldn’t be on the second one long enough to have those symptoms from it, and could just quit.
There were some studies being done that I never followed up on that tested various medications other than antidepressants, typically benzodiazepines or things like gabapentin. Again, I haven’t gone looking again, and that’s been something like six years since I looked.
The real problem is making sure your prescriber has paid attention to the literature on the matter, and will actually help. Some are just so far behind the curve that they’ll still insist that there aren’t any symptoms from stopping an antidepressant, though that has changed a ton over the last decade, so it isn’t like it used to be.
Now, the real problem comes in if you’re getting the zaps and aren’t quitting the medication. The treatment option for that, back when I was reading up years ago, was still the addition of another antidepressant, and/or coming off of the one you’re on and then switching.
SSRIs and tricyclics are worse about head zaps than MAOIs, but they can all do it (and likely will do it while quitting after more than a year on one of them) while still using the medication. There wasn’t a specific medication to counter the symptom at all, because nobody knows/knew why the hell it happens.
Now, if you step outside of prescription meds, there’s anecdotal reports of things that help, but zero research done on them that I’ve ever found, and all of them come with risks, so I’m not willing to go into them currently. I just can’t support experimenting with psychoactive herbs and chemicals that could interact badly with antidepressants. If you decide to go looking, be aware that it’s easier to find what kind of things people have tried than the reports of bad effects from interactions. That’s on you to go looking though, I’ll be damned if I’m going to risk being involved in something that could cause harm.
If you want, I’m okay relaying the bad effects I have read about or heard directly, but it’s kinda useless info for your question.
The tl;dr is that the only reliable opinions require a provider to make happen.
SNRIs like Effexor are also super bad about it. People say quitting heroin was easier than Effexor.
Yeah, I dealt with effexor withdrawal back in 2005. Absolute nightmare, in both figurative and literal terms. It took me years to stop having not just the zaps here and there, but the worst nightmares I’ve ever had, and I dealt with night terrors as a kid and PTSD nightmares all my life.
(Assuming you’re stopping)
Time.
Maybe there are better ways but I tapered down to the lowest dose and then just pushed through for a couple weeks.
It helped that each day was noticeably better than the last like at first it was every 10-15 minutes and a couple days later it was every hour or two
If you’re currently on it and not tapering off, you need to talk to your doc about it. The brain shocks are a withdrawal symptom.
Taper off, and self-care. Make sure you sleep regularly and sleep well, take lots of water, try to get some exercise even if it’s walking. I’ve been through it and it sucks, but you can do it!
It’s better if you can taper to lower doses, are you being monitored by your doc for it?
I recommend you do yourself a solid. Find a legit psychologist with an expertise in assessments, get a thorough evaluation, then ask them for a psychiatry referral. Stay the hell away from VA psychiatry.
