Misc Anybody had this sensation?

I currently take Klonopin, abilify, effexor and methadone. I am specifically gonna point out the effexor in this post though.

You know that sensation of when your just about to fall asleep and you get a ZAP and part of your body tweaks?

I am constantly getting these tweaks even when I am awake! I get them even worse when trying to fall asleep. We are talking like full body tweaks every 45 seconds. I also get the feeling that there is electricity running through my brain.

I was wondering if it was the high dose (300mg) of effexor I take everyday doing this. I never had this problem until I started getting up to high doses of effexor.

Anybody have any insight on what this could be about?

Yes, it's the Effexor doing this. Any SSRI/SNRI is capable of producing the brain zaps, but Effexor is the absolute worst for this, IME.

I got those too with effexor, but even moreso with welbutrin. It's been years since I stopped taking them, but still get "zapped" now and then. Are you going to talk to your doc about them?

I get those when I'm about to have a seizure.

The feeling of jerking awake when you're about to fall asleep is called a hypnic jerk, just so you know.

"Head zaps" are a sign of something not quite right with your medication. Usually it relates to an imbalance of serotonin (i.e. SSRI detox, SSRI overdose)

Yeah. Seems like it would be the Effexor. Abilify does some fucked up stuff to people as well. This is not OK(obviously.) I'd call the doc, and get in asap. Get your dose adjusted, or get off it altogether. SSRI/SNRI's terrify me.

I got them when coming off of citalopram (another SSRI) and it took me fookin ages because of the wierd withdrawal effects. Brain zaps being one.

SSRIs are bad news in my opinion. The doctors in england hand them out like sweets. They kept me awake and gave me horrific nightmares when i did sleep. They had no anti depressant qualities what so ever, infact they made my drug problems worse just to counteract their effects. The fact that they came with a huge warning about causing suicidal tendancies.

I started sertalopram and relapsed (alcohol) within a week. It was my choice to pick up the bottle essentially but the sertalopram gave me the mindset.

Thanks doc!!! Really good at curing my depression. I do not believe a tablet can cure it anyway. Buddhism (for me) has been the biggest help. But try meditation anyway. Helps to clear/focus the mind.

Thanks guys for the posts.

I will be seeing my doc in a couple weeks and will bring this up.

I have been wanting to lower my dose of effexor anyway I have sleep apnea and it aggrivates that as well. My methadone clinic wont up my dose anymore (I'm at 120 mg a day) because of my sleep apnea and I'd much rather take less effexor and get more methadone.

The reason being that I am still having bigtime euphoric recall and cravings on 120 mg. This in turn causes me to have panic and anxiety which in turn causes me to not be able to sleep and to take more klonopin.

I'd definitely put the blame on Effexor. SNRI's have terrible side-effects on me

Sounds like a surefire way to Serotonin Syndrome.


Is your Dr. trying to kill you?

Sounds like your DR got his MD out of a box of Cheerios....

is 300 mg like a super high dose of effexor? He said it was on the higher end but not unheard of. I just want more methadone thats what I really need now more than any anti depressants.

Methadone and Klonapin is basically all I need and will help me from relapsing on heroin. They are super nazi about it though because of my sleep apnea, but I use CPAP now so that is taken care of.

It's within normal range.