"treatment" for SSRI withdrawal head shocks?

[melange]

WTF is a brain zap/shock??

 

[paranoid android]

WTF is a brain zap/shock??

It's when you feel like you get a shock going through your brain. Kinda like you just got slightly electrocuted.

 

[deceased fire]

thanks for the info android, and glad to hear you're off effexor.

melange: the shocks happen (to me, at least) a few times an hour. my field of vision shifts suddenly to the left (imagine watching a tv that is moving) and i get this weird electrical pulse feeling that travels from the top of my head to the tips of my fingers. it isn't painful but feels unbearable in a very strange way. add to that almost constant nausea and there you have it - ssri withdrawal.

 

[chicpoena]

Taper slowly. I was on Celexa for a long time and had terrible head shocks. Sadly they lasted about a month or two after I was done tapering. It'll take a while for you to feel normal but the slower you taper the faster you'll feel better.

Take LOTS of Fish Oil. Between 2000 and 8000mg a day. It helps your brain rebuild itself. Doctors recommend it for heavy users of MDMA. Both drugs work on serotonin and result in "brain zaps." Taking tons and tons of fish oil really healed my nervous system.

Good Luck! PM me for more info.

 

[blase deviant]

What about 5-HTP?

 

[TheLoveBandit]

w/d bump save

 

[Foreigner]

As a teenager I was on paxil for 3 years, and when I experienced withdrawal symptoms at termination I was advised by my psychiatrist that no such problem existed with SSRIs and that it was all in my head. He even had my parents convinced that it wasn't real. Two years after I was off it, the research broke. They called it "SSRI discontinuation syndrome" but that's just a fancy term for withdrawl. Your neurochemistry has adapted to include the SSRI as part of its function, and when you remove that chemistry the brain has to adapt to creating more levels of serotonin again.

My psychiatrist, after much convincing, tried the half-elimination method. I was down to 10mg and even discontinuing that hurt me. I would stop that 10mg for a few days and then I would start to get the head shocks: dizziness, nausea, unable to walk very far, sweating, feeling emotional. (I later learned that all of these are related to serotonin regulation.)

Eventually I disobeyed the shrink's advise and cut it off completely, and stayed in bed for 2 weeks. I was so ill, and so dizzy. Nothing helped, but I made it through. It was during Christmas too which really sucked, and my family did not fully believe this was really happening so I sort of had to do it alone, but I made it through. After that though I felt amazing. It felt like I had completely thawd out and I could feel/experience reality at its fullest again.

 

[Artificial Emotion]

^ I would refuse to see that doctor again.

I remember once after a few days of Effexor withdrawal vividly years ago. I broke down in tears in public, it was humiliating. The brain shocks were torture as well and got worse particularly when I would move my eyes for some reason.

 

[Foreigner]

It was before the research even broke that SSRIs were addictive. You know how modern medicine operates... if some research paper doesn't confirm it, then it doesn't exist, no matter how much a patient tries to express their experience. And I was young and susceptible to the "professional" advice that it was all in my head, and my parents went along with it.

I'm surprised people have no sued over this issue.

 

[Artificial Emotion]

^ you'll find that pharmaceutical companies go to incredible pains to make the point that they are not addictive. I think they are correct, but only in the sense that the drugs are not reinforcing like many recreational drugs. The withdrawal syndrome is very similar to that of other drugs that cause dependency. The problem is, doctors never warn their patients about this, or if they do, they underplay the risks! If people knew what they were getting themselves into they might use a different medication, or not at all.

It is my opinion, controversial as it might be, that the vast majority of people on antidepressants don't need them. Because it has been shown again and again that antidepressants are ineffective in treating minor depression - the type people get when they break up from their partner or if they are grieving -so this is scandalous IMO. The problem is doctors often get kickbacks for prescribing this garbage to people that don't need it and this needs to stop. Quite how they will tackle the problem, I don't know.

 

[pspoopy]

i just started on celexa a week ago. Should I be wary. Atleast I can fuck like a pornstar

 

[dedunati]

Head shocks are a symptom that you've stopped your medication too quickly. Go back up to a dose that stops the shocks and taper down 20 per cent every 3 weeks.

 

[anonyamous]

Weed eases Citalopram discontinuation

I too have recently tapered off of Celexa. I have been 5 days without any now, my last dose was 10MG per day for about 5 weeks. The withdrawals have not been too bad I must say I am relieved for the most part. Reading other peoples experiences were like reading horror stories. I too have been smoking a small amount of marijuana and I find it relieves some of the weird body and head sensations as well as the dizziness and brain zaps. However, the key is to only take a few puffs. You do not want to develop an addiction or tolerance to MJ.
Also, taking Gravol or Tylenol helps.

Im determined to hang in there! You all can too!

^^^^^ Yes mr.expert sure just take your word for it and noone elses.

Anyway i never went through ssri withdrawal as ive never been on one but i have been through snri withdrawal when i went off effexor. It has the same symptoms as ssri withdrawal only much worse i think. It was hell it made opiate withdrawals feel like sex. I went cold turkey off it because this was years ago before anyone really acknowledged that anti-depressants caused dependency. My doctor never mentioned a goddamn thing about how bad the withdrawals where i felt like killing the bastard.

Anyway celexa withdrawals shouldnt be nearly as bad as effexor withdrawals as effexor is considered to have the worst withdrawal symptoms out of any psychiatric drug by many people.

Some people find that tapering off using prozac works well for ssri withdrawals because of it's really long half life. It gives your brain more time to adjust to the reduction of serotonin level then the ssri's with shorter half lifes. Most people i know who came off prozac reported little or no withdrawals. Also diphenhydramine and benzos help abit too.

When i came off effexor i used temazepam for sleep and to calm me down and weed. Weed seemed to help alot for some reason. I think thats all i used but this was a long time ago so im not too sure. I remember my withdrawls lasted about 2 weeks and i had only been on the effexor for about 2 months or so.

 

[Dorrie]

This is just a comment about my symptoms after being off Effexor for less than a week. I was on antidepressants for 35 years and have been tapering off there for a year now. But I am experiencing crazy head shocks!! What can I do?? Also I seem to be angry...

 

[mortuaryscience]

i just started on celexa a week ago. Should I be wary. Atleast I can fuck like a pornstar

I'm trying to get off SSRIs after having been on for about 20 years, total. This was how the first few years were. I thought it was great. The doc didn't see it as an issue. As time went on, I became detached from the sexual experience. I was lasting for 45 min, but wasn't really into the experience. As time went on, my interest in sex decreased.

I can now last as long as an average person, but feel no joy in sex. Sex is about as pleasurable as swallowing water. Cuddling, listening to music, being out in the sun- all of these things, along with sex, mean very little. You are right at the early stages, the "golden time" before your brain has really rewired. It's the time known by meth users when they can read a lot, and get a lot of work done. It's the time known by alcoholics when they can party with their friends and be the life of the party.

This time will end. If you stop taking the meds too quickly, without tapering for a few MONTHS, you will go through hell, and you might kill yourself.

 

[Tranced]

I'm trying to get off SSRIs after having been on for about 20 years, total. This was how the first few years were. I thought it was great. The doc didn't see it as an issue. As time went on, I became detached from the sexual experience. I was lasting for 45 min, but wasn't really into the experience. As time went on, my interest in sex decreased.

I can now last as long as an average person, but feel no joy in sex. Sex is about as pleasurable as swallowing water. Cuddling, listening to music, being out in the sun- all of these things, along with sex, mean very little. You are right at the early stages, the "golden time" before your brain has really rewired. It's the time known by meth users when they can read a lot, and get a lot of work done. It's the time known by alcoholics when they can party with their friends and be the life of the party.

This time will end. If you stop taking the meds too quickly, without tapering for a few MONTHS, you will go through hell, and you might kill yourself.

Very good post. This universe doesn't often allow for shortcuts without providing you some supplementary consequences. Tackle the route cause, and always taper.

I've experienced benzo brain zaps/jolts, and when I did I would sometimes hear music glitch, presumably from a split second loss of consciousness. Disconcerting to say the least.