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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Brain Zaps, where are they coming from?

cebby

cebby

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 27, 2008
Messages
158
I've been getting these weird brain zaps lately. Feels like that "sound" in your ears when you close your eyes and strain a bit.. you can hear a bit of a sound/pressure. It happens when I move my eyes really fast. It's a symptom of SSRI discontinuation but I have never taken an anti-depressant before and am not coming off any other meds.

I am currently on 95mg methadone/day, and have been for about 3 years now. I also take 800mg cimetidine and 80mg DXM just about every day to potentiate the methadone. It's kept me off other drugs.

I haven't taken the DXM for a few days now, after religiously taking it just about every day for probably a year or more. Can this be a symptom of "dxm withdrawal"? The brain zaps have almost lined up with the discontinuation of the DXM, but I've never heard of this symptom or any symptoms of withdrawal from DXM.


edit: I just want to say that I've slowly ramped up to the 80mg/DXM over time, it started at around 20mg/day. I do NOT take it to get high -- just a small enough dose to potentiate the methadone, which it does a great job at.
 
I think DXM is an SRI; brain zaps are a reported effect of withdrawal from many SRIs.
 
I agree with Aether, as I've been on SSRI's for over 10 yrs and I ran out for a couple of days and I had exactly what you said cebby... There weird and not fun especially when your in social settings...
 
I would get them from anti-psychotics, JWH, & a bit from stimulants. I think it is when you are close to having a seizure. I've had one from JWH overdose before, & it was very similar in nature. On anti-psychotics, they would occur whenever I looked down & would be blue/white bolts of lightning. One of the most scariest things I've experienced.
 
According to wikipedia dxm is an ssri, so thats probably where the zaps are coming from. Ive also gotten them a couple of times from heavy MDMA use. After experiencing them for an hour I had my gf take me to the hospital because i was sure I was od'ing. They gave me a sedative and slapped me with a 3g bill.
 
Tramadol gives the zaps too. (Everyone was mentioning a drug that has the w/d symptom so what the hell.

OT: Here's what I found, and every link on google when you type "dxm brain zaps" will agree it's a w/d symptom.
Here's one I found:
I think DXM's potential physical dependence stems not from it's primary NMDA antagonism, but from it's other pharmacodynamic properties, in particular, its serotonin reuptake inhibition. This could cause an SSRI like discontinuation syndrome with the "zaps" if it's abused over a long period.
Click to expand...
 
Here's a BL link to a thread about brain zaps.

If they continue, I'd consider looking into tryptophan as a precursor to help rebuild the natural levels. 5-HTP is an alternative, but I've heard that it ends up with serotonin in the full body rather than brain where it's really needed. From my understanding, tryptophan gets metabolized into 5-HTP and from there serotonin in the brain which is desirable.
 
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I would get those bastards after ANY taper off of anything! Especially swapping antidepressants. Effexor is a bad one to come off of imo.
 
I had them - coming off Cipralex (SSRI).
And the bastard things don't work.
My willie ain't working properly yet either.

DO NOT TAKE ANTIDEPRESSANTS :sus:
 
I take cymbalta and lexapro and it has saved me. I don't WANT to be off; however, I do not plan to ever taper or go off of them. My life is better. BUT dr's are quick to rx the SSRIS these days if one comes in saying they are sad. I wouldn't take them unless nothing else has worked and you've gone years in misery.
 
Def close to having a seizure in mho. I od"d on tram once and before my seizure I had hella zaps. My advice would be to stop the dxm and c what happens. Monitor other symptoms of seizure activity as well like twitches and just an odd feelin altogether. Stay safe peeps. Seizures suck
 
Anti depressants can cause it when you abrubtly discontinue.

Everyone here is saying DXM withdrawal, which I guess is possible considering he said he UPPED HIS DXM DOSE! I guess thats possible if you upped it that much and stopped suddenly. Although I was getting the impression you still take it somewhat regularly, correct me if i'm wrong OP?

Perhaps the combination is just no good for you?

Also CIMETIDINE: used to fuck me up in all sorts of ways when I would take to much. It would give me CRAZY MIGRAINES and make me CRAZY SICK, to name a few things, when I would take too much. Just fuck me up in all sorts of bad ways, have me puking my guts out while it felt like there were dwarves inside my skull with ice picks, hammering away at my brain and skull. The headache pain was incredible, equal at least to a migraine (and I have gotten many a migraine so i have a frame of reference).

Perhaps this is whats causing it? Whenever I took like 800mg or more it would be really bad, I ended up lowering my potentiation dose to 600mg and still had the benefits, with none of the negative effects.
 
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^ I believe the OP said the symtoms "lined up with the discontinuation of DXM" which is why it seems probable that they are related considering DXM's serotonergic action.. However, it's impossible to know for sure and it's certainly not the only option, although the most likely one in my eyes.

The symptoms should fade with time if they are "brain zaps" due to serotonin depletion / SSRI discontinuation syndrome. If they were from an antidepressant some doctors switch you to a longer lasting one for a smoother taper; in this case, if they don't stop, you could try restarting the DXM and tapering, although it is probably best just to ride it out.

If they symptoms are not easing then I would see a doctor, partly for management but also to exclude other causes (it is possible it is just coincidental and they are unrelated to any of your medications).
 
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