Honestly! Even the lightest Zap is unpleasant & I hate them. How on earth you could enjoy a Brain Zap is quite beyond my ability to fathom!
Hey friend! After a foul up with a recent RC released in the UK I have been doing quite a bit of research on the Brain Zaps phenomena. I am not entirely ready to post my discoveries but I can make a couple of suggestions for combating your Zaps. I'm sorry but I can't seem to put my finger on whats causing them for you but I'm certain that Serotonergic drugs either recreational or medicinal are the primary culprits. Long term use of either Ecstacy type drugs, or extened daily use of SSRI type drugs seem to cause Brain Zaps in some users. In most cases it's cessation of use that brings them on. Next in line seems to be the benzodiazepine series of anti-anxiety or sleeping drugs. These seem to bring Zaps in people who have a high tolerance & are likely to take higher doses. People who suffer Zaps from these drugs seem to have them while they are taking the meds as well as when they cease or taper them. I suspect that Xanax & it's UK legal, popular relative Etizolam to also be triggers for Brain Zaps. Obviously, through reading this thread I've come to the conclusion that in some cases Psychedelic drugs also appear to bring Brain Zaps, though they tend to be during the drug trip.
For recovery I have found rapid & surprising relief from the introduction of large amounts of fish oils to my diet. Bombarding my system with Omega 3, 6 & 9, increasing my intake of sea-food & fish & adding multi-vits & especially the B vitamins & Vitamin B12 eases my Brain Zaps within half an hour. Redosing fish oils or half a tin of tuna if Zaps return gets rid of them straight away. If I slack off & reduce my intake, the Zaps start worming their way back into my life. After recovering from my mistake with drugs the Zaps are minor & bearable even when they're at their worst!
I hope this helps in some way until I can collate ALL my data at which point I shall return to this thread.
One last word. I don't think they're deadly or anything but I also do not think it's healthy to suffer these. I believe they may be mini epileptic fits & might inidicate a propensity for seizures. If you can take action such as life-style changes that reduce Zaps, you should do it. If you find fish oils help, keep taking them. These Zap things could be completely harmless, even severe, long-term ones, but let's not assume that without any real evidence.
My Brain Zaps drug freak-out is described here :-
http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/threads/664058-Worrying-strange-amp-unpleasant-illness-with-brain-zaps!
Great post!
tl;dr:
In my opinion, from what I've experienced and what I've read in this thread, there seems to be two main causes for the brain-zaps:
1) Cessation / reduction of long-term use of drugs that increase the amount of serotonin (such as SSRI's or MDMA); which causes what could be called "chronic" brain-zaps, the ones that come back regularly for days / weeks after the cessation / reduction. This would be caused by the serotonin receptors that are less sensitive and not activated enough anymore.
2) Punctual use of psychedelic tryptamines, which would cause what could be called the "punctual" brain-zaps, the ones that occur during the trip. This would be caused by the serotonin receptors that are over-activated.
Then there's the benzodiazepine cause, which I can't say much about.
However I'm not a neurobiologist, so you shouldn't consider my word as the truth.
Long version (original post):
So in summary brain zaps seem to be caused by
a) MDMA / SSRI's; mainly from cessation of use (SSRI discontinuation syndrome)
b) Benzodiazepines, in people who have a high tolerance; from cessation of use and also during the "trip"
c) Psychedelic tryptamines; during the trip only.
Serotonine activity is clearly involved. Apparently the brain-zaps are triggered by:
1) Taking regularly a drug that reduces the reuptake of serotonine (which increases the levels of serotonine), such as SSRI's or MDMA; then stopping it or reducing. Simply said, this would decrease the levels of serotonine, thus decreasing the activation of the serotonine receptors (which also have been made less sensitive), and cause the "chronic" brain-zaps, the ones that take time to go away (a more complete explanation is given thereafter).
2) Taking punctually a psychedelic tryptamine. One could argue that psychedelic tryptamines could mimic the activity of serotonine (serotonine is a tryptamine after all), thus increasing the activation of the serotonine receptors, and cause the "ponctual" brain-zaps, the ones that are experienced during the trip.
So the brain-zaps could have two different and opposed causes:
1) Decreasing the activation of the serotonine receptors, after a long-term over-activation, causing the chronic brain-zaps.
2) Increasing the activation of the serotonine receptors for a short amount of time, causing punctual brain-zaps.
Point number 2) is pretty simple, but point 1) is more complex, and maybe this could be the explaination:
"Symptoms described as "brain zaps," "brain shocks," "brain shivers," "brain pulse-waves," "head shocks," "pulses," "flickers," or "cranial zings" are common withdrawal symptoms experienced during discontinuation (or reduction of dose) of antidepressant drugs. These result from a global downregulation of serotonin receptors in response to increased levels of serotonin in the synaptic cleft, but the specific mechanism through which this creates symptoms is not understood."(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSRI_discontinuation_syndrome).
This is not straight forward and I understood better when reading this:
"An example of downregulation is the cellular decrease in the number of receptors to a molecule, such as a hormone or neurotransmitter, which reduces the cell's sensitivity to the molecule. This phenomenon is an example of a locally acting negative feedback mechanism." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downregulation)
So: taking SSRI's / MDMA reduces the serotonin reuptake, which increases the serotonin amounts, which, when taken on the long term, decreases the amount of serotonin receptors (negative feedback mechanism), which decreases serotonin sensitivity. Then, you stop taking the drugs: the serotonin reuptake is no longer reduced, which means serotonin amounts are decreased, but the receptors are no longer sensitive enough to serotonin, and they need a higher amount of serotonin to function normally. So the the amount of whatever activity induced by the activation of the receptors is reduced, and the brain-zaps happen.
A few unknown points remain:
I have no idea how the benzodiazepines link to the brain-zaps.
I don't know if phenetylamines can cause "ponctual" brain-zaps. Apparently MDMA can (although the chronic brain-zaps from cessation of use are more important).
I don't know wether some tryptamines are more likely than others to trigger ponctual brain-zaps.
I don't know why some people are more sensitive to brain-zaps.
I don't know if other phenetylamines than MDMA trigger chronic brain-zaps from cessation of prolonge use.
Maybe MAOIs could also cause brain-zaps by increasing the amounts of serotonine. AMT, for example, is apparently a reuptake inhibitor and releasing agent of the main 3 monoamines: serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. It is also a non-selective serotonin receptor agonist. It has reversible MAOI activity, and it has been known to cause brain-zaps from cessation of use (see Xorkoth, post #293 of this thread).
They talk about brain-zaps caused by Xanax (Alprazolamn, a benzodiazepine) and also anxiety here:
http://www.anxietycentre.com/FAQ/brain-zaps-electric-shock-symptom.shtml
According to some users, benzodiazepines make the zaps worse.
What I'm pretty sure about:
Tryptamines cause ponctual brain-zaps, by targeting the serotonin receptors. I've experienced them on psylocybin and LSA, but not on salvinorin. Salvinorin does not contain amine groups and has no action on the 5-HT2A serotonin receptor (the principal molecular target responsible for the actions of "classical" psychedelics such as LSD and mescaline). If I remember well, I've read reports reporting brain-zaps on LSD and DMT.
Not everyone is suceptible to ponctual brain-zaps while on tryptamines.
Relationship between sleep and brain-zaps:
These brain-zaps are different from the flash bangs / noise bangs / twitches that happen during the hypnagogic state. Like some people said, if you've experienced both, you can tell the difference.
EDIT: However, sleep "disorders" (in the form of hypnagogic twitches, falls, loud bangs, white flashes, hallucinations; but also sleep paralysis) and brain-zaps are likely to be related phenomena. Indeed, a lot of accounts of brain-zaps are associated with sleep (wether they happen while drifting off to sleep or after waking up in the middle of the night and / or being extremely tired). Furthermore, a lot of people who report brain-zaps also have sleep disorders.
As stated by alf meneas (post #296 of this thread): "[...]
the fact that so many accounts of zaps are associated with sleep, and that there are so many similarities between these disordered sleep events (including paralysis) suggests to me [alf meneas] that they are likely to be related phenomena. Furthermore, many of the people who describe having zaps also describe sleep-disorders. This correlation may suggest a common factor, although it could be coincidental, or a different result of drug use. [...] I don't know enough about the brain chemistry of sleep to engage with this subject on a truly scientific level but the evidence (and my experience) suggests to me that hypnagogic events, bizarre night sleep events, and 'zaps' probably share a great many functional similarities, and may arise from pretty much the same underlying processes."
Interestingly, "punctual" brain-zaps (the ones caused by a punctual intake of a psychedelic tryptamine) seem to happen only during phases of deep relaxation / while drifting off to sleep; whereas "chronic" brain-zaps (the ones caused by cessation of use of a SSRI kind of drug) seem to also happen during the day, while totally conscious (e.g., see post #291 of this thread).
Relationship bewteen epileptic fits and brain-zaps:
"I did alot of research whilst investigating Zaps, on epileptic fits. I found descriptions of mild fits that are strikingly similar to the description of a zap. Also, both Benzo's & stimulants can bring petite mal fits in some people. I became convinced that a Brain Zap was a type of mild siezure." (Si Ingwe, post #302 of this thread).
See posts #276 and #302 of this thread for further information.
How to reduce the brain zaps:
According to Si Ingwe, fish oil supplements almost definitely seem to help.
"
For recovery I have found rapid & surprising relief from the introduction of large amounts of fish oils to my diet. Bombarding my system with Omega 3, 6 & 9, increasing my intake of sea-food & fish & adding multi-vits & especially the B vitamins & Vitamin B12 eases my Brain Zaps within half an hour. Redosing fish oils or half a tin of tuna if Zaps return gets rid of them straight away. If I slack off & reduce my intake, the Zaps start worming their way back into my life. After recovering from my mistake with drugs the Zaps are minor & bearable even when they're at their worst!" (Si Ingwe, post#276 of this thread).
Also see post#302 of this thread.
What would be useful:
Making a list of means to reduce / stop the brain-zaps. A few have been given in this thread already.
Making a list of tryptamines and assessing the likeliness of this or that tryptamine to cause ponctual brain-zaps.
Understanding how the ponctual increase / long-term decrease of activation of serotonin receptors cause the ponctual / chronic brain-zaps (respectively).
I am not a neurobiologist, don't take my word for the truth. I'm just trying to bring some light on these brain-zaps. For me they kind of ruin the psychedelic experience. Also I've never experienced chronic brain-zaps, since I haven't taken SSRI's or MDMA on the long term.
Useful links / sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDMA#Long-term_effects_on_serotonin_and_dopamine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvinorin_A#Pharmacology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenethylamine#Pharmacology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tryptamine#Tryptamine_derivatives
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSRI_discontinuation_syndrome
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downregulation
http://www.anxietycentre.com/FAQ/brain-zaps-electric-shock-symptom.shtml