effexor withdrawal brain zaps

i tapered very slowly and had horrible headaches and brain zaps that were very very scary. While tapering my doctor put me on 20 mg of prozac and I think that helped somewhat. but three months later im still having occasional brain zaps Are these symptoms going to be permanent? im afraid that the effexor has done damage to my brain.

I'm guessing you're suffering Effexor withdrawal, not Cymbalta withdrawal. It's not impossible to get a withdrawal from a short stay on a med, but unlikely. Sometimes a med just affects someone more profoundly than one would expect. But given you just came off Effexor, that being one of the hardest meds to stop taking and one that can have long withdrawals, I'm guess you didn't successfully stop it slowly enough to prevent withdrawals.

I never heard of an antidepressant causing seizure while stopping cold turkey buy you will most likely experience brain zaps which are electric shock-like sensations lasting for a second thru your entire brain and sometimes spreading to other areas. Brain zaps are not to be confused with seizures. Both are extremely different and brain zaps are not dangerous at all. You might have to endure them for up to 1 month, Another description of the medication you want to quit would have been useful.

I have recently stopped Effexor XR (150mg) and started Emsam (6mg). I have been off the effexor for 5 days and I am having "brain zaps." My question is, how long will these "brain Zaps last?" I go to school, and need to be able to function. Please email me at ***@**** for any insight.

i recently stopped taking EFFEXOR XR, and am having severe, flu-like symptoms, and "brain shocks". i am dizzy, and hearing weird noises, especially when i move my head. i have been reading up on this, and find these symptoms are quite common. does anybody know exactly what is the cause in the brain of the "shock" sensations? and are there any long-term effects of taking this drug? what can be taken to help alleviate the symptoms? i am having a hard time functioning......

Day 7 off of Effexor. My wife reports the brain zaps completely disappeared on Day 6. She has backed off the Paxil dose to 25mg. She hope to continue reduce that to her prescribed daily dose of 20mg. What remains currently in fatigue and occasional nausea. I questions whether the nausea could be just an illness. But upon taking her daily dose in the evening, the nausea goes away. So within one week, she has successfully transitioned from 150mg. of Effexor to 25mg.

My doctor then advised me to stop taking the effexor for a week to see if the sexual side effects got any better which they did. I am now on day 5 of no effexor and i keep having these zaps or sensations running through my body. When will these stop? any help will be great. I am pretty scared about how long these could last.

I have been taking Effexor for about a year and a half, and recently per my psychiatrist's recommendation, came off of them. While I quit cold turkey, I was on prozac during for a period of 3 weeks before quitting Effexor, and then continued taking the prozac for another 3 weeks. My psych's experiences with this has shown that it greatly minimizes withdrawal effects for those coming off effexor in this way. When I quit the effexor during the prozac period, everything was fine.

s week and then they gradually got better and finally on the 4th week I was brain zaps free no withdrawal symptoms. 1 months to get off Cymbalta after 5-6 months of use. and trust me even if it sounds like 5-6 months is not long well 1 month is probably the longer period you will have to endure brain zaps because the brain will eventually adapt to the chance.

This will go away. The brain zaps quit with me first but the nausea stayed for awhile. Have the brain zaps quit for you yet? Hang in there, okay. We're here to support you. M4you always gives great advice. He was trying to explain to you why your having these withdrawal symptoms.Sometimes it helps to know why your going through what your going through.

Hi Its Lorraine again !! Silly me carn't find my new anti-depressants prescribed by specialist - 20 mgs Citalopram. The Dr's seem to be having trouble checking info with hospital, they need to verify the new tablets. In the mean time they have left me without any anti-depressants, I know you can get really ill if you don't take them. Up to now I feel ok, but scared I may go down hill !! Feeling quite good at present and wondering whether I could stay off them ??

However this morning or should I say this afternoon I am feeling much better I am not haveing the brain zaps and the dizziness right now. I am hopeing that it is over. Pray to God it is over.

I was on 100mgs a day with Pristiq for a year and when it came time to switch meds, I honestly thought I was going to die. The withdrawl and brain zaps were much stronger than I had ever felt before. It took 6 full weeks for them to go away and I tapered slow too. I would rather chew on tin foil than go thru that again.

Is it possible that I may have brain zaps indefinitely? They are seriously driving me mad and I am at my wits end...I don't know what to do. I don't want to be a slave to this medication. The only thing I've found that helps is hydrocodone (which I was initially prescribed after falling off of a ladder). Have I traded one evil for another? Is it dangerous to take hydrocodone indefinitely? (I don't exceed the instructed dosage.

I have not taken Lexapro, but I have taken other SSRIs (Prozac, Effexor and Cymbalta). All of them caused the brain zaps. Effexor was the worst offender, and I tapered it ridiculously slowly, and the problem hung on for a very long time. At least I found out it was a withdrawal problem by them - after stopping Prozac I had the brain zaps and suspected I was getting multiple sclerosis or something.

The brain zaps aren't damaging your brain. It's the drug being stopped that's causing them. Here's what's believed to be responsible for this: serotonin-targeting antidepressants alter the natural way the body breaks down used serotonin, allowing it to wash in targeted receptors longer. Other receptors turn off, the brain not believing them to be necessary anymore.

If you do then you will almost always get very sick. Your head and brain will feel like jello, you will get dizzy, brain zaps, the whole 9 yards if you get my point. Trust me I know, Been there, done that. After a few weeks back on Effexor, IF you still want to discontinue the drug then consult your doctor about a VERY slow taper off schedule. The slower the better when stopping Effexor.

For the brain zaps, try fish oil. You can also try tapering more slowly.

I stopped Effexor and started taking Celexa the next day and had no problems with it at all. I am actually thinking of going back on the Effexor. Why did you stop taking the Effexor?

I was on it for 8 days and I now have some withdrawal symptoms like brain zaps. So I feel for you. Hope you feel better soon.

The last time I went off my legs swelled up huge after being off the effexor one month. I had got through the brain zaps and thought I had kicked it but no. I relented and started the effexor again and within two days my legs were nearly normal. A week and I was back to normal. The effexor helps my depression so I haven't tried getting off it again. Yes, I want in on the class action suit.

After a day of brain zaps, vertigo, nausea, dizziness, irritability, mood swings (happy to throwing things in less than 5 mins), having a short fuse, body aches, teeth sensitivity, joint pain and gassiness, I decided to take some natural supplements to help with the withdrawal symptoms. For me personally, the brain zaps were the worse by far. I felt like I had an electrical storm in my head.

Effexor withdrawal brain zaps

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