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First, I had bad anxiety in my early twenties. Started Effexor, took it for about a year then tried stopping with a fast taper. I got fired from work 4 ou 5 months later and my anxiety went up big time. Started Effexor again. Went up to 110mg, but I was having many side effects so after talking to my doctor, I decided to stop. I reduced the dosage over 2 months then stop. Went throught withdrawal for a few weeks and then things got quiet for a few months. I started getting hit by some fairly heavy anxiety and panic attacks without stress to trigger it. I went back to effexor for a few months and then I switched to escitalopram 10mg to try and see if I would have less side effects. I stayed on escitalopram 10mg for at least 6 years. Now, at the start of January 2024, I run out of escitalopram for a few days. That's when I decided to try and quit. Just like that. The withdrawal was hell. A lot of brain zap, anger that I could not contain at all, brain fog, insomnia, etc. After 6 weeks, most of the symptoms were gone or wayyyy more manageable. 1 week before the 4 months mark, I started getting vertigo and feeling dizzy. I had no idea what was going on. My anxiety started acting up again and I took an appointment with my doctor. He's starting me on 5mg escitalopram again. I took my first half pill 8 hours ago and I feel absolutely awful: It's impossible to sleep, I had 2 panic attacks, I feel like I need to walk all the time and my hands are shaking. And now i'm scared to death, does it mean that I have kindled? Should I keep taking 5mg and see if it stabilize? Should I lower to 2.5? Should I stop?!

I new to participating in the forum type sites so please forgive me if I’m doing this wrong. Anyway I started to have what I think is brain zaps a month and a half ago not really knowing what it was but from all the research I’ve done it’s the only thing that makes sense. I stopped taking paroxetine 40mg tablets and started taking fluoxetine 40mg. Wishing 2-3 days I started to notice this, it caused me to panic and spiraled from there. I stopped the fluoxetine and went back to the paroxetine and finally a couple weeks ago started to feel pretty good again. After talking to my doctor decided to try the fluoxetine again because I had been to my primary doctor, an ENT, and had an MRI done because we all thought the off balance feeling I would get was something else going on like some kinda inner ear problem. Anyway I tried it again because I was feeling the best I had felt in the last two months and wanted to fast track the feeling better process and get back to work and that was a horrible mistake. What I think are brain zaps came right back and that’s my biggest issue. It’s like if I try to do to much and I’m looking around and moving my head around eventually I will start feeling sick, my head will hurt and I’ve literally got to lay down and close my eyes. What I’m thinking are brain zaps is so hard for me to describe because I wouldn’t have said it felt like an electrical shock, the way I tried to describe it is if I turned my head or my eyes it was like my brain couldn’t keep up. I could trigger it by turning just my eyes from one side to the other, up and down didn’t seem to bother me. And it’s just a horrible feeling for to me that once it happens so much from me moving around trying to behave and do things I would normally do it feels like a bad motion sickness. Best thing I can compare it to because I’ve gotten motion sickness all my life. It’s really debilitated me and this being the 3rd different antidepressant I’ve been on since 2014, if this is what I’ve got to look foraward to is the medication stopping working and having to try a new one I’d rather figure out how to deal with my problems on my own. I’ve said for a long time now that my goal in life is to get off this medicine anyway. I’d really like to know if it’s brain zaps that I’m having as I haven’t stopped the medication as to just changed to a new one.

Hello! I have been surfing the surviving antidepressants forums for the past couple of months ever since my withdrawal symptoms began and have decided to finally make an introduction post as I have some questions and concerns. I apologize for some vague starting dates, it has been a few years and I couldn't find a record of my exact starting dates. I also please ask anyone responding to me to express some discretion in describing specificities of their own symptoms, and refrain from excessive pessimism as I am extremely anxious and prone to health anxiety! Someone could tell me my hand could hurt tomorrow, and behold, my hand will hurt tomorrow. 😄 I also may be slow to respond as I try to limit my interaction with WD research and forum reading as it makes my anxiety worse. Thank you for understanding. In 2021 I was prescribed amitriptyline to attempt remedying my chronic interstitial cystitis that has been resistant to other treatments. I was initially put on 10mg, then after a few months bumped up to 25mg to see if it would make a larger difference. Unfortunately it did little to remedy my cystitis symptoms (yay.) After several more months on that dosage, I asked to try 30mg to see if it would help more (it did not, unfortunately.) In 2022 my GP suggested switching to nortriptyline to see if it would make a bigger difference for my pain. I agreed and did a direct switch from 30mg amitriptyline to 25mg nortriptyline (no crossfading in between them, just a cold one day switch.) I did not know the potential risks of such a switch, and my doctor ensured it was safe since nortriptyline is metabolized out of amitriptyline. I do not recall experiencing any WD symptoms from this switch, but I wasn't exactly looking for any either. Fast forward to late 2023, I start having some anxiety issues (well they've been going on for a while, but I went to doctors for it around this time,) and after a run in with a lack luster psychiatrist who encouraged me to start a benzo and a new antidepressant on top of the nortriptyline without any care for my concerns against long term benzo use I got quite spooked out by psychiatric medication and wanted to get as far away from it all as possible. I did not take the medication he prescribed me, I only took 3 days of 0.5mg clonazepam that gave me intense side effects (including making my anxiety leagues worse for the duration I was taking it) that I stopped CT after 3 days (I was told this was ok by the pharmacy.) After a particularly intense googling session on all the side effects of benzos and antidepressants (with PSSD becoming my new biggest fear) I became quite unsettled with my already taking nortriptyline, and decided to brave tapering to try and prove to my anxiety that everything will be ok (the irony 😅). I was incredibly nervous to start, and for the entire month leading up to it I was in deep deep anxiety about all the ways it could go wrong, and was still deeply anxious as I was going through the taper. Id like to note, the entire time I was on nortriptyline I did not experience any adverse effects, aside perhaps aggravating my anxiety as it feels like my anxiety getting worse corresponds closely with switching to nortriptyline (not sure if that is possible though!) So at the start of 2024 January 4th, I began my taper with advice from my GP and a pharmacist to alternate doses between 25mg and 10mg. I had a whole schedule written out where I would start out with alternating 25/10 every other day, then switching to 25/10/10 the next week, and so on and so forth for about a month until I would have hypothetically been alternating between 10 and 0. At the time I had no idea that this is not recommended! Right at the start of the 2nd week (25/10/10) one hour after taking 10mg for the 2nd subsequent day in a row for the first time, I began experiencing vaginal coldness and burning sensations. I started freaking out and barely slept, I ended up taking another 10mg that day a few hours later (so a total of 20mg) out of panic thinking it was the start of PSSD (my aforementioned biggest fear.) Previously, my pharmacist instructed me to return to the 25/10 schedule should I get any distressing symptoms, so that's what I did, counting the 20mg I took that day as "25." The following morning, after advising with my mother, I began to suspect perhaps its not withdrawal, but the worlds worst timed yeast infection 😄, and begun treating it as such with topical creams. After a few days the burning seemed to subside so I assumed I was correct, and continued my 25/10/10 taper. However with the burning receding, instead came electrical zaps, tingles, and smaller burning sensations. So then I started doing more googling, found surviving antidepressants, and decided to try reinstating at 20mg until things calmed down. After I reinstated I didn't feel a particular improvement in symptoms. There was a change that for a few days it felt like specific parts of my pelvic area would "buzz" chronically all day. But then it went away and it returned to more sporadic tingles and zaps. Presently I am still at 20mg going strong! Since then I continue to have weird electric jolts, body zaps, tingles, tickles, etc. in various parts of my body. While primarily focused in the genital/thigh area, it is also common in my heels/feet, and I have felt it in my thumbs, scalp, and sometimes sensations of intense pressure in my face/cheek. I still occasionally get vaginal burning as well. There is no actual numbness, or sexual dysfunction, I can still feel everything, it just tingles. It is not painful, or too uncomfortable (with a few days of exceptions where it was at its worst.) But it is very very nerve wracking. It comes and goes, it is not constant, though some sensations may last for a few days. It does feel like it is slowly reducing over time, and despite my worst fears I have full faith it will one day go away. It gets noticeably worse whenever I am nervous and freaking out, or if I sit and/or lie down (for pelvic/feet.) I have also experienced some increased tinnitus in one ear about a month into the withdrawal, but tinnitus has been a life long problem and that ear has been finicky way before I started to taper so Im not quick to blame it on the withdrawal. 😅 I am also not sure if my extreme anxiety these days can be credited to the withdrawal, since I was unfortunately in a pretty similar state of mind prior to tapering. I have since spoken with my GP, and my GP's opinion was that it is not withdrawal and entirely psychosomatic since Ive been in a state of chronic high anxiety for nearly a year and was expecting my taper to go wrong in every way possible. However I have been referred to a neurologist and a new psychiatrist anyway. The new psychiatrist I saw is actually quite incredible, and believes what is happening to be withdrawal related. The psychiatrist is even familiar with the 10% taper, and in my circumstances, even recommended I taper by 5% if/when I decide to continue. I have also since started counseling to help reduce my high levels of anxiety, so hopefully with all these things combined I am well on my way to recovery, however difficult it may feel now. To conclude this terribly long introduction post. I am now left with some questions on how to proceed forward. First question being about compounded pills, my psychiatrist recommended compounding doses at a pharmacy for future tapering, but also said I could manually weigh them. I recall seeing some posts saying compounded pills can be quite variable in weight and thus they concluded they are unreliable for a taper. Is this true? My understanding is that even the non-compounded pills tend to vary in weight, but this doesn't seem to have many negative repercussions. I would prefer to compound since it is much more convenient, and manually calculating doses would make me nervous. But if it is unreliable I would rethink this stance. Second question I'll admit is less of a question, and bit more in the realm of seeking reassurance. But please bear with me. Should tapering correctly and slowly (5-10% decreases) reduce my chances of getting PSSD? I have had no sexual dysfunction from these pills, yet PSSD is my biggest fear and I have read plenty of worst case scenarios on the internet of people being stuck with no emotions for years on end. My understanding is that PSSD comes with two camps, one as a result of adverse reaction from being on the medication (SD while still on the drug) that then doesn't go away after taper. Then the other as a symptom of withdrawal. It seems like adverse reaction PSSD seems to be the more common case with terrible long term cases, whereas withdrawal seems to be more forgiving and more likely to go away with time. Is this assumption correct? Have you guys seen cases of PSSD/anhedonia emerging after conservative 10% tapers? I understand there are no guarantees with tapering, but I am hoping to find something to latch onto to to put my mind at ease. Thank you for taking the time to read my post! I wish us all to have smoother journeys going forward.

Hello together, I have been reading in this forum for a couple of months now. I would like to introduce myself and share my story. I am 31 years old, female and from Germany. In March 2022 I started to take 900 mg St. John's Wort to treat something that I think was a burnout. I got those pills without a prescription in the pharmacy and the leaflet said that those pills are a natural alternative to antidepressants and that they are not addictive. Therefore you could stop the treatment anytime. If I would have known what happened to me because of those pills I would never have taken them. Shortly after starting the pills I didn't feel well. I got bad headaches and felt "different". Therefore I stopped taking the pills after 3 or 4 weeks. After quitting the pills I felt even worse. I couldn't sleep, I had brain zaps (didn't know what that is back then) and I had severe psychological symptoms. My boyfriend took me to the hospital (emergency psychiatry) because we didn't understand what was going on with me. The doctor prescribed citalopram which I fortunately never took. In the next couple of weeks I saw a psychologist and a psychiatrist and started and stopped the st. John's Wort pills at least two more times. Every time I started the pills I got horrible side effects and every time I stopped them I thought I was losing my mind. None of the specialists I saw told me anything about antidepressant withdrawal. Somehow I came across the term antidepressant withdrawal on the internet and I finally understood what was going on. I pretty much had every symptom on that list. In the next couple of months I tried to taper the pills. But I think the damage was already done from quitting them cold turkey a couple of times before. Every time I reduced I got horrible withdrawal symptoms. On October 27 I decided to quit completely and I took my last dose of St. John's Wort. Since the end of October I suffered from various ever changing withdrawal symptoms. Even though I know I am still far from healing I do feel as if things are finally getting a bit better. My main symptoms right now (month 10 after quitting): -Hangover feeling in the morning -Vertigo -Weird feelings in my head (I call it withdrawal headaches) -depersonalization -loss of appetite Triggers: Stress, a lot of noise or light, working on the computer, coffee, alcohol I do get windows. But I still have symptoms pretty much every day and often withdrawal hits me from one second to the next. I feel like the psychological symptoms like anxiety and chemical depression got a lot better in the last couple of weeks. Thank you for reading. I will keep you updated.

Hi, I took 20mg of duloxetine for two years but got fed up with the side effects. My doctor instructed me to start taking 150mg of Wellbutrin XL every morning while tapering off duloxetine. She said to take duloxetine every other night for two weeks and then stop completely. I've been off duloxetine since Oct 21 and I have been experiencing frequent brain zaps. I start a new job on November 2nd and I'm getting nervous because the brain zaps are so frequent. Is there anything I can supplement with to help with the zaps? Or should I consider getting back on the duloxetine? My doctor is not providing responses to my questions Please help. TIA!

Hi everybody, I am so happy I found this forum. It has been a wealth of information while navigating the confusing road of removing antidepressants from my life. I have 2 children and have been on antidepressants both of their lives. I’ve told myself I was doing it for them, because I never want to lose my temper around them. I grew up in a very volatile environment and it’s been extremely important to regulate my emotions so my children do not experience what I went through. But the emotional blunting has become a lot. I’ve lost my ability to cry. I really don’t have negative feelings left at all. I feel good most of the time on paxil, aside from being unable to control my appetite and weight gain which has taken a toll on my self esteem. I made the decision to start therapy last year and it’s been life changing. With the necessary tools under my belt, I decided to try to get off these drugs that have been controlling how I’ve felt for the last 12 years. It has not been easy. Last summer I tried going from 40mg paxil to 0 and experienced a crash like no other. I didn’t feel real, vertigo was so bad, nausea was constant, and the brain zaps felt never ending. I spent my lowest day on the couch sobbing and realized this was not the way to go about it. Then I found this forum. My doctor is a bit of a pill pusher and does not support my decision to discontinue antidepressants. I was prescribed MORE medications during my past visit, which was the opposite of what I was looking for. With that being said, I’m doing this without true medical advice. With the support of my husband and family, I’ve been able to stabilize at 20mg this past fall, and lower to 10mg last month. I’ve been attempting to completely stop once again and see how I feel and if it is manageable. From what I’ve been reading here, I might’ve jumped the gun and may need to stabilize on a lower dose, but that’s OK. I know these things take time and long term I want to be OK. I haven’t had alcohol since November 2023. I was never an alcoholic, but a heavy weekend drinker. The mental clarity from removing alcohol from my life has helped my journey immensely. Since going from 10mg cold turkey vs micro dosing, I’ve experienced some discontinuation symptoms. I have stomach pains and headaches that come and go. Heightened senses. Mild irritability. Heightened emotions (not extreme but I am able to cry again). I have not experienced vertigo, zaps, or extreme mood swings which were the worst of my symptoms last time I tried removing antidepressants. It might be too soon to tell, but I am hopeful. I keep going back and forth on whether or not to try to stabilize at 5mg by making a liquid suspension, but I am worried about messing it up. Thanks for reading this and being here. I’m happy to be a part of this community.

Currently back on 5 mg daily of paxil, after a few botched attempts to reduce as directed: 11) halve, then halve again over about a month; and 2) try alternating days on and off the drug. Pretty severe brain zaps, rashes, fatigue, dizziness, cognitive lapses and memory loss, etc, led me to this site. I've also been doing the workbook on withdrawal.theinnercompass.org, preparing for more of the zany, wild, suicidal rage that I expect to experience again. Would love some help with the physical challenge of knocking 5-10% off of half a 10mg pill! Thanks for being here.

Hi everyone. I have been slowly tapering paroxetine during the last 3 years.Been on it since 2014. I went from 20mg to 4mg. Currently holding at 4mg from February 23, liquid paroxetine. Previous taper was on May 2022, from 4.4 to 4.2 mg.Since i got under the 5mg my anxiety spiked up. That's also the reason of my holding time. During the last year my anxiety has been horrendous. I need a break now. I am thinking to updose a little bit hoping it will help. How do yoo think i should proceed?

hello! i've been reading this site for awhile now and finally decided to contribute. the information here has helped me immensely as i've been going through this. hopefully i can add something that may help someone else as well in college i was put on zoloft in 1996 for generalized anxiety disorder. i also have traits of a highly sensitive person. i tolerated zoloft well except for some side effects that i learned to live with. i stayed on lower doses ranging from 25mg-50mg. i went up and down in those ranges over the years unsupervised and never noticed any issues, although if i forgot the take my pill the night before i would get brain zaps in the morning. in january 2013 i decided to try to get off of zoloft after 17 years to see how well i could tolerate the world med-free. before doing so, i learned CBT and mindfulness meditation so i thought i had it under control. i met with a psychiatrist who put me on a taper plan. while going down, i did have bouts of being very emotional, depression, anhedonia, anxiety/cortisol spikes, brain zaps and other feelings I've never experienced before and are hard to describe. the psychiatrist told me it was normal and would go away in a few days. the smaller increments under 10mg were the hardest. i had the worst brain zaps (hundreds a day) and i did slow down the taper a bit but she again said it would go away in a few days. at that point i was just trying to power through it. funny, i remember thinking "this can't be normal and must be causing some damage." too bad i trusted her instead of my gut and didn't research or find this site sooner. my symptoms at first 6 months: - constant painful headaches - brain zaps - physical "headaches" (which i call "ickiness"- head pressure like i have a heavy wet blanket on my head, hard to concentrate, depression, fuzzy, hard to focus, painful stiff neck and fullness in ears) - daytime cortisol spikes - sensitively to sound that makes me want to cry - an eye twitch on my right eye lid - lack of motivation - waves of anxiety, depression, anhedonia and the other feelings. symptoms that developed after i had an anxiety attack 6 months in: - all symptoms above - very strong cortisol/adrenaline spikes mostly starting between 2-4am and cutting in mid morning - nerves feeling like they are supercharged - underlying anxiety reoccurring with some ocd - fatigue - tinnitus - exhausted when i talk sometimes - struggling with real depression - twitches in finger of right hand (about once a month it will pick a different finger) currently, 10 months since last dose, I'm in the worst and longest wave I've even been in. i believe i had a paradoxical reaction to some supplements i was given from a naturopathic doctor last month. i was also very very stressed out and at the start of a wave so it may have been that too or a combo of both. after months of thinking some of my symptoms were healed or drastically weakened, they've all come back and incredibly strong. in the earlier months i actually had 1-2 weeks a few times of feeling normal between a few weeks of feeling bad. it gave me the illusion i wasn't that bad and kept expecting the windows to get longer. i haven't had a full week of feeling better since august. now I'm lucky to get a full day or 2. frequently i feel better in the evenings so i don't want to discount that. I know i shouldn't have expectations but i really hope after this bad wave ends (or "if it ever ends" is how i feel right now) these super strong symptoms will subside and i will feel like I'm making progress once again. i can't wait. is anyone familiar with recovering from paradoxical effects? its been over a month now for me and when i feel its getting better it just morphs into something else. i just started to see a psychiatrist who is familiar with withdrawal and is trying to help me but its a slow process. i'm on a low sugar, high protein diet. i'm still learning how to do better at this. i don't drink alcohol or coffee. i walk at least 30 minutes every morning and try to do yoga and pilates once a week. i go to acupuncture weekly as well. i try to be mindful and meditate but not very good about keeping it up. somehow i've managed to keep my job but worry i may need to take a medical leave. what i currently take daily: - 2400mg omega 3 (the red label from trader joes) - 200mg magnesium (calcium magnesium citrate in a bottle, if someone recommends something better, let me know) - multi vitamin pill - i just started l-theanine under doctor's orders as needed: - i take advil when i have the headaches or the ickiness headaches. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. - i used to take a little bit of espresso to help cut the headaches and that would help sometimes but i haven't done that for awhile. when cortisol is high: - vitamin c pill - some homeopathic drops (i have 2 different ones i alternate, Relaxtone and a tincture my naturopath made) - i have lavender pills my naturopath gave me but i'm not sure if they do much so i stopped taking them. i'm curious if anyone has experience with these - tulsi/holy basil tea (you can get it at whole foods) i guess that is it for now. thank you for reading and happy healing!

Hi, my name is Bjorn, I've been a long time reader of this website since my problems with AD withdrawal I experience(d) and decided to sign up for an account to make a post about myself and to maybe get some input from other members about my situation. For whole my life (39 years old now) I've never had any mental problems, I always was a strong person who went through bad periods without any problems, till in 2018 my mother-in-law died very suddenly. I lost every sense of being, got anxiety, felt wrong aswell physical as emotional and didn't knew what happened. Naturally, I got my doctor involved, had some bloodwork done and my wife insisted that they also looked at my testosterone levels. When the blood work returned, most of it was fine, but my testosterone levels were indeed way off, like below half what was minimally recommended for a healthy male person. So then the whole story began, doctor told me that it was possible because of the stressfull and emotional period I was going through that a depression set in which made those T levels completely tank, so the solution was, AD's. He put me on 5 mg escitalopram and 25 mg trazodone to help with insomnia (which I developed in that period of high stress). It took a while for everything to lighten up a bit and after several months I was fairly functional, but I started getting heartflutters/heart skipping beats which made me scared, so for which I decided to stop the AD's. I did (no taper, completely CT) and for a while it went good, till after several months I started feeling depressed again and the doctor advised me to reinstate the 5 mg escitalopram again, which I reluctantly did. Took a while again to get "normal" again and I kept taking the AD from about mid 2019 till beginning of 2022 at which point i had enough of all the AD taking and talked to my doctor about quitting, on which he replied to start taking one day on and one day off (very bad move with escitalopram because the half life of the drug made it so i was acutally creating a WD every other day.) till I decided myself to quit the AD completely and go through what was to come. I expected the WD and with my quitting in 2019 I already experienced the brain zaps (which I actually didn't find that big of a bother the 2nd time because I knew what it was and I realised WD was ongoing). After a while the brainzapping stopped and I felt pretty ok, had a little relapse of WD around the end of 2022 (around the 10 month mark) for which I contacted my doctor again, who of course tried to get me on the AD again and I said "NOPE, I need to get through this without any drugs to get better myself" and after about 2 weeks it mostly resolved and I was able to do what needed to be done again, like work, relationship etc. Which I also should mention, related to the low testosterone levels, I went to see doctors about that too and after many tests the conclusion was that I have secondary hypogonadism, so they started me on a topical gel of administering testosterone every morning which helped in getting my T levels back to where they should and I also asked to go on Tadalafil 5 mg daily for PSSD which also developed because of the AD. PSSD also solved itself, but if it's because of the Tadalfil or my raised T levels, I don't know. What I also take is daily magnesium because I know it helps with general health and I know this site "recommends" it for people with PAWS alongside omega 3, but that's something I don't take (yet). Back to now, so since the end of 2022 till about 3-4 weeks ago I felt "normal", had no problems or none which I can really think of, but 3 - 4 weeks ago I woke up from my sleep having shortness of breath, feeling panicky, went back to sleep but started to think about it a got a bit scared. Also my daughter, who's 15 years old, started having some puberty problems which caused some serious fights at home, both affecting me and my wife pretty bad mentally and as of last week I feel like **** again. Insomnia, globus feeling (tension around my throat), very emotional, anxiety, panic attacks, the whole lot. I'm feeling very dreadful at the moment. The globus feeling has gone away a bit, it's not constantly there anymore, but everything is making me very scared. I wake up very often during sleep (if i can sleep that is) with my heart racing, shortness of breath, feeling panicky. Had my bloodwork done again last week, but everything turned out fine, even cortisol levels, which i expected to be high, but they were normal. Doctor prescribed me Sulpiride, to take a quarter of a pill (which comes down to 50mg) to alleviate symptoms, but I'm very reluctant to do so because I know it can have severe adverse reactions and I don't want to add any side effects of that antipsychotic to what i'm already feeling. Any advice on this, someone? I'm aware of the windows and waves pattern, is it possible that I'm in a wave now? This would be the 20 month mark of being of any AD, so I would thin if it's a wave that it wouldn't be so bad, but this one is very bad. Sorry to make this story so long, I could make it longer but I just wanted to write down what's happening to me just to see if I would get a reply and maybe even a reply which could calm me down a bit. Greetings.

After planning to have a family my whole life, I found that some things are just out of our hands. I had 6 miscarriages, before having a baby boy that suffered from an unknown degenerative neurological disorder. He would have 30-50 seizures a day, was blind, deaf and was in ICU most of his life. The doctors predicted his life expectancy to be 3-4 years, but at 5 months old, he came down with chicken pox, which caused his organs to shut down and he died in my arms. I lost everything I lived for and my dreams of having a family were shattered. I became extremely depressed. I decided to seek medical help for my depression. My doctor prescribed Effexor (Venlafaxine). I didn't feel it was helping, but she said it was, that I just didn't realize how much worse I would be without it and I can't expect to be my normal self again. Every time I said it wasn't helping, she just increased the dose, until I was on the highest dose that could be prescribed, and I remained at that dose for the next six years. All this loss was hard on my marriage. After struggling for a few years, we divorced. I walked away from my marriage, home, life, everything, taking nothing but my dogs and a bag of clothes with me, and started over alone. With nowhere to go, I jumped into another relationship. Six months later, I became pregnant. Since medications can be harmful during pregnancy, I stopped taking the Effexor, following a fast taper as my doctor instructed. I developed unusual problems that I had never experienced before, which caused me to be ill throughout the pregnancy. I didn't learn until years later that what I was experiencing were "brain shivers", or "brain zaps", and it was not related to the pregnancy, but stopping the Effexor. The doctors related my symptoms to stress and put me on bed rest, and I stayed on bed rest or in the hospital throughout most of the pregnancy, until having a c-section at 8 months. I had a small, but healthy, baby boy. However, I continued to feel ill. I described the problem to my doctor multiple times. I was told, word for word, “It’s in your head, go see a shrink”. She blew me off, like she didn't believe me and thought I was crazy. I managed as best as I could, but progressively worsened. I went to several other doctors, but none of them had answers and showed no interest in looking into it. I talked my boss at the time. He was an ear, nose and throat specialist, so it wasn't his specialty, but he had watched my health decline and knew that my symptoms were real and was concerned enough to help. He sent me to several neurologists and other specialists to have tests done. He was worried that it was serious because my symptoms resembled MS or something similar. All the tests came back normal and no diagnosis could be found. It seemed no one had ever heard of anything like this before. My condition worsened until I was no longer able to live a functional life. I struggled to take care of my son and couldn't interact and do things with him as much as I wanted to. I had no idea what was wrong or where to turn for help. Desperate, I searched online. I discovered a forum of people who shared my symptoms, all of which had used Effexor at some point and were unable to get help from their doctors. Many of them were told that their symptoms were psychosomatic, just like my doctor had claimed. A few doctors and nurses on the site acknowledged this was real and provided what information they had. This is where I first learned of the term “brain shivers” and discovered that using Effexor can cause them. The doctors said they are generally mild and typically go away on their own, lasting from weeks to several months. However, they said higher doses over an extended time can result in severe cases that could last years, or even permanently, and so far, there is no known treatment. I continued to struggle with this for a little over two years. Then, I was contacted by an old friend, who was now a psychologist. This call was a turning point for me. I told her about the problems I was having. She knew about brain shivers and was sure that was what I was experiencing. She was concerned that this would likely be a permanent problem for me, since I took such a high dose for so many years, and since I hadn’t had any improvement in over two years. She said there is no known treatment, but tapering off the medication slowly is known to help prevent or reduce the problem. I had been off the medication for over two years already, so it didn't seem logical to introduce the drug into my system again after so long, just to taper it out of my system. She was concerned that it could have an adverse affect, causing my brain to adapt the wrong direction by starting it again, making the problem worse. She said if I went back on the medication to stop the brain shivers, I would likely have to stay on it indefinitely, to keep them from coming back. The thought of taking a medication for the rest of my life that caused me to be permanently disabled without it, just did not sit well with me, especially if it could make the problem worse. And I couldn't get a prescription anyway, since I couldn't find any doctor who was willing to treat me. She told me there is another option I could try, but she could lose her license for recommending it, so not to tell anyone who told me, but to try methamphetamine, because it's a dopamine reuptake inhibitor, and it should stop or greatly reduce the brain shivers. She said as long as I only use enough to stop the brain shivers, it would help me, and that using excessively or more than is necessary is what leads to the negative affects of any drug, legal or not. (Disclaimer… I want to express that I DO NOT recommend using methamphetamine, for any reason. It’s not a solution to brain shivers, it's just an another problem to need a solution for. It comes with its own list of problems, including legal consequences. This choice cost me in many other ways. Looking back, I can't say I would’ve been better off, had I not made that choice, because I couldn't function at all. But I also can’t say I’m better off, for having made that choice. I just replaced the problems I had with different problems. This choice led me down a different path, but it was far from a better path.) It has now been 18 years since I started having brain shivers. I have been using methamphetamine responsibly for the last 16 years, which greatly reduces my brain shivers to a tolerable level and allows me to function. I still have brain shivers once in a while, but they are typically mild, occur less consistently and don’t affect my ability to function in daily life. The only time they bother me is if I miss a dose, or something, such as illness or stress, affects my overall health. Although it allowed me to function, depending on something illegal to function requires committing a crime every day, and it was inevitable that I would eventually get caught. I ended up facing criminal charges. I was lucky enough to have a good attorney who was able to turn a 5-35 year prison sentence into just probation. I was assigned to the best probation officer anyone could ever ask for. If it weren't for her patience and understanding of my situation, I wouldn't have a chance of making it through this without ending up in prison. It is because of the situation I am in, the need to end my dependency to an illegal drug, the inability to do so without help to stop the brain shivers I’ve had for the last 18 years and the kindness, understanding and willingness of my probation officer to patiently work with me to find a solution to my problem, that I have found myself here on this site. My probation officer has helped me in the effort to find a solution through every possible direction we could think of. I have been turned away by detox centers and inpatient treatment centers, either because they don't believe meth causes withdrawals, or due to liability concerns, since quitting will cause me medical problems. I've been turned away by doctors and psychiatrists, when searching for a medication to help the brain shivers, to replace what I'm using, so that I could stop using and hopefully avoid or at least lessen the brain shivers, but they refuse to treat me at all, until I have already quit, which is what I needed the help for. I believe tapering off the drug is the only way to successfully stop using without having severe brain shivers, as I get them every time I miss a dose. I understand that this site is for prescription medications, but I hope it is possible to allow an exception, since my need to taper is due to brain shivers following the use of Effexor. My probation officer approved me joining this site and is willing to be patient to allow me the time to follow this site’s recommendations for tapering, so that I have the best chance of coming out of this situation without using any drug and without severe brain shivers. I am truly blessed that my probation officer is patient and understanding to allow me to try this, since quitting cold turkey will undoubtedly cause serious problems, and I pray that this site will be as understanding and willing to help as well, because this is the best chance I have to turn my life around in the right direction. I never meant to end up in this situation. Sometimes people end up in bad situations, but it doesn't mean they are bad people, they just need a little help.

Hi, new member here. This forum is a God-send. A few years ago I was casually put on Cipralex (a.k.a Lexapro) within 15 minutes of talking to a shrink and stayed on it for 2 years. Although I tapered off it slowly, I had a panic attack for the first time in my life when I went off it, followed by a period of mild anxiety, then all of a sudden many months later I was hit with a variety of bizarre physical and psychological symptoms such as electromagnetic sensitivity, brain fog, a bizarre and persistent throbbing sensation in the right side of my head, a nervous tick in my right eyebrow, hyperacusis, rage, and suicidal thoughts. Psychiatrists and psychologists passed it all off as extreme stress and anxiety (They all said "You developed a new psychological illness, anxiety, and it's merely a coincidence that you developed it after going off the medicine. Your symptoms are all psychosomatic.") I have resisted being put back on SSRIs and chose to trust my instincts, insisting that these symptoms are clearly related to the Cipralex. Online readings and seeing the feedback of others who withdrew from antidepressants have given me the reassurance to continue on my journey of healing naturally, without falling back into the cobwebs of the psycho-pharmaceutical industry. I was merely a little bit sad when I visited a shrink and needed to talk to someone, not endure a journey of medical hell. I am so happy to have come across a compassionate and immensely useful forum to help me continue my brave healing journey which, essentially, I am undertaking on my own. I have endured several recent months of indescribable agony. Some of the coping techniques that are helping me out at the moment include adding a little apple cider vinegar and honey to water first thing in the morning, supplements (rhodiola rosea in the morning and magnesium before sleep), Reiki, deep breathing, walking, and Somatic Experiencing (a form of alternative therapy to relieve mental and physical trauma-related health problems by focusing on perceived body sensations), as well as chewing gum (helps a lot with the need to grind my teeth which is one of my withdrawal symptoms). I have also cut out gluten, coffee and alcohol from my diet. I also bought a teddy bear recently and holding it helps in anxious moments and makes me feel that I am not alone. Prayer is helpful too as it is immensely reassuring to turn to a higher power for help. I have ups and downs on this healing journey and I am literally trying everything to help me out. If anyone has been on Cipralex and has any other tips that can help me in my withdrawal process I'd be most grateful if you could please share them. May we all recover soon from our withdrawal experiences 🙏

Topic title: tips for successful withdrawal from sertraline please 🙏 Hi everyone I would like to start my reduction of sertraline , my current dose is 200mg which I have been on for many years , I’ve tried before but had terrible brain zaps , would anyone be able to share their success tips , thank you in advance 🙏

Anybody had any experience with this controversial therapy, good or bad?

Hi I was on lexapro 10 mg for 6 years. I tapered off starting Feb 2017 following my doctors advice. I took 5 mg for 2 weeks then 5 mg every other day for 1 week then stopped completely. 3 days after my last dose the brain zaps started. Now after 8 weeks I have a continuous feeling like a sparkler is firing off in my brain, all day long. Sometimes it is more intense than other times, but it never goes away. It feels like a shower of sparks is swirling around in my brain, it is so hard to describe. It is not in my ears, but in my brain. I went back to my doctor to see if I should go back on and taper off more slowly. He said no, to just try to ignore it like you would ignore a back ache. I tried ignoring it for 2 weeks then returned to him, he referred me to a neurologist. Today I saw the neurologist who looked at me with wide eyes and said he never heard of this. He said he will order a test of brain waves but doubts it will show anything. His suggestion is to go back on the 10 mg to see if it goes away. My question is: is 8 weeks too long to be off it to reintroduce the drug and then taper off slower? I have read that reinstating the drug will get rid of symptoms IF YOU DO IT IMMEDIATELY. I am afraid that after 8 weeks, it could make it worse. I just want to be off the drug. I never had these sensations before using this drug. I don't know what is causing them and if they are benign. I tell my self they are not hurting my brain, that it is just my brain "coming back on line" but as they persist it is harder and harder to believe this. I really do not want to go back on, but if it is the only way to make them go away I will and then taper more slowly. Then I wonder if this counts as "time served" and if I go back on and taper more slowly, I will just have to serve this time again. Also, is it just the addicted part of me telling me to go back on, like how I used to lie to myself when quitting smoking? (By the way quitting smoking cigarettes after smoking for 10 years was infinitely easier than what I am going through with this.) I appreciate any wisdom, any body live through months of zaps? do they ever go away? are they harmful? Thank you so much

Hello, my name is Bia, I'm from Brazil and I'm only 16!! I don't know much about this forum and since I'm brazilian my english knowledge is limited, so if I'm doing something wrong please let me know 😄😄 It's been 7months since I started taking Paroxetine, and happened that I forgot to take for two days and I know after reading about I realized that I'm having 'brain zaps'. The reason why I'm here is to know if, when you start taking your medication again the symptoms will stop?? I'm a teenager who needs to study for high school and these brain zaps really distract me... my mom is already mad at me for forgetting to take the pills I don't have anything to do I really need some help right now to know that everything is going to be okay 🙁🙁

Hello, I was put on Cymbalta about a year ago for PVC's along with a beta blocker. (no history of depression or anxiety diagnosis) The PVC's went away, but moderate, continuous, and unsettling dizziness seemed to take over. All diagnostic tests negative. We tried various different Beta blockers, but none took care of constant dizziness. About 2 months ago, my doctor told me to quit taking Cymbalta and gave me Lyrica instead "to see". After about a day or so, my dizziness was alittle better, but I got these wierd little "strikies" at the base of my skull with increased tinnitus..almost audible to me. ...especially later in day when I move my eyes or head. They got worse the next day so I took a Cymbalta 60mg if by chance it would help. They went away in about 6 hours and dizziness returned. I asked my doctor about the "brain zaps" (found out later that is what they were called) and he acted like I was crazy... "never heard of them" So, he has now referred me to a neurologist for "atypical migraines" which takes like 4 months to get into. In the mean time I have tried to get off of Cymbalta on my own. I have decreased dose (by removing beads) and spread doses out over a couple days for about the last month. Now it takes 2 to 3 days before these terrible brain zaps return. As far as I can tell I do not have any other symptoms of WD other than maybe difficulty to sleep. My questions are: 1. Can I expect to have more WD symptoms after the zaps go away? 2. When a person goes sorta fast or cold turkey, (Haven't taken a pill since Sunday) will the zaps get less soon....or are they with me for months? Thanks for any advice. I have found this site quite informative and really feel for the issues that these antidepressants have caused.

Hi everyone, I am new here and I would greatly appreciate your help! I am sorry for my long story (with possible errors) but I just can't find anyone who can answer my questions and I desperately seek recognition and advice. If you do not want to read this long story please scroll to my questions and fears? I'm Renske, 46 years old, and I'm from the Netherlands. I have been taking 20 mg of Seroxat aka Paxil for a very long time (since I was 19) because I was diagnosed with a compulsive disorder. Seroxat worked very well for me for a long time. Mainly because I gradually gained weight (more than 25 kilos), and kept gaining (with no obvious reason, such as eating a lot or something like that) and everything was checked; bloodwork, thyroid etc , I decided a few years ago to try to phase out Seroxat. Because I already knew how difficult that would be, I did it VERY slowly, with a suspension. I was busy with this for a year. Throughout the year I was particularly affected by huge irritations and hostility. It seemed as if I had absolutely no patience and I was constantly angry. I have been very sad about this, because I was particularly unkind and impatient towards my children (8 and 11). Not physically thank God, but extreme irritation and impatience is of course also very bad. This made me feel very guilty. The phasing out eventually failed, the moment I took almost nothing anymore, because I became extremely anxious and because the obsessive thoughts came back. Because I didn't have a back-up plan, after all the effort 😞 I quickly rebuilt to the full dose. It didn't work properly anymore; so i went up to 30 mg. Still didn't work properly. What I found remarkable, though, was that the aggressive / irritated feelings greatly decreased. In consultation with a psychologist and psychiatrist I recently decided to switch to Lexapro (escitapram) although I realize that it is a matter of trying, because many SSRIs work the same (with the risk that it would not work properly again) and that they often have the same side effects (weight gain). I noticed that I had developed some sort of aversion to Seroxat, because it is apparently the most difficult drug to phase out and because it is the biggest culprit among the SSRis when it comes to weight gain. The current situation: week 1: Seroxat (paxil) I went from 30 mg to 20 mg, week 2; 20 mg of Seroxat, week 3; 10 mg Seroxat and 5 mg Escitalopram (lexapro), week 4; stop Seroxat and 10 mg escitalopram. Afterwards; continue with 10 mg escitalopram. I understand that 10 mg of Lexapro (escitalopram) is approximately equal to 20 mg of Seroxat. I am now at the beginning of week 5. During these past weeks I have had the so-called and famous brain zapps, and huge sweat attacks. But the worst thing is that I am AGAIN so terribly irritated and hostile. I recognize this as a withdrawal from Seroxat, I am almost certain that this is not a side effect of building the escitalopram. Ironically, I don't have a lot of trouble with my compulsion, but all the more with my very short temper. Discussed it with the psychiatrist; she indicates that if this is a withdrawal phenomenon, it should be over in a few weeks, according to the pharmacist who makes the product. Of course I said that that is the biggest bullsh*t and that there are so many people who suffer from these symptoms for a longer period of time. She didn't really have an answer for that. She indicated that maybe it was my personality that came back. But that is nonsense; I was always gentle and kind to others. this is also not ordinary irritation due to stress or something, but it really seems like something physical that really engulfs me, just like that She suggested perhaps adding some Seroxat again? The reason why I do not believe in this is because in the past I have phased out the Seroxat very slowly and then I also had such symptoms. Why would that be different now? My questions and fears: Does anyone recognize the symptoms of irritation, impatience and hostility of phasing out the Seroxat / Paxil? How long can this take? Was this passing on? Is there anyone with whom this went away as a new drug started to work properly? I am afraid that this withdrawal phenomenon will continue to exist for a long time due to the withdrawal of Seroxat, while the Lexapro may work, can this coexist? Or is that far-fetched? I know that all anti-depressants must be phased out gradually. Would it make sense to take a little more Seroxat next to the Lexapro, so that I would phase out slower, despite using Lexapro at the same time (within safe margins of course)because the (very) slow reduction has not diminished the feelings of irritation in the past, and I am now inclined to finally stop completely with Seroxat and switch completely to Lexapro. I would be so grateful if I get some responses from people who recognize things. Again, sorry for my long story. Thanks so much in advance. Renske

Hello, I’ve been taking Viibryd 40 mg. several years for depression. I’m concerned that it is not working as well as it has until recently ( last month or so). When I miss a dose for more than a day, I get the alarming ‘brain zaps’ and brain fog. So, I asked my GP Dr. if I could try Cymbalta to see how it would work. He gave me the script for Cymbalta 60 mg. and had it filled. Im hesitate to switch since I’m not sure how this will go. My thought was that there should be a titration period from Viibryd to Cymbalta since my previous changes were titrationed. But, he said to just stop the Viibryd and start the Cymbalta the next day. This is what scares me. So, I’m curious if anyone has had any experience with these two drugs and if so, what was your experience. My other concern is that if I’m to eventually stop antidepressants in the future, the brain zaps will never leave and I don’t think that I could handle it. This thought is from others experiences that I’ve read about on the web. Many thanks in advance for your thoughts and or experiences.

Hi all, This is my first post, but probably not my last unfortunately. I was taking Lexapro 10 MG for anxiety and dizziness of unknown origin for about 3 years. I have tapered off over a little less than 3 months. As of today, I am over 1 week off completely of the drug. I have had a whirlwind of symptoms most notably anxiety and dizziness. The dizziness has been unrelenting and it's very taxing on the mind and body to have to compensate for this. Generally, I feel disoriented and most of my dizziness centers around head movement. Some heart symptoms, but mostly attributable to anxiety (racing heartbeat, palps, etc.). I've had a history of PVCs which have been checked out before and OKed. I'm writing this specific topic to ask what your definition of a brain zap is? I've read over some time that most people seem to center around a brain zap as a sudden jolt of electricity throughout the head, or an electric like sensation. I feel like I may have been experiencing brain zaps but not necessarily in this sense. I don't feel an "electric" sensation, but I do experience sudden dizzy spells, where my head feels like it's about to fall over. These spells last maybe a few seconds and really take up that time (I.E. I can't do anything else, for those short seconds I'm in the spell). Does anyone else experience brain zaps as sudden dizziness/vertigo that subsides in seconds? Thanks for any input and good luck to everyone.

Hi to everyone! A little about my story: -I was started on Effexor immediate release, 75 mg, about a year ago, in January of 2015. I wasn't even clinically depressed, I don't think - just a middle-aged lady dealing with life stuff, but coping fine, working, functioning. Had never had prior antidepressants . -Took Effexor 75 immediate release from 1/2015-5/2015, when the side effects (massive fatigue, weight gain, emotional numbness, among other issues) became intolerable. -Fast tapered 5/2015- 6/2015 over about 3-4 weeks. Did not receive adequate instructions from my therapist, just told to "taper slowly". -Terrible withdrawal symptoms for about a month, then settled down to: -daily brain zaps, usually dozens of times a day; comes on when I'm tired, haven't slept enough, about to fall asleep, or waking up. If I'm well-rested, the brain zaps are less frequent, but there hasn't been a day I haven't felt multiple, multiple zaps. -No improvement in this symptom (brain zaps) in the 8 months since I've been off Effexor -also feel continuation of the withdrawal symptom of vertigo/dizziness/mild "swishing" feeling in my head, especially when I'm not well-rested. I'm terrified that the brain zapping indicates permanent damage of some kind. I'm terrified that the damage will lead to unknown consequences in the future. I'm terrified that this will never go away. The symptoms aren't intolerable, in and of themselves; it's just the worry and the uncertainty that bother me. I'm happy to keep "waiting it out", but am losing hope. I really don't want to reinstate, but am considering doing so, in the XR formulation, as low of a dose as I can get away with, and then do a slooooooooooooowwwwww taper this time. However, I would only want to do this if there were NO WAY that these symptoms would go away without reinstatement of Effexor. So happy to have found this forum. If anyone has any experience with this situation or any advice for me, that would be awesome I'm especially wondering if anyone has had any luck with brain zaps going away after an Effexor fast taper - either waiting it out for a very long time, or success with reinstating/then slow tapering Effexor after such a long time with withdrawal symptoms. Thank you, and Happy New Year to all. Hopefully 2016 will be a better year for all of us!

I have been taking Pristiq (50mg once a day) for approximately 5 years. It manages my depression fairly well, but I have had side effects of extreme sweating and muscle spasms, and maybe weight gain. I don't know if I would have gained the weight anyway but have gained a lot of weight in that time. I want to stop taking it and was advised by my physician to start tapering off by taking it every other day for 3-4 weeks and then start taking Welbutrin on the off days. I was miserable the whole time - brain zaps, severe headaches, extreme irritability. I tried taking the Welbutrin only one day and was very dizzy and nauseated so did not take it again. My dr recommended I take the Pristiq every 3rd day after 3 weeks but after 5 days I was near a breakdown, physical and emotional. He recommended I go back to my daily 50 mg for now until we figure out what else to do, I am happy to hear there is a 25mg dose because we did not know about that. What is the best way for me to start tapering from the 50 mg tablets from everyone's experience on this site?

I had been on Effexor XR for fifteen years before making the decision to get off this terrible drug. My concern is that I waited too long. I was tired of the feelings if I missed a dose, the sexual side effects and the general lack of emotions. Had I know how difficult and painful this journey was going to be I would have stayed on the poison just to avoid all of the difficulty. In the beginning of coming off the drug I had all the symptoms others have described. The crying, the brain zaps, the panic attacks at night all were just the tip of the iceberg with coming off. I unfortunately came off too fast. I did the standard weaning described by my doctor from 150, 75 to 37.5. What I should have done was to open the capsules and count the beads. I also should have lengthened the time between each drop in dose. I would say after 3 months in I had it beat, I felt litter but that was short lived. I then began my journey of trying to find other alternatives. I tried Accupunture, Counseling, LDA therapy, NAC, Inositol, heavy doses of vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, omega fish oil, restore, brain octane...... I then , after 9 months off Effexor, decided to try Prozac in order to cope with life. Everything has become insurmountable and my thoughts are all negative. I have never been so pessimist as I am right now. Now only to I judge myself against all others, I internally do the same with my children and their accomplishments. Nothing is ever good enough. I feel perhaps that Effexor has damaged me somehow. My once optimistic trial and error ways have turned to a pessimistic future. My next journey is to try CBD in the hopes that I can return to some normal aspect off life. I welcome all comments, ideas, stories or pep talks to get me through!

Hi! I'm Britt777. I joined this site to figure out what is causing me numerous symptoms. Here is my brief story: Took Lexapro for about 3 years or more, came off of it Tried Trintillex and Brintillex, didn't like the way it made me feel Doctor then tried Fluvoxamine 100mg and took that for 7 months. He decided to add Wellbutrin (Bupropion XL 150mg) along with it. A month later I ask to stop Fluvoxamine (Luvox) because I felt like I was experiencing "depersonalization" or pretty much felt like life was not real and was a dream. So, at that appointment he told me to stop the Fluvoxamine and upped my Wellbutrin to 300mg once a day. The first day from this switch I felt great. Then the second day came... had nausea, lightheadedness, dizziness, "brain zaps", increased tinnitus (ringing in the ears), blurry vision, feeling like I could pass out, headaches, head pressure, and crazy fluctuating heart rate. (Today I had a heart rate of 100 and dropped to 70 within 5 minutes without doing anything different.) This is day 7 since the switch. I just want to find out if it's withdrawal symptoms from the Fluvoxamine since he didn't advise me to taper or if it's a reaction to upping the Wellbutrin.

I took my last pill 4 days ago with the intention of quitting cold Turkey. Really hoping I can make it!! Going through the whole vertigo/brain zap phase right now...no fun. One day at a time.