Brain zaps from medication?

I use to have this even if I took my medicine late. It's very annoying. When I came off Lamictal I did it cold turkey if I was having those brain zaps I thought what the heck I can't wait to get off this. It took like 2 weeks for them to go away. It sucks I know. You will get through it though. It's scary to think medication does this to us. How long have you been on it?

About 6 months, not long, but I was on LOTS of others, Lamictal, Risperdal, Brintellix, paxil, ativan.

I had a nervous breakdown a couple of years ago, and of course the docs loaded me up on pills. Now that I am feeling better, I do not want them anymore...and I did not take the other ones regularly anyway, just the cymbalta.

Really all I needed was to stop working and take it easy for a while ( 2 years).

Thank you for the hope of only a couple of weeks... I am 5 days cold turkey now, so almost halfway there! :)

The reason you feel better is because of the meds. If you stop them you fall back into depression mode.

I send you lots of positive vibes. You can do it!!! It just makes you wonder what the heck is in these meds that makes our brains do this after coming off them. Also, being on them and not taking them at the exact time everyday. I can't say drink more water etc. because nothing worked. It just takes time getting out of our system. <3 and good luck

I agree with you also. I have been off and on and off and on.

You need to taper off the meds while mass dosing vitamin D and take a normal amount zinc as a supplement. You could also take something called Rhodiola extract found in the health food stores.. IT will probably get rid of those brain zapps. but don't take it before bed, and only take one in the morning or you won't beable to shut your mind down to sleep its that strong..

Those anti-depres meds mess with serotonin.. Its not even the feel good chemical in the brain thats why its takes forever for those meds to kick in.. The feel good chemical is dopamine, its already in our brains.. When people get depressed its because of a lack of dopamine production.. The docs don't know shit, they are told to push anti depress meds when mass dosing vitamin D and getting some exercise will do more and work quicker than any ssri out there on the market. People are just uneducated about these drugs and their own brain chemicals.. Go read about dopamine, serotonin and neurotonin... The 3 major chemicals that are produced in our brains.. Dopamine makes you feel good that is why people take drugs to get high and feel good.. I don't recommend that either because of how these meds work by blocking uptake i.e discarding the chemical is referred to as uptake.. So the meds block uptake, your brain slows its natural production of whatever of those 3 chemicals your blocking so when you stop taking them you get the brain zapps in your case, or flu like symptoms in opiate users cases etc..

There is no fast fix all cure to getting off these things, only the things I mentioned will help with your withdrawl symptoms, you need to kick start your brains natural production of serotonin again.. It takes a few months to feel truly normal again, but with the supplements I mentioned it could be half the normal time..

Serotonin has no effect on depression in my opinion. What happens with people on ssri meds is 2 things mostly.. They have a mind over matter effect because they think they will get better once on meds.. And 2, depression is a fickle thing that can be fixed by exercise and direct sunlight.. And also through proper diet.

I had the same experience coming off of Effexor.

All you can do is wait it out. It took me 3 or 4 days, if I recall correctly. It will go away eventually! Watch some TV or do something that doesn't require you to move your eyes too much... rest and be patient.

I have Vit D on Hand! Will take some now..

Thanks everyone for advice, seems I am not alone in this..

So glad to hear it does not take long to get through.

You can't quit SSRI/SNRI's cold turkey, you just can't. You risk a lot of problems including being 5150'd.

You need to taper off that stuff, the zaps are very minimal if you gradually lower the dose for 2-3 weeks down to zero.

I did. Noticed the zaps if I was late, so i started taking it later and later, then every other day, then every 3rd day. 2 weeks time of taper, Now I am done with it.

Also, Cymbalta pills if I recall correctly cannot be "scored" or "cut" in halves, so you need to take the capsule open it up and there will be little white "balls" inside. You want to lower your dose gradually by taking less and less of those white balls lol.

That is with the brand-name Cymbalta, I'm not sure if generics exist yet but they can't be cut down in size unless you break open the capsules.

Trust me, you will feel a lot better and less "zaps" if you taper rather than cold turkey that junk.

Oh good deal. yeah, Cymbalta was one of the strongest ones I've experienced. Getting off of it ended up with me developing RLS, which I seem to finally have been cured of years later. Good luck.

5150'd. That made me laugh, that was 2 years ago when I was at that stage..they pumped me full of poison to "fix" it. Really I did not have a mental problem, it was physical problems with nervous system, shakes and stuff. I just needed to hide in basement for a while, not take all of the meds, but the insurance company needed med compliance in order to stay covered. the systems of this world are evil in that regard.

If you want a natural antidepressant, you can try Lithium orotate/Lithium aspartate in low doses. I actually replaced an SSRI with this and had no withdrawal symptoms from doing it.

Also read up on Kratom or Gotu Kola, both can be good antidepressants, but don't mix these guys. Find something natural that works for you in combination with exercise.

I quit my meds at Xmas. I was back in the psychic ward on March 12. I'm on a small dose, but it is necessary in my case. Be careful OP.

OP - I'd recommend you try Maca. I put a dessertspoon in my morning smoothie. Very nourishing for your body and mind. Balances your hormones naturally and gives you sustainable energy.

You can read more about it for easing depression here. They say it can take a little while to really feel the effects but when I started taking it, I felt better literally the next day!

[link to www.themacateam.com (secure)]