Brain Zaps

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I have been trying to get off paxil...I've been on it almost 4 years. I've tried to get off of it once before but b/c of stressful events in my life, the panic returned. I've been feeling good this time, no anxiety or panic. (I'm down to 10 mg. from 40 mg.) But when I move my eyes to the left or right or up or down, I get a disturbing feeling of a zap-like nervousness, and an increased heart rate. Because of this, I am afraid to move my eyes too much. I know this sounds ridiculous, but I am truly concerned about it. Has anyone heard of this before? And what can I do about it? I'm tired of being on meds, and I have gained around 40 lbs on it.

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taken from another forum.

I experience EXACTLY the same eye movement palpitations with zap like nervousness. They took me down from 225 to 187.5 of effexor and Ive been there for two months and still experiencing the zaps. They almost throw me off balance sometimes and ive been able to notice a slight color shift in my eyes when it happens. I was hoping psisi(sp) or someone else could shed some light on this.

These are common with effexor and paxil, and they will go away. I would continue with a slow taper of the paxil. I never heard a case where these are considered dangerous, but we really do not know why this happens.

Dr.S.

Dr S,

Thank you for your fast reply!

i suspect you are right in that they arent dangerous, although bothersome they can be. I have also found that benzodiazepines do NOT decrease the zaps, if thats of any interest to you. I wonder if this could be some sort of small seizure like activity in the brain.

You say its common to withdrawl symptoms,let me share some of my past with you too.

I used to be a heavy drug user, mostly ecstacy. I also noticed the same zaps during comedown of ecstacy, and when i didnt take the 225 mg right on time. This would suggest to me in laymans ideals that it has somethig to do with seretonin, would it not? just some ideas.

Yes it is very likely serotonin related, but it is definitely not seizure activity. My guess is that it is a peripheral nervous system, thus norepinephrine mediated down or up regulation of the long nerve fibers in the PNS. Why serotonin drugs like paxil do it, but others do not is unknown.

i had them and they slowly decreased in frequency as i came off the effexor. i hated them....i've talked to a lot of people who have had the same experience with other meds.......

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psisci said:
Yes it is very likely serotonin related, but it is definitely not seizure activity. My guess is that it is a peripheral nervous system, thus norepinephrine mediated down or up regulation of the long nerve fibers in the PNS. Why serotonin drugs like paxil do it, but others do not is unknown.

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Which would make complete sense since Effexor is an SNRI , in that it inhibits norepenephrine(sp) reuptake as well.

Thank you for your insight. Its become a curiosity as well to me and any info I find is helpful.

Fay,

thanks for letting me know im not alone. They are especially bad today and Im having a hard time overcoming them to get things done.

Hi there- I was on paxil 40 mg for over a year and then went down to a lower dose (can't remember) and I had a slight case of the zaps and a numb type feeling in my lips and finger tips. I eventually went off of it completely and both things got a lot worse- made me want to go crazy. It seems like it was about two weeks, maybe even three, before they went away completely, but they did. I guess it has to all get out of your system, just like they say it takes 2-6 weeks for you to notice a difference when you start taking it. It is probably the same thing with getting it completely out of your system and since your body has gotten used to a certain dosage every day, I guess it might go a little haywire. Hope this helps some, but just be patient and it will go away.

Just to add I liked to call them "Brain Shimmers" it just made it seem like a happy thing. lol

Anyhow I had the same problem while on Effexxor and when quitting cold turkey being on a 375mg dosage for over a year. The shimmers continued for almost 6 months, and sometimes rarely even now I will have one. (its been over 2 years now) but no your not alone!

They do go away eventually!

hang in there........i know it really is bothersome, but they do quit and you WILL feel better. xoxoxo pat p.s. keep us updated....

Well I caved today and took an extra 37.5 I had to. I was getting them so bad that I could barely walk or focus without getting a zap.

I need to go back to the doctor and tell them I think though I dont know what they are going to be able to do.

Sighs

are you taking capsules? here's what i did. i couldn't go down 37.5 at a time, so the pharmacist and i opened the capsules and took out a certain number of the little balls and put those in another capsule...........THAT is how slowly i had to taper off of effexorxr..........

and i 've known a lot of people who came off of it and had as much trouble as you and i........so, don't worry...just know that it is going to take you longer than you thought.

by the way a lot of people have taken a small dose of supplemental prozac and it has helped them. ask the doc about it.......

i'm always here for you.....i remember, vividly, that i went through it by myself with only my pharmacist for support and i certainly couldn't talk to her at 9 at night........

i had the type doctor that if he put you on something, he was too arrogant to help you off of it even when you told him it was killing you. i was losing like 11 lbs in three weeks!!!!!!! and yes, i left him and found a wonderful woman who is always there for me......

Thanks faye.

Thats what i think i need to do, is take one of the 37.5 capsules and just come down by half. Its really really bad brain zaps, and im finding it to be quite dehabilitating. It throws my balance off, and then i get the heart pounding and thats throwing me into anxiety again over my heart(i get severe palpitations with my anxiety attacks.) so what we are doing is clearly not working.

Good advice fayerody, just taper it as slow as you possibly can.....

it will be worth it to you to have less of the side effects with the zaps. i know my anxiety increased tenfold while coming off effexor.

Hi, I'm new to this forum but am going crazy with my withdrawal symptoms. I started on 20mg of Paxil in February after finding out my brother has 2 chronic illnesses. I was so anxious I had lost about 20 lbs, couldn't sleep, panic attacks, the whole 9 yards. Anyway, it worked really well, and about 3 or 4 months into taking the Paxil I experienced the Brain Zaps.
I went to my doctor and he reccommended that I get off the Paxil because I was starting to feel better, and the zaps were bothering me. He told me to finish my bottle of 20mg, then prescribed me with 10mg, and told me to take those for about a week. After that, I was taking one every other night until the bottle was empty.
It has been about a mont and a half and I am still getting the zaps when I move my eyes. Sometimes they last all day, other times they don't.. but I do get them everyday. I also get the heart flutter after having the zaps sometimes. I am driving mysef crazy thinking that there is something else going on with me. I have been looking up symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis thinking I have it because of my zaos behind my eyes and the tingling I experience afterwards! I am being a total hypochondriac but I didn't figure I would still have the withdrawal symptoms 2 months later after only being on Paxil for about 4-5 months. I have a prescription for Kolonopin, and without that I would probably go absolutely crazy with anxiety. Any advice woud be great!