[nicole84]

How can I STILL have brain zaps... its been almost 6 weeks without Efexor...

They are awful

Ive been off for a couple of months and I still get the occasional one or two here or there, but they are very mild now.

[sunrise]

Nicole, I'm sorry you are still having the brain zaps. Are they painful? What are they? Do you know how long they are supposed to last? I hope you are in touch with your doctor about your symptoms.

[BBT7]

Hi, I'm new.

I was on Cymbalta for nightmares (FYI- it doesn't help). I started weaning off and quit entirely sometime in the middle of October. I was getting brain zaps CONSTANTLY. Unless I was completely absorbed in my work, I felt them several times a minute.

Just the last two days, they've started to slow down. I hope they continue to slow down.

I did some reading about brain zaps once I figured out what the heck they were. One person had to wait two months before theirs stopped. I'm still holding out hope!

How often do you get the zaps?

[ECHOES]

Mine lasted a while too, but I can't remember how long they lasted. I think about 2 months though, so hopefully yours will be going away very soon!

[darkeyes]

A few years ago, when I came off of Zoloft, I had them for about 2 months. It was a very unpleasant sensation, and I was so relieved once they were gone, I had been so afraid I had some damage to nervous system or something from the med.
I did tell my GP (the one who prescribed it) about the zaps when they first started, he told me to give it awhile, gladly, they left me 2 months after discontinuing the Zoloft.
It's always a good idea to check with your doc, just to be safe and/or rule out anything else.

[Peacemaker]

forgive my ignorance, what are brain zaps? the reason i ask is that i am on Cymbalta and read that someone else was too who was on Cymbalta. I have been experiencing some weird things and wonder if that is what they are?

[nicole84]

Umm its like a whooshing of the head when u move your eyes.. I guess is the best way to describe it.. altho if you've never had them it is really hard to explain. Mine have settled a bit in the past couple of days, only getting them on occasion now thankfully. They are horrible though and make your head feel all messed up

[wickedwings]

it's like you're feeling your neurons fire. i know because i get them when i go off of antidepressants, even with weaning off of them. do not worry, they will go away. it just takes time. but, they will go away. i promise.

[BBT7]

Peacemaker,

For me, brain zaps feel like an electrical shock in my brain. When they first started, I was convinced that I was visibly twitching each time they occured, but my girl friends have assured me that I am not twitching. I get them when I am sitting still, too, not just when I move my eyes. One evening, I was laying in bed just experiencing the zaps. I was having about three per minute and I focused on them so I could better understand them. They're still a creepy mystery, but I realized that moving my eyes rapidly caused them, and that I heard a strange noise in my head each time I moved my eyes. So freaky. I swear I'm not going on any meds, no matter what happens after my sleep study.

Although Wikipedia is not the most reliable source, it does have good information about brain zaps: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_zaps

BB

Thanks for the link! Great info!

[ECHOES]

Yes, I had the electrical kind of zaps and I also had a "head noise" as I called it--it sounded as if I was hearing my own blood circulating in my head, a whooshing, flowing or running water kind of sound.

I have always had brain zaps, even as a kid. But during and after the SSRI withdrawals it was markedly worse and included the 'head noise". The zaps and noise would wake me from a sound sleep and made my escalating anxiety even worse.