brain zaps ... please help

[JBTao]

Hi,
I started getting these sudden shock/vertigo feelings while tapering off Lexapro - I think they are the dreaded "brain zaps." They happen only when I'm trying to go to sleep, usually when I lay my head on the pillow. I got off Lexapro, maybe a little too fast, and then srtarted Zoloft (50 mg). Well, the brain zaps came back with a vengeance; Friday and Sunday I was up for about two hours getting them every 15 seconds or so. Sometimes they are so intense, they make my legs jerk. Is this normal? When will it go away? I only took the Zoloft for 5 days, now I'm tapering off it. I'd rather have anxiety than this. Anyone have any insight? I would be so grateful.
JB

[rox011]

It's very common when coming of any anti depressant, I've had them several times. Give it some time but you should be fine. I know they're very uncomfortable but nothing bad will happen to you. Try to just ignore them and remind yourself it's just a brain zap. It usually takes me 1-2 weeks to get over them completely but they get better with time.

[WiSp]

Celexa has given to me several brain zaps while I was trying to stop it slowly. But it was one per week, not so often. Maybe you go too fast. In any case, it will disappear. It can't stay. When I got one, it was at any time and just a few months ago. In the bed, sit or while standing up. There was no more gravity for some seconds. It started with a numbness in the back of the head, and letting place to a vertigo, strong enough to fall. But it was short, often 3-5 sec. Sometimes there's a noise in the ears just after, and it goes away pretty fast­. Those things were scarring me so much...Even if I knew it was normal, when it happens you wonder how much it can be normal. After celexa, I used ativan some times, and I got another zap. Benzos can do it too it seems. But after, no more ativan or celexa and it never happened again. I know celexa is not lexapro but all antidepressants can do it. I got some also while trying to stop zoloft. I've done an EEG one week ago just in case, but it's not really because of brain zaps even if it will be useful about this.

[JBTao]

Thanks a lot for your replies and advice. What worries me is that:
1. I only ever get them when I lie down to sleep, but I get them constantly after a few minutes of lying down, particularly if I lie on my stomach and turn my head. Is it normal for them to come positionally like this, or does that mean it's something else/worse?
2. I wasn't getting them too bad aftering tapering off Lexapro. I started Zoloft only 2 days after stopping Lexapro. Was this too soon? I ask because now I get the zaps RIGHT after I take the Zoloft. In fact, the first day they were so bad that they kept me up all night was 3 days into Zoloft. Is the zoloft making them worse somehow? I am getting off the Zoloft too and I am done with SSRIs, I just want to know if this is going to last a long time, or if I should get my brain checked out to see if something else is going on. It just seems very coincidental that they started really bad after taking the Zoloft, since I thought they were specifically a withdrawal symptom, not a side effect.

Any further help is appreciated as always.

[WiSp]

I was worried too because I got some, not often like you but it was really creepy. I hope Door will approve that I use this quote, but it's to help:

I get the "whoa what was that?" dizziness when:

1.  I am under extreme anxiety.
2.  When I have started an SSRI.
3.  When I have discontinued an SSRI or a benzo.
4.  When I am dehydrated.

I remember that on zoloft withdrawal, it was happening mostly at the same hours and also in the bed. Those meds are known to cause this, but if you have too many, maybe you should talk your doctor about this. It would worry me to get this too much. About when they  come, it's maybe a coincidence if they come when you lay down. I think the time matters more. Maybe you lay down at a similar time each day? And about having one right after you take zoloft, how much time you wait before it comes? Because it takes a while before to get zoloft in you. If it happens fast after you swallow it, it's surely a coincidence.

Personally...I'm hyper sensitive to meds and I would not start another when I withdraw one. I would wait some days before. You know, I used celexa for 3 months, and I got brain zaps 2 weeks after being at celexa 0mg. This was mid of January and I stopped at December 28th. Then at the end of January, it happened too, but it was surely because of ativan. I used it rarely but benzos can do this too, and it seems to be random (it doesn't happen always). I think those brain zaps can happen more often if you withdraw too fast, or take too much of a dose of something you start. In other words, when you go too fast. I would talk about it with my doctor anyway, just because you seem to have a lot and that it disturbs your life enough. But try to be more slow, and maybe you will notice a difference.