By Ann Tracy on October 4, 2009
Paragraph two reads: “After cutting my dose in half, I have had brain zaps (impossible to explain) and pressure in my ears.”
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/lifestyles/local_other/article/S-PHAR06_20090902-190006/290023/
Q:I have been taking Effexor XR for two years. At first I was pleased that it relieved the anxiety, depression and excessive worrying I had been suffering. Then I began experiencing insomnia and night sweats and decided to taper off this antidepressant.
After cutting my dose in half, I have had brain zaps (impossible to explain) and pressure in my ears.
Answer: Many people find that antidepressants such as Effexor (venlafaxine), Cymbalta (duloxetine), Lexapro (escitalopram), Paxil (paroxetine) and Zoloft (sertraline) are helpful for depression. But there can be a dark side.
Stopping this type of drug can lead to withdrawal symptoms such as dizziness, headaches, insomnia, anxiety, sweating, visual disturbances and difficulty concentrating. Many people complain of shocklike sensations in their head (brain “zaps” or “shivers”).
Posted in Recent Cases Blog | Tagged Brain Zaps, Cymbalta, Duloxetine, Effexor, Effexor Withdrawal, Effexor Xr, Escitalopram, Head Brain, lexapro, Lexapro Escitalopram, Night Sweats, paroxetine, Paxil, Peoples Pharmacy, Sertraline, Shivers, Ssri Withdrawal, venlafaxine, Visual Disturbances, Withdrawal Symptoms, Zoloft
a Ph.D. in Health Sciences with the emphasis on Psychology, is the director of the International Coalition for Drug Awareness. She has specialized for 14 years in adverse reactions to serotonergic medications (such as Prozac, Sarafem, Zoloft, Paxil, Luvox, Celexa, Lexapro, Effexor, Serzone, Anafranil, Fen-Phen, Redux and Meridia) and has testified before the FDA and congressional subcommittee members on Prozac. She has testified since 1992 as an expert witness in Prozac and other SSRI related court cases around the world. Her first book on the issue was published in 1991. During the last twelve and a half years she has participated in innumerable radio, television, newspaper and magazine interviews. We know of no one with such extensive experience and expertise on all of these issues surrounding the SSRI antidepressants as Dr. Ann Blake Tracy. You can learn a lot about these medications from her latest book on the Prozac family of antidepressants: PROZAC: PANACEA OR PANDORA? (2001). The book is the product of many, many years of intensive research, and the cases of approximately 1,000 patients on a long-term basis.
Dr. Tracy also has an hour and a half long audio tape/CD, “Help! I Can’t Get Off My Antidepressant!,” which explains the safest withdrawal methods from these antidepressants and how to rebuild the body and brain after the use of these drugs. She has spent the last thirteen years working with patients coming off of these antidepressants. That experience has helped her to know much about the serious and very dangerous withdrawal effects and how to avoid those in coming down off the drugs.
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I discontinued Paxil 2 weeks ago, cold turkey. My doctor had advised that I taper, but I didn’t. I have, through today’s research, discovered a “pooped-out” theory, which is what happened to me. Probably close to 2 years ago. But I didn’t recognize what was happening, and continued with the Paxil. Even though I was aware that it wasn’t doing the job anymore. I had realized that in the last few months, I felt more oppressively depressed when I took the paxil (meaning on occasion, I did not for whatever reason – run out of script, forgot, wanted to try life without it), I felt more down the next day. So I decided (while on a 2 week cruise) to stop. The after effects have been brutal. I am struggling with headaches, dizziness, nausea, exhaustion, scratchy eyes – everything that you can find on http://www.paxilprogress.org/forums/. I sound like a classic case. Now my dilemma is this – my doc wants to change me to cymbalta, go to a shrink, consider mood disorder drugs. I just want this crap to go away. Do I go back on Paxil and then try to gradually reduce? I’m only on 10 mgs a day (or at night). Everything I have read in my research states that it is the last 10-5 mgs that cause the greatest problems. I do NOT want to put my health in the hands of a shrink I may see once. I will keep reading.
Thank you! I would now go on this blog every day!