Brain zaps, shivers, shocks

[moonpanda]

I'm currently experiencing the difficult-to-describe sensation of brain zaps, brain shivers, or whatever you want to call them. I had them very frequently while withdrawing off of Lexapro, an SSRI notorious for causing this withdrawal symptom. The problem I'm having now is that I'm NOT withdrawing off of anything right now; my medication cocktail is pretty stable. Here are the variables/ suspects I can think of:

-I know that Xanax withdrawal can cause this type of thing as well, and I asked my psychiatrist about it. However, I haven't been changing my nightly dosage, and he said that the amount that I'm on is small enough to not cause very noticeable withdrawal effects during the day when I'm not using it. In addition, I still get the zaps when I've taken my dose.
-Really, really delayed Prozac withdrawal? I stopped taking Prozac on April 8th, and I know the drug has a ridiculously long half life, but this seems a little too long.
-Lamictal? I've been very slowly increasing, now at 125mg with the goal of 200mg eventually. I haven't heard of this causing brain zaps, but I suppose it could.
-TMS therapy? I doubt I'll be able to find anything about this, and my doctor doesn't seem to think it's the cause.
-There are no particular triggers; it happens regardless of where I am or what I'm doing

So, anyone here who has experienced these symptoms with SSRI use? Better yet, anyone who knows what could cause this without SSRI use? I really hope it's not neurological, but I think I might be getting ahead of myself by worrying about that. They're not painful, just annoying. I'm very puzzled right now.

[Xila31]

I want to say to your original post, I have these. They come and go and sometimes I have them a lot and sometimes I don't have them at all. I've never been on any of those meds or types of meds you mentioned. I seem to get them more as I get older.

I've had MRI when I was a kid and EEG and they all said those looked okay, so not sure.

[patient49]

I don't knw too much about medication side affects, but I imagine that they could cause such symptoms. I do know that anxiety alone can cause those symptoms however, because during my first anxiety episode I had those same symptoms, and thought it was nerological. I got better from them too!  But my symptoms, I described as "head-spine sezures". I also remember being very static, and getting zapped by everything I would touch-- this zap situation sounds a bit different and it only bothered me for a few weeks, then onto another symptom...  Brain shivers sounds like something I experienced. Now my brain just gets tense, its weird, but I'm used to it and know it is my anxiety (an extreme case). I'll look out for those brain zaps.. it sounds like a hypersensitivity situation though!

[moonpanda]

As an update, since this thread has been revived, I concluded that it was the Prozac finally working its way out of my system. Due to the ridiculously long half life of the drug, my body didn't really start to notice that it was gone until about 6 weeks after my last dose. That's when the zaps started and were the most intense. Since then, they have decreased to the point where I don't really have them at all anymore, maybe one or two randomly here or there. My doctor has said that the medication would essentially taper itself off, and the reason that I experienced the zaps could be because I am just particularly prone to experience this weird withdrawal system, having experienced it really badly during Lexapro withdrawal. I think I was just being a bit of a hypochondriac by worrying so much about it, but I was particularly on guard because I had started TMS therapy, and I was keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Thanks for your responses, and good luck to everyone dealing with these; they're pretty annoying!

[paranoid_cataclysm]

OK well nevermind, I just looked up paresthesia and it's nothing like what happens to me.

[paranoid_cataclysm]

I've had them since as far back as I can remember.  Thanks for telling me the name of this, I was wondering the medical name for it for a long time besides "brain zaps".

[rBoulet]

I've had them since the first time I was on antidepressants when I was 16 or 17 and they haven't stopped since then, even when I wasn't on any medication at all.
Still have them but I find they are affected by the amount of sleep I get.

[ingam]

hey i get them too its called paresthesia, it could be caused by many different things but in our case its withdrawal from ssri's, theres lots of info on the net about it, i hope mine will go away soon the zaps in my head are very annoying, goog luck!

[ApRiLGeTsAngry77]

I take Paxil and I have brain shocks. I am not sure what is causing yours but I would certainly let your pdoc know about it. My brain shocks were the worst when I first started taking Paxil ( about 1.5 years ago.) Now I do not get them as much and they are not nearly as intense.

[shay69]

I have had those electric shock symptoms witch I guess your referring to. They got really bad when I detoxed of xanex and I had them while on a ssri alone and I get them here and there for no known reason but maybe anxiety is all I can account for. when this happens to me I cannot be touched because the feelings are to much for me to handle.

[moonpanda]

PS: For those who haven't experienced this feeling, this blog article describes it pretty well:
http://theblondepharmacist.wordpress.com/2007/11/17/brain-shivers-brain-zaps-brain-shocks/

The more I think about it, the more I think (and hope) that it might be the Prozac finally leaving my system. I'm trying not to get anxious about it, but I can be a bit of a hypochondriac sometimes. So any input will be very much appreciated!