Paxil withdrawl Zaps

[nirvanagurl]

I went off Paxil just like my doctor told me by tapering and then slowly going off of it, I began having what I would call brain hiccups but I have now begun calling zaps, My head above my eyes tightens, thoughts freeze and I hear a zzp or a swish in my head ..It does this alot off and on, I am on month two, all my other complaints are gone except I am still having head zaps, after thinking I was dying of a brain tumour and going to the er to be tested and finding nothing, I came on the internet and boom found other ppl with the same thing and all had just stopped using paxil either cold turkey or with tapering, I have counted the ppl I have met with it, I am up to 148 ppl right now, out of about 170 ppl I have asked thats a pretty large percentage,

I have heard the zaps are mild seizures in the brain, my question is .in 20 years am I gonna get brain cancer or tumours from these zaps and why dont doctors know about them? and why does the drug company deny them, I know mass hsyteria is a real disorder thingy but really come on..why do some many ppl..hundreds of thousands I am sure experince zaps and there is no acknowlegement of them



????

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

I have seen the same reports, but have not seen a case personally. That's probably why, i.e. most doctors have not seen a case. I can't respond about drug companies..I am sure they have their own experts looking over these reports..drug companies are very responsible, despite what some people think.



I wouldn't worry about long term effects like brain cancer. there is nothing to suggest that as a possibility.

[strap]

I also was on an antidepressnt -celexa and when I came off I felt these weird pulses, almost electric. When I sat in a quiet room I would swear I could hear a zap sound. I thought I was going nuts.

[devgirl00]

I experienced significant electric brain pulses when I would forget to take my Effexor.  Sometimes they would be so bad, the room would spin and I would fall down.  When I recently went off Effexor, I felt miserable with the brain pulses for a couple of weeks.  I am happy to say that since starting my new cocktail of Wellbutrin and Celexa, I have not experienced the zaps.

[Karyn]

I have been taking Paxil for 4 years.  I have experienced the electrical charge or zap when about to fall asleep.  Also, I have been diagnosed with Restless Legs Syndrome.  Now I take another drug to relax my limbs so I can sleep.  I wonder if Paxil is causing RLS and the zaps?

[nonickname]

i was on paxil for 2 years  i started when i was 13 and got off it when i was 15 when i went off it i felt HORRIBLE it felt like electric shocks in my head and i couldnt concentrate i felt so sick  and dizzy i thought it was cause of my age on the commercials it says 18 and over but now reading this i realize i wasent the only one feeling this way

[angelbeam6]

I, too, have experienced these "zaps", but not on paxil.  Paxil did nothing for me (and I seemed to lose all impulse control, yikes).  Withdrawal from Prozac, Zoloft, and Nortriptyline has caused these for me.  Whenever I miss some dosages of my medication ( currently on 75mg zoloft, for the second time after being on Prozac for 3 years) these occur more often.  I've experienced the strongest "zaps" between wakefulness and sleep.

I've tried to explain to friends and the nearest I can come to it is it's like being stoned, but not.  I'm so happy I caught this because I thought I was imagining things.  My belief is that psychotropic meds that act on our neural connections cause this side effect.  Would welcome any comments.

[ThistleBack]

I felt something like "zaps" when taking Buspar. It was pretty strong at first, and never entirely disappeared. I called them "waves". Has anyone else had similar feelings with Buspar?

[Sentinal93]

I have no clue what you are talking about with these paxil "zaps".  I am 17, and was on paxil for about 7 monthes, and i decided to stop it because i didn't like it.  I was on 40 mgs of paxil and also 10 mgs of remeron, another anti-depressant.  i stopped both cold turkey.  The only withdrawl i have felt was slight nausia at times.  i've been off it for about 2 1/2 weeks, and i feel great.  my question is, is it possible for the zaps to start at a delayed time?

[drummerboy]

this problem seems to be common with all of these meds. Ive been on paxel for a year and I started to have this problem during my weening of period and more so now that I have completely stopped using. Im in week 2 and the other symptoms are curbing off but not the zaps and clouded head feeling does this ever go away?