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Something bizarre is happening to me

Hi
I'm 20 years old and I've been recently getting this totally bizarre feeling, like what I imagine it would feel to get a series of intense electric shocks all over the brain. It's not painful, (but as if maybe it should be, were there nerves in my brain). I've never suffered from migranes, I hardly ever even get headaches. It sort of blasts my  brain and then sends a shockwave through my entire body like a pulse, in a series of three or four jolts in a row, in very quick successtion. Then I susually get a rest for a few seconds or minutes, where I feel sort of dizzy and exhausted, but mostly normal, and then it happens again. Sometimes I get as many as five in a row, and when that happens I feel really disoriented and confused because they're so violent. I don't get nauseous, which I find slightly odd, and I think my brain functions relatively normally throughout these episodes but I couldn't say for sure. I know they take me by surprise, and I have this wierd sort of heightened sense of reality whilst they're occurring, as if they're jolting me out of a daydream, except I'm not in one to start with. I used to get it once in a while and it usually happened before I got a really bad fever, so I connected it to that, but now it just happens randomly all the time. I'm really freaked out!
I've had mental problems before: depression, anxiety disorder (for which I'm currently taking celepram), but I don't think it's related to that. I'm worried that it might be related to epilepsy or a brain tumor, please tell me that this is normal, and that heaps of people get it.

-Lizzie
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Avatar universal
Hi.

It is good that we have contributed to easing your anxiety about your condition. But, if ever you may still have doubts about your symptoms being related to a seizure disorder, you should consult a physician who can evaluate you and explain or give more information regarding your concerns. He/she would also be able to help you deal with the symptoms once a withdrawal syndrome has indeed been ascertained.

It is also good to know that other people like ggreg are providing input on this forum by sharing their actual experiences with their conditions and their treatments. First-hand information about other people's experiences are vital in helping other patients deal with their conditions.

Good luck to both of you.
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Avatar universal
thanks so much for your help, it did ease my mind: i was quite worried I was having a sort of mild seizure. that kind of thing feels like it's doing major damage, even if it's not really. just wanted to say thanks for your help, to both doctor and ggreg.:-)

-Lizzie
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Avatar universal
Dear Lizzie,
The good doctor is absolutely correct about the brain shocks probably being from an SSRI type medication, which is what you are taking.  I have been taking them for years, on and off them, tried different ones, and so I can personally report on your situation.  Many like people have those electrical pulses.  For me, it blasted off from the middle of my spine, went straight up my back a million miles an hour, shot into my head, made a huge humming, fairly alarming.  Other times I just felt the surge in my head.  Sometimes I lost my balance.  And always I felt anxious, very annoying.  

That brain shock is exactly what happens when you cut back on your medicine.  Sometimes when people are on them and sticking to their dose, they'll forget their meds one day, and they'll get that zing in their head.  While the shock itself is not exactly dangerous, the drug IS very powerful and must be respected.  And you do not have to stay on it for the rest of your life.  But if you want to get off it or whatever, you may wish to do it in a more organized way.  In this manner, you can minimize the randomness of the shocks and ease the anxiety.

Consult with your doctor about a schedule of tapering off, if he agrees you can reduce the dose or stop the drug.  If you are uneasy about discussing it, or you fear he won't let you cut back or quit, just keep in mind that it is possible that the way your emotions were before you took it, may return.  If you're willing to accept that, then I'll tell you what I know.  There are also websites devoted to getting people off the medication.  But it is better to tell your doctor, because he can maybe prescribe some temporary drugs to make it easier to deal with the substantial discomfort that reducing dose can create, which you are experiencing now.

First, you can't just go "cold turkey" and quit out of the blue.  This is because there is a withdrawal side effect that can be dangerous, which is having a full-blown seizure.  This is harmful to a person, which is why epileptics take another kind of medicine to prevent that.  To get off your SSRI, you will need to write out a tentative schedule, because it takes a long time to safely get off the drug.  You cut back 1/4 of your regular dose, leave it right there for at least a week.  For example, If you're taking 100 mg once a day, you just take 75 mg once a day.  You stay at that dose until you feel normal again, which can take a week or two.  You continue like that until you're off.  

When you start with your schedule, check off each day that passes, note how long it takes for you to feel normal, and then you can write out a complete calendar.  Winter is a great time to fool with it, not much else to do.  If you're in the middle of getting off and you feel crazy, keep the Crisis Intervention phone number taped on the wall next to your phone.  They'll talk you through any wierdness.  If all else fails, return to the previous week's dose until you straighten out, then go at it again.  

When you are finally off, expect to feel a little strange for about a month.  I really think you should talk to your doctor about getting some sedating medication to help you through.  Perhaps just knowing it's probably your medicine will help you cope.  It's just withdrawals, plain and simple, that's all.  Even tho the drug is not classically "addicting," it produces classic "withdrawals," because it's such a strong brain chemistry drug.
GG
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Avatar universal
Hi again.

Brain shocks are basically sensations resembling electric shocks occurring in the head which are reported to frequently occur in those who discontinue selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI), although some have reported this symptom even while taking the said drugs.

SSRI discontinuation syndrome is a condition where several specific symptoms occur after withdrawal of SSRIs or SNRIs. The symptoms include headache, insomnia, dry mouth, dizziness, fatigue, paresthesias, tremors, palpitations, irritability, etc.

Drugs of these classes which are associated with such symptom include sertraline (Zoloft), fluoxetine (Prozac), venlafaxine (Effexor), duloxetine (Cymbalta), paroxetine (Paxil), fluvoxamine (Luvox), escitalopram (Lexapro) and citalopram (Celexa).

It is not impossible for your symptoms to be related to anxiety, and as such, you should try to manage your condition and determine whether your symptoms would resolve with decrease in anxiety. A consult with your counselor would help in managing your anxiety.

Hope this helps.
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Avatar universal
Yes and no: i'm supposed to be on cetalopram, but have been recently quite bad at taking it, because I hate the numb, dead feeling it gives me, but I'm terrified of the anxiety I get when I'm not on it. It's a mental anxiety not a typical anxiety disorder, originally stemmed from a maxalon allergy, and I fear I may be on medication for it the rest of my life, because I took marijuana after I'd been okay for a while (IDIOT), and had a horrible mental breakdown and started almost from scratch again. I'll take it for a while and then skip a few days and then go on it again. Could it be related to my anxiety? Can you tell me what brain shocks are and what's going on inside my head when they happen? It's terrifying, I almost feel as though at any moment I'll be staring at the ceiling. Also whats a SSRI discontinuation syndrome? what are SSRI and SNRI antidepressents for that matter? I know you're probably really busy but I appreciate you taking the time to help me out :-)

-Lizzie
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Avatar universal
Hi.

I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing such symptoms and I do hope they will resolve real soon.

You mentioned having depression. Have you recently discontinued any antidepressant medication which would coincide with appearance of the shock symptoms? If yes, what drug was discontinued? Some antidepressant medications such as SSRIs and SNRIs have been reported to cause brain shocks when the drug is withdrawn, and may be part of an SSRI discontinuation syndrome.

Another possibility is a seizure disorder, although the presentation is an atypical one. It would be premature to consider a brain tumor as causing your condition without any adequate brain imaging studies done.

It would be advisable to consult your physician to determine what may actually be causing the symptoms which you are experiencing.

Hope this helps.

Good luck.
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