SSRI Zaps

[CrystalB]

Hi all,
I've been on this forum for a few weeks now and have reached my quota of 10 reply posts in order to Post my own question.

I am 39 and have had Anxiety and Panic Disorder for as long as I can remember. In my 20s, I jumped around with different SSRIs, including: Prozac, Paxil, Lexapro, Valium, and Pristiq. I weaned off all of them over the course of a decade because of one main side effect. Neurotransmitter misfires or as Google calls them "brain zaps" or "shivers."

I am now only on Xanax and I started weaning from 4 mg/day down to 2mg/day. That did not last long. My Panic attacks came back with a vengeance. I am currently having daily anxiety and full on or near to full-on panic weekly. I am taking Xanax as needed, which on some days exceeds what I originally took :(

I need help. I think I am going to give an SSRI a try again. Does anyone have any advice on a particular one that may have the least amount of side effects? Also, is anyone familiar with the zaps? Are they dangerous? Maybe it's something I can deal with. I am almost willing, at this point, to deal with any side effect. I am nearing agoraphobia, which I have experienced in my 20s and I don't want to live with that intensity ever again. Thank you for reading.

Crystal

[The Valeyard]

Oh, I have these zaps all the time! I had no idea they were related to SSRIs. I'm on Prozac right now and it happens now and again. It's very disturbing, though. I was under the impression that they're sort of normal for anxiety sufferers.

[Dahila]

My doc tried me on SSri and every kind she put me on was giving me constant panic attack , very high heart beat and high blood pressure

[CrystalB]

Oh, I have these zaps all the time! I had no idea they were related to SSRIs. I'm on Prozac right now and it happens now and again. It's very disturbing, though. I was under the impression that they're sort of normal for anxiety sufferers.

I think it is normal for people on SSRIs. I've also had them early in the morning when all the Xanax is out of my system. From what I researched, it could be a deficiency of Serotonin and our neurons are not receiving it. I don't know how much, if any of that, is accurate.
It is disturbing. But i am willing to put up with them again if it means less panic.

[CrystalB]

My doc tried me on SSri and every kind she put me on was giving me constant panic attack , very high heart beat and high blood pressure

I have had that when starting an SSRI but won't know the benefits until I've been on them for at least 4 weeks. They are definitely not for everyone, though.

[artaud]

Hi all,

I need help. I think I am going to give an SSRI a try again. Does anyone have any advice on a particular one that may have the least amount of side effects? Also, is anyone familiar with the zaps? Are they dangerous?

Crystal

Read here:

http://www.crazymeds.us/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/MedClass/SSRIDiscontinuation

The site has an alternate view on medication. This article and a link on this site to the NIH may help.

[artaud]

Also, an article on Brain Plasticity. Interesting, may ultimately help explain or contribute to the concept of brain zaps.

http://www.learning-knowledge.com/plasticity.html

Excerpt, read the entire article, interesting.

"For the last 40 years, medical science has operated on the understanding that depression is caused by a lack of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that plays a role in just about everything the mind does, thinks or feels. The theory is appealingly simple: sadness is simply a shortage of chemical happiness. The typical antidepressant - like Prozac or Zoloft - works by increasing the brain’s access to serotonin. If depression is a hunger for neurotransmitter, then these little pills fill us up.

Unfortunately, the serotonergic hypothesis is mostly wrong. After all, within hours of swallowing an antidepressant, the brain is flushed with excess serotonin. Yet nothing happens; the patient is no less depressed. Weeks pass drearily by. Finally, after a month or two of this agony, the torpor begins to lift. But why the delay? If depression is simply a lack of serotonin, shouldn’t the effect of antidepressants be immediate? The paradox of the Prozac lag has been the guiding question of Dr. Ronald Duman’s career. Duman says, “Even as a graduate student, I was fascinated by how antidepressants work. I always thought that if I can just figure out their mechanism of action - and identify why there is this time-delay in their effect - then I will have had a productive career.”"

[PanicPhobia]

I have had the zaps, but only when I am coming cold turkey off an SSRI. Never really experienced them while I was taking one as prescribed.

[CrystalB]

Wow, Artaud, thank you for the articles!
It's amazing how the first few pages of a Google search often don't give a multi-perspective on things. I see that the zaps are common in SSRI discontinuation. I was not discontinuing them, but I had reached a dose each time in which my body/mind had built a tolerance AND each time, my doctor(s) recommended increasing the dose. I was too stubborn to. I felt defeated enough being ON meds to begin with. But, at this point in my life, the panic attacks are a carnival ride and I want off. I'm losing my moments...precious days :(

The second article is the first one of its kind I've seen. I wonder about long-term effects that this addition of serotonin does to the brain. It does mention that the hippocampus and region of the brain in depressed people is smaller upon imaging. If that's the case, then is my brain producing enough? It's such a mystery. Prozac seems to have the longest half-life of the SSRIs that I can find. The shorter half life meds tend to cause more side effects, in general.

Thank you for posting. This anxiety and Panic feels like a loud animal wanting the spotlight, yet it is the loneliest of lonely feelings I've ever felt. Here's hoping the New Year brings relief :)

[artaud]

The second article is the first one of its kind I've seen. I wonder about long-term effects that this addition of serotonin does to the brain. It does mention that the hippocampus and region of the brain in depressed people is smaller upon imaging. If that's the case, then is my brain producing enough?

http://m.hopkinsmedicine.org/psychiatry/specialty_areas/brain_stimulation/tms/

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, an alternate form of treatment for depression for people that have not been successful with Antidepressants or that are otherwise intolerant to them. The reason that I mention this is that just like brain plasticity, it's a treatment form not dependent on replacing the Neurotransmitters.

Both are interesting concepts.