I have been on various SSRI’s and currently still use Sertraline 200 mgs for about 18 yrs.
I have also been prescribed and tried on a wide variety of prescription medications for hormonal imbalances, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ADD (Stimulants) and many other medications for a vast variety of medical conditions for quite a long time now. What I want to hear about is those “Brain Zaps” that I have noticed from time to time whenever the half life of the SSRI begins to wear off. It is such a wierd feeling and I know I am not the only one who experiences this because I have read a little bit about it on the web somewhere. I am not a brain scientist but I wonder why this type of drug (Antidepressant/SSRI) creates these types of “Zap like” effects, which I can literally and physically “Feel” zapping inside my skull. I have never experienced anything like this with any other of the wide variety of meds that I have taken over the years. The layman that I am only knows so much about “Receptor molecules” “Dentrite’s, Vesicles, Axons, and nerve impulses and Neurotransmitters” in the brain, but I was wondering if anyone else on this site would like to open up a little discussion or share any similar experience to break in this new Forum subject, if this is the appropriate place for this subject ? I haven’t posted anything lately because I had a minor set back in my energy levels and health due to a surgery in April, which was traumatic for me and stressful. It also seems as though other members on this site have slowed down also with regard to new and ongoing topics to discuss, so I just thought I would see if anyone else would like to comment on these so called “Brain Zaps” ??? For me, whenever I feel them, I know that I need to take my Sertraline ASAP. After I take it, the ZAPS go away in about 1 hour or so. To me they feel like a Straw Broom being brushed along my skull and when I get up and walk, at times I feel as if I am walking in a “Shutter Speed” mode, which is to say for example when we see those sports photographers shooting pictutres of tennis players etc…. and the camera shoots a frame repeatedly, like every half second or so. It is a very uncomfortable experience for me, so I simply can and do avoid it by taking my medications as prescribed at a regular time so as not to allow the half life if the medication to begin to diminish further. It has been awhile since I have felt these wierd ZAPS! because I have learned to avoid them, but maybe there is someone out there who is feeling similar “Electrical Brain Zaps” and perhaps thinks that they are the only one feeling them ?
OK, I’m done. I’ll be checking to see if anyone replies. Geno