No My Brain is Not Cold...discontinuing effexor

I had to do some reading last night on "brain shivers." Perfect mentioned it in her comment on a recent post and I've discussed it with her before.

Effexor is a great drug when you are on it. But weaning on and off can be pure hell. Even missing one dose can send you into the symptoms of withdrawl. The online stuff is pretty scary and intense, so I tried to stay away for awhile. But then I just needed to know how long this will last, and what else to expect.

A few years ago, the manufacturer of Effexor, Wyeth-Ayerst advertised through its labeling that "only drug abusers are at risk of physical and psychological dependence, and withdrawal problems when tapering back or abruptly discontinuing Effexor usage" when in reality, nearly everyone who tapers off or discontinues use, suffers. Online petitions sprung up where patients requested the manufacturer to change their labelling. The current label (most current that I can find) is here and lists symptoms of weaning as agitation, anorexia, anxiety, confusion, impaired coordination and balance, diarrhea, dizziness, dry mouth, dysphoric mood, fasciculation, fatigue, headaches, hypmania, insomnia, nausea, nervousness, nightmares, sensory disturbances (including shock-like electrical sensations), somnolence, sweating, tremor, vertigo and vomiting.

I remember a statement by my doctor when she prescribed this that effexor can be tough to get off. She didn't expect much problem weaning on since I was already on lexapro, but she warned me that coming off needed to be very slow.

By far, the brain shocks (AKA 'sensory disturbances, including shock-like electrical sensations') and tremors are the worst. However, I can include confusion, impaired coordination and balance, dizziness, dry mouth, fatigue, insomnia, nausea, nightmares, sweating, tremor and vomiting to my list of experiences as well.

What are brain shocks? They are also called brain shivers or brain zaps. For me it is like my body moves forward and my brain lags behind about 20 seconds. Then ZAP, my brain catches up and snaps back into place, leaving me dizzy and disoriented. Other people describe it like this -

You turn your head or your whole body but your brain stays put for a micro second, then tries to catch up but only in a stuttering, stopstart motion, accompanied by a staccato 'zzt zzt zzt' with each stop. The 'zzt' you can feel in your head, an electric sort of vertigo, and it often reverberates in your hands and fingers. Some folks feel it in their toes.

I described it as turning your head suddenly and waiting for your brain to catch up. Then it bounces around inside your skull for a while. Also related to "Watermelon Head" when you thump on your head and everything feels like it's full of water.

Brain shivers are an unpleasant experience. I've heard them described as similar to the feeling of someone vomiting inside of your brain. Some people experience a feeling almost like that of an electric shock, the sense of having hit one's funny bone, or like a strobe light pulsing inside of your head. A brain shiver is often followed by a brief but significant sense of vertigo, nausea, disorientation, lightheadedness, and/or ringing in the ears. Brain shivers are brief episodes, usually lasting only several seconds at a time. Although the episodes themselves are brief, the experience of having brain shivers intermittently can last anywhere from several days up to a month. Brain shivers often occur upon either a shifting of one's eyes or any sudden motion of the head. The brain shiver sensation tends to remain primarily in the head but can sometimes begin in the head and radiate downward and outward. Although many doctors are not familiar with this side effect, the clinical terminology used to describe brain shivers includes paresthesia (a fancy word for tingling), electric shock sensations and discontinuation symptoms (a bit of an understatement there, eh?). Brain shivers tend to increase in frequency as the withdrawal time from the antidepressant increases. There is no known danger or consequence of experiencing brain shivers. Brain shivers have also been reported following use of the drugs commonly known as Ecstasy and LSD (which are structurally similar to serotonin). By all accounts, you'll know a brain shiver when you have one. It's not just run-of-the-mill dizziness, but an Electric Kool-Aid Acid kind of vertigo. (Quote from How to Understand Brain Shivers)

For me the brain shivers occur most often with sudden movement. I walk around like an 80 year old woman, trying to move slowly and evenly. In the mornings it is virtually impossible. Morning sickness has hit hard. Running to the bathroom and getting sick. A "sudden shifting of eyes" or "sudden turning of the head" can trigger a brain shiver. Well, you just try to cope with morning sickness without shifting your eyes or head.....ZAP....more nausea, more dizziness, more disorientation. I've not ever taken LSD or ecstasy, but this crap sure beats the worst hangover I've ever had.

The tremors are bad too. They typically kick in between 10 and 11 and then again mid-afternoon. I thought maybe I needed a snack then, but food doesn't seem to help. I look like the world's youngest Parkinson's patient.

Lexapro doesn't seem to be on most lists of the drugs that cause these symptoms upon withdrawl. The lexapro worked fairly well for me. No matter what happens with, during, beyond this pregnancy, I will not be taking this medication again. I'll go back to lexapro or something else. I'd caution anyone else thinking of going on, or going off effexor, to really talk to your medical provider first, and be sure to go into this well-warned and well-armed.