What exactly is a brain zap's' ? Does it only happen if ur coming off an antide!
Question:
What exactly is a brain zap's' ? Does it only happen if ur coming off an antidepressant or?
if the meds stop working - from taking them 4 a long time ?
Tnx 4 ur help.
Answers:
The answers to the other question are incorrect; "brain zaps" are NOT the result of serotonin syndrome. Serotonin syndrome is a rare, life-threatening adverse drug reaction, and is a form of poisoning. Brain zaps are not among the symptoms of serotonin syndrome.
"Brain zaps" are a withdrawal symptom experienced during discontinuation (or reduction of dose) of SSRI and SNRI antidepressant drugs. They may also be experienced while the person is actually taking the prescribed medication, and can continue for years after withdrawal from the medication.
The experience is hard to describe if you've never had one, but brain zaps basically feel like a sudden "jolt," or an electric shock, which is followed by a few minutes of light-headedness and disorientation. Physiologically, a "brain zap" is a wave-like electrical pulse that quickly travels across the surface of the brain.
Brain zaps only occur when withdrawing from SSRI and SNRI antidepressants that have an extremely short elimination half-life; that is, they are more quickly metabolized by the liver and leave the general circulation faster than longer half-life antidepressants. This attribute of abruptness leaves the brain a relatively short time to adapt to a major neurochemical change when the medication is stopped, and the symptoms may be caused by the brain's attempt at readjustment.
There is no current evidence that brain zaps present any danger to the patient experiencing them; however they can be very disconcerting to those patients whom have no prior warning or knowledge of them.