2 replies to this topic

[WarmGingerTea]

I've been on cymbalta few years for migraine management; it seems to have helped, but I'm also past the perimenopause /menopause period that probably contributed - along with a bout of west nile virus - to the increased migraines. Are the "brain zaps" some of you talk about like what is often called an icepick headache? A sharp stabbing pain that feels like it's deep in the brain, lasts a few seconds, sometimes recurs a couple of times, then goes away? Or is this some other new delight I can look foward to ? THANKS - glad to find the forum.

[Sapphires13]

I've been on cymbalta few years for migraine management; it seems to have helped, but I'm also past the perimenopause /menopause period that probably contributed - along with a bout of west nile virus - to the increased migraines. Are the "brain zaps" some of you talk about like what is often called an icepick headache? A sharp stabbing pain that feels like it's deep in the brain, lasts a few seconds, sometimes recurs a couple of times, then goes away? Or is this some other new delight I can look foward to ? THANKS - glad to find the forum.

The brain zaps are like a slight electric shock inside your head that only lasts a second or two, but can happen over and over. The best way I can describe it is like that uncomfortable feeling of pressure you get in your nose when you really have to sneeze, and can't. But a little more intense, and in your head, not your nose. They seem to happen more often with sudden movement. They can happen anytime you're on the medication, but are guaranteed to happen if you miss a dose, or are several hours late taking it.

[MaureenV]

I've been on cymbalta few years for migraine management; it seems to have helped, but I'm also past the perimenopause /menopause period that probably contributed - along with a bout of west nile virus - to the increased migraines. Are the "brain zaps" some of you talk about like what is often called an icepick headache? A sharp stabbing pain that feels like it's deep in the brain, lasts a few seconds, sometimes recurs a couple of times, then goes away? Or is this some other new delight I can look foward to ? THANKS - glad to find the forum.

What Sapphires has already said.

The way i would have described them is like a hiccup inside your head, combined with the zap you can get from carpet, car doors etc. Mine only happened once I started withdrawing from the drug, and were the last (obvious) symptom to disappear each time I reduced the dose. When the brain zaps disappeared, I knew it was time to do another reduction.

I've had that sort of ice=pick pain, and no, nothing resembling it. No pain involved for me at all. Mine would have ranged from (at mildest) several a day to (at worst) many, many hundreds per day, if not more. They would happen sometimes three a second. Not the worst feeling in the world, but certainly unpleasant, and VERY distracting.


regards, Maureen.