7 replies to this topic

[KayDeDe1982]

Just curious how long it has taken people until the zap disapear? Last time i was cymbalta it took a month. This time who knows. I was on 30mgs for the past yr and a half and now doctor switched me to 10mgs of prozac becasue i can afford cymbalta anymore. Before that i was on effexor for 4 years then straight to cymbalta for another 6months and decided to wean off. Then i had to start again 6 months later becasue of a life changing event. anyway i was reading that brain zaps can be permanent sometimes and that it can cause brain damage. This scares me. Anbody know if this is true? Thanks. :?:

[jeff3298]

Hi Kaydede
For me the brain zaps did not last long. When I went cold turkey they were bad until I went back on Cymbalta and had to do a slow taper and have no had a zap, many other things but thankfully no brin zaps!

Read as much as you can on this website about this drug and the many different ways to fight it. I tried several until I found what worked for me.

Hang in there
I will be praying for you
Jeff

[bellajar]

Something happend to my last message. Mostly, I wanted to say that I got back on Cymbalta TWICE due to the withdrawal. My doctors looked at me as if I were completely whacked when I explained the feeling of being shocked with electrical currents through my head. Though I am sorry for all of you, I am very happy to know that I am not alone & that I am not insane (well, at least not for feeling that I get these zaps in my head).

It's been 2 weeks completely free from Cymbalta & this time it took the full 2 weeks before the zaps came. I'm taking this as a good thing? :? :?

[blueskye]

As someone who experienced brain zaps coming off of both Lexapro and Cymbalta at different times... you are not imaging them (and I am so glad to hear others on this board echoing that... and boy do I know the doctors don't have a clue what you are trying to describe sometimes...) and I can tell you that for me they faded over time. all the sudden one day I woke up and they were gone woot woot... I'm still having them coming off of the cymbalta since it's been fairly recent... and yes they will vary person to person... but some suggestions for along the way:

avoid caffeine like the plague...
Try to get as much sleep as you can... the more tired you are the worse they seem to be
Try to avoid stress as much as you can... same as above
Try to keep your mind occupied with other things... soft music or white noise sometimes will help (Gwar and Pantera on the other hand you might want to save for another time )
If you happen to have something along the lines of a gameboy/DS/ something like that for times that you can't sleep it seems to help my zaps for me to be distracted but i would avoid things like guitar hero (that messes with my eyes on a good day- itll overload your system) and aim for things like clue/battleship/ old school mario bro that you still remember from the old days and could probably play in your sleep )

I have lived for almost ten years with permanent ringing in my ears (had nothing to do with the meds...). It's a lot like the zaps and acts the same way... these things have seemed to help both. I hope maybe it will be somethings that can help you deal with them too. Hang in there

As far as other permanently brain problems... that's hugely up to the person. Have I experienced it... meeeh yeah. It's small things that I have easily learned to deal with (like needing a calculator when I didn't used to... limiting my mega multitasking self to minor multitasking... things like that.) totally livable, it just takes a little adjustment. to be honest I think it is our brain saying "HEY--- YOU SLOW DOWN A LITTLE..." and that is not at all a bad thing. We live in hectic, rushed, time crazed societies no? some times our bodies know best and I actually am somewhat grateful for my long term effects because it has taught me to listen to myself more, and take care of me... and enjoy the good things. I think the long term effects are much more rare than the things like the brain zaps that fade over time... so hang in there... give it some time and do listen to what your body is telling you (even down to what food you are craving... satisfying that craving may or may not help medically but emotionally man... can do wonders, and sometimes it can help medically like when I crave meat. lots of meat... usually I'm anemic and I need the iron. if I am craving milk or ice cream... it never fails i have a sinus infection. It's not 100% reliable- sometimes I just want ice cream cause it sounds good... but deep cravings.. yeah pretty spot on most of the time... then again I consider myself a little odd... feel free to take it as you will )

[kevin71246]

So that's what "WE" call that! (brain zap) I was going completely crazy thinking the brain zaps were caused by allergy medicine I just started taking. I stopped Cymbalta 5 days prior because all of a sudden I got insomnia after about 40 days of taking it. I wanted sleep more than pain relief (I was taking it for 2 blown discs in my back). I kept saying to my wife, I can't believe the allergy medicine is still causing this weird feeling in my head though the last time i took it was 3 days ago! Then I thought I'd look around and found the brain zap descriptions!

Anyways, I'm so glad I'm not the only one out there. I was really afriad I'd have to go back to my doctor and have to explain the brain zap (which is really hard!). I don't want to go back to that @sshole, given he didn't warm me of any of this! I call that neglect on his part.

After 6 days of cold turkey, I decided to go back on it because I was afraid of the permanent damage or issues from going cold turkey. It was difficult with the brain confusion all the time, but I was hoping I could just bare with it then I got scared reading some other posts about cold turkey issues.

I'm going to try weaning off of it my own way since other recommendations won't seem to work for me. I only took it for ~40 days, 30mg and got these withdrawal problems. I'm going to take it for a few days until the confusion goes away and I'm back to "normal". Then I'm going to take it instead of 24 hours, something like every 30 hours, then maybe 36 hours until I'm down to every other day, then soon every few days. Wish me luck!

*Cymbalta Withdrawal: A feeling triggered when you turn your head quickly or move your eyes quickly, or triggered just because. A feeling that last for a second or two, frequency undefined. Like that inability to do anything when you wake up from drinking all night, and can barely stand (for me lasting only a second or 2, frequency everchanging - once every few minutes?). A feeling that makes you want to pass out, or faint, but you are thinking this, not actually doing it. These "feelings" make you not able to concentrate, inability to make decisions (I sat in the Taco Bell drive through for 5 minutes trying to order). A feeling that makes you not want to drive, and maybe not want to go to work because you'll feel like you've been smoking crack all your life. The best way I can say to duplicate the feeling to someone, missing a lot of it though, is to close youre eyes and force your eyes out as hard as you can like youre trying to zoom in on something with your eyes. That pain/pressure is part of this strange feeling - add to that confusion, and like you're about to passout is almost the feeling. The closest word I could find to describe this is vertigo. Vertigo with a kick (and everything I mentioned above). I'm sure everyone is different though

[Lolita]

Exactly, Like difficulty focusing and strain on my eyes. If i turned my head too fast blurred vision and a nasty pain above my right eye.. really unbearable! then if the pain killers got rid of that it would just be a migraine until something (namely stress) brought the pain back again.

[earthmajyk]

I have been off Cymbalta for 2 months, tapered down from 30mg daily after being on it for almost a year. I am still having brain zaps, I'm starting to think that they may be permanent. They aren't as frequent as when I first started tapering and I do notice them more when I am stressed or overly tired.

[Houdi]

Earthmajyk:

I really hope your 'brain zaps' are not permanent. Most of us that have had lingering withdrawal symptoms have noticed that we have had one or two annoying withdrawal symptoms that will subside eventually. You'll start noticing them less and less, then you'll figure out over time they are gone. But for the lingering symptom, it just keeps up long enough that one feels it will last forever. The visual and balance disturbances caused by cymbalta withdrawal or brain zaps seem to be VERY annoying!

Like you, I found I really needed a ton of sleep during my withdrawal, and for months after. It was wonderful to be able to sleep well, and I took great advantage of that. I could not nap during the day like I used to. Still can't, but boy do I need my beauty sleep at night. I get soooo tired!

Best of wishes....Houdi