Should I be freaking out?
 

Hi all,
For the last couple of weeks I have been experiencing dizzy spells accompanied by what I call "zingers", it compares to the feeling of getting an electrical shock only it involves my whole head and down my arms to my fingertips. I have tapered off and quit lexapro over a month ago, having done a slow two month taper, which I read would be one explaination. The other one I read about is M.S., which is what I don't want to hear at all. I've never had an MRI throughout my PN history, blood work, emgs but never an MRI. If I take half of a 1mg. ativan it quiets the zings for about three hours and they come right back.....I left work early today because every time I move my head or stand up I get zapped pretty good. I also do very poorly in warm/hot weather so this last weekend was very hard on me, sapped my energy and made the dizziness, zingy very pronounced.
I just called my neuro's office to move my appointment up, I was doing so well he didn't want to see me until mid July, the best they can do it June 13th. In the meantime I see my rheumy and my pain & spine doc tomorrow, hopefully one of them can shed some light on this or I'll get into see my primary dr. if I need to. I almost went back on lexapro, but I thought "no, I want less, not more meds in my life" so I have held off.
Anyone out there that can relate this to progression of Pn or anything else? I almost started crying yesterday when I read the M.S. symptoms and then I told myself to knock it off, don't self diagnose (not very good at it anyway!)
Thanks-Janna

Oh Mel, I just read about that little girl the died from a fentanyl overdose, why would anyone do that to a child, my heart is breaking for that little one. Can we make "stupid" a crime?

relax...
 

most likely the Lexapro. If you Google Lexapro withdrawal there are many
stories...detailing how awful this is to come off of.

The serotonin withdrawal can take months.

A 2 month wean is not slow. Try 4 months. That sounds like brain zaps. Not a nice sensation. Try taking a very tiny bit of Lex and see how you feel in about an hour or so. If it helps that's what it is.

Wow, I never ever hard about brain zaps. And withdrawal from Lexapro gives people brain zaps.

I have a friend who just switched from Lexapro to Effexor. The Lexapro (she said), made her so hungry she was eating everything in sight, so she asked her doctor to switch her.

Only she didn't take the Effexor either. She was crying all the time. She just went back on it the other day. She says she feels much better.

She never mentioned any zaps. I gather you have to be off this med for awhile to get brain zaps??

jeez, brain zaps. My lord, what else are people going to have to go through??

P.S. Jannaw, I started a thread about that foster mother who put the patch on that poor child.

NoNoNo!!! LOL! The brain zaps are withdrawal from stopping an SSRI too fast. Like cold turkey and a 'fast' wean off. It's just a descriptive term for what the sensation feels like. Celexa did the same thing to me as Lex did to your friend with the added joy of turning me into a zombie. I was put on Effexor after a year of being off Celexa. For me Effexor was a miracle. It gave me back my life. It was like someone flipped a switch and said, "Here, have 'you' back". BTW, Celexa is the parent drug of Lex. They both have the very same active ingredient. They took the Celexa isomer and split it. They got rid of the part that had the worst of the side effects. That's a matter of opinion if you talk to people that have taken both drugs. :wink:

Thanks for explaining!

Now here's another question. I have heard of lexapro, wellbutrin, trazadone, effexor.

How come no one is on Zoloft anymore???

Thanks much

There are still people taking Zoloft. Just not as many as people taking the newer drugs. Side effects and the fact that the newer drugs work better for more people. Zoloft is one they use for kids/teens when necessary because they have a lot of information on its use. Trazdone is a very old one. That one's been around since...good grief...the 1960's? Trazadone is often given for sleep as well to people with anxiety and depression issues. The newest one on the market, unless I've missed something, is Cymbalta. Cymbalta has the added good side of pain relief for certain conditions.

You are not crazy.....
 

and it's likely NOT MS. But, I gotta ask...Why haven't you had an MRI??? That kind of thing is pretty 'standard' in diagnosing the 'culprit[s]'..
Usually that does rule out the MS rite off the bat...Tho if you have some 'spots'? Recall very carefully if you'd had concussions as a kid or adult for any reason..as they can show up. That's what happened to me and now and then [every 3+ years] I get a new MRI to look for changes..no changes? No problem. Costs a bit but that can be what insurance is for?
IN terms of peace of mind, it is relatively cheap!

As for the BRAIN ZAPS? I have gotten them with my own PN from the get go, both with the rest of the body's zaps. They are disconcerting for sure. I keep doing a Pollyana-ish type of thing and say to myself: Self? Brain Zaps! Body replies: Red Alert! Panic! Self to Body: Well, at least the durned things are working, altho not well. Body: OK I'll try and chill. End of internal conversation. Panic and worry do no good here. Tho they CAN make your eyes wide with a wha?-HA?!

As for withdrawal from meds? IF you are experiencing all these weird things...try and describe them as thoroughly and completely to your docs as possible. Some of us take longer to 'get off' this stuff than others. AND the docs need to know! Please let us know what the docs say... Pulling for you as best as I can without falling over my computer!

:hug::hug:'s and good things! - j

One other thing,
 

If it's not the medication withdrawal causing it, you might have an MRI done of your cervical and thoracic spine. I have a disc in my neck that is rubbing on the nerve. Certain ways I turn my head if I'm all tensed up will give me brain zaps as well as terribly tingly fingers.

Billye

Thanks for all the replies, I think everything said here came up with my rheumy visit today. I told him at the risk of sounding like a "cyberchondriac" the first thing that came to my mind was M.S. He agreed that yes it might be the lexapro and yes it might be M.S., and that at any rate he strongly suspects I have an autoimmune disorder so lets do an MRI and go from there. I think he wasn't very happy to find out my neuro had never ordered one before, even with a diagnosis from my EMG's. He said what I already know that idiopathic should only be named when everything is ruled out, I can remember my neuro saying at my first visit that I could have all kinds of expensive tests and still not have an answer. Knowing what I know now, that an answer might lead to cure, not just managing a condition I should have pressed on, I was so new to this condition and I let alot of treatment options slide.
That said, I think really that it is all about the lexapro, Jarrett, took your advise and popped about 5mg this morning, had an almost zap free day, so I think I will go back on and taper off even more gradually, I remember the neuro telling me every other day was an okay dose because of the long half life.
I then went to my spine/pain dr, sat for 90 minutes but wouldn't walk out since its a three month wait to get in and ended up getting a total stranger who had no idea about me and hadn't even looked at my chart, revolving doored myself out of there, but he did say make sure they include the neck in that MRI, you could have problems there causing these symptoms.
I am glad to be doing this even if it is on Saturday morning of a three day weekend, one more step in the process of elimination, ah the joys of chronic pain!!! Thanks all for the input, it helped me ask the right questions today.