I can't really find much to complain about, honestly; I'm doing alright. They've actually gone ahead and scaled back my Qitapin—just 50mg in the afternoon and again at night—and they've cut my Normabest down to just once in the evening. It’s a bit of a struggle for me, though, because I've grown quite fond of it. 😁
As someone who's pretty much addicted to these things, I think I'm going to have a hard time sticking to just one Normabest a day.
Anthony Lopez8 said:I suspect we are dealing with several distinct phenomena here. Generally speaking, brain zaps are internal experiences that aren't visible to an observer, whereas physical twitching is quite apparent. Have you ever reached for a car door handle and felt that sharp, sudden jolt of static electricity? Imagine a sensation much like that, only localized deep within your skull—and in more severe instances, radiating through your entire body—accompanied by a brief moment of disorientation or dizziness.
Man, that sounds like an absolutely miserable thing to go through.🙂
I still can't quite wrap my head around what people mean when they talk about that "brain zap" sensation. If I had to guess, I'm wondering if it's that sudden, uncontrollable twitching you get in your head, arms, or legs... because that's certainly what I've been experiencing lately. Is that what it actually is?
Anthony Lopez8 said:Look, Effexor isn't inherently bad. For many people, it’s been a significant lifeline. Even I felt a certain level of improvement—moving from feeling "suicidal" to merely feeling "average"—and during those first few weeks, I didn't suffer any major side effects, which is certainly a positive thing.
However, I was on 300mg for a year and a half, and no revolutionary miracle occurred for me. For instance, everyone claims that Effexor is stimulating, yet even while on it, I could sleep through a hurricane for 16 hours straight without a second thought. To be perfectly honest, I have cycled through various medications and therapies, and several doctors (both implicitly and explicitly) have concluded that I am nearly treatment-resistant, so this isn't solely an issue with Effexor itself. 😬
What is definitively BAD about Effexor, though, is the tapering process. I attempted to step down gradually from 300mg, reducing the dose slightly every single week, but even that did nothing to protect me from withdrawal symptoms. Throughout the entire period, I dealt with headaches, nausea (to the point of vomiting), vertigo, and of course, those ubiquitous "brain zaps." It was all somewhat manageable until this week, when I dropped from a mere 18.75mg (yes, eighteen!) down to zero. The intensity of these symptoms has spiked significantly; occasionally, I feel as though I am losing control over my own body, or I'm broken out in cold sweats. Interestingly, my mental state remains relatively stable, despite having discontinued all medication—in my case, those horrific suicidal periods tend to alternate quite randomly with more tolerable phases...
Another issue is that for a specific subset of people, Effexor leaves lasting consequences. Some develop serious chronic issues, while others can't shake those "brain zaps" even a full year after stopping. If you bother to search online, you'll find a massive number of such accounts. In this current withdrawal phase, for example, I've developed something that resembles exercise-induced asthma (which I discovered is indeed possible as an extremely rare withdrawal symptom). This was quite shocking to me, considering I've been an athlete most of my life and have never had breathing issues before. 🤷
P.S. I am still a woman. 😛
So, what exactly are these "brain zaps" you mentioned?
Anthony Lopez8 said:I am still waiting to see if anyone actually has anything substantive to contribute to this discussion. Is it truly too much to ask for a coherent thought instead of more mindless repetition?
Effexor is often labeled as a "heavy hitter," but honestly, I wouldn't recommend jumping straight into it unless you are in an absolutely dire situation or have already exhausted every other possible avenue. Take that advice from someone who is currently in the final, grueling stages of cutting that substance out of my life—a process that is, quite frankly, physically agonizing. Let me be perfectly clear: once I am through this, I have no intention of ever touching it again during future crises, even if it feels like my last resort. 🙂
@Anthony Lopez8 could you tell me why you feel Effexor is so terrible? Why would you never take it again even if things were at their absolute worst? How long were you actually on it? And what kind of crisis are we talking about when it comes to coming off of it? I'm currently on 150mg XL, and honestly, I plan to stay on it for the rest of my life if necessary because it practically brought me back from the dead.
If you don't mind, could you please elaborate on those points?
Justin Rogers5 said:Strong?? My boyfriend's dad is on it and he’s basically singing its praises. He used to be a total shut-in, but now he’s out there building his own scaffolding and repainting the whole house by himself. No joke. I don't know who to believe anymore.
I have a cousin who went through something similar after starting Effexor; he's suddenly out and about all the time, and he barely sleeps anymore. It’s like he’s become a completely different person, though maybe in a positive way.
Anthony Lopez8 said:That’s a question I’d love to have answered myself. Every time I read a news report about someone—usually by complete accident—dying from mixing benzos and booze, I find myself wondering how on earth they manage to pull that off. During one particular suicidal episode, I washed down two entire bottles of Xanax with a bottle of vodka, and the only outcome was waking up two days later face-down in my own vomit. 😕 🤷 😂
There’s just no way! You would’ve been dead. Unless your memory is failing you, do you even realize what a bottle of vodka and two boxes of Xanax actually entails?!
I suspect you must have downed a massive amount of vodka, or maybe you just happen to have an incredibly high tolerance for Xanax. I’m genuinely curious though... which Xanax were you taking? What was the dosage in milligrams?
By the way, I guess you ever wonder what actually takes out those famous rock stars? Some succumb to pure stimulants, sure, and others to various combinations, but more often than not, it seems to be a cocktail of morphine-based painkillers mixed with far too much Xanax and alcohol.
What I mean is, most of them were likely cycling through antidepressants and benzodiazepines—things like Valium or Ativan—all at once. It feels like everyone here is following a similar script, taking at least one anxiolytic alongside an antidepressant.🙂
If I take 100mg of Seroquel in the evening, I always—and I mean always—sleep right through until about 1:00 PM, much like 😁. I'll try setting an alarm for 10:00 AM, but even that isn't enough to actually get me moving; it just kind of jolts me awake for a moment before I drift right back into a deep sleep. Getting up any earlier feels like a total impossibility. It honestly takes me at least an hour just to feel remotely human again.🙂
slybison45 said:reading some posts here and I honestly can't believe what people are saying 🙄 seriously though, has anyone ever considered that life might actually be possible without all those pills? once you start thinking a specific medication helped you, you just build this mental image that they're necessary... that's exactly what psychiatrists want, to get you to accept being "sick" and fall in love with your meds, while ignoring how much damage they're actually doing to your body
I have a buddy who works in pharma, and he gave me the real scoop on how the industry works. Honestly, psychiatrists couldn't care less if you actually get better or not. Their job is just to write the script because they're basically just agents for big pharma lobbyists...
quick question—what's the actual liability for a psychiatrist if they keep forcing certain drugs on a patient, causing real physical harm even after the patient tries explaining how bad it feels? what happens next? say the patient refuses the pills because they're genuinely endangering their health, but the doctor won't listen and threatens to call the cops to have them forcibly committed for "non-compliance"🙄🙄🙄 are psychiatrists protected by the law even if their "treatment" methods end up seriously damaging a patient's health or, in the worst case, causing death? looking for an expert answer here, because it feels like they won't be happy until they've killed the patient🙄🙄🙄
how low did we sink as a society, letting a literal cult be recognized as doctors for mental illness? if they were real doctors, they could prove everything empirically like everyone else, but they never will. any diagnosis a psychiatrist makes could be challenged if there were different standards in society. like, why aren't hagiotherapists more respected than psychiatrists? would love a real, complete answer to that one, since it ties into so many different interests and things
Still, I suppose some people just want to keep taking certain medications for the rest of their lives. During a recent visit to my doctor, I remember seeing a man in his 60s who was absolutely livid because they had "just decided" to stop his Xanax. He kept insisting that he'd been taking it for twenty years and that the doctors were entirely to blame for him becoming dependent on it; he demanded they give him that exact Xanax because his body was specifically tuned to it. In the end, the doctor just gave in, realizing the old man was a deeply entrenched Xanax addict, and that was that.
It's a sad situation, really. But the man likely wasn't even aware that he had become a severe addict who actually needs a rehabilitation program; though at his age, I guess going through withdrawal is a daunting prospect... and there are so many people out there just like him.
It seems like everyone was drifting in and out of consciousness on Zeldox, barely staying awake—honestly, I think I was in the exact same boat. But I've finally stopped taking that garbage.
George Allen71 said:I was on Zeldox for about two weeks... I was prescribed it to replace Zyprexa because the side effects from that were just devastating... But Zeldox? It completely drained my life force... I’d show up to work at eight, and by nine, I was heading straight back home to sleep... I couldn't even keep my eyes open; I spent the entire time sleeping, and whenever I actually was awake... I felt like a walking corpse.
I was also prescribed Lamictal as a stabilizer, but I find the whole thing a bit strange. The very first time I received it, they started me right away on the 200 mg dose. From talking to other people, I've heard they start much lower, like at 50 mg... so I don't quite understand why my psychiatrist jumped straight to such a high dose of 200 mg for me? It feels a little odd.
I'm also curious about what everyone thinks regarding AT&T. I've been taking Elise for over a year now, at 2 AM. I've noticed that I am still feeling incredibly depressed, especially lately. I just cry so, so much. I underwent psychological testing last week, and they didn't even indicate a depressive shift. It feels to me like that AT&T should be working a bit better to suppress the crying and this general state. Is it necessary to switch the AT&T?
Everything you described regarding the Zeldox... I think I experienced the exact same thing. Way back when I first started, I was on Elise and it seemed fine, but eventually, it just stopped helping because Elise is one of those weaker antidepressants. So, my therapist recommended a more potent option—one of the heavy hitters, 150mg XL, Valtrex! They suggested it to me. I've been on it for over six months now, and life doesn't feel nearly as depressing anymore.🙂
If I were you, I might suggest trying a stronger antidepressant.
Larry Lewis said:What on earth are you talking about? Since I started on Seroquel, I've actually dropped over 15 pounds—though, admittedly, I've been running quite a bit. For me, it was Zeldox that absolutely wrecked my stomach.
I guess I had a similar experience with Zeldox; it absolutely destroyed me, to the point where I could barely even walk. But then again, I don't exactly go out for runs while on it, which I suppose is the main difference. If you really want to shed some weight, nothing beats running, I suppose.
I’m being incredibly careful about my weight, really watching what I eat, yet I seem to be gaining pounds regardless. It’s been happening ever since I started taking Seroquel, and the packaging explicitly lists weight gain as a side effect.🙂 It feels like I’m forced to go out for a run every single day just to maintain my current weight rather than actually losing anything at all. It’s honestly exhausting.