After taking Celexa for a few months, I stopped cold turkey, a few years ago. (I know this is a bad idea.) I had the zaps/shocking feeling for a couple of months.
I still get the zaps every now and again, probably unrelated though.
Yes, it’s the same doctor (the psycharist) who ordered me to stop. She said it is bad to be dependent on it for my job (which is high stress profile). I would try to get a second opinion in the meanwhile before I can meet with her (she’s in the public hospital, and in Singapore, there seems to be a shortage of public practioners. I have to wait till Dec for her first avaliable booking). She said it’s time for me to use therapy instead of mediciation to manage my anxiety.
I was planning to cold turkey, but I guess I better not. Her advice is only to take it when necessary and reduced the dosage to maximum 50mg per day. (I was on maxomim 100mg per day)
This may be shocking to some, but I have been Xanax for almost 6 years, throughout enlistment in national services, and throughout university. I brought up the possibility of weaning off Xanax during my studies and her advice was not to “for you may jerpodalize your grades.” I agree with her, but I guess as with all things, I have to pay the price sooner or later. I see if I could get to a doc this evening.
Effexor, Lamictal, Seroquel. All at once and cold turkey. This was not my doctor’s idea. My doctor kept on wanting to add medications. The more medication was added, the worse it got. Finally, I came to the conclusion that the majority of my problem was dissatisfaction with my life, and stress from a marriage that was falling apart, and so I decided to quit the meds cold turkey, brave the withdrawal, and get back to work so that I could move out and get divorced.
This was phenomenally fucking stupid. Lamictal is an anti-convulsive as well as a mood stabilizer. I’m lucky I didn’t have a seizure–other than that, no side effects. Going off the Seroquel meant that I didn’t sleep for almost three days, though that quickly resolved.
Going off the Effexor, however. . .well, there’s a little something called a “brain zap.” If you’ve never had one, it’s impossible to imagine. If you have, you realize that that phrase is exactly perfect. Ditto “brain shiver.” I had them for about two to three weeks. At the worst–which was only a day or two–moving around, moving my eyes and turning my head all caused them. It. Was. Hell.
And after it, I felt a hell of a lot better. But I was still an idiot, and should have spoken to my doctor, if only to have them map out a plan for me.
Long term–it’s been over two years–I feel a lot better. I developed anxiety issues while on the meds, and those went away. My ability to think dramatically improved, and the mild aphasia I’d been experiencing–which was the side effect that was the last straw–cleared up over the course of a month or so.
I’m still a moody person. I was when I was on the meds, and I was before the meds. That’s just how I am. The medication was, in my case, akin to dousing a controlled burn with gasoline.
I went off Lexapro cold turkey. Didn’t phase me a bit.
I was on a low dose, though, so that may have been why. Plus I wasn’t on it very long.
Effexor, quit twice, once cold turkey, the other time tapered off usage. Cold turkey was one of THE worst experiences I ever had in my life. Brain zaps, insomnia, auditory hallucinations, and the sincere and earnest belief that I was dying. I spent two days curled in a ball because moving was out of the question, and about a week and a half after having brain zaps any time I moved too quickly or there was a sudden change in lighting. The second time, tapering off, was not as bad, but there were still occasional zaps and ear ringing, and my anxiety level was through the roof.
Incidentally, I don’t think I ever really needed to be on the medication in the first place. The reason I was so damned depressed was because I was miserable in my marriage and full of denial about it. The effexor didn’t really help - it just made me less passionate about everything. After my divorce, I weaned off the meds, and have been free of them for a year an a half and haven’t been depressed at all (well, once I got over the shock of the divorce). I really wish my psychiatrist had just talked me into a divorce instead of prescribing meds for the last 3 years of my marriage. They did more harm then good in my case.
When I quit Cipralexa cold turkey, I had those brain zaps too, for a couple of months. For me, they felt awesome though. Like a brain orgasm every half hour.
Finally got to a doctor go come back. He suggested that going from 1mg to 0.25mg each day is too drastic, and suggest I stick to 0.5mg for two weeks, then 0.25mg for two weeks, before quitting it all together. Also got something to help me sleep. Feel so much better now - at least someone with the right knowledges told me how to wean it off.
How many pills in your prescription, and what dosage? If she prescribed it to you for rare occasions (e.g. long flights) and that is how you are taking it, you likely have no cause to worry.
ETA Oops, forget that. Didn’t realize you were also the OP.