Withdrawal and brain shivering increased anxiety

[AliSa05]

I have recently 7 weeks ago come off my antidepressant medication cold turkey basically and at that time also started a new one. I am still experiencing what I would best describe as brain shivers along with body shivers at the same time. I also feel like I have a tightness in the chest most of the time like the onset of panic attack, the most severe I have ever felt. I’m starting to feel down at the fact I’m still experiencing these symptoms as they are really effecting my life, also the lack of acknowledgement from my psychiatrist and gp who tell me this shouldn’t be happening after this time frame of 7 weeks off. Basically I wonder what the hell is happening to me have I sustained some form of perm. Brain damage?

[monkey_magic]

Hi Alisa05,

Gee, I hope not. It sounds scary. And disheartening not being able to get answers from the professionals. Perhaps give the drug company a call and see if they have anything to say about it.

Unfortunately we aren't given all the answers about these drugs and we are like guinea pigs testing them out and react differently to them.

Ive heard of people having spasms. I think they could be spasms.

Sorry you've had this experience. I too have had bad effects from their drugs.

Hopeful the shivers will ease in severity for you.

Here to listen if u want to continue talking.

♡☆♡☆~~

[blondguy]

Hi AliSa05...(and a wave to Monkey Magic for her support!)

Welcome and good on you for having the courage to write your thread too!

I understand AD's as this is my 23rd year on SSRI's and they have worked well (for me)

Can I ask why you stopped your meds cold turkey? It will help me answer your thread question more effectively

The forums are a safe and judgement free place for you AliSa05.....Your privacy and well being are paramount

Just from my experience your feelings seem to resemble some awful anxiety....especially after coming off the 1st meds cold turkey....these feelings would be common...subject to your doc's opinion of course

you are not alone....I hope you can post back when its convenient for you AliSa05 🙂

my kind thoughts

Paul

[Nurse_Jenn]

Hi AliSa05,

Sorry to hear you are experiencing so much discomfort. This must be really getting to you after 7 weeks especially if your Doctors aren’t taking you seriously. There is something called ‘Antidepressant Discontinuation Syndrome’ that you could read about. I don’t have experience with it personally but there are some people who struggle for longer periods coming off Antidepressants and this has been acknowledged by some health professionals under this syndrome though it is not fully understood. It might be worth a discussion with your psychiatrist.

It might be a suggestion to follow up with your Doctor again and make sure you get a good physical health screening. I always recommend people to follow their instincts on reaching out for more support if they feel that they need it. During any treatment change it is normal to be in closer contact with your treating medical team.

You are definitely not alone as MM and BlondGuy have said already. Please continue to reach out if you need to as many people on this forum have had experiences with medication withdrawal.

Wishing you the best possible outcome,

Nurse Jenn

[Guest_9467]

This is something i have had many times in the past .

In laymans terms when you take these meds they help your brain to use the chemical more. so when you quit and more so cold turkey then your brain is left without their help and sort of goes into shock. Over time the brain will start to relearn to do its job without the meds helping . It can take some time , it seems to be a personally thing and often depends on how long someone was taking the meds to start with .

It is also very common to be dismissed by doctors that do not understand that it is not withdrawals but adjustment in the brain of not having the meds helping it .

It is also common in illegal drugs also and as i mentioned it seems to be that each person is different .

[music_man]

Hi AliSa05,

I'm so sorry that you're having to go through this. This is exactly what happened to me. My GP was grossly negligent and took me off my anti depressants far too quickly.

I experienced everything that you're describing and then some. I have never been so sick in my life. My GP refused to take any form of responsibility for his negligence. Monkey Magic mentioned people having spasms. Absolutely, I had them for months. It was terrifying.

You're not alone AliSa05, there are a lot of people suffering through this 😞 One of the biggest helps for me has been several online forums specifically dealing with this. I'm not sure if i'm allowed to name them or post links on here, i'll check the rules and get back to you.

Hang in there

Jez

[AliSa05]

I really appreciate the posts on here to my question. It is reassuring knowing others have been through it and it eventually gets better.

Having seen my psychiatrist again, he believes it is somatic symptoms of anxiety, in no way any form of withdrawal. I just find that difficult to believe when I’ve suffered anxiety my whole life and never had anything like this until I started coming off.

i guess I’m just looking for reassurance that it is not going to last forever!!! 8-9 weeks off now and still getting it which is just frustrating the hell out of me.

[AliSa05]

Thanks for answering! I quit cold turkey as it was what my psychiatrist told me to do. I didn’t do any research at the time and I trusted his advice. The reason I stopped it was because I was having ongoing problems with side effects so he decided to change it.

[blondguy]

Hi AliSa05!

Great to have you as part of the forum family and thanks for posting back too 🙂

The side effects can be a pain sometimes....I understand....and especially after your psych recommended you quit cold turkey as well. Nurse Jenn mentioned in her post above about following up with your doctor. This is an excellent move as it also provides you with someone you can discuss your feelings with. Anxiety symptoms do decrease over time. Just for myself I refused meds for a few years and my anxiety became worse...oops!

The meds are never a fix all...They do provide us with a solid foundation on which we can heal more effectively using our GP or psych on a frequent basis 🙂

Any questions are always welcome!......there is no such thing as a dumb question on the forums

No one will judge you here as there are so many of us that have been in a similar position

I hope you are doing reasonably okay AliSa05!

my kind thoughts for you

Paul

[AliSa05]

Hi there. Thankyou for responding. As I’m now a few more weeks in to being off the medication and still getting these symptoms I’m wondering if you could tell me how long it took for your symptoms to go away? I know everyone is different, I guess I’m clutching at the hope that they will eventually go. It really worries me to hear some stories of these symptoms not disappearing.

thankyou