Posted by Patient on August 7, 2003, at 10:48:19
In reply to Sounds in your head » Patient, posted by Sleepy Susan on August 6, 2003, at 10:33:50
Hi,
This sound I hear, which another person told me said it was like sandpaper rubbing together, is a different experience for each individual. Some hear sounds, some see flashes of light, some have sensations described as their brain bouncing off the sides of their skull. And, not everyone experiences this. This sensation is usually experienced when one reduces their dosage, or, and especially, when they stop taking the medicine. For me it always happened from about 4-7 days after stopping Celexa--this drug being the one I've gone cold turkey on several times in the past, besides Zoloft, but it did not occur with Zoloft discontinuation. It didn't occur when I went straight from one drug to another. The only time it happened when I went from one drug to another was from 20mg Celexa to 150mg Wellbutrin SR.
I must say I do remember that this sound did occur a few times a day, not only at night-er, bad memory problems :{ -especially on the 4th day, and I could tell when it was going to occur for I could also sense a feeling in my head-strange! Anyway, I wasn't startled about it because I knew it was the infamous "brain bounce" that some experience when discontinuing one of the SSRI's or Effexor. Maybe it occurs with Remeron, Serzone, and Wellbutrin as well. I do know that Wellbutrin and SSRI antidepressants work differently, so going from Celexa to Wellbutrin could have still resulted in withdrawal symptoms from Celexa. Also, when I switched from Celexa to Wellbutrin, within a few days I began having very disturbing dreams that would startle me and cause me to sit up in bed with a gasp. I didn't like that. Celexa already caused me to have vivid dreams, but these dreams were terrible. I've heard of many Celexa patients having vivid disturbing dreams while taking drug, as well as people begin having vivid dreams/nightmares after discontinuing one of the SSRI and Effexor.
As to whether it goes away, it did for me after I went back on another SSRI. I tried to quit taking Celexa (as well as Zoloft) to see how I would do without any drugs in my body, and what resulted was severe anxiety, crying bouts, strong mood swings, irritability, anxiousness, anger outbursts, depression, elation, hyper-sexuality (it was very easy for me to orgasm, and I even had orgasms in my sleep-strange, but not a bad discontinuing effect!); each time I discontinued medicine I went through such a horrible return of my old-self tenfold that I HAD to go back on drug, this was usually within 2 to 3 weeks of discontinuing medicine. The sounds in my head did start to diminish, and of course went away when I started taking drug again. There are some people that experience these sensations for months after discontinuing drug, so it is an individual experience in how long it takes to go away. I can say that I've never heard of anyone having these brain sensations for more than a year.
I think that eating healthy, and taking a qualtiy vitamin/mineral complex with a high ratio of the B vitamins is always a good idea to help one get over this, especially the B vitamins as they are needed for proper brain function. Qualtiy protein is important for brain function as well, which is why I take Nutritional yeast, for I don't get enough protein in my diet. I would suggest Nutritional yeast or Brewer's yeast (nutritional yeast tastes better) for anyone discontinuing their medicine, or even while taking an antidepressant.
I think that covers it, I probably wrote another chapter..... ; ]
poster:Patient
thread:247789
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030807/msgs/248938.html