A Member Talks About "Brain Shivers"
Saturday August 14, 2004
I really appreciate your research on “brain shivers”. My father and I have both taken different anti-depressants and have both suffered at different times from brain shivers. I was excited to see that other people have also experienced this strange phenomenon. I would like to note, however, that when both of us were taking Celexa
, we experienced very painful brain shivers. I am now taking Effexor, and the brain shivers seem to have lessened slightly in degree of pain and number. It’s not something that is connected only to Effexor. For me, they happen more when I’ve forgotten to take my anti-depressant (whatever it may be at the time), so it must be some kind of withdrawal symptom, but they’ve also happened when I’ve taken my medication on time. I had horrible, debilitating brain shivers with Celexa – and I never knew when they were going to happen. I wonder if it’s some type of minor seizure – it’s worth looking in to.
In my experience, it’s a shooting pain that starts at the top of my head and shoots through my entire body, down through my arms and fingertips mainly – but also through my legs. It’s like constant pulses of pain that can go on for hours. They feel like they’re right under my skin, and also into my muscles. I can also feel them in my throat.
I also experienced them when I took Paxil.
I just wanted to let you know as it seems like you’ve blamed mainly only Effexor.
--Sasie74
Comments
I experienced these “shivers” when tapering off of Effexor XR. They were not painful and almost always occurred as I was falling asleep. It resembled something like a vibration/tingling inside my head. A few quick little buzzes. It didn’t alarm me and I almost made an immediate connection that it was part of the tapering off experience. My advice is to very gradually taper off the dosage over several weeks to limit this. After completely stopping the medication, these “shivers” resolved within about three weeks time. Never was I scared with them. It was far less alarming for me in contrast to the anxiety state I was in prior to going on the Effexor XR for 3 years. Those feelings of panic were much more disconcerting than any of the side effects of the drug.
I was also relieved when I find out these shivers were the effects of withdrawel from Paxil(and other SSRI’s)I am suprised that the drugs don’t have this listed as a side effect on the pamplets that come with them. The shivers I have are all in my head, not in my body. I get hit when I turn my head. I get the “shock” and my vision skews for a split second. I also get a “ring” in my head. I can minimize this by focusing on whatever is front of me when I do look in a different direction. If I am not focusing, mentally and visually, on what I am doing, they are constant. I have decided to give up on Paxil and see if I can make it on my own. Hopefully, these shivers won’t last long.
Thank God that I am not alone in this. I have had this for years while on celexa. I would take it in the morning but around 7pm I would start getting the shocks in my head and body. When I turned my head it would do it also. No headaches. I just NOw found out that it is called brain shivers. I would call it little shocks or even spasms. Nobody would understand. I felt so alone.
I’m taking 10mg of escilatopram every day for anxiety, and my first experience with these brain shivers was when my house was robbed while I was sleeping, and they took all my remaining medication (along with a bunch of other stuff). I (wrongly) assumed that it would be okay waiting a day to buy another box, but after going about halfway through the first day with no medication, I started getting these really wierd sensations localized in my brain, and nowhere else. It felt like, for a split second my mind was turned inside out. It happened whenever I turned my head or exhaled sharply and always when I least expected it. It wasn’t painful or unpleasant but it was very unnerving, as I didn’t know what was happening, and at first I thought I was having a stroke or something horrible was happening in my brain, but near the end of the day the penny dropped that it was my medication giving me withdrawal symptoms, and sure enough, as soon as I started taking them again, all was well. I suffer no side effects while I regularly take the drug, and it has improved my quality of life considerably, but the withdrawal is a very weird experience…
Yes even now idk why im taking effexor xr and im getting kinda of brain shivers and tingling senstions on my head and hot senstions. Iam 16 and was was diagonsed with social anxiety disorder , and i have been taking effexor xr for 4 days and im scared with all these things im hearing about this drug i seriously want to talk 2 my doctor and tell him iw want to get off effexor xr and maybe take bettah blockers instead , because these symptoms are scaring me.