Electric/Energy surge to brain when trying to fall asleep.

Hi everyone!! I'm a 26 year old female. I have been on and off anxiety medicine for the last 6 years. I get these exact symptoms and I know they are related to SSRI withdrawals because they always seem to happen as soon as I ween off a medication. I too get the "brain zaps" like an electric shock to the brain, then I get twitchy &sometimes even my leg or arm will jolt up. I have some joint pain which I'm not sure if that's related and my fair share of dizziness. The "brain zaps" happen throughout the entire day, all the rest of my symptoms seem to get worse in the evening /night time. It's so frustrating. It makes me anxious to go out and do anything because I'm afraid my body & brain will start acting up. I've had multiple tests done, scans, Mris and blood drawn and the only solution the docs ever seem to have is to go back on an antidepressant. I don't want to be medicated my whole life but that seems to be the only way out of these symptoms. So frustrating but so happy a lot of you can relate so now I don't feel so alone. Thanks for reading

Angie

i have had these several times during my youth i can even just thing i want one and instant brain shock.

i am 64yrs old now no drugs or drinks.

Hi,

I know this is an older post but I've been searching around because of the same thing. Did you ever find out what it is?

I no specialist but I think it's normal since..well..maybe not XD but I get the same feeling. I though I was the ONLY one! Lol sorry if I can't help

I started having these happen to me when I was little, I can remember trying to fall asleep and I'd be so tired and sleep deprived that it would cause these "brain zaps" to happen. Being as young as I was I did have an abnormally amount of stress and anxiety in my life.

It wasn't until high school when I began to get addicted to drugs that I realized what these "brains zaps" we're coming from. I was doing a lot of MDMA (ecstasy) one summer and when I say a lot I mean A LOT! Now when I had stop doing in for one week to go on a trip with family I went into withdrawal mode which I didn't realize at the time. My so called idea of fun and partying soon turned into a problem that was was slowly unravelling. But I started getting the same brain zaps I was getting when I was a little girl but only this time. A LOT WORSE! I was getting them every 1 min all day and night until I fell asleep or took a dose of MDMA. Which is when I realized I was developing a problem. (I am now healthy, sober and doing amazing)

Now here where these brain zaps make a connection. No one really knew or believed me about these brain zaps. I told my mom what was happening and she told me she had these same exact brains zaps when she just quit her anti depressants cold turkey after 20 years of taking them.

MDMA is like an anti depressant. It Makes you happy and when it wears off you crash and withdrawal from it. Brain zaps come from a chemical imbalance in your brain. When your really tired and sleep deprived the chemicals in your brain are affected therefore causing the brain zaps. I've done this research for years and this is what I've gathered from all the information Ive read and experienced. Hate to say it but taking a small dose of an anti depressant may help decrease the amount of brain zaps you get.

Hello, everyone! I spent quite a while reading through everyones posts. I made a list which may help explain what a lot of us are going through. I personally experienced my first brain zap yesterday. I've been studying up on it since after I experienced it last night.

A diagnostician said "Sometimes the electrically charged serotonin transmitters get stuck in synaptic bridge and when enough of them build up... zap! You get overloaded with an electrically charged hit of serotonin. Large enough of a hit to feel in your brain and sometimes, in some cases, all over your body."

- Sleep depravation.

- We get ticks in our arms or legs, and some of us can feel it coming on and we feel shaking and sometimes body temperature increase.

- Withdrawal from SSRI's, or too many SSRI's. I got it from too much tramadol. Also extacy can cause it due to extacy due to high amount of seratonin being released, or maybe just the speed at which seratonin is released.

- Like the point above it has to do with your seratonin levels being too high I believe, or being suddenly cut off. So an imbalance of seratonin.

- One hypothesis is floating around the internet that suggests brain zaps are linked to both REM sleep and serotonin. Some people experience brain zaps after waking up from sleep and/or when they fall asleep.

- Others don't take any medicine, but still experience these brain zaps.

- It happens to a lot of us when we're falling asleep. Some of us get it when we're waking up. Some of us experience both times.

- One user wrote that smoking mary jane would help prevent it.

- Some users also say that Benzodiazepine's like valium can help prevent this.

- Don't ever go cold turkey on SSRI medication, or drugs after taking them for a while. Doing that will cause this.... It may be seratonin syndrome, but that happens when you've taken too many SSRI's.

- Skipping a dose of medication, can cause this electric surge feeling.

- Rapid eye movements from side to side is also said to cause the episode to occur.

- When a person becomes anxious they are more prone to the brain zaps.

- Some experts believe that they are a result of the brain suddenly attempting to transition out of the drug-induced neurotransmission to which it had adapted.

- Researchers have stated that these brain zaps could be similar to pre-seizure symptoms seen in cases of epilepsy. Since there is evidence that the noradrenergic system plays a role in seizure development, it would make sense that norepinephrine could influence brain zaps.

- Many individuals have said that supplementation of vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids help stop zaps to a significant extent. Some have suggested that they completely cure the zapping.

- Brain zaps, lightning strikes, or whatever are a sign that you missed a dose, and can be considered withdrawal in some cases.

- One user stated "the zaps are worse the higher my blood pressure is"

- Some episodes are related to nerve issues caused by herniated discs or such.

- Another user stated that drinking alcohol stopped the episodes from happening.

- Exploding Head Syndrom - In addition to noise, some people report fear, distress, confusion, myoclonic jerks, tachycardia, sweating, tinnitus, simultaneously seeing flashes of light, and the sensation that felt as if they had stopped breathing and had to make a deliberate effort to breathe again. Experts believe that EHS occurs due to the brain having problems when shutting down areas of the brain in preparation of sleep. It's a sensory variant of a hypnic jerk or sleep start.

- WE ARE NOT EXPERIENCING Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome!

- These brain zaps could be from myoclonic twitches, or myoclonic jerks. Most often, myoclonus is one of several signs in a wide variety of nervous system disorders such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Gaucher's Disease, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), SERATONIN TOXICITY, some cases of Huntington's disease, some forms of epilepsy, and occasionally in intracranial hypotension. Some researchers indicate that jerks persistently may even cause early tremors.

- I don't think this has anything to do with heart conditions.

- Lhermitte's sign might be an associated syndrome, but I don't think that's what the majority of us are experiencing.

I did a lot of research that took my hours to come up with this list. I'm sure there's some redundancies and such, but I made it to help inform all of us. I was learning all of this as I was reading it, and typing it for all of us. I hope it helps you, peeps! It was a very scary experience for me last night. I don't want anyone else going through this, and I'm so sorry of you that do keep experiencing this.

I didn't have it when I woke up, and I hope I don't have it when I go to bed tonight. 

Hi everyone, I'm so glad I've read this!

Firstly.. I'll share my symptoms.. and then some science, and then some solutions.

So, I too get the brain zaps, and it's often accompanied with an audiable "woosh" or wind noise as it pulsates. It's intense and when I wake up, or simply open my eyes, it stops. If I manage to push past it, I often go into an episode of lucid dreaming, and sleep paralysis.

I also have these brain zaps when stopping anti-anxiety medication (Citalopram here in the UK) which is a Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor.

Studies on this have shown that the brain shivers occur as a response to ceasation of the pills, and so I'd suggest if you're on any kind of medication that affects serotonin (Tramadol can do this too!) to begin taking it regularly again (if prescribed to do so) or visit the GP and ask to be "weaned" off them slowly.

Another common problem is that serotonin isn't regulated properly by your brain, which is the main reason behind anxiety. Most anxiety sufferers will have an imbalance of serotonin, and is probably why doctors are telling you it's anxiety related! The symptoms described here are all symptoms of a misbalance or serotonin, and if you're escaping the anxiety symptoms, may explain why you're not "feeling" anxious.

Secondly, sleep paralysis (or old hag syndrome) occurs when the brain produces a chemical that should temporarily paralyse the muscles in the body as a defence mechanism when sleeping. This prevents us from acting out or dreams, sleepwalking, or flinching and moving and falling out of beds, hammocks or wherever else you may sleep at height! Sleep paralysis occurs when the body doesn't remove the chemical fast enough, and you wake up, with the effects still lingering. Strangely enough, it can happen when falling asleep, and as sufferer of SP for 20 years, this rarely happens. However, when it does, it's always accompanied by the pulsing and brain zaps and spaced out day time feeling. SP can be greatly reduced by not sleeping on your back (genuinely true) and not being "overtired".

So just a checklist for anyone suffering...

- Check medications for anything related to Serotonin.

- See GP about taking something to regulate serotonin levels (you could be too high or low for example).

- Begin a regular sleep cycle, and try to get a good length of sleep (try sleeping pills).

- Try sleeping on your front or sides, and not on the back.

These 4 things will make a significant impact to most cases. If these don't work, or you can't regulate your sleep, speak to the doctor about your sleep patterns.

But, like any kind of anxiety response, I just stress that this ISN'T dangerous, and ISN'T life-threatening. It's simply bad programming in the brain! Worrying about it less, and understanding the science behind serotonin and sleep paralysis can make a significant difference to it too.

Please let me know how you get on, and feel free to contact me.

Ben

Hi, does anyone have any good advice for getting to sleep once this starts happening?

I have had this for the first time over the last couple of days after a sickness bug and I'm currently on around 60 hours with no sleep at all, and really don't want this to start being a regular thing or start affecting my daily life

Neil

Very same thing is happening to me , its like a shock . The thing is that the more u think about it , the more it will happen. It's been 2 weeks this started to me . Anxiety and depression is the cause of it the non acceptance is the cause of it . One or two nights these don't even happen . But at third night this happens . I jave to take an anti anxiety sleeping pill to get rid of jolts and sleep like a baby . Iam taking a 3mg dose tho . Pm me or message me if anyone wants to discuss this . Talking and sharing helps . Twitter .. @therealviccrack. Any success stories will be appriciated

I have the exact same symtoms.  My blood work and EKG came back perfect. I'm a pretty healthy person as well.  I'm 39 years old.  I'm waiting for an MRI.  What was your results?  Todays date is 10/22/16