“A fast buzz in my head.”
“A sudden reboot of my brain’s senses.”
“It’s like an electrical current.”
If you’re tapering off antidepressants or recently skipped a dose or two, you may have experienced a mysterious side effect commonly known as “brain zaps.” Don’t worry, you aren’t actually being zapped—but it can certainly feel like it. Often, brain zaps occur instantly, without warning, and for some people, they can be alarming and anxiety-inducing.
On Reddit, one person likened brain zaps to the sound of “heavy winds” in their head, similar to when you yawn. Another described it as a “sudden onset of dizziness and disorientation” or like a “mini seizure.” Online, people claim they get brain zaps after stopping use of drugs like Lexapro (escitalopram), Cymbalta (duloxetine), and Paxil (paroxetine), but they can happen when you stop taking any type of antidepressant, including both selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs).
Brain zaps sound freaky, yes—but it turns out that this sensation is actually quite common. It’s your brain’s way of recalibrating after stopping an antidepressant, says psychiatrist Jessi Gold, MD, chief wellness officer for the University of Tennessee System and author of How Do You Feel? One Doctor’s Search for Humanity in Medicine.
If you’ve experienced brain zaps recently, you’re likely wondering when they’ll stop, and whether or not you should just stay away from antidepressants altogether (hint: you shouldn’t!). Always talk to your doctor if you have serious concerns, but in the meantime, here’s what you need to know about the mysterious brain zaps, why they happen, and what to expect when you’re tapering off an antidepressant.
Meet the expert: Jessi Gold, MD, is the Chief Wellness Officer for the University of Tennessee System and author of How Do You Feel? One Doctor’s Search for Humanity in Medicine.
Why Brain Zaps Happen If You Stop Taking An Antidepressant
The exact cause is a bit of a mystery. But brain zaps are likely due to a “neurotransmitter readjustment” in your brain when you stop an antidepressant, Dr. Gold says. Antidepressants can include SSRIs (which increase serotonin levels in the brain), SNRIs (which increase serotonin and norepinephrine), and atypical antidepressants (Wellbutrin, for example), along with MAOIs and SARIs.
Typically, brain zaps are associated with antidepressant discontinuation syndrome (ADS), which impacts an estimated 20 percent of people who abruptly stop or reduce their use of medication. ADS can include flu-like symptoms, GI issues, trouble sleeping, dizziness, nausea, and tingling, shock-like sensations (like brain zaps), according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Generally speaking, antidepressants help balance the neurotransmitters in the brain, so when you stop taking them, your system needs time to balance itself out again. When zaps occur, your brain is essentially readjusting to baseline, Dr. Gold says.
Some meds are more likely to cause ADS than others, Dr. Gold says, like Effexor, (an SNRI), and Paxil (an SSRI). Lexapro, for example, is also commonly associated with brain zaps—but just because you take one of these meds does not mean you’re guaranteed to develop the side effect when you stop taking it.
Symptoms are most likely to occur when you stop taking an antidepressant cold turkey (which, by the way, isn’t advised)—or in cases where you’re in the process of tapering off. Discontinuing an antidepressant should be done slowly, gradually, and under supervision of a medical professional.
What Brain Zaps Feel Like
Brain zaps happen suddenly and last for a few seconds, but the actual feeling varies depending on the person. “People say it feels like a shock that’s not painful, but feels different than a nerve conduction,” Dr. Gold says. Some of her patients describe a tingling sensation, and others say it’s just a generally weird feeling, she says. You might feel lightheaded, dizzy, or even experience a burning or melting sensation in your head. One Redditor posted that it “feels like a camera’s auto-focus.”
Zaps may happen a few times periodically throughout the day, but chances are, you aren’t experiencing them all day, every day—it’s something that should only happen occasionally, Dr. Gold says. While some people experience them intensely, others say the zaps aren’t too bothersome, and they come and go periodically before eventually fading away. It’s personal, and some people will naturally be more sensitive to side effects than others, like they would with any other medication, says Dr. Gold.
When To Expect Brain Zaps If You Miss A Dose (Or Are Going Off Entirely)
Skipping a single pill doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll experience brain zaps. But, technically, if you miss your antidepressant for more than a day, you’d be at risk of side effects, Dr. Gold says. That said, brain zaps generally appear within a few days of stopping your medication.
If you accidentally skip a dose, you may or may not notice any symptoms—but if you go on vacation and forget to bring your pills with you for a week, there’s a higher chance you’ll see a difference. And if you’re extra sensitive or tend to feel side effects quickly from other medications, your brain zaps may manifest quicker or more intensely than others, Dr. Gold says.
Are brain zaps a sign of withdrawal?
Some people believe that brain zaps are a sign of traditional withdrawal, similar to what you’d experience with drugs or alcohol—and they get worried that they’ve become too dependent or “addicted” to the antidepressant itself, Dr. Gold explains. However, that’s not necessarily the case—your brain has simply become accustomed to functioning with your specific med, and it needs some time to balance out and return to your baseline again.
“As it was explained to me once, antidepressants are like glasses—if you aren’t wearing them, you can’t see as well,” Dr. Gold says. “When you take them off, you may have to readjust to see, but it doesn’t mean you’re addicted to glasses…you’re just better with them.”
All meds have a risk of withdrawal symptoms, but some are more about dependency (like benzodiazepines, for example) and others are more about your brain adjusting, Dr. Goldberg says.
When will the zaps stop?
If you’re tapering off an antidepressant, the zaps should go away on their own after a few weeks, but may last a few months for some people, per a 2019 systematic review published in Addictive behaviors. If you forgot to take a dose or refill your prescription and a day or two has gone by, the zaps should stop when you restart your dose.
If you and your doctor decide to lower your dose, change to another type of antidepressant, or come off of a med completely, you’d ideally taper down to mitigate any sudden side effects, Dr. Gold says. “You don’t just go from 200 to zero—we’d go 200, 150 for a bit, then 100 for a bit.”
How To Cope With Brain Zaps In The Meantime
Unfortunately, there’s no overnight cure for brain zaps or way to stop them from happening in the moment. “There’s not a good, ‘For this symptom, take Advil,’ answer,” Dr. Gold says.
You can, however, treat the accompanying symptoms and find ways to manage them in the short term. For instance, if brain zaps make you feel dizzy, it may help to move slowly and carefully until the feeling passes or have an emergency plan in place in case you get dizzy while exercising, for example. Staying hydrated and relieving stress can also help with dizziness, per Cleveland Clinic.
Above all, the best way to deal is by working with your provider to ensure you’re taking meds (and tapering off them) in the safest way possible, which should help minimize uncomfortable side effects, too. “The only things we know to help are to go slowly during the withdrawal period and taper off slower,” Dr. Gold says. “Sometimes, [providers] may give you a low-dose Prozac to help, even if you’re not going to go on Prozac,” she adds. If you’re coming off another medication, “low-dose Prozac can counteract the symptoms since it has a long half-life,” Dr. Gold explains.
Some folks are just super sensitive and they’ll experience side effects no matter what antidepressant they’re on, Dr. Gold adds. So if you’re adjusting your dose, changing meds, or even traveling and you know you tend to see side effects, you’ll probably have to be more mindful, she says.
When To See A Doctor
If brain zaps are bothering you, interfering with your everyday life, or seem to be getting worse over the course of many weeks, let your doctor know, Dr. Gold says. It may seem like the only way to get rid of the zaps is to avoid antidepressants altogether—or, alternatively, to keep taking them forever so withdrawal never happens—but there are other options that your provider can help you figure out, she says.
Keep in mind that there’s a lot of fear around this idea of brain zaps, and as scary as they sound, you shouldn’t let it dissuade you from psychiatry altogether, Dr. Gold says. “Remember, it’s just your body readjusting. You might feel more anxious, but it’s not because your body is more anxious now—it just likes to mess with you.”
The bottom line? Keep checking in with your psychiatrist while taking any antidepressant, and let them know what is and isn’t working for you. A provider can help you figure out next steps, and if you’re concerned, they can adjust your dose, switch you to another med, or help you taper off your current one if needed.
“We [as providers] want you to come off of meds in a way that feels good to you, doesn’t make you feel worse, and doesn’t make you think falsely that you need the medicine and can’t survive without it,” Dr. Gold says.
Tianna Soto is the Associate Health and Wellness Editor at Women’s Health. Her writing on wellness and relationships has been featured in Cosmopolitan, Elite Daily, Glamour, mindbodygreen, and more. She holds a M.A. in clinical psychology in education from Columbia University and is a certified yoga instructor. When she’s not writing, you can find her traveling, trying new workout classes, and speaking with audiences about mental health.
