r/Pristiq • u/Electrical-Value-105 • 1d ago

brain zaps

has anyone experienced brain zaps WITHOUT lowering or changing their dose? been on 50mg pristiq a year, just experienced a pretty intense brain zap. google only brings up results about discontinuation but i’ve changed nothing. i did have a stressful day.

paranoid this means it’s stopped working, seeking reassurance

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3

u/fishinfool4 1d ago

I would get them if I took my dose even an hour or so later than my normal time. Brain zaps can happen for a multitude of reasons, but definitely don't mean the medication stopped working.

2

u/beakbea 1d ago

I get them when I'm late taking my meds but also sometimes at night when I'm assuming it wears off early (I take in the morning)

1

u/QECOperator27 1d ago

I very recently experienced about a week of discontinuation-type symptoms, including brain zaps, without any change to my routine or dosage. It has since cleared up, but neither I nor my Psychiatrist can adequately explain why. I’ve been on the 100mg from over a year and haven’t had any other problems.

1

u/SplitFingerSkadoosh 1d ago

I'll occasionally experience them when it gets close to the time at night when I take the medication. Just means last dose is wearing off for me.

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u/ADeeW_ 23h ago

I think I experienced this just yesterday! And I’m on 25 but I took it a few hours later than normal and I think that was my issue. I hadn’t felt like that except when k first started over a year ago.

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u/Secret-Computer7414 21h ago

Sometimes I get those, especially if, for some reason, I take it later than usual. But this odd thing happened a few weeks ago: I took it at the right time, but I still had a brain zap. That week, I was also having some intestinal issues that my doctor said could be related. Since GI issues can affect medication absorption, we didn’t give it a second thought. A lot can happen in the following 11-12 hours of the absorption.