Brain ‘Shivers’ / Brain Zaps unrelated to SSRI Usage
Hi All,
35yo, M
Thought I would make a post after reading hundreds of other posts on the issue in other forums and here, and describe my story in the hopes that someone else has experienced the same and can offer some advice.
I am a migraine and tinnitus sufferer and stumbled upon this forum wondering if it’s all linked.
I had started Keto and was about 1.5-2 weeks in, when I started getting what I can only describe as ‘brain shivers’ I can’t really call them zaps per se as there is no real feeling of electricity or sound associated with it, just this momentary shiver/micro dizzy feeling at the back of the head. I put it down to being tired as it was at the end of the day. Feels similar to the feeling you get when you’re really tired and put your head down and close your eyes for a second. But it persisted into the following days, I associated it with the diet, and stopped the Keto diet a few days after that. It went away after a few days and stayed away for a few weeks, but then came back even during my normal diet.
Myself and my wife went on a deep dive to see if others had had the same, and started trying things to remedy it. I do lead a pretty stressful life but it’s always been that way and I hadn’t always had these shivers/zaps. It very quickly lead to genuine depression as it’s constant, sometimes multiple times per minute, and with no viable remedy it feels like it’s never going to end. When it becomes frequent, my head just doesn’t feel right, my balance feels off, I feel nauseous and it makes all tasks feel far more difficult. It went away for about 3 months (I can’t pin down exactly what helped it go away), but came back during a stressful period about 3 months ago and hasn’t left since. Things I’ve tried up to this point, with no success (I.e. currently I still have them 10 months later):
GABA supplements
Magnesium Glycinate supplements
Vitamin C,D & B
Ashwaganda
St Johns Wort
Creatine Monohydrate
Stresam
Omega 3/6
In addition to regular exercise, nature walks, Wim Hof breathing techniques, eating well.
I’ve been to a Psychiatrist, who prescribed Stresam and Lexamil (Lexapro), but I really didn’t want to start with SSRIs as I was worried it might make it worse when coming off eventually and I didnt want to end up with problems I never had before. I haven’t done the SSRIs yet.
I also went to a Neurologist, who did some basic checks and didn’t find anything to be obviously wrong. He recommended an MRI as a precaution if I felt like I wanted to, but to date I haven’t been for that.
I went to an ENT as I had previously had Vestibular neuronitis (2 years ago), after a viral infection, which made me dizzy and off-balance for over a month, but he confirmed it wasn’t linked to the primary balance mechanism.
Nobody (except the psychiatrist) seemed to have any experience with it or understand what I was trying to explain.
Stress and anxiety and overworking make it worse, lying still or in bed makes it a lot more obvious and I fixate on it, I have a fatalist outlook for things like this and it doesn’t help because I feel like it’s never going to go away and it makes it hard to live with that outlook.
Other notes:
As mentioned, I have tinnitus, and have had this since childhood
I get migraines with artefacting / occlusion
I have health anxiety / hypochondria
I haven’t had any other chronic illnesses prior
I don’t take any chronic medication
In overall good health / non-smoker / don’t drink / don’t take drugs
I don’t particularly feel anxious or actively stressed, I feel like this is causing the stress and anxiety rather than as a result of it, however I may just be misinterpreting my own condition.
Any advice is welcome.