A bizarre problem

[nekosensei]

I have a really strange problem. I've been getting this buzzing / static-like feeling in the back of my head for about a week now. It's not a sound. It's just a weird feeling. At first, I thought I would try to ignore it to see if it went away, but it hasn't. I have no idea what could be causing this. It started either last Tuesday or last Wednesday in the afternoon. When I went to bed, it went away, but then showed up the next afternoon again.

I'm not having any other problems other than that weird feeling. Sometimes, I'll get a small headache in the afternoon or early evening from it, but it seems to go away when I go to sleep and then come back. doomsey seems to think that it could be some kind of bizarre migraine. judygs observed that I have been doing a lot of reading lately and thinks that it's because I need a new prescription for my glasses. It's been a little over three years since I've had my lenses replaced. I called my dad and he said that, since it's in the back of the head, that I shouldn't mess around with it and just go to the doctor.

I think I have to agree with my dad. Since it's my head after all, I thought I would go to the doctor first and, if she thinks I need to go to the eye doctor, then I can make an appointment there.

Weird. Has anybody else had a similar problem?

[Edit: I wonder if I just found a possible solution to my problem. This is apparently a side effect of Wellbutrin, which I've changed my dose of about a month ago or so. My doctor is trying to taper me off of it. Whatever it is, though, it's not in my ears, it's in my head].

Comments

[grlinabox.livejournal.com]

Ive had similar feelings like that but it was a reaction from coming off an antidepressant..

[nekosensei.livejournal.com]

Which one? How long did it last?

[grlinabox.livejournal.com]

effexer was the antidepressant.. it lasted pretty much the whole time I was being weened off.. it sucked.

[tambreet.livejournal.com]

Ugh.. Effexor withdrawal - just about the worst month of my life.

For me, I had this dizziness/spaciness that made it impossible to concentrate or do much of anything aside from sitting around like a vegetable. If I forgot to take a pill, it showed up like clock-work about 30 hours after my last pill, and the withdrawal took over a month.

[nekosensei.livejournal.com]

Can you also describe what happened?

Hearing this makes me sound relieved. I was starting to worry something was wrong.

[grlinabox.livejournal.com]

are you coming off some sort of medication you were on for a while?

[nekosensei.livejournal.com]

Yes...Wellbutrin...and I must have been on it for two or three years...

[grlinabox.livejournal.com]

ahh I just read about you being on wellbutrin and being weened off.. i would say that is what it is.. its a bizarre feeling.. I remember it felt when I turned my head like my head turned but inside my head was turning in slow motion.. do you have that too?
also i remember it felt like static or short circuit buzzes in my head..
it does go away, at least for me it did

[lucy-burb.livejournal.com]

I'm coming off Effexor, and I have the foggy, slow-motion feeling. I also have jolts, or short circuit type of visual perception problems. These side effects are why I'm changing antidepressants. If I was 6 hours late (I'm very forgetful) with a dose, I would feel drunk and pretty much be done for the rest of the day.

[grlinabox.livejournal.com]

its rather scary when something that is supposed to make you feel better makes you feel so lousy coming off it..

[lucy-burb.livejournal.com]

Yes, I hate messing with my head, but it has to be done. I try to look at it as: my brain chemicals are off kilter, so I have to supplement them. Some people need to take iron or insulin. ? I just know I'm much better with than without.

[tambreet.livejournal.com]

Exactly what happened to me, 6 hour late!

[tambreet.livejournal.com]

Exactly what happened to me, and it started right at 6 hours late too!

[lucy-burb.livejournal.com]

So, are you on something else now? If you don't mind me asking.

[nekosensei.livejournal.com]

I don 't have the slow motion thing, but I do have a buzzing / static like feeling in my head. How long after you changed doses did it start? I've been on a lower dose for a couple of weeks now...

[lucy-burb.livejournal.com]

My side effects were noticeable the first day of my lower dosage of Effexor (70 mg down to 35mg). I was alternating 70mg and 35mg for two weeks. The drunken feeling and fog lasted a few days, on the days I was on the lower dosage.

Then I was on 35mg for two weeks. I didn't really notice much. Now I'm on 35mg every other day, and the day I don't have Effexor, I'm tired, foggy, and my vision jolts (a vertigo feeling). I haven't noticed anything from the Wellbutrin (I'm on the beginner's dose of 150mg daily). So, no buzzing or anything.

I have noticed an increased libido since tapering off my Effexor (thank you, gawd!) but I'm also: more sensitive, paranoid, listless, grumpy.

You should go see the doctor about the buzzing. My friend has been living with hers for years. Get it looked at right away.

[grlinabox.livejournal.com]

maybe after a week of a lower dose is when it started I also used to get hot flashes when I was coming off it..

[nekosensei.livejournal.com]

Come to think of it, I remember that I used to get bad migraines when I switched from Zoloft to Wellbutrin. I guess changing around antidepressants really can mess you up...

[grlinabox.livejournal.com]

it really sounds like its from coming off your meds.. if you are concerned still I would call the doctor that prescribed them and is weening you off them and tell them the side effects your having, that might ease your mind

[lucy-burb.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine has it. She says she's never been able to get rid of it, and has it as a result of being on antidepressants. That's all I know. I'm starting Wellbutrin (day 3) so I'm thankful you posted this. I'd forgotten all about the friend of mine. Go to the doctor. I think that would make me insane. I love quiet!

[nekosensei.livejournal.com]

Eek! If it really is the antidepressants, I swear, I'm never going to go on them again. I'd rather suffer the effects of depression than think that something is wrong with me.

[lucy-burb.livejournal.com]

Uh, I'd rather not be depressed. I can't stand being inside my own head. There's many drugs out there, and from my experience and several friends' experiences, you have to find the right antidepressant for you. Effexor worked awesome for me, only I couldn't handle the side effects if I was late or missed a dose. Plus, I had no desire...ya know.

[nekosensei.livejournal.com]

I guess it's a hard choice. Depression sucks, but having wonky things happening to my brain is just plain frightening. Did I tell you about the time I had Bell's Palsy? I had had food poisoning, and I either had a reaction to the bug I had or an antibiotic. Essentially, half of my facial muscles just froze. My jaw clenched and I was completely disoriented because my eyes rolled up into my head. I couldn't see anything below the rim of my glasses. I navigated by in-laws' house by looking at the ceiling. It was thoroughly unpleasant and it scared the living shit out of me. I thought I was having a stroke or something...

[lucy-burb.livejournal.com]

Well, you definitley have reason to be cautious! I don't blame you for your hesitation. I've heard that there are several herbal medicines that are effective as well. My doctor had me on "the pill" although I suffer from "halo" migraines. I had her refer me to a neurologist when I had an episode of travelling numbness in my left arm and left side of my face. It felt like I'd been "novacained". The neurologist said that it was quite dangerous (high stroke risk) for me to be on BCP with these type of migraines.

D-OH!

[nekosensei.livejournal.com]

Better the devil that you know than the devil you don't...

[fuzzyscribble.livejournal.com]

You're having "brain zaps" from your antidepressant withdrawl. They're normal.

Try eating a few more carbs...and maybe supplement with 5-HTP to naturally raise your seretonin level.

It WILL go away. If it doesn't...you probably have a chronic condition and should go back on antidepressants.

[fuzzyscribble.livejournal.com]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_zaps

[nekosensei.livejournal.com]

Hmm...it's not really a jolt. It's a continuous static like feeling at the back of my head. Well...I have an appointment to see my doctor this afternoon. I'm sure she'll figure it out...

*worries for no good reason*

[tambreet.livejournal.com]

Well I never thought I had depression, but my doctor put me on the Effexor to treat similar physical symptoms. It seemed to work for a while, but the symptoms came back and he put me on Buspar (anti-anxiety meds) too.

After a while, the symptoms came back yet again and I finally realized they kept happening in the spring. Turned out to be seasonal allergies.

So I stopped taking the mood disorder drugs and now take an assortment of allergy drugs and get allergy injections instead.