Are ‘Brain Shivers’ an Effexor Withdrawal Symptom?
Updated December 04, 2014.
After reading all of the posts about "brain shivers", I began to do a little digging. Effexor seemed to be the main culprit causing this effect. The package insert* from Wyeth-Ayerst was little help. While dizziness was mentioned, there was no mention of such an unusual form of dizziness. Then I came across a summary of an article from a journal called Psychiatric Annals which mentioned something called "intractable withdrawal".
Effexor is well-known to have a withdrawal syndrome including numerous side-effects. In certain people, gradual tapering off of their dosage is not effective in preventing these. Within a matter of hours of missing a dose, they begin to experience withdrawal. This would explain why some people on ASD reported that they experienced "brain shivers" when they were late taking their medication. They had unintentionally caused themselves to have withdrawal symptoms.
Many of those I talked with said their physicians had never heard of it or didn't believe that it existed. An article from the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry concluded that "Education about discontinuation reactions, including the hallmark features, symptoms, and course. is needed for both psychiatrists and family practice physicians" so it is not surprising that this would occur.
One of the most disturbing things I was told by our members was that the "brain shivers" often continued long after the medication was stopped. Some expressed the fear that the brain was being permanently altered by their medication.
It does indeed seem that the side-effect profile of Effexor is not fully understood. After collecting data on reported side-effects, Priory Lodge Education Limited has expressed the opinion that because side-effects are more severe than previously thought, Effexor should be used only in cases of depression resistant to other medications.
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*At the time this article was written in 1998, the side-effect described as "brain shivers" was not mentioned. The newer drug information sheets have been revised to mention it.
After reading all of the posts about "brain shivers", I began to do a little digging. Effexor seemed to be the main culprit causing this effect. The package insert* from Wyeth-Ayerst was little help. While dizziness was mentioned, there was no mention of such an unusual form of dizziness. Then I came across a summary of an article from a journal called Psychiatric Annals which mentioned something called "intractable withdrawal".
Effexor is well-known to have a withdrawal syndrome including numerous side-effects. In certain people, gradual tapering off of their dosage is not effective in preventing these. Within a matter of hours of missing a dose, they begin to experience withdrawal. This would explain why some people on ASD reported that they experienced "brain shivers" when they were late taking their medication. They had unintentionally caused themselves to have withdrawal symptoms.
Many of those I talked with said their physicians had never heard of it or didn't believe that it existed. An article from the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry concluded that "Education about discontinuation reactions, including the hallmark features, symptoms, and course. is needed for both psychiatrists and family practice physicians" so it is not surprising that this would occur.
One of the most disturbing things I was told by our members was that the "brain shivers" often continued long after the medication was stopped. Some expressed the fear that the brain was being permanently altered by their medication.
It does indeed seem that the side-effect profile of Effexor is not fully understood. After collecting data on reported side-effects, Priory Lodge Education Limited has expressed the opinion that because side-effects are more severe than previously thought, Effexor should be used only in cases of depression resistant to other medications.
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*At the time this article was written in 1998, the side-effect described as "brain shivers" was not mentioned. The newer drug information sheets have been revised to mention it.
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