IKR?! 
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ETA: Already put a hold on it at the local library. Only $14 at Amazon, as well. Even the article shows she must be an excellent writer.
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Brain zaps are very unpleasant. The doctor should have done a better job emphasizing the effects of withdrawal and why it is so important to taper…
He and computational neuroscientist Julie Onton found an inverse relationship between the half-life of the antidepressant and the likelihood of it causing brain zaps
This makes sense. One of the drugs with the lowest half-life is Effexor and the brain zaps and other withdrawal symptoms can be fierce. When I decided to go off it, my psych recommended I taper very slowly and if needed, open the lowest dose capsules to divide the balls inside. He, like so many others, had no treatment except to taper slow and endure. I decided to taper without dividing the capsules. Too paranoid the cats might eat something. I scheduled 3 days off of work instead. This was the second time I’d gone off that one. I hated it but it was the most effective could get for a while. Pretty well known for it’s fierce withdrawal problems.
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I can confirm this. When I came off Effexor, I’d have these moments where the world would suddenly snap into focus around me. Very disconcerting, especially because it happened at strange intervals - I’d have one, then a few minutes later another, and then nothing for several hours. My doctor also suggested half-capsule doses.
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Exactly. A weird snapping into focus as well as a strange zapping feeling in the brain and something I nicknamed “fuzzy bunnies” where it feels like the fur of some soft creature is under the skin, against the muscle. That would happen anytime I’d missed or delayed a dose
I’m grateful Effexor helped me thru those rough periods but it was terrible to come off. I didn’t feel safe driving after the last dose. I also couldn’t work. Thus, my “vacation”
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A close family member tapered off Zoloft (sertraline) as instructed by their MD and experienced dramatic brain zaps for months afterward. The MD supervising their care at the time didn’t believe that brain zaps were real, which was quite traumatic for them, and that complicated a lot that followed.
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Wow that’s awful! They never lasted more than a week for me and the worst was the first few days.
Alot of doctors didn’t believe for a long time. Probably still don’t. My psych was a bit ahead of the curve because he listened to his patients.
I sincerely believe someone dedicated to mental health treatment should be the ones treating people with antidepressants and other brain drugs. People who are up on the science and trends and all the knowledge patients who take the damned stuff have provided. But I know most people don’t have that luxury, it’s their GP or nothing. Which is awful and broken
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Agree wholeheartedly. But the world that we are in does not allow for that. It takes months to get in with a peds psych, if it is an option at all. (Many have established geographic boundaries. Here they will only see kids in a 60 mile radius.) So i, with minimal training or expetience, pretty much self-taught, am the only option. I hate it, I’m not great at it, but i can’t bring myself to tell kids they will just have to tough it out. This is not great.
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Are there any continuing ed courses you could take that might give you at least a bit better chance at knowing what you’re doing in that area?
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There are. None that don’t require flying, and none costing 3 figures. I hate flying, and I’m a pediatrician. Income is a factor. Pushing for something here, but nothing yet.
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GPs already have so much on their plate. I’m not sure it’s humanly possible for a GP to know everything they need to know. Too often it feels like GPs are supposed to not only be the first stop on a health journey, but the only stop. Instead of being there for the most common illnesses and issues and being able to hand the patient off to a specialist when the GP is overwhelmed or just not specialized, they’re just forced to do it all. Which isn’t fair to the patients and it isn’t fair to the doctors
I appreciate what you do and how you try so hard to be there for your patients. But you should have a whole team of specialists that you can call on.
I know that’s not how it is. That’s how it should be.
ETA: I’m sure time is also a huge factor for continuing education. You only have so much time for your job and for the rest of your life.
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It’s a running gag in our office that everyone can say “no” but us. All the subspecialties can “say no more patients until we catch up, you guys will have to manage. Maybe find another (psych, neurologist, endocrinologist, etc.)” Like any of the others are not just as full, plus we are not in their system. I’ve said repeatedly, the system has collapsed. It’s not a possibility, it’s a fait accompli. It seems the public hasn’t caught on yet, but you need to.
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And if it’s hard for you, imagine what it’s like for the pediatricians further into rural areas.
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Image transcript
How Brain Workles
Soup
- *static noises*
- what is task
- soup
Squizzly
- many task
- oops bendy
- wher go
Crumbly
- see outlines of task but it’s a sandcastle
- no fine details
- heck it fell into the moat
Full of Yarn
- I SEE THE COSMOS
- task task task task task task
- oops should eat at some point
On Rails
- TASK only
- sleep? Never heard of her
Squirrel!
- ooh snacks
- squirrel!
- 404 task not found
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I think mine might be foam.
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The video’s focus is on seniors
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Very thoughtful, thanks.
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BRB burning everything down.
Recap: an autistic teenager with cognitive disabilities (IQ of 70) developed a special interest on ISIS, which is bad. His parents saw what was happening and immediately sought help to stop it anywhere and everywhere they could. And he was getting that help.
Then the Australian Federal Police stepped in and not only undid that help, they actively undermined everything and groomed him as if they were ISIS recruiters. Then they delayed closing the entrapment until he was old enough to actually charge with terrorism as an adult.
Summary: ACAB, but some bastards are fucking bastards.
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