I have been diagnosed with significant cognitive loss.I was told I would not be able to go to law school now because I don't have the concentration and focus...also am losing words, spelling ability, short term memory...

I experienced them when I weaned off the anti-depressant - Effexor. They were horrible! And i found them dangerous! I still get them occasionally if the fibro is really bad. I've left the oven on and stove on while cooking because of them.
My Occupational therapist has told me to use voice cues. Like I often lock the door and then forget if I have or not...she told me as I'm locking it to say "im locking the door". When my fibro and memory is bad I try and use voice cues, lol, if i remember to! Also use sticky notes with like "oven on" and stick it on the oven as soon as you turn it on.

Hi Joleen. Did you wean off the antidepressants, or just stop taking them? If you haven't weaned yourself off them gradually then this is most likely the cause. I have brain zaps every so often, but not too regularly anymore. I used to get them more often when I was on amitryptiline, and when I weaned off it I had more while the antidepressant worked its way out of my system. Definitely get your meds reinstated and if you need to then speak to your doctor about a proper weaning schedule to come off them at a safe rate.

If U came off your anti=depressant that is the cause. I told my doctor I wanted to go off mine but was afraid of this side-effect and he said he could help me. We kept cutting my dose until I was down to one pill a day lowest dosage then he had me open the capsule and separate the beads inside and start cutting them down. It never worked! The brain zaps were so horrific it scared me. So I'm stuck with the one pill a day for the rest of my life! I have read about people quitting them and making it through the brain zaps and then 6 or 8 months later they will have one out of the blue! Big pharma gets U and won't let U go!

It is going without the antidepressant. Once your on it almost impossible to get off and you should let your doc know you are not taking it.