Do others hear music all the time?

[Complicated toad]

I googled this once, because it occurred to me it may not be normal.  All of us get earworms from time to time, but I hear songs 24/7.  One gets stuck for a week or two, then another takes over.  But it's pretty much always there.  Sometimes if I get a really bad one I will spend some time thinking of a different song so I can "change the radio station" in my head.  From what I've read this can be related to OCD.  Just curious because it gets louder in times of stress and it is really loud at the moment (and it's from an f-ing commercial.  Having trouble getting this one replaced with something else).  I don't think the auditory part of it is necessarily psychotic just because I am fully aware it is only coming from my head.

wondering if others experience this and how you manage it.  If this is something other than an OCD symptom feel free to move it.

[confused]

My life comes with a soundtrack, but the songs change depending on the environment.

[Complicated toad]

Interesting.  I always wondered if it happened to a lot of other people or if it was not common and made me weird (er).

[echolocation]

you know, i haven't thought about this in a while, but i did used to experience that a lot a few years ago -- songs or words or phrases on loop, endlessly. it happened through the day, but trying to get to sleep used to make my brain exceptionally noisy. i couldn't turn off the noise. it was like trying to get to sleep while there was a party in the next room, but i couldn't even yell at anyone to turn off the music.

i hardly ever get this now. in fact, i rarely have songs stuck in my head for more than an hour or so. my brain is much, much quieter these days. when i first started on meds, risperidone was the first thing that really helped. i remember being able to concentrate so much better because there wasn't so much internal noise. i'm on clomipramine now and it also works very well for me in this regard.

[Complicated toad]

4 hours ago, echolocation said:

songs or words or phrases on loop, endlessly. it happened through the day, but trying to get to sleep used to make my brain exceptionally noisy. i couldn't turn off the noise. it was like trying to get to sleep while there was a party in the next room, but i couldn't even yell at anyone to turn off the music.

That is exactly what it is like!  Sometimes it could be a word, phrase, snippet of a song that is so short I don't even recognize it.  But something is always stuck on repeat.  

I'm glad clomirpramine works, my insurance wasn't too kind about that one and the pdoc gave me imipramine thinking it was similar enough it might help.  Instead I quit sleeping and became so paranoid my family begged me to stop taking it.  Have not tried risperidone, I have thought about asking for it.  The docs always put my OCD symptoms in the backseat and only pay attention to the mood issues. The current one lumps it in as anxiety and doesn't really seem to give it much more thought.  

[GrannyG81]

@Complicated toad I actually did a thread very similar to this,

Every single morning for as long as i can remember i always always wake up with a song in my head..Even if i nap for a hour on the couch i will wake up with a song playing..Its like my mind is at its most active first thing in the morning..I've often joked with Pdocs/Therapists that i proably have more internal dialogue in the first hour of waking up than most people have in the whole day..The majority of the time its just what i call mind chatter...Just internal meaningless chatter...Not voices like Psychosis more internal dialogue with myself..It happens automatic and i kinda just observe it if that makes sense? Then it generally calms down as i wake up properly..I also get that the music is louder especially in periods of extreme stress..Even my thoughts become louder when i'm stressed...Anyways just a few thoughts i thought i would add....All the best

[Banana Smurf]

I usually have music playing in my head, but it doesn't really distress me.  It's usually in the back of my mind, while I can think over it.  I think that Klonopin makes it more manageable.  I kind of enjoy it a lot of the time.  

[Gearhead]

There’s always music in my head. Always. It gets louder or quieter, depending on I’m not sure exactly what. It’s certainly worst when I’m manic. Sometimes it’s pretty ignorable, other times it rises to the level of earworm or “song stuck in my head”-only REALLY stuck-and sometimes it gets to what I refer to as a clinical level.

I love music, have a good voice, good pitch, etc., but I loathe this. I’m never thinking of fewer than five things at a time, and the music is sort of the base level of noise, the foundation over which everything else if built. The only thing that’s ever turned it off is escitalopram, briefly, when I first started taking it. After a while it quit working, and I had to stop taking it for other reasons anyway. I would give nearly anything to be able to make it all stop.

I have never been diagnosed with psychosis of any kind, or OCD.

[Banana Smurf]

2 minutes ago, Gearhead said:

I love music, have a good voice, good pitch, etc., but I loathe this. I’m never thinking of fewer than five things at a time, and the music is sort of the base level of noise, the foundation over which everything else if built.

That describes how it is for me really well, in much better words.

[Complicated toad]

Thanks all, I am glad others relate.  @Gearhead your description is spot on.  The constant background noise  really gets old.  The noise in a mixed episode is the worst because on top of music is a whole lot of mean and hateful self-talk.

[saintalto]

I used to hear distant music coming out of objects. It sounded like a really soft elevator speaker. I heard music and the murmer of voices coming out of objects pretty solidly for most my adult life. I got so used to it that it ceased to bother me. It only stopped when I started latuda 3 years ago. 

 

[Persona_Is_Life]

On 6/3/2020 at 3:51 PM, echolocation said:

you know, i haven't thought about this in a while, but i did used to experience that a lot a few years ago -- songs or words or phrases on loop, endlessly. it happened through the day, but trying to get to sleep used to make my brain exceptionally noisy. i couldn't turn off the noise. it was like trying to get to sleep while there was a party in the next room, but i couldn't even yell at anyone to turn off the music.

i hardly ever get this now. in fact, i rarely have songs stuck in my head for more than an hour or so. my brain is much, much quieter these days. when i first started on meds, risperidone was the first thing that really helped. i remember being able to concentrate so much better because there wasn't so much internal noise. i'm on clomipramine now and it also works very well for me in this regard.

You might have talked me into trying Clomipramine again. 

[echolocation]

17 hours ago, Persona_Is_Life said:

You might have talked me into trying Clomipramine again. 

it's been a wonderful med for me. my intrusive thoughts are well controlled, my anxiety is gone, and my mood is level. i went up quite slowly and sat at 80 mg for a while before my pdoc and i decided it wasn't quite enough.

side effects-wise, i had a bit of a tremor in my hands when i first got to my current dose of 120 mg, but it seems to have eased off. i also have mild dry mouth that i manage by sipping water through the day. no weight gain -- i've lost some, actually.

risperidone is still my ultimate head silencer. i had to discontinue it when it induced lactation, but i still take .25 mg when my thoughts get loud. 

[Persona_Is_Life]

On 9/4/2020 at 10:40 PM, echolocation said:

it's been a wonderful med for me. my intrusive thoughts are well controlled, my anxiety is gone, and my mood is level. i went up quite slowly and sat at 80 mg for a while before my pdoc and i decided it wasn't quite enough.

side effects-wise, i had a bit of a tremor in my hands when i first got to my current dose of 120 mg, but it seems to have eased off. i also have mild dry mouth that i manage by sipping water through the day. no weight gain -- i've lost some, actually.

risperidone is still my ultimate head silencer. i had to discontinue it when it induced lactation, but i still take .25 mg when my thoughts get loud. 

The only thing stopping me is the never-ending insomnia. I don't like the cognitive fog that comes with severe sleep deprivation over time. 

It was the only drug to ever make a dent in my OCD. 

[echolocation]

14 hours ago, Persona_Is_Life said:

The only thing stopping me is the never-ending insomnia. I don't like the cognitive fog that comes with severe sleep deprivation over time. 

It was the only drug to ever make a dent in my OCD. 

that's unfortunate. clomipramine has been mildly sedating for me, and ultimately helped my sleep issues. i had a problem where i would get this anxious agitation right at bedtime and compulsively pick at my skin. raising the dose put that to an end, and my pdoc prescribed zopiclone for breakthrough episodes.

might be worth bringing up with your pdoc? see if they have any ideas about combating the insomnia? sleep deprivation is a nightmare. i understand your hesitation completely.