question about hallucinations

[sepia]

I've been told that pretty much everyone hallucinates. How true is that? How can one know for sure when it's "normal" and can be attributed to extenuating circumstances, and when it's "abnormal" and a bipolar warning and in need of medical attention?

I was working the night shift at work, closing the franchise that's open later than all the rest, and absolutely dead tired when the countertop got wavy for a few seconds, making the cleaning rag momentarily resemble a blobby blue ship on a stormy sea. It was only there for a few seconds, and it's the only maybe potentially bipolar-y symptom I'm experiencing right now (apart from the depression-based ordinary), but it was still unsettling. There haven't been any other maybe-hallucinations since.

Is this something to be worried about? I'm new to this bipolar thing.

[Dweii]

We all get hallucinations at some degree. This sounds like something you might want to mention to your pdoc, but I wouldn't be worried about it since you were tired. I see all kinds of strange things when I'm tired.

Hallucinations fascinates me, I've had them somewhat most of my life, but now they're totally gone, thanks to antipsychotics. It's nice in some ways, I can concentrate better without seeing flowers in my head constantly, but I miss them too.

[sun_zoom_spark]

Lithium can cause hallucinations. It is not a common side-effect but the possibility still exist. I think some of my hallucinations have been caused by meds. Who knows, maybe I'm just nutz.

BTW- on lithium I had an auditory hallucination last week.

[michaellee]

i had a serious hallucination last month.  it was like in a horror movie.  a little ghostly boy starring at me in the mirror.  i told my pdoc and she increased my zyprexa, go figure.  i see sun spot all the time and they are starting to take shapes.  i would tell your pDoc and as long as you know they are not real you should be ok.  once you start interacting with them you may have a problem.

[Guest Guest_Quixote_*]

I think there is a limit to what pharmacology can achieve. One has to balance reduced hallucinations against increased side-effects of medications. I think there is considerable advantage to putting up with some symptoms to keep the drug dosages reasonable. IMHO

That said your Seroquel is a pretty low dose.

[sepia]

Thank you, all, for your advice. I think I'll mention it, but I'll also keep it in context of what was going on. If my pdoc is worth his salt, he'll actually HEAR the context, rather than just "loony girl seeing things -- bring in the APs!"

SZS, have you come across any solid webpages discussing lithium hallucinations? I'd like to read more on the topic. If it's related, it would be good to know.

Michaellee: I hope my new pdoc agrees with you (re: interacting/not interacting). My old one certainly did.

In more cheerful news, I found a nice introduction to hallucinations on Google. It agrees that fatigue can lead to seeing things, and I'd much rather have it be exhaustion than bipolar.

[NARS]

Oh geez, on two hours of sleep a lot more than the tabletops would be dancing for me!  When I'm sleep deprived everything gets shimmery, colors are brighter, stuff moves around constantly.  That's pretty much the same no matter what I've been on, no meds, Depakote + Wellbutrin, or any of the cocktails I've been on the past few months.  Plus I get prone to very irritable hypomanias.  Yum!

I'm just another BPII.  Insomniac all my life, so I've gone on a few hours sleep a lot of times.