Hallucinations with medication

[Profound15]

Recently I’ve been having hallucinations like seeing people in my room. I tend to be on the verge of sleeping after around one hour in bed and then see people in my room. I know this sounds crazy but I can sit on the side of the bed, shake my head and they disappear. Only seems to happen the once. I’m on flecainide (50mg x 2) and bisoprolol (1.25mg x 1). I’ve read bisoprolol can cause this and I do take it a couple of hours before bed. Has anyone experienced this at all and what did you do to alleviate it (if that’s possible). BTW I’m coping well with both medications (apart from this) so loathe to change.

[jeanjeannie50]

Yes, I had exactly the same thing seeing people in my bedroom shortly after falling asleep. I've not had it for quite a while now. My daughter asked me how I managed to see them in the dark and I couldn't answer that question.

When it first happened it absolutely terrified me and I rang my daughter in tears, they lived in the same small town so came and picked me up. Then a friend came to stay with me for a few days. I just couldn't get my head around what had happened but I knew it definitely had.

This went on for many years and it got to the point that I was getting afraid to go to sleep at night. If it was a gift to be able to see these people who mostly looked normal - well I didn't want it! I remember my aunt saying she saw people and that I should never be afraid of them and if I didn't want them, then to tell them to go away. So that's what I did every time they appeared and they would immediately disappear.

My GP called it hypnagogic events. At the time I was taking Metoprolol and Flecainide

I sleep with my hallway light on now, have done for quite a while and it's stopped.

If you want to discuss it more then private message me.

Jean

[Profound15 in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Thanks Jean that’s much appreciated. It just seems so real but I know it’s a figment. My heart does increase in rate a fair bit though. The other night two teenagers were smiling at me. Totally weird and spooky at the time. I think I just need to get my head around it and accept it’s a side effect of the beta blocker (I think).

[Peacefulneedshelp in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Have you all watched the Movie, I see dead people? Seriously I do not mean to poke fun at all but I have wrote of my experience of picking up entities I was not on any medication at all. I just came across the book, The unquiet dead, Written by a dr that started to see strange things attached to her patients. I am a believer in all such things, however the mind is a powerful object. All the best!

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to Peacefulneedshelp]

No, I haven't watched it. I live on my own and think knowing too much would make me nervous. Others may be interested in more research thoughJean

[Peacefulneedshelp in reply to jeanjeannie50]

I was afraid at first myself it took awhile for me to get used to the idea that we have them around. I was taking classes in Healing Touch for people and animals and what I learned is they would come for a healing. so we would heal them and send them on their way to the next evolution of life.

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to Peacefulneedshelp]

I did a course on healing by touch many years ago. The man that took it's father was a doctor and he said his father always stated that patients would be horrified if they knew how little doctors know about medical conditions.

[Peacefulneedshelp in reply to jeanjeannie50]

I agree with you. The only help I really have ever gotten health wise has been by holistic/chiropractors and alternative practitioners.

[julielj]

I take 7.5 bisoprolol. My dreams are more vivid, which I remember in the morning. But that's it really.

[Profound15 in reply to julielj]

Thanks Julie. For me the ‘visions’ seem to occur within an hour or so of me going to bed. Just at the point of falling in to a deep sleep. I’m trying to just focus on it being a side effect of the beta blocker and not get totally spooked by the phenomenon

[Ppiman in reply to Profound15]

It is a side effect. There is no supernatural. Fear not! I wouldn't want to have it happen, though, so truly sympathise, but must be very disconcerting. Since upping my bisoprolol dose a week ago, my dreams have become yet more vivid than before. I have insomnia so my dreams are, at least, welcome evidence that I have slept! That said - I don't like them at all as they tend to be weird and negative. Last night's was so crazy as I kept getting lost and unable to find my way back to where I was working (I am retired!).

Steve

[Auriculaire in reply to Ppiman]

That sounds pretty mundane for a dream to me ! My own dreams are incredibly bizarre since I have been on beta blockers often involving out of control vehicules , monsters and close encounters with politicians. I feel as if I spend most of my time asleep dreaming . Even if I drop off for a nap in the afternoon I go straight into a dream.

[Ppiman in reply to Auriculaire]

I envy you being able to nap. I just can't unless I am dog-tired. Insomnia is a curse. My dreams are not awful, but often "negative" and downbeat - and truly vivid. Like you, I seem to dream all the time I am asleep but worst of all, often waken feeling not rested.

Steve

[Auriculaire in reply to Ppiman]

Yes - I am convinced too much dreaming and not enough deep restorative sleep makes you tired in the morning. I have always been a night owl since uni (very misspent youth) and often sleep in two parts . I fall asleep reading with the light on (very bad ) then later on my bladder wakes me and when I get back to bed I can't get back to sleep for ages. My mind becomes active thinking about what I will do in the garden. But in the afternoon I have no trouble falling asleep over my book or tablet. Sometimes if I have slept very badly the night before I will have a nap after breakfast! I expect a sleep expert would tell me I have very poor sleep hygiene but I tend to ignore that sort of thing. Overall I get plenty sleep - it's just not in one block.

[Ppiman in reply to Auriculaire]

I once went to see a so-called “top sleep expert” who said that I was likely worrying too much about how much sleep I actually got. I told him that didn’t seem right as I didn’t care at all how many hours I slept it was only how washed out I felt the next day that mattered. He then said that I needed to see his colleague, a psychologist, who would help me find ways to calm my anxious mind.

Do you know what his colleague told me? This is quite true. He said that I needed to get my sleep issues sorted out with his colleague before he could help me with my anxiety…

Medical experts indeed, both of them consultants at a teaching hospital.

Steve

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to Ppiman]

What you said made me laugh Steve. What a cheek!!!

I once went to a hypnotist to see if he could help me with my sleep problems - totally useless. I had counselling which was a perk of my job, that was interesting but once again didn't improve my sleep one bit. I now take a mild sleeping tablet, been taking them for years and I dread being told I must come off of them. In my heart I would like to stop taking them but only if sleep can come naturally. How I envy people who have never had any sleep problems.

Jean

[Ppiman in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Hi Jean

It was such a silly and frustrating experience to be told that. I have a suspicion that there's no such thing as a "sleep expert"; in fact, my time in the pharmaceutical industry suggested to me that psychology was, like, nutrition and even to some large degree psychiatry itself, as much voodoo as science!

Your story reminded me of my own experience with hypnosis. I once had a GP offer to cure my insomnia and try to hypnotise me. Well, I didn't "go under" and had him blaming me for not "letting myself go". What a joke, really? I have since read that there really is no such thing as a hypnotic trance, that it's something of a myth. Anyway, it failed, much as all else I have tried has. Even the zolpidem I, like you, have taken for years, only gives me 2-3 hours sleep, four if I am very lucky. The best I can hope for these days is if I somehow magically manage to drop back to sleep around 6am when I often stay asleep till around 8.30, which is unusual for me to do, but, for some reason, really does seem to give me more energy. My worst time for waking is after taking a quarter of a zolpidem (2.5mg) at 3.00 then waking at 5.00. Oh I so hate looking at the clock and seeing "5" something.

Steve

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to Ppiman]

Hi Steve

I take Zopiclone 3.75mg. It helps me sleep for 6-7 hours. I do feel it makes me generally a bit absent minded though.

I agree with you, I don't think there's such a thing as a sleep expert either.

I think if I had one wish where I could ask for anything, it would be to sleep well and wake feeling refreshed, rather than ask for wealth.

Jean

[Ppiman in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Goodness - I’ve said the same several times. Yes. In fact you are one of the few people, despite how common insomnia is said to be in the media, who I have spoken to who know exactly how all this feels. Unfortunately for me, sleeplessness adds to my anxiety levels, making things altogether worse.

Steve

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to Ppiman]

It's impossible not to be anxious about lack of sleep. I was never happy about driving after not sleeping well. People who sleep well have no idea what it's like for those who can't.

I thank goodness my GP prescribes my Zopiclone. I guess he thinks she's growing older and they can't do much harm now.

Jean

[Ppiman in reply to jeanjeannie50]

I find zopiclone works very similarly, giving me 2-4 hours maximum, but for some reason it leaves me with an awful bitter taste in my mouth all the next morning.

I have an elderly friend who is now 90. He sleeps very poorly at times, but, luckily for him, doesn't get any increased anxiety with it. He is prescribed nitrazepam, which is an older sedative. That surprises me as doctors don't like the "benzo" drugs these days (they're from the same family as Valium). When he takes it, I can tell as he's less alert by far, but, well - he needs his sleep and his doctor is, thankfully, also understanding.

Steve

[KiwiBlake]

When I first started on Bisoprolol I was waking up after having very vivid dreams and nightmares. Thankfully for me it was only for the first week, or so. They have now passed. I think I read it was something to do with the medication crossing the blood brain barrier. I'm on 2.5mg Bisoprolol daily, so only a low dose. The only other thing I did was take the daily Bis in the morning when I first get out of bed, (as opposed to early evening). The main reason for that was that my heart was slowing down to approx 40bpm during the night (according to my wearable device), if I took it late in the day.

[Profound15 in reply to KiwiBlake]

Thanks Kiwi. Just researched hypnagogic events (Jean kindly mentioned) and that has me down to a tee. Think I had these events before I was on the beta blocker but perhaps the bisoprolol stimulates it a bit. Not sure but I think knowing what the issue could be for me a way to deal with it. Thanks again for your input

[Auriculaire in reply to KiwiBlake]

Having studied psychology at uni I tend to think a lot of it is cobblers and they make it up as they go along with very little real evidence. That was 50 years ago. These days psychologists , sociologists and "gender studies " academics come out with more and more outrageous tosh and expect us all to swallow it. Newspapers are chock full of articles on what we must eat, when we should eat it , how we should be in bed by 10pm and up with the lark so as to fit in an hour of exercise before breakfast etc etc. It just adds to people's anxiety.

[Popepaul]

I believe that hypnagogic and hypnopompic events are quite common and harmless. Occasionally I experience the latter. I wake up in a state of paralysis. Apparently it is due to my waking up during the wrong sleep phase.

[Profound15 in reply to Popepaul]

Yes that’s what I’ve read too. Thanks

[Outsidethelines]

This is so interesting. I wonder if it could be the Flecainide, or maybe the combination of the two drugs. I was on Flecainide as a PIP for many years, and just occasionally I experienced visual hallucinations in the 24 hours after taking it. Not people in my case, but crazy flashing coloured lights zooming all around me, like being in a disco with an overactive glitterball. As I moved my head, the coloured lights darted around me, it was very like my friends in the 70s used to describe an LSD trip. It didn’t last long each time, but after the first time it happened I made sure I didn’t drive for 24 hours after taking the tablets.

[Patchwork123]

Hi Profound15

I take 2.5mg bisoprolol morning and night abd before that sotalol and have been having hallucinations for years at first it was frightening but I am well used to them now.

I see people monsters animals objects, I once watched a small train and carriages make its way around the walls of the bedroom and I have a large picture of a highland cow on the wall which I face most nights, you should see what comes out of that!! I’ve even batted things away if they get too close lol

I realise this can be distressing for you which it was for me initially and still is sometimes but just tell yourself it’s not real, It is must certainly a side effect if the beta blocker.

Best wishes

[Profound15 in reply to Patchwork123]

Thanks Patchwork. Had a person ‘visit’ me last night but this time I didn’t react like before. I’ve sat up in bed previously and waved my arms about like a lunatic before becoming fully awake. Last night I just turned over so I think I’m getting used to the issue hopefully.

[Patchwork123 in reply to Profound15]

Yes you will do I’m sure.

My worst ones are when something comes hurtling towards me at speed they get my heart rate going! But most of the time I just think “here we go again” and take it with a pinch of salt 😊

[Grandmaz]

my mum gets hallucinations & sees faces , we put it down to her macular degeneration, googled it Charles bonnet syndrome, are your eyes ok?

[Profound15 in reply to Grandmaz]

Thanks Grandmaz. Yes eyes fine ta.

[Grandmaz]

that’s good mums 93 & the faces don’t frighten her thankfully 👍

[dunestar]

I was taking bisoprolol when I was first diagnosed with microvascular angina. I never saw any people or objects in my bedroom but my dreams did become much more intense. I would wake up with a pounding heart and sometimes it would flip me into Afib. So obviously not what you want from a medication that's supposed to help with Afib 😘 Fortunately the consultant said I could stop taking it which was a massive relief.

[Danceawaytheblues]

I take Bisoprolol and woke up to see a cat on the shelf in my bedroom, it turned into a tiger but I was not afraid of it. They seem like `waking dreams` and seem so real at the time. Glad that I am not the only one who `sees` things. Love and light to all. x

[Qualipop]

I was put on the usual list of meds after a heart attack and started seeing huge black worms everywhere I looked. Almost my whole vision was affected and I could barely see between them I hadn't a clue what caused it but my GP immediately took me off bisopralol as if he knew it could be a problem. They did stop for a while but then came back. After a very long time being scared half to death I saw an opthalmologist and mentioned it to him because at the same time my body felt to be vibrating from head to toe. I have severe spinal problems and he explained that the meds had made me relax much more and my spine was hitting a nerve that made my body buzz. The vibration was so strong it was making the black fluid in the back of my eyes, clump together and block my vision ( The stuff that causes floaters.). When I curled up in a ball to take the pressure off my spine and the vibration stopped, so did the "worms". It still happens if I lie on my back or lean back in a recliner. It's now causing huge problems as I need cataract operations for which you have to lie on your back but with my eyes vibrating so badly they're not sure if they can do it.

So mine aren't really hallucinations but I did have a friend on bisopralol who kept seeing her long dead dogs standing in the kitchen. She knew they weren't real but it scared her and she rang me to say she was having "Illuminations" LOL. A quick call to her GP got her meds changed and the "illuminations" stopped.

[Singwell]

My husband gets these - without any medication. Apparently it's a syndrome. Perhaps it's what Jean referred to. I have to be very careful about not waking him suddenly too. If you've ever read Julie Walter's bio, she had it for years. Apparently she had hypnotherapy for it, which helped.

[Ennasti]

Fascinating thread. Thankfully I don’t suffer from sleep issues (I average 9hrs a night with up to 3 hours of deep sleep) and this continued even when I was on bisoprolol. My dreams haven’t changed either - I’ve had infrequent weird, somewhat vivid dreams my whole life and this didn’t increase.

However, the reason for my interest in the comments and thoughts was the memories of my mum. I have a genetic heart condition.y mother passed from it over 25 years ago, but I recall her weird dreams not long after she went to bed. She would call out asking us to turn the light on because saying there was something on the ceiling or in the room. She was always confused. We just took it as having a weird mum (said with much fondness). 😆. She was on a mountain of drugs and I can remember some but not all. She would have had to have been on a beta blocker so I’m wondering if this was why she had these weird dreams or whatever they were?