Auditory hallucinations, hearing sounds that aren't there

[Goldenre]

Beginning in late afternoon and into evenings it starts in. Hearing music that isn't there. I picked up my digoxin that I've been prescribed for controlling my PAF for 18 months and in reading the side effects, I found hallucinations among them. I'm on a low dose, 0.125 mg. which has been therapeutic and my serum digoxin is low, at 5. I've seen my primary and was referred to a neurologist and an ENT. The ENT ordered an MRI of the brain which I'm reluctant to get because it's noisy and I don't want to experience more hearing loss. I guess my question here is, has anyone in this group experienced hallucinations while on digoxin?

[JudiHalf]

I help look after a 94 year old lady and she takes digoxin, she also complains about her neighbors singing in the middle of the night and hearing men talking, also ringing her doorbell in the night. She is very deaf as well.

[Goldenre in reply to JudiHalf]

Thank you for your reply. Interesting that she hears a variety of sounds, I just hear music.

[Vonnegut in reply to Goldenre]

Presumably it’s not music that you like! Very weird that a drug can have that effect as it might be fun if you could chose which music you could hear and when.

[ForensicFairy]

My mother suffered hallucinations and vivid dreams for many years before she died. She saw a psychiatrist who diagnosed her with depression. We just thought she was loopy (said with affection). She died almost 28 years ago and was on many, many cardiac drugs including digoxin. I often read these posts now and wonder if it was her meds causing her to be loopy. Each time I read one like this I’m more convinced of it. I wish I knew what I know now, back then.

[Goldenre in reply to ForensicFairy]

Thanks for your comments. I was wondering if I was going loopy!

[ForensicFairy in reply to Goldenre]

At least music is pleasant. Mum’s were always things that crawled and other strange things. Stay well.

[Goldenre in reply to ForensicFairy]

Thank you.

[Qualipop in reply to ForensicFairy]

When my mother in law started hearing a baby crying seeing gang fights in the street and said the police t old her to let them in we thought the same but when the man on the tv started talking to her we called her GP who instantly diagnosed a urine infection. Very very common in the elderly with no other symptoms. However another very elderly friend was put on digoxin and started seeing the dogs she'd owned and bred years before. She told me she knew they were "Illuminations" and got her tablets changed.

[Goldenre in reply to Qualipop]

Thank you for your comment.

[opal11uk]

All drugs have side effects, I always read the enclosed leaflet with them and do some research, I am lucky in as much as my grandson is a medical scientist and actually makes drugs so I can always go to him for guidance. Is there a possibility that you can change your meds maybe?

[Goldenre in reply to opal11uk]

Thank you for the reply. Since I've been on digoxin, I've had no more events of afib so I'm reluctant to make a change. I see my cardiologist in May. I'll ask him about it.

[Ppiman]

If you search online for the phrase (in inverted commas) "musical hallucination”, then you should find a link to a web page covering this on the Tinnitus UK charity website. I think it will alleviate your fears and explain what - from your description here - you seem to be having.

I found the page interesting, too, as, many years ago when I was prescribed an SSRI for the wrong reasons, I suffered many dreadful side effects, one of which was having a song stuck in my head. The article from the charity explains that well, and calls it an "ear worm". When I suffered it, I found very little information about it and few realised just how awful such a seemingly trivial thing can be.

Steve

[Goldenre in reply to Ppiman]

The ENT doctor said it's "fairly common" yet he ordered an MRI. I'd already had a CT of my brain which only showed it had shrunk which is common for my age.

[Ppiman in reply to Goldenre]

An MRI is - apart from the noise - a harmless procedure. I’d go for it to see if anything shows up.

Steve

[Goldenre in reply to Ppiman]

👍

[Auriculaire in reply to Ppiman]

I hear music in my head when the extractor fan in the kitchen is running. I think it's part of my mild tinnitus which otherwise manifests as a doorbell ringing or a rumbling like a distant clothes dryer.

[Ppiman in reply to Auriculaire]

My tinnitus sounds like a group of high pitched ringing sounds or electronic notes played together, mostly in my right ear or thereabouts. I am often, thankfully, able to ignore it but not always. My father used to say his was like a train going through a tunnel - he coped well, too, or seemed to.

Steve

[Tapanac]

my husband is on digoxin amongst other heart meds and I’ve notice his memory loss is getting worse since he’s been on this. Worry isn’t it all these drugs snd side effects.

[Goldenre in reply to Tapanac]

Yes, lots of side effects. Brings me back to the old saying, "for every affect, there's a side effect."

[Rosie0202]

I'm on Eliquis and occasionally I hear a door bang or a dog bark. I have also heard music but not frequently. My sister who has Parkinsons disease has hallucinations where she sees her dead cat by her side. She has also had bad dreams which are very vivid where somebody is in her house causing harm. She has come off that 'patch' and the hallucinations have stopped. Medication!! what would be do with or without it?

[Goldenre in reply to Rosie0202]

Elequis! I'm on Xarelto. I'll have to check its side effects.