Hallucinations

[Tvpuzzle]

Hi has, anybody suffered with hallucinations a side, effect of various drugs following heart attack and stent procedure.

[beardy_chris]

Hallucinations are relatively common in ICU so it may or may not be the drugs. Of course, if you are in ICU, by definition, things are pretty serious, you may have had a major episode and they may use some strong drugs. Talk to your medical team about it.

There is a forum for ICU Steps where you'll get more information on this. I'm not sure why it occurs but it may be due to the trauma of your heart attack etc.

[bantam12]

My husband was in a space ship and Monty Python was involved somewhere, the nurses thought it was hilarious.

[Tvpuzzle in reply to bantam12]

Hubby saw rats, rabbits and aliens & other night we were getting invaded. He knows they are imaginary! . Cardio nurse said its, a particular drug he is on & they should, settle in time

[bantam12 in reply to Tvpuzzle]

It was the drugs with my husband and stopped after a week or so, this was last year but he can still remember exactly what he was seeing, funny how aliens and space ships seem to be a theme.

I hope your hubby gets on ok 🙂

[Tvpuzzle in reply to bantam12]

Thankyou he was sent home 2 days after heart attack & stent but had complicarions a week later & back in hosp for a week over xmas. Very scary but home now & alot better with a few drug changes. Still very tired but much improved. Its good to find out how, other people cope as its frightening & info can help deal with it x

[Catsncrochet]

When my husband was in hospital with AF, he woke up in the middle of the night, declared he was a North Tyneside policeman due on duty (he isn’t), got dressed and tried discharge himself. I went in the next morning to find a safeguarding guard stationed with him.

They put it down to Digoxin and the fact he hadn’t been eating at all. He’s still on Apixaban and Amiodarone and mistakes things seen from the corner of his eye for other things. It may also be due to exhaustion as he’s waiting for an AVR op.

[alfiebloom]

Yep had all kinds of crazy stuff going on ... I had it all and could spend hours describing it all ,,, some scary , some funny , butt all affects you somehow in some way ... it does go eventually and I was there like you are reading things hoping for reassurance .. and this site really helps ...you will be fine in the end

[Calliope153]

I didn't get the hallucinations in hospital but when I got home. No space ships for me but garden gnomes walking up the bed............ then men in Renaissance outfits coming in through the bedroom window...... it does pass after a few days and you are fine.

[benjijen]

I regularly see someone out of the corner of my eye, but when I look there's no-one there. Makes me jump sometimes as I live alone!

[Hidden in reply to benjijen]

Hi there,

I had heart surgery just over 2 years ago and since then have had many episodes of migraine auras, but I also have eye floaters (which I had before the op) and these can catch me out sometimes as they follow you around. Also immediately after the operation I saw "stars" (still do sometimes) and little black dots which move around like flies. Just wonder if any of these can be bothering you?

Best wishes,

uppercombe

[Tvpuzzle in reply to Hidden]

Asked my hubby about this but he has not had these. Mainly animals! Hope you can get to the bottom of this problem but i am beginning to realise that these powerful but important drugs mess with the mind. Take care & thanks, for your response

[benjijen in reply to Hidden]

Yes , I didn't think about the floaters. I still have them but not as many but I expect that causes my problem.

[thetidders]

After a heart bypass 20 months ago I suffered a severe electrolyte imbalance & after collapsing at home was rushed by ambulance to our local hospital where I spent two weeks in the intensive care unit. The hallucinations were awful, mainly about the ward & staff itself.

They stopped the day I was discharged. We were invited back to the ICU about 6 months later to discuss my time on there & to see if I needed any help. Apparently it is normal to have hallucinations whilst on the unit due to all the medication being pumped into you.

I had also had some after my bypass in Liverpool which I was also told was quite normal.

I still remember them at times & realise how ridiculous they were but I believed them at the time.

Jean

[Lilyrosy]

Goodness me, I was totally thrown by these hallucinations and frightened after my CABG x4. I suppose it wasn’t helped by having to be opened up twice because of air and haemorrhaging plus more drugs.

Some were really scary and some funny, the best being a nanny to the Beckhams children.

I was really concerned and I was told you aren’t told about them as it may frighten you before your procedure. Too right.

I was then given a leaflet explaining them so all normal apparently. They do eventually go.

[Handel]

Hi Tvpuzzle.

I remember my husband having weird hallucinations involving marching ants, an army of beetles and a few spiders! They were crawling over the walls and bedsheets.

He was in the high dependency unit (the next step down from the ICU).

When I checked his chart at the end of the bed i could see they'd put him on codeine and morphine (despite my telling them he had severe reactions to opiates!). Once off these and put on paracetamol, he was fine.

He had weird dreams when he was discharged after his quad bypass, but those gradually faded. Our GP reckoned that subconsciously, you remember being opened up! Makes sense I guess!!

Check what meds you're on with your GP.

All the very best to you xxx

[Qualipop]

Hahaha, OMG Yes! I had massive 3 foot long and 10 inch wide black worms all over the ceilings and walls. My tablets were changed immediately.

[Dawes]

Codeine made me hallucinate when I had open heart surgery. I asked them to stop giving it to me as I was ‘away with the fairies’ and they said that’s kind of the point!

[Hidden]

Hello there,

I had a replacement aortic valve just over two years ago and about three days in I noticed that one of the nurses had animal paw prints all over her face and arms and another had spiders' webs! Quite attractive really. I also saw foliage growing around the curtains surrounding my bed as well but the most impressive thing was something that looked like seaweed drifting back and forth as though caught in the current, and then changing into dogs' heads.........I also mentioned to the nurse on duty that there was a screen at the foot of my bed with a continuous news loop and It took some convincing me that there wasn't. The nurses said they had heard about this reaction but hadn't actually encountered it - so no real explanation. I assumed therefore that it was all due to the anaesthesia and maybe morphine. It didn't worry me too much, but I was relieved when it disappeared about a day later.

I guess it is all part of the experience of heart surgery and is obviously a fairly common occurrence reading some of the comments.

Best wishes,

Uppercombe

[Tvpuzzle]

Hi well you really had some impressive sightings! Thought my hubby was having a bad eeaction seeing animals, and, alien's! Hope you are doing well now. Its, all a learning curve and the hosp do not warn you that seeing strange things are all part of the drugs. Best wishes

[not2worry]

anesthesia can really scramble up your brain for a while. It is pretty scary because you know things aren’t right and nothing you can do about it except wait for the drugs to slowing dissipate out of your body. Drinking fluids help flush out the drugs faster as well as keep you hydrated.

Typically after surgery they tell you the anesthesia may cause nausea but forget to mention the way it will affect your brain .

Many who are in the operation theater can tell some pretty wild stories about what patients say while under the sedation.

Just comforting to know it’s a common side affect and patience is the only prescription to solve the problem.