Hallucinations

[MotorT]

For last few years iv had Hallucinations bad one mostly at night ( sleep what's that ) has anyone else had them ? Had few meds all they did was knock me out still had a horrific night

[Notts22]

Yes I have had this happen several times over last couple of years some very scary I talked it over with a couple of the staff at Headway. One of the ladies said it is

Charles Bonner syndrome. Where the brain is trying to fill in gaps in your vision. Since I had the brain hemorrhage i have had double vision horizontal and vertical. I spoke to ny neurologist who sent me to the eye department at the hospital where after I had tests and Botox injection in the eye muscles to try to stop the double vision. It didn't work so they said the only thing can do is cover one eye so can only see out of one eye. One of the specialist had a chat after and said the hallucinations should go if a few months. This has certainly worked for me I have had less and less and now not had one for a few months. I hope this works for you. Phone Headway and have a chat about it.

[MotorT in reply to Notts22]

I have them ever night almost for about 2 years I will ring today thanks

[Hidden]

Hi T,

I've had and still have lots of visual processing issues, have started going blind in one eye as well.

I've also had tons of visual phenomena in my mind like travelling through space with geometrical patterns emerging, beings manifesting, colors, landscapes, other dimensional kind of experiences etc. The thing is I think they are amazing but they have have reduced a lot but I would not give them up for the world.

Anyway what Notts says is right, visual problems cause visual phenomena in your mind.

Luckily these are not hallucinations, hallucinations occur when the 'outside world' warps and changes color etc. I've had loads of these too and these were corrected with colored lenses, the visual processing issues I had meant my brain could not process the information so it looked like things in the world were changing. With my first pair of lenses if I put them on most of the movement stopped instantly and if I took them off it would start again. I knew in my mind that it was a visual processing problem rather than some kind of mental health issue.

What I'm saying is that there are many forms of visual phenomena and they can have different causes.

Hallucinations are only changes experienced in the outside world and not in your mind. The stuff in your mind is your brain making sense of your present experiences.

Visual phenomena in my mind can happen at any time I relax, there's nothing bad about it, it's just visual phenomena and like I said I enjoy the experience.

Yours happen in your mind when you go to bed. what form does it take? Is it the fact that you have images that worry you or is it the content of the imagery that is horrible?

I also notice that your brain injury was almost 20 years ago, is it brain related or something else?

Is it your vision

macularsociety.org/macular-...

[MotorT in reply to Hidden]

Imagine the most horrific thing you could see ..the scariest and to you it will be alive ..there with you trying to get you the images fill the room they change from night to night sometimes tried meds nothing so far has worked

[Hidden in reply to MotorT]

Not like anything I've experienced, mine were more other worldly and fantastical. I've written about trying to find out what they were in my posts from years ago. I suppose they could be scary if I did not realize they were just mental phenomena and me as a person was separate from them.

I think some psychotherapists can help finding the source of what's happening in your life to make your mind create these kinds of images. It was suggested to me early on but because I did not have an issue with them, I did not bother. It was just something that happened. I did realize after a while that the images corresponded to events in my life but as I was positive in my mind the imagery was also positive.

Not for me to say but maybe there is something in your subconscious trying to show itself.

This was the kinds of things that I found out about these therapies. It wasn't for me though but maybe something to ask your GP about. Sounds like your imagery is stronger than medication so there may be other ways to sort it out.

[June08]

Could you be seeing the departed? Often times at night when we’re more relaxed, they will try to communicate with us. It’s frightening at times because we’re not used to these types of things. A friend of mine suffered from a TBI and it opened doors to other realms. In other words, the filters in his brain were lowered, allowing him to see what he wasn’t able to see prior to his injury. Doctors have put him on psych meds to help, but he still sees them during the day, too. 🤷‍♀️

[MotorT in reply to June08]

Hell if that's so I wish I cudnt see them anymore they are horrific Last night my room was full of what I can only call horrific ghostly figure s huge teeth boney arms hands grabbing for me screeching some as close as inches from my head this is not only in my bedroom anyroom any were mostly at night

[Bb1878]

Hi there, just came across your post. I've had these on and off for the last 4 years following a head injury back in 2020. I too experience extremely frightening hallucinations overnight, including dark figures, strange objects on the walls, noises etc - I even had a levitating bed one night. I've read about hypnagogic hallucinations,in which you can experience hallucinations while falling asleep when your in-between the stages of wakefulness and sleep. I believe that's what these are. Mine have reduced somewhat now but I do still get them, and altho I know they aren't dangerous they are still very scary. I try and tell myself they are not real when they occur which I think helps. Another thing that works for me in reducing them is to leave a light on so it's not pitch black in the room, I also sometimes wear an eye mask which seems to work - maybe by preventing me from opening my eyes as easily. I hope you can get them under control. Cheers Bb

[MotorT in reply to Bb1878]

Hi iv tried leaving light on I still see them last week one grabbed me and I swear I felt it ..iv been put on different meds but nothing helps I'm told as the damage is organic they carnt help me really ...

[Bb1878 in reply to MotorT]

Sorry to hear that, hopefully they will eventually start to fade over time. I've had a couple of sensory hallucinations like u mention, mine was I could sense somebody lying next to me in bed (there wasn't anybody there except me) it then grabbed hold of my arm forcefully, I could feel it squeezing my arm - it was very unsettling. Thats happened a couple of times. I also woke up once to a witch at the side of the bed hissing at me - absolutely bizarre, I do wonder what my brain is doing creating these thing. Mine started when I was taking anti depressants and I thought it was a side effect of them at first, but they continued after I managed to come off them. I do wonder tho if the drugs contributed to them in some way, maybe triggering a response in my brain which has stayed with me ever since. Hope u can get it under control, take care Bb.