Is there anything that helps with hallucinations?

[john_z]

My father suffers from hallucinations lately.For about a week he asks us continuously to help him stand up.Then he walks to the door and he tries to go out telling us that he has to go to a place that we have visited a long time ago.Is this common in Psp?Is there anything that helps?

[dllera]

Hi John - this is common in PSP - my dad had both good and bad hallucinations. The "bad" hallucionations were that someone was trying to get him or poison him - -as well as --a Korean was hiding to kill him (Korean war memories). The "good" hallucionations were that he kept thinking he was late for school (college). We used a little valium help with this & anxiety but we also made sure that we were supporting him because these hallucinations are very real to the sufferer. We found that they were most common from asleep to awake stages - -so when he would awake looking all freaked out we would not approach him for a few minutes and when we would say his name, tell him where he was at, the day and what time it was and who we were etc. Hallucinations seemed to be a phase but I'm not sure since Dad lost the ability to talk. This phase for us was about 1 year after diagnosis and seemed to go away in about 6 -8 months and it wasn't constant. Hope this helps a little. BTW - at one time we had to get the monkeys out of his room because they were bothering him and they are dirty you know (one of the hallucinations we can look back on and giggle a little).

Danielle

[john_z in reply to dllera]

Once again,thank you very much,Danielle!My dad takes xanax,but it doesn't help much.Same thing that you mentioned happens with him,his hallucinations are more persistent from asleep to awake stages.I hope that it 'll not be so constant as it is now.

[Kathy]

Hi John,

Mum also suffers with hallucinations, often seeing babies, children and animals. She takes Rivastigmine to reduce them and it was effective initially but we gradually had to increase the dose. She is now on the maximum dose of Rivastigmine but still gets the hallucinations quite frequently, however, they don't seem to upset her as much as they used to. We did try her on a very low dose of Quetiapine for a month to see if that helped but it just made her incredibly sleepy (she would be asleep 20 out of every 24 hours!!), so we stopped it. However, different people respond differently to medications so it might be worth discussing it with your Dad's GP.

regards

Kathy x

[john_z in reply to Kathy]

Thanks a lot,Kathy!The doctor suggested zoloft (my dad has depression apart from psp) and i hope hallucinations will be reduced.Best wishes to you and your mum.

[PSPA_JillL]

Hallucinations are not a usual part of PSP but they do sometimes occur, and you should indeed discuss witht the GP or specialist. If they are sudden in onset then it could be that there is in infection (urine or chest) and they may improve when this has been treated.

[john_z in reply to PSPA_JillL]

Thank you very much,JillL!Last days the hallucinations have been reduced much,so maybe they were result of a drug(madopar) that my father was taken.Anyway,we 'll talk about it with a doctor the next days.

[Vitruvian]

I think it's important to differentiate between halllucinations (abnormal perceptions and delusions (abnormal thoughts), visual hallucinations are the most common. Firstly exclude an intercurrent illness such as a urine infection, secondly rationalise the drug treatment (need to be done by doctor) mirapexin and this group of drugs can be culprits. Thirdly remove triggers, use good lighting, remove patterned fabrics, or objects which the brain tends to misinterpret. Fourthly use strategies, if patient is unsure if this is a hallucination shout at it and it will not answer back, touch it and you will not feel it, as usually only the visual system is involved. Finally there are drugs, which are hit and miss, but can be very helpful. The rivastigmine family are the best, but the quetiapine family can help though you pay the price of side effects. The sleepiness can get batter if you stick with it. Good luck x

[john_z in reply to Vitruvian]

Thanks very much for your help,Vitruvian!You posted very useful informations.My father doesn't get hallucinations so frequently last weeks,but a bigger problem is that every second or third day he is getting very anxious and nervous.So anxious that even the tranquilizers don't have a significant result.

[Vitruvian in reply to john_z]

I'm sorry John, it's always best to find patterns and triggers and see if you can work out what's making your Dad anxious, but It can be very difficult. As you mention the medicines don't always work, and always have side effects. Has he tried a small dose of diazepam? (Valium/Sanex?)

[john_z in reply to Vitruvian]

My father has tried xanax and i just found out that it's in the same "family" of drugs with valium,they are both benzodiazepines.Unfortunately,it has poor results with my father's anxiety.Thanks a lot again,Vitruvian!