Husband has in the past 2 days started having hallucinations and dreams. He is not acting out yet. But thinks he seen somebody in one of the rooms. Wanting to know whe is here. Where the bus went. Checking the garage because he thinks he heard somebody out there.
The Neuro has been asking me if he has the hallucinations and dreams but this just started recently with no change of meds. I am going to call him this morning about this and I wondered if anyone else has experience this and what meds they are using? I am hesitant about med changes because he usually gets more confused. His usual meds are Aricept, Namenda, Neurotin, Celexa, Xanax, Wellbutrin, Iboprofin 600.
Just remembered 2 days ago I changed his Ibopropin 600 and Vicadon (once a day) for 1000 mg. tylenol 4 times a day. This morning I went back to the Ibopropin 600 3 times a day and vicadon once a day. Do you think going off the vicadon for 2 days would cause this or just another stage of the AD?
HI Imohr, I went through about 3 years old blood curling screams from nightmares with my husband. He wouldn't remember a thing when I got him awake. He saw people in the house too for a bout 6 month. Hes on lexapro and has had 1 dream since he started it. I don't know if that stopped them or he just realized that it was just a dream. Its hard enough getting rest to to dealing with all that screaming in the middle of the night was so hard to deal with. And the seeing people scared me to,I wondered once if someone wasn't here. Walked around with a cast iron skillet (lol).
When my husband was on Vicodin (a narcotic pain killer) he was also having hallucinations and became terribly confused. this happened twice, once for his back and again after rotator cuff surgery. I stopped the vicodan and had the doc give him Tylonol with codiene, and he was much better. happily, he no longer needs pain killer, and when he does I give him Tylonol. Can't give in Ibuprofin because of bleeding ulcers, so Tylonol is our only chice.
Thanks for your imput. Yes, the Doctors know what he is on. They had him on stronger things than that the first 2 years. They don't want me to take him off the Aricept and Namenda. The others as he can tolerate them. I may try cutting back 1 of the Neurotin (Prescribed for leg cramps and lower back). I am going to not give him any more Vicadon and stick to either the Ibopropen or Tylenol ES. The xanax he takes one .5 mg. at bedtime and I may cut that in half tonight. The Wellbutrin I don't want to mess with because of depression.
My DH has had several dreams where he cries out in his sleep. He acts very scared and makes "huh, huh" noises. I push on him and roll him over and this seems to help. In the morning, I ask him what was happening. Usually, he is being attacked by an animal and is fighting it off or running from it. Once, it was a raccoon. He has also "seen" people in the bedroom. A couple of months ago, he slept in the basement room because he was angry with me. He came up in the middle of the night and was really scared. He say a lady and she scared him. He hasn't slept down there since.
Something might be upsetting your husband. For example, as AD progresses, if the ADLO sees a reflection of himself or of you in a mirror, or perhaps a window at night, something like that, he may not recognize himself or you, and think someone else is there.
My husband hears noises at night that bother him, but they're absolutely typical noises that we've heard every night we've been in the house. So I just explain what the noise is (right now, it's obvious to me which noise is bothering him) and that calms him down.
So it can sometimes help figure out why he's behaving this way to keep a log, noting exactly when he's "hallucinating" and what else is going on, to try to find a pattern which can give you a clue what's triggering the "hallucination".
I notice when the AC comes on he sometimes thinks it is a vehicle outside or someone coming in. I think I will be checking with Hospice before long. Right now, he is peaceful, calm and sleeping all the time. At the point where he will let an aide bathe him I am calling for an evaluation.
I so appreciate this site and reading all the helpful information being shared.
I remember Andrea heard noises that I didn't hear, or she'd hear normal noises and get freaked out by them. If someone's footsteps were walking in the hallway (just normal footsteps), she'd stop, look around, and say, "Do you hear that? It sounds like someone is trying to break the wall down!"
It seems to me that the sense organ nerves were firing like crazy. Not all senses all at once, but we went through:
It's too hot, it's too cold, that's too spicy, that's not spicy enough, don't touch my arm it hurts, the light is too bright, that sound is too loud...
All these complaints are heightened sense awarenesses. I guess most complaints do have to do with the senses, but still it's interesting that we see a lot of these same complaints. Honestly, folks, I swear if the doctors read our posts and put them all together scientifically they'd have the answer. We so often see threads of sameness that it can't be a coincidence.
trisinger I so agree with you about the sameness and coincidences being part of a pattern we can't yet put together. Sometimes I worry that this is something we know that could be important but where do we go with the information.
I originally wrote at the beginning of this topic about hallucinations. Changed some meds and added coconut oil and he did better all around basically. Now lately he has started seeing people outside or thinking a car is in the driveway. Nothing scary, just mentions it to me. This morning at 7:30 he came in and told me SIL was working on a drain pipe in the front yard (not). I looked and told him he was not. He looked again and agreed with me.
I am not seeking advise because I think it is just disease progression and this is my log about the hallucinations. He is on Aricept, Namenda, Wellbutrin, Neurotin, Tylenol, Xanax, Prilosec and Tramadol.
I agree with Briegull....he's on meds that can 'cause' these hallucinations. Why is he on Vicodin. That's a very strong drug for pain. Is he in constant pain? I would seriously think about making an appointment (just you) with his doctor and going over the list of drugs he takes. If he sees several different docs, that may be the problem -
Something on the drug program could be the cause. (or it's the 'cocktail' of drugs together)
Nancy, he is no longer on Vicodin. We changed to Tramadol and tylenol and yes he is in constant pain with the Spinal Stenosis. I forgot he is also on Flexeril not.