Hi. I have visual and auditory hallucinations. I have been to a few doctors and they want me to start antipsychotics, which I am afraid of. Has anyone’s hallucinations gone away without meds? For the record, I am under 18 and just told my family what I have been going through for about 3 years now. I’m looking for others who can relate to what I am going through, because I feel really alone right now. I have started an antidepressant, but it has done nothing for the hallucinations. I do feel a little happier and less anxious now though. The doctors wanted me to take both types of meds.
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U surely need antipsychotic remember its positive symptoms of sz… whats ur diagnosis now…??? Can i ask that friend…
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Hi Daisy, if antidepressants aren’t helping then you will probably need to take an antipsychotic, lots of people on here take antipsychotics so they will give you lots of support when you start on them.
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There is no effective alternative treatment but sometimes they go away on their own.
Why are you afraid?
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Antipsychotics are generally necessary for all of us who experience hallucinations. Since you haven’t started an AP yet, you won’t experience relief from the hallucinations. A lot of the newer (atypical) antipsychotics have lower rates of side effects as well. It can be a difficult process. How long have you been hallucinating? All of the 3 years or just recently? I only hallucinated for a few days before I saw someone, but I was delusional for 10+ years prior to seeking treatment. I’m 23 by the way. It can be especially scary being young and being faced with hallucinations.
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First I am not a doctor. But telling you what my docs said. Psychosis is a condition which can be caused by more than one thing. Before starting anti psychotic your doctor should eliminate other possibilities. There are auto immune diseases which can cause hallucinations which can be misdiagnosed as Sz or bipolar (http://neurosciencenews.com/schizophrenia-immune-disorder-bipolar-8179/). Your doctor does blood test, and MRI scans to check which is the condition. Unfortunately there are no tests for sz yet but progress is being made on that (eg :Progress towards a brain scan for diagnosis). But there are tests that can eliminate possibilities that you might have one of other conditions.
Talk about these with your family and docs and then decide the course.
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Remember there are conditions which can be causing hallucinations and have cure. Unlike Schizophrenia or Bipolar which does not have cure (but effective treatments are coming shortly). So I would eliminate other possibilities before accepting a diagnosis that its Sz or bipolar.
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I have been hallucinating for 3 years, but they are getting worse. ): Yes, I don’t want to be sick. Some days are worse than others.
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They did do blood and urine tests. I am going back in today, so I will ask about a brain scan. Thank you.
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Oh dear! Make sure you mention everything going on so they can accurately treat you. I would leave things out thinking they were inconsequential that turned out to be majorly important symptoms
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The side effects have me and my parents worried.
One doctor said schizophrenia, the others haven’t officially labeled me yet. I go back in to one of them this afternoon. My mom is taking me to get different opinions. I see and hear things all day long. I also have had delusions. Some days I can tune out the voices for the most part, other days they are really loud and keep me from doing much. They are getting worse with age. I thought they were a normal thing that everyone experienced until recently. My parents were worried about me, so I finally told them.
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Doctors often don’t have time to find out if there is a underlying cause to the hallucinations, they just use medication to help with the symptoms.
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They are very subjective and never permanent, you should try some meds first and then decide…
Start ap cause its not good for the brain to have hallucinations and psychosis. You might get dumb. And i think if you dont take ap eventually you will be totally brainless collected from a street with an ambulance.
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Talk to a doctor and start an AP right away. You shouldn’t be living like this.
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the first time i ever had an episode of hallucinations (largely without any paranoia) it lasted a month or two then stopped for years before it came back with a healthy dose of delusional paranoia
They go away if I sleep an excessive amount. If I regularly get 11 hours of sleep I no longer hallucinate. However it is generally not possible for me to regularly get 11 hours of sleep.
Also my hallucinations are atypical.
Ask them specifically about this auto immune disorder that I mentioned in my previous reply (your blood and urine test might be for diff reason, usually docs do that before starting antipsychotics so that they know you are healthy enough to take them. also some medications might be better suited for you than others if your blood cholesterol and sugar levels and other hormone levels are not normal. so not necessarily these tests are done to check if you have autoimmune disease. For me it was my neurologist who ordered the test to check for two possible autoimmune conditions.my Psychiatrist ordered regular blood and hormone check so if medications change things we know before and after results and decide which course to take. Hope it turns out something less severe and you get better soon.
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