Seeing faces everywhere and scared what is happening?

[Extremetes]

I quit dexamfetamine, because I have generalized anxiety disorder and social phobia and stimulants make me even more anxious. I was also abusing them (redosing constantly up to 30mg, when that is too high for me)

I found some left over pills, and relapsed. Took about 30mg altogether. A day later, things haven't quite returned to normal.

For the last week, my senses have heightened. Smells are stronger. Colors are brighter. Most scarily, I am starting to see faces in everything. Not hallucinations, more like illusions where I can look a any inanimate object and see a face in it. It's called pareidolia, apparently.

I'm scared as hell because heightened senses and 'seeing faces in things' is apparently a sign of prodrome schizophrenia or psychosis (which might have been triggered by stimulant use. I do suffer from anxiety disorder, so he realises that it could be anxiety, but I've been taking benzos and lyrica for the last four days and it hasn't gotten better)

But the pareidolia is really disturbing and it won't go away. Faces appear in everything. Can't find ANY explanation on it, except someone's random comment on the internet stating that it could be because dopamine/norepinephrine levels are elevated leading to creating patterns where there aren't.

As mentioned above, I saw my doctor, and was given valium and my usual lyrica prescription. He says that the heightened senses is due to my being hypersensitive from anxiety. But he couldn't explain the face thing. SWIM has been taking valium for four days now, and although it makes the pareidolia less disturbing, it's still there.

I can't find ANY explanation for this!
​

 

[abracadabra girl]

I might ask the doctor about trying an antipsychotic medication, even for a short time, to see if it makes them go away.

 

[Vaya]

^you might indeed try that route - under the care of a licensed physician, of course!

May I point something out, though, that struck me immediately as I read your post?

I, too, suffer from anxiety. I, too, lead a hefty stimulant addiction to both Desoxyn & Dexedrine. And I, too, used to take Lyrica.

I noticed (with such frequency that it became purely routine) that the combination of coming off/down from amphetamines and taking Lyrica produced all of the sensory phenomena you write that you're experiencing! Really, reading your post was like reading an old transcript of my mind from those days...

How much Lyrica are you taking? I discovered that my sensory perceptions were heightened and slightly altered to the point where it straight up felt like I was rolling face after I took anything more than 150mg/day. The highest dose I was ever on was 600mg/day. But if I hadn't really put two-and-two together for myself long beforehand, my anxiety levels surely would gave soared. I could see, in that state, convincing myself that I was suffering from a psychotic disorder.

Take care of yourself!

~ Vaya

 

[neversickanymore]

dopamine/norepinephrine levels are elevated leading to creating patterns where there aren't.

I think this may be exactly what going on. You may want to try taking some Benadryl (diphenhydramine) as this may help with this. since this has been going on for a whole week it may be prudent to revisit the doctor. If you want to can you share your approximate age? I think this should let you know that you can no longer take the stims as they no longer agree with you. I wish you the best with this.

 

[Vaya]

Diphenhydramine is cable of creating those "hallucinations amongst reality," too, though...

 

[HdoubleODeezy]

When i was locked up and would do my "laps around the block" (walking the parameter of the cell block pointlessly just trying to get exercise). I would look at the floor while i was walking sometimes and whatever the floor was made of, the "pattern" on it. Though it wasn't a pattern it was just shitty looking floor lol. I would see faces in the "patterns" while looking at them, i was on a very high dose of antipsychotics at that time too and it didn't seem to help though .
I donno what caused it, maybe the stress of being locked up was getting at me or something?
But it did go away, now i have new problems.. but no more faces where they don't belong.

Now I have a problem where I wake up to the sound of people screaming like they're dying or something.. kinda fucked.
Plus a million other things.. but won't get into those.
I donno what to tell you how how to make them go away, like i said.. i got outta lock up and it stopped. Unfortunately years later got different problems.

Good luck!

-HOOD

EDIT: wanna mention that i have very small history of stim use, i was an opiate addict and am on benzos and other psychiatric meds, guess im crazy right? Schizoaffevtive Disorder is what they say i have.
I prefer "special". lol.

 

[Xorkoth]

When i was locked up and would do my "laps around the block" (walking the parameter of the cell block pointlessly just trying to get exercise). I would look at the floor while i was walking sometimes and whatever the floor was made of, the "pattern" on it. Though it wasn't a pattern it was just shitty looking floor lol. I would see faces in the "patterns" while looking at them, i was on a very high dose of antipsychotics at that time too and it didn't seem to help though .
I donno what caused it, maybe the stress of being locked up was getting at me or something?

The human brain is wired to see patterns, and one of the patterns we are most wired to see is the human face. To a certain extent that explains that part.

 

[Extremetes]

^you might indeed try that route - under the care of a licensed physician, of course!

May I point something out, though, that struck me immediately as I read your post?

I, too, suffer from anxiety. I, too, lead a hefty stimulant addiction to both Desoxyn & Dexedrine. And I, too, used to take Lyrica.

I noticed (with such frequency that it became purely routine) that the combination of coming off/down from amphetamines and taking Lyrica produced all of the sensory phenomena you write that you're experiencing! Really, reading your post was like reading an old transcript of my mind from those days...

How much Lyrica are you taking? I discovered that my sensory perceptions were heightened and slightly altered to the point where it straight up felt like I was rolling face after I took anything more than 150mg/day. The highest dose I was ever on was 600mg/day. But if I hadn't really put two-and-two together for myself long beforehand, my anxiety levels surely would gave soared. I could see, in that state, convincing myself that I was suffering from a psychotic disorder.

Take care of yourself!

~ Vaya

You have no idea how much better you've made me feel. I showed my partner your post and we were both relieved because this situation has taken a toll on both of us. But when you say *all* the sensory phenomena, does that include the faces? The main thing that concerns me is that I've stopped taking dexamphetamine for a week, but the faces still persist. I wonder if they will go away with time. I am fine with higher doses of lyrica without dexamfetamine, but I did take some when I found my secret dex stash and I was coming down from it and trying to kill my anxiety.

I think this may be exactly what going on. You may want to try taking some Benadryl (diphenhydramine) as this may help with this. since this has been going on for a whole week it may be prudent to revisit the doctor. If you want to can you share your approximate age? I think this should let you know that you can no longer take the stims as they no longer agree with you. I wish you the best with this.

Thanks. I'm 25. But I'm also curious to know how Benadryl will help if it could potentially increase dopamine (if I do a quick google search on the subject)

 

[neversickanymore]

Thanks. I'm 25. But I'm also curious to know how Benadryl will help if it could potentially increase dopamine (if I do a quick google search on the subject)

Sorry your right, glad you checked that out. this was a mistake by me.

If you are still having the symptoms then I would seek the advice of a doctor and get prescribed a proper antipsychotic. Sorry again for the error.

 

[lolwhatzdrugs]

I believe the confusion may lie with benadryl sometimes used to treat extrapyramidal symptoms of antipsychotics where dopamine agonism is being far reduced, then any increased action is fine.



It sounds like just an odd quirk of humans, the opposite of Visual agnosia (the impairment to correctly perceive visual data - Maybe a minor case of HPPD, though it seems most of the cases of that are caused by psychedelic/deliriant/disassociative use or overuse. Most of the "hallucinatory illnesses" would seem to have a very distorted paradigm all laid out.

Pareidolia a disorder classed as a apophenia /æpɵˈfiːniə/ is the experience of seeing patterns or connections in random or meaningless data. (and man are humans good at doing this, particularly in issues of love and war.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Martian_face_viking_cropped.jpg

As mentioned, due to our fantastic ability at facial recognition, an evolutionary quirk from our social ancestors.. To see it in EVERYTHING is a bit strange, but unless people start mentioning you having (or you noticing) unusual or unrealistic thought patterns, you may want to talk to a Dr. of mental health.

 

[neversickanymore]

Yep.. I usually present benadryl as an option for drug induced dystonia because of its ability to increase dopamine. Reminder to self to rethink for accuracy to make sure dyslexic advice is not given.

 

[lolwhatzdrugs]

Yep.. I usually present benadryl as an option for drug induced dystonia because of its ability to increase dopamine. Reminder to self to rethink for accuracy to make sure dyslexic advice is not given.

Dystonia as a side effect of neuroleptics? From what I understood it will increase dopamine, but that is blocked by that class of drugs , so it's use is to actually increase acetylcholine. This was from a completely non-authoritative source, wikipedia lists it's main effects as being anticholinergic, Sert inhibitor, Sodium channel blocker, and then it's typical histamine action. They don't mention in the chart but in the article that

" muscarinic receptor antagonism leads to correction of levels of dopamine, the neurotransmitter responsible for control of motor function in the brain, similar to the effect of other antimuscarinic agents such as atropine."

 

[neversickanymore]

Im not sure what you are asking?

Give 2mg of benztropine (Cogentin) or 50mg of diphenhydramine (Benadryl) iv, and watch for improvement of the dystonia over the next five minutes. This step is both therapeutic and diagnostic. Benztropine produces fewer side effects (mostly drowsiness), and may be slightly more effective, but diphenhydramine is more likely to be on hand in the ED.

>1.06 Dystonic Drug Reaction<

Thirty-two cases of drug-induced dystonic reaction were treated by the author with diphenhydramine or benztropine mesylate

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/502106

Exceptions to this rule include the use of Benadryl to treat acute drug-induced dystonia and the use of dopamine to treat certain forms of inherited dystonia,

>source<

The neuroleptics probably are the most frequent cause but stimulants also can cause it

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q...a=X&ei=tr1VU-HkC8OkyAS20IDoAQ&ved=0CCcQgQMwAA

edit: I think I inderstand now what you presented. It took ma a bit because the situations I have suggested this were always in reference to reactions to stimulant drugs. Sorry, I was a little lost. Yeah, I have not looked at the complexity of that situation.

 

[SaciPerere]

​

When I go on a coke binge of 5+ grams, I also start hearing voices, as if people were right behind me and whispering about me. Seroquel usually takes care of that rather fast and efficiently, be careful though, the human mind is a fickle thing, I know several people who began hearing voices and never stopped, no matter how much medication doctors pump on them. They became full fledged schizos.

 

[Ziggy stardust]

^^^^ yep....drug induced psychosis. I'd get it all the time on long IV coke runs...

 

[oxymoron310]

I binged on Ritalin and Lyrica one night just to see what would happen. For a few days after I was seeing faces in random objects... I think it was the Lyrica. I'm currently binging on Ritalin. 2nd day up... Relapsed yesterday

 

[Extremetes]

I binged on Ritalin and Lyrica one night just to see what would happen. For a few days after I was seeing faces in random objects... I think it was the Lyrica. I'm currently binging on Ritalin. 2nd day up... Relapsed yesterday

So the faces disappeared after the first few days? I wish you luck. I've been so scared/anxious about the repercussions of stimulant abuse that I've cancelled my prescription.

Unfortunately, I'm now feeling very lethargic and useless. Down regulation, etc. I want to drink coffee to make it a bit better, but now I'm scared that any increase in dopamine will bring the faces back. I also used small doses of nicotine gum to help me deal with withdrawal in the past, but now I'm scared to take them too...

The faces are still there for me but they're not as strong. Colours are still bright, though.

 

[Sarah.Worrier]

This is such an old post but I'm desperate for help, the same thing is happening to me and it is ruining my life. I try to ignore it but it's constant and it happened a while ago and then stopped and now it's all the time again. I am on a very low dose of Zoloft, what did the doctor say to you? I don't want to feel this way anymore. Regards Sarah

 

[herbavore]

Sarah, have you talked to your doctor about this?

 

[B.Love214]

Googled: https://www.google.com/?ion=1&espv=2#q=i see faces in things
There seems to be alot of other people out there that expierence the same phonomana as you. There might be a "Facebook" group or something out there. I know that there are also counseling websites online that you may find groups of people who have experience with this. Good luck.