Hallucinations of unknown origin

[abracadabra girl]

I'm asking for a friend (really!). She's 24, diagnosed with bipolar and taking prescription meds since age 12 and it's under reasonable control. She gave birth to a baby 3 months ago (she did not keep the baby, so please don't get sidetracked on child safety issues). She uses marijuana daily and in the last 3 months has used mushrooms once and cocaine 3 or 4 times. In the past she has used other drugs including meth, heroin, ecstasy, and acid, but it has been years.

Anyway, about a month ago she started experiencing constant hallucinations. She saw her pdoc who said that the most likely cause for the type of hallucination she is having is bath salts. My friend explained that she has never used bath salts and would like to dig deeper for a cause. The pdoc feels sure that her weed or cocaine was spiked with bath salts and that this effect may be permanent. She was prescribed an antipsychotic drug which works in reducing the hallucinations.

It probably won't change her treatment, but we aren't satisfied with this mysterious "spiked with bath salts" explanation. But other than stress, or post partum psychosis (and she isn't more depressed than usual), we can't come up with any other likely explanations for persistent hallucinations. And her stress level, while high, has actually gone down so it seems odd that effects from it would occur now. Would like to hear any thoughts others may have. Thanks for reading.

 

[adam west]

its hard to say. if shes eating and sleeping regularly then i doubt its from any substance, unless its frequent use

 

[Beachcat]

Wow, I am sorry that this is happening to her. I don't buy the bath salts thing at all. I dated someone who was seriously bi polar, and I struggled with it myself in college but seem to have grown out of it. I am surprised her doc even went with the bath salt thing given the other factors.

Hallucinogenics can really wreak havoc on people with bi polar. I feel like the combination of the crazy hormones after childbirth, plus adding some drugs, messed up her chemistry enough to cause what you are describing. Hell, three months after I gave birth I still did not feel right mentally. If I added some weed, mushrooms and coke I would have fallen apart. I think she is probably experiencing a psychosis due to these factors, which would make way more sense than the bath salt mess.

I hope she pulls out of it, I doubt it is permanent, I would find a new doctor, too.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Tell her to see another doctor.

"Bath salts" isn't even a specific drug. It's just a term used by the media to describe a group of "research chemical" drugs that sometimes say "bath salts" on the label to get around the law by pretending they are not selling them for human consumption.

It is ridiculous for her doctor to say it must be caused by bath salts, when she hasn't even done any, and to assume that it's permanent. She really needs to find a better doctor. It's also very unlikely that cannabis would be "spiked with bath salts". Cocaine can be cut with a myriad of other substances however.

Mushrooms, cocaine and even marijuana can themselves can sometimes trigger psychosis/schizophrenia/hallucinations etc in people who are susceptible. As can hormonal changes after giving birth. Discontinuing the marijuana and not using any other recreational drugs would probably be a good starting point.

 

[Jagdfeld]

Tell her to see another doctor.

"Bath salts" isn't even a specific drug. It's just a term used by the media to describe a group of "research chemical" drugs that sometimes say "bath salts" on the label to get around the law by pretending they are not selling them for human consumption.

It is ridiculous for her doctor to say it must be caused by bath salts, when she hasn't even done any, and to assume that it's permanent. She really needs to find a better doctor. It's also very unlikely that cannabis would be "spiked with bath salts". Cocaine can be cut with a myriad of other substances however.

Mushrooms, cocaine and even marijuana can themselves can sometimes trigger psychosis/schizophrenia/hallucinations etc in people who are susceptible. As can hormonal changes after giving birth. Discontinuing the marijuana and not using any other recreational drugs would probably be a good starting point.

This is obviously great advice.

If you want to check out a new doctor, make an appointment with a reputable (or at least somewhat reputable) Internist. I can just say there are some out there that understand research chemicals and the implications they have on the body on they can help refer you to a good doctor.

I did some "coke" that turned out to be MPDV, and I did quite a bit and experienced some crazy things for awhile. So, I finally decided make an appointment with one I knew was good, he discussed with me the neurological effects, and here I am now, fine.

Obviously, I was lucky enough to be able to fully recover; that's unfortunately not the case with some people, but for others, some good therapy, a proper dose of responsibly and properly used drugs can lead one back to reality.

I wish the nothing but the best for your friend and I hope she gets to feeling better.

 

[paranoid android]

I suffer from bipolar and although i was not diagnosed until i was about 24 i have had some type of mood disorder since i was very young. I can remember thinking about suicide as far back as 11 years old but i was too hard headed to get any treatment. I self medicated with loads of Cannabis, alcohol (i was a raging alcoholic for years), shrooms, benzos, opiates and anything else i could get my hands on. I only sought help when it became unbearable.

Now i take Lamotrigine, Seroquel, bupropion and clonazepam to control my bipolar. I still get episodes of major depression or mania but nothing like before i was on medication for it. I was a rapid cycling mixed state wreck when i was untreated. I still smoke loads of weed and hash and it actually helps to even out my moods. Without it i would have gone completely insane years ago. I also still take shrooms and LSD and these drugs do nothing but help my moods. I also take morphine for chronic pain but i do abuse it along with hydromorphone especially when i am depressed. However everyone is different and i have seen people even freak out on Cannabis.

Drugs like Cocaine, alcohol and to a lesser extent dextroamphetamine really fuck with my moods. I usually smoked crack or Ived my coke and needless to say this really did a number on my head. IV coke turned me into a full on manic lunatic. It took me months to get over a binge that i had on it and a few close friends actually noticed a change in me even after i had stopped using coke/crack. Alcohol can make me really depressed or cause a mixed state so these days i don't have more then a few beers a day. Dexedrine when i abused the shit out of it and would stay up for 3 or 4 days would cause me to plummet into a bottomless pit of despair when i was coming down. Oddly enough it did not cause any mania.

She needs to see a another Pdoc because this guy is a complete moron. Bath salts are not a fucking specific drug ffs! Also i have never even heard of cocaine being cut with MDPV. Unfortunately doctors get tunnel vision and it is almost impossible to change their minds despite all the evidence to the contrary. This guy sounds like a real quack though. He probably watched some stupid show about the dangers of bath salts and now thinks they are the cause of every hallucination suffered by anyone who uses drugs.

As for the hallucinations i have gotten them when my bipolar was not controlled very well. Mania or worse by miles mixed states cause auditory hallucinations with me sometimes especially when i have sleep deprivation. Sometimes i see the shadow people if i have been awake too long. What medications is she taking? Some meds can actually cause hallucinations in some people. Even anti-psychotics such as seroquel can cause hallucinations in certain people.

I would recommend that she stop taking any drugs that are not prescribed to her and to see a new Pdoc. Pdoc's with tunnel vision are worse then having no Pdoc at all in my opinion.

 

[blight12]

What where the hallucinations?

 

[Captain.Heroin]

It sounds like she has schizophrenia.

 

[Pagey]

As SD mentioned, drugs like weed and cocaine are known to trigger mental issues in people with predispositions - for instance people with a predispositin to schizophrenia might not actually end up schizophrenic until they smoke weed, be it only once. I'm not saying your friend is necessarily schizophrenic but it's possible she has some mental disorder which is causing these hallucinations.
The 'bath salts' explanation her doctor gave is dumb.