When medications cause visual hallucinations (Article)

Short but informative article on the occurrence of visual hallucinations as a side effect of taking certain medications.

From the article:

Hallucinations as medication side effects are often non-overwhelming, such as when a patient sees a "shimmering light around his wife." But they can also progress to disturbing, as when a patient "... sees strange bugs crawling on her skin."

"... taking a new medication or higher doses of their usual medications" can produce this effect in some patients.

“A person using just one medication is much less likely to experience a related visual hallucination than someone who’s on four or five, due to potential drug interactions.”

"older patients are more likely than younger patients to be ... at greater risk."

Also, a patient who already has a psychiatric condition or drug or alcohol abuse problem is more likely to experience this phenomenon.

And many patients don't report having hallucinations for fear of being thought "crazy."

The doctor educating the patient as to the causes of the patient's hallucinations is essential.

Definitions: "Simple hallucinations, also known as elementary or nonformed, appear as lights, colors, lines, shapes, or geometric designs; complex, or formed, hallucinations may include images of people, animals, objects, or lifelike scenes."

"The medications most often associated with visual hallucinations include those used to treat high blood pressure (such as Metoprolol), erectile dysfunction, psychiatric and mood disorders, movement disorders like Parkinson disease, and some antibiotics (such as Ciprofloxacin)." (How many of us have taken Cipro?)

"People who take Viagra or other erectile dysfunction drugs may perceive a distinctive bluish tinge in their vision. These drugs have dose-dependent effects: For example, only about 5 percent of patients taking 50 mg a day have symptoms, but 100 percent of patients taking 200 mg a day will be affected."

Personally, I've never had anything like a hallucination as a drug side effect (as far as I can remember), although I do recall having some pretty strange dreams during my hospital stay for the TURP years ago, but I guess that doesn't count.

Anyone of you had experience with any medication-induced hallucinations? What were they like?

But it's probably good to be aware of hallucinations as possible side effects of taking certain meds, so in the event that they do occur, we can at least realize right away that's what's happening.

https://www.aao.org/eyenet/article/medication-related-visual-hallucinations-what-you-

Happened to my father once post heart surgery. He kept seeing the curtains around his bed moving up.

He was in a private room. There were no curtains in the room.

A psychiatrist came in, look at the medication list and said, "Call me if this is still happening after he's off these" Since dad wasn't violent or in distress, they chose just to leave him be and told him the meds were making him see things. He replied, "When will dinner appear?"

I don't recall all the meds, but I'm sure it happens.

As you might have suspected, a primary reason I decided to post about this was to mention, specifically, that the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin, which many of us have taken at one point or another for UTIs, rarely, but occasionally, is responsible for the occurrence of hallucinations.

But as you also might suspect, the frequency of this is indeed rare (but possible). These facts about Cipro and hallucinations are reported in the article linked below:

Less than 1% of patients report hallucinations as a side effect
85% of reports come in less than 1 month of being on Cipro
female/male ratio: 61/39 (I assume that's just because more women take it, UTIs being more common in women?)
53% of reports are from people age 60+

Once more: an unlikely side effect, but one to know about just in case one is in that 1%, simply because the sudden, unexpected, appearance of visual hallucinations might be so unsettling.

https://www.ehealthme.com/ds/cipro/hallucinations/