I've really been struggling the past couple of weeks and have been too embarrassed to post about it. I'm have severe anxiety/panic attacks to where the doctor has had to put me on ativan. Then, on top of that, I've been hallucinating (audible and visual) and having crazy thoughts. Typically, I'm really hyper until about 2pm and then the panic attacks start and last through the night.
My doctor had to put me on zyprexa b/c of the hallucinations and he says that I'm bipolar. I'm going to see a shrink on Monday for it for a second opinion.
The zyprexa is helping w/ the hallucinations and I'm not quite as hyper. What is bothering me is Lyme's causing this or am I just going nuts? Looking back at my life, I do think that I have a very mild form of bipolar so maybe the Lyme's is just amplifying it?
I don't know, I'm beside myself right now and want the anxiety to STOP!!!
Hi KeyLyme. I am very sorry you are going through this. Please don't be embarrassed about symptoms, it is not your fault that you have them.
Does your Lyme doctor know you are experiencing these symptoms?
Getting another opinion is a good idea. I hope this doctor is familiar with Lyme. Can you see if you can get in before Monday?
Lyme disease can cause many neuropsychiatric symptoms. To see some of these, check out Columbia University's Lyme Disease Research Studies Overview of Neuropsychiatric Lyme Disease.
Hang in there okay? Keep us posted on how you are doing.
In my later stages I would close my eyes and see visuals. Colors, shapes, people. Whatever song I heard on the radio or something I heard on tv would keep repeating over and over...so I would hear it and could not get it out of my head.
I would most often for whatever reason see my mothers face morph into my brothers when closing my eyes especially at the end of the day.
Two 32 oz bottles of peroxide and a container of baking soda in a 30 minute bath always helped.
I don't think I've heard anyone else talk about it and just became accustomed to dealing with it as with so many of the other miserable symptoms.
As long as I keep up with my baths, I don't seem to have the problem unless I am herxing heavily on a new medication.
Sending positive thoughts your way,
Last night I was awoken in the middle of the night and I was having bizarre visual disturbances. I've had the "normal" ones before (floaters, etc.) but this was really strange...like dancing colorful geometric patterns. I would call it a hallucination except I knew it wasn't real at the time. It went away the second my DH turned the light off, and I put it down to a new medication I'm taking (it's supposed to help seizures but my neurologist prescribed it for pain). Tonight I won't take the medication and I'll see if it happens again.
Hi. I'm new here but I've had Lyme for about 7 years or so and was only diagnosed this past July. I was originally misdiagnosed as having bipolar, which is a VERY common mis diagnosis for Lyme. My (ex)shrink put me on just about every medication for it and they only caused more problems, so be very careful. Make sure you find a good LLMD if you don't already have one. They are usually better at finding the right medications for you. Most Psychiatrists don't know much about Lyme and many of the psychiatric medications can cause a lot of problems. At least for me anyway. My LLMD prescribed Xanax for my anxiety and rage episodes. That, along with my other medications seem to work well for me. Just be careful and make sure that your Psychiatrist is Lyme literate. If he/she is not, there is a pamphlet available online (I don't remember where) especially for Psychiatrists to help them understand Lyme a little better.
Good luck!
<<One night I thought my hands were twice their normal size. I woke up my <<husband and he said they were looked normal. Then, the other day, I was
OMG, I totally forgot about this until reading what you wrote, but the very same thing happened to me. This was before I was diagnosed, when I had no idea what was wrong with me. I was in my kitchen and suddenly it looked like my hands were blowing up to me. This freaked me out but I managed to calm myself down and later they looked normal.
I was wondering, are you taking Neurontin or Gabapentin? That's what I take and you sound like me. How long have you been taking it and how much do you take a day? milligrams? When I first started taking it, about a year and a half ago, it kind of messed with me at first, too. I also had nightmares too, all the time. But it has gotten alot better. Now, the neurontin gives me crazy energy and puts me in a much better mood. I love it, it's helped me more than anything.
