I sometimes hear voices in my head... What medical problems can cause this?

Question

I have been having PA's, headaches and agarophobia for 11 years. I had many symptoms, some classical some just plain weird. For the last 5-6 years, I have been having a strange symptom. I hear voices in my head when I'm lying in bed trying to fall asleep. It mostly only happens late at night. And it happens rarely. By far not every day or anything like that. These voices dont tell me to do anything, and they are not suggestive in any way. All I hear is some people talking incoherently.. I cant make out what they are saying, all I hear is "pieces" of phrases. Something like "What was..." or "And then it all turned green...The above are just examples not the actual things I heared. I noticed that some things I hear are the things I said or someone I know said during the day, but most of it is random - stuff I didnt hear. Kind of like random chatter and gibberish. It goes on for some time then it just stops. I had a few episodes of this during the day, but only 2-3 times. What can it be?

Oh, and some more info:

Yes I had 5 MRI's and 1 Cat Scan. Yes I tried antidepressants in the past. They dont work and even when they do, they cant "cure" the problem.

I dont think it's schitsophrenia or bipolar cause I dont have any other symptoms of the above.
Besides how can someone that didnt have the above "deseases" suddenly develop them - seems illogical.

PS: Oh and yes, I know I need help. Thank you.
Been there, done that. If that helped I wouldnt ask questions, would I?

Answer 1

I feel like I could place money on the idea that you are actually dreaming. If this is happening only when you are falling asleep, then more then likely you have something similar to what I have and what most people experience atleast once, but some have it often. Your body falls asleep in the wrong order, or in my instance...it wakes up in the wrong order. You feel like you are awake...you may even have your eyes open and looking at things in your room...but your mind is somewhat asleep. Do an internet search on hypnogogia or hypnopompia. If you have ever heard of something called sleep paralysis, or heard of people talking about strange visions they get before they fall asleep? This is something everyone does experience at some point, but you probably get it more than others...like me, and I get scary stuff...so take what you see or hear as a blessing!
I used to get very freaked out by this until someone on yahoo answers actually directed me to learning about this...it made so many instances in my life make more sense...I hope this helps, good luck.

Answer 2

this is a common symptoms of various illnesses in the psychosis form. It could be a rang of things the main thing it often connects to with peoples first reaction is schizophrenia although for schizophrenia you need a range of the other symptoms such as:

Delusions- convinced of things that are evidently not true, maybe that there are cameras watching her or her food is poisoned or people are following her.

Hallucinations- visual auditory and sensory, so smelling/tasting/feeling/hearing... things no one else does, often it is voices, so ask her if she ever hears things that seem to come from no where such as voices.

Withdrawal from society so often becoming less sociable to friends for unknown reasons.

Disorganized speech and behavior, so sentences may not make much sense or she will have a hard time trying to think.

Working things out, holding concentration often become harder than usual.

Random moodswings, schizophrenia is random NOT periodic like bipolar disorders.

Suspiciousness of things especially friends or partners

Sensitivity emotionally and to things like light

Fatigue or the opposite so sleeping more than often or less then usual.

That is only a few of the more common symptoms and there are various forms of schizophrenia, sometimes some medications cause voices and so does stress.

As you said its happened over the last 5-6 years, if symptoms have not been presenting them selves much more after all this time then it probably isn't schizophrenia as it is a degenerative illness so the longer untreated the worse it becomes.
I would see your doctor and talk to them about it, I think it may just be stress what ever it is it does not sound too serious.

Answer 3

I can only speak from experience as a lifetime Schizophrenic (DDD) outpatient. Voices to me were definitely not the little thought voice one thinks with. They were louder and like a different person, not familiar. There were often (most of the time) more than one person's voice.There was no difficulty making out what they said which was usually derogatory. There was a definite sexual tone, i.e. some of the voices could be distinguished as female (i'm male). They sometimes were so loud they would drive one down to his knees. After that I felt that my brain would "convulse" in my head. They were unwelcome. They were so traumatic that I was reduced to a withdrawn Zombie! I have had "poltergeist" visual hallucinations over the years. Medications taken religiously for over 40 years have helped in that I haven't "heard" a voice in over a decade.I don't think any one can mistake a "schizophrenic voice" as his or her own.

What other medical conditions (other than illegal drugs) could cause hallucinatory voices I'm not qualified to say. I would suggest seeing a professional about this if they persist and you are sure they are "not you". The difficulty is that due to there being so much stigma attached to a label as a schizophrenic you really don't want it but there is a danger a doctor might so diagnose you.

Answer 4

Have you been evaluated by an occupational therapist? Sounds like a sensory dump. Your brain is having difficulty filtering your auditory inputs and as you wind down at the end of the your subconcious is dumping in such a way that you hear it. I'm not a professional by any means, but this is my take. If you're physically ok, and the meds don't help, perhaps some retraining of your brain would be useful.

For another option....have you been tested for Lyme disease? Lyme disease in it's later stages can be mistaken for psychological issues as well as cause auditory hallucinations. 2 documented cases of musical hallucinations during a quick web search.

Answer 5

I would first place your experience as somatic. Because the sensation of hearing is generated within.

You may already noticed this, the episodes of this kind are correlated with your daily stress level.

My suggestion is to consider the followings:

1. nurture yourself mentally -
relax, be happy, be nice, be truthful
and be a giver
These are investments for getting
peaceful feedback and internal
state of mind.

2. take care yourself nutritionally -

eating healthy and maintain physical
well brings.

The above two recommendations targeting both
physical and mental health. I think once you have the fundamentals in check, others will gradually disappear.

Good luck !

Answer 6

I have to start by suggesting Diana that your worries that your Mental Health Team were trying to harm you were likely to be paranoia, and as such are part of your mental health problem. Clearly this, and the avoidance of your CPN, suggest that you need more help from the team, rather than less. Go see your GP as soon as you can and he will start you back on the road to recovery, unfortunately continued avoidance of therapy and medical contacts may also indicate that you may benefit from a spell under supervision as an inpatient. Your GP and the CHT want to help you, not get you in to trouble.

Answer 7

It is possible that it's the beginning of schizophrenia. It can take years to show up in full. A lot of the time people won't have symptoms until they reach adulthood.

Answer 8

auditory hallucinations are a component of schizophrenia. Maybe you should discuss the voices with your health professional.There are meds that can make the voices go away.

Answer 9

I have the same problem just dont ever ever do what they tell you to do.