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What Causes Auditory Hallucinations While On Zoloft?
Question: Strange symptoms and not sure if I should see doctor. In the last few weeks I have started to hear sounds as I fall asleep or fall back asleep during the night. They sound external, but are internal and usually are a brief sound like a moan or grunt, but sometimes are a word like "go" or "run" that seem to be connected to the dream I am having. It is keeping me from falling asleep because I know that as I drift off I will hear such a noise (auditory hallucination, I guess you would call it). I am in good health otherwise, though I do take a cholesterol medication and have taken zoloft for many years for anxiety. I wonder if this could be a side effect of zoloft, even though I never had that side effect before.
Brief Answer:
My thoughts and suggestions.
Detailed Answer:
Thank you for using Healthcaremagic to post your health query.
I read carefully your question and I understand your concern.
I see some red flags in your description which makes me recommend to see a doctor about these auditory hallucinations.
In general the auditory hallucinations are not a problem and can happen normally.
But I read that you are having them a lot of times and not just once or twice. This makes me think that it is something not right there.
Also, the fact that you hear actually words is worrisome, because these hallucinations in general can be unspecific sounds when are considered normal.
It is a great thing that you have insight and understand that something is not right with those sounds.
It is not much likely that this is a side effect of Zoloft, since you have been using it for some time, so it is weird that these side effect would come out without a reason (unless you have increased the dose recently, or something has changed).
So, these are my thoughts.
If you are living with someone else, I would suggest to let them know about this are so they can keep an eye on you in case you lose your insight.
But if you are living alone, I would suggest that you see a local doctor as soon as possible so they can evaluate other parts of your health and decide if you need to start a treatment or not.
Hope this is helpful.
Let me know if you need more clarifications.
Regards,
Dr. Papaqako
My thoughts and suggestions.
Detailed Answer:
Thank you for using Healthcaremagic to post your health query.
I read carefully your question and I understand your concern.
I see some red flags in your description which makes me recommend to see a doctor about these auditory hallucinations.
In general the auditory hallucinations are not a problem and can happen normally.
But I read that you are having them a lot of times and not just once or twice. This makes me think that it is something not right there.
Also, the fact that you hear actually words is worrisome, because these hallucinations in general can be unspecific sounds when are considered normal.
It is a great thing that you have insight and understand that something is not right with those sounds.
It is not much likely that this is a side effect of Zoloft, since you have been using it for some time, so it is weird that these side effect would come out without a reason (unless you have increased the dose recently, or something has changed).
So, these are my thoughts.
If you are living with someone else, I would suggest to let them know about this are so they can keep an eye on you in case you lose your insight.
But if you are living alone, I would suggest that you see a local doctor as soon as possible so they can evaluate other parts of your health and decide if you need to start a treatment or not.
Hope this is helpful.
Let me know if you need more clarifications.
Regards,
Dr. Papaqako
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Raju A.T
Answered by
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