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What Causes Musical Auditory Hallucination?
Question: What would cause repeated sounds like music or rhythmic repetitions in my head? Have been taking Neurontin????
Brief Answer:
As below:
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for your query.
1. You are right about the fact that Tinnitus does not resemble music.
2. You are experiencing a musical auditory hallucination. This is very rare.
3. To determine if this is drug induced, you will have to replace each medication one by one to identify the medication Gabapentin (Neurontin) is more likely to cause drowsiness. An auditory hallucination would be a very rare side effect.
4. Hearing loss is one of the factors seen with a musical ear syndrome. Do you hear the repititive music or rhythms in both ears? Do you hear this with the hearing aids on?
5. Since the cause is unknown, masking the sounds with a hearing aid, different music, white band noise and conscious suppression of the sounds may help.
6. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) with a radioactive marker (FDG) and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) may be able to locate the source areas in the brain. An EEG (ElectroEncephaloGram) may be done.
I hope that I have answered your query. If you have any further questions, I will be available to answer them.
Regards.
As below:
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for your query.
1. You are right about the fact that Tinnitus does not resemble music.
2. You are experiencing a musical auditory hallucination. This is very rare.
3. To determine if this is drug induced, you will have to replace each medication one by one to identify the medication Gabapentin (Neurontin) is more likely to cause drowsiness. An auditory hallucination would be a very rare side effect.
4. Hearing loss is one of the factors seen with a musical ear syndrome. Do you hear the repititive music or rhythms in both ears? Do you hear this with the hearing aids on?
5. Since the cause is unknown, masking the sounds with a hearing aid, different music, white band noise and conscious suppression of the sounds may help.
6. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) with a radioactive marker (FDG) and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) may be able to locate the source areas in the brain. An EEG (ElectroEncephaloGram) may be done.
I hope that I have answered your query. If you have any further questions, I will be available to answer them.
Regards.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
It does seem to be dominant in my left ear and today I am wearing my hearing aids and it is not so noticeable. Is the problem the ear or the brain? I reduced the Neurontin dosage with the nurses knowledge because we had increased it recently. Before the noise was a roaring and not musical or repeating tones.
Brief Answer:
As below:
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for writing back.
1. Use of hearing aids will mask the sounds, as mentioned earlier.
2. The problem arises in the brain.
3. Discontinuing or reducing the dose of Neurontin will have to be done to test the possibility that this is drug-induced.
4. Since it is one sided, imaging may help compare the nerve tracts and centers in the two sides of the brain.
I hope that I have answered your query. If you have any further questions, I will be available to answer them.
Regards.
As below:
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for writing back.
1. Use of hearing aids will mask the sounds, as mentioned earlier.
2. The problem arises in the brain.
3. Discontinuing or reducing the dose of Neurontin will have to be done to test the possibility that this is drug-induced.
4. Since it is one sided, imaging may help compare the nerve tracts and centers in the two sides of the brain.
I hope that I have answered your query. If you have any further questions, I will be available to answer them.
Regards.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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