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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Visual Hallucinations While On Klonopin For Epilepsy?

My name is Judy. I am 54 yrs. old. I have had epilepsy since I was 13 years old. I have been taking klonopin for about 10 yrs. My dosage was increased to 2 mil. twice daily about 2 yrs ago. My question: I have started seeing ghosts at night time and it it really bothering me. Sometimes I can be sitting on the couch watching tv and sometimes in bed. I also take 150 mil Lamictal 2 times daily and 2oo mil Zonegram twice daily. Please tell me is this normal or not. Could this be a side effect of the klonopin? Or the other drugs? My e-mail address is YYYY@YYYY .com
Wed, 5 Nov 2014
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Psychiatrist,  's  Response
Hello Welcome to HCM

You are taking three drugs Clonazepam 4 mg per day, Zonisamide 400 mg per day and Lamotrigine 300 mg per day. You are a known case of epilepsy and are currently seeing figures like ghosts.

There could be following cause for the visual disturbances or hallucinations you are having-

- First possibility is epilepsy itself. Certain kind of seizure can present with hallucinations. Temporal lobe epilepsy can present with visual hallucinations.

- Zonisamide is a good adjuvant drug for epilepsy. It is known to cause hallucinations in some rare patients at high doses.


- Clonazepam is also known to cause hallucinations in some patients. You are taking 4 mg doses and this is a high dose and clonazepam could be the cause of hallucination.

I would recommend you to consult your doctor again for re-evaluation and any dose adjustment.

Thanks.
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What Causes Visual Hallucinations While On Klonopin For Epilepsy?

Hello Welcome to HCM You are taking three drugs Clonazepam 4 mg per day, Zonisamide 400 mg per day and Lamotrigine 300 mg per day. You are a known case of epilepsy and are currently seeing figures like ghosts. There could be following cause for the visual disturbances or hallucinations you are having- - First possibility is epilepsy itself. Certain kind of seizure can present with hallucinations. Temporal lobe epilepsy can present with visual hallucinations. - Zonisamide is a good adjuvant drug for epilepsy. It is known to cause hallucinations in some rare patients at high doses. - Clonazepam is also known to cause hallucinations in some patients. You are taking 4 mg doses and this is a high dose and clonazepam could be the cause of hallucination. I would recommend you to consult your doctor again for re-evaluation and any dose adjustment. Thanks.