Loading...Q. My husband had hip replacement surgery in January. For two days after the surgery, he was a bit groggy. By the third day he was hallucinating.
I was trying to prevent him from injuring his new hip while he was seeing bobcats, raccoons, cattle trucks and airplanes, all in his hospital room. He threatened to divorce me because I wouldn’t take him home. We've been through Hell.
We thought he'd had a stroke but that was ruled out. We finally figured out it was probably the OxyContin he was given for pain.
Since this happened I've heard of other people on this drug who have had hallucinations. Why don't they get that drug off the market?
A. OxyContin (timed-release oxycodone) is a very effective pain reliever, but like other narcotics, it may sometimes cause hallucinations. Doctors should alert patients and their families about this possibility so they don’t have to go through the terror you experienced.
Pam
Austin, TX
My daughter was in a bad wreck a week ago, at the hospital they gave her oxycodone. after the third day she started being confused, hallucinations, talking to people not here, they released her yesterday. They think she has a concussion but she was fine for days after the wreck. She has not slept for 2 nights. She is up yelling at imaginary people. I can not get her to settle down. She is up and down constantly talking to herself of imaginary people. Is there anything that makes this drug wear off faster.
Nola
Southern Ohio
It is 3am, I don’t want to go back to sleep. I am on oxy’s due to vertebrae deteriorating in my neck. Have had 5 heart attacks and afib in last two years. This is my first week on oxy’s.
Through the day, I feel good, can do tasks I am unable to withiut them. The last couple of nights, I start having crazy dreams, but they happen as soon as I close my eyes, before I actually fall asleep! They are very scary dreams. I woke up with my heart racing, which scared me, thinking I was back in afib again. I thought I heard sirens, then it was bugs clicking on the walls. The sounds didn’t scare me, but the dreams are the worst, scary, realistic nightmares. One dream was I was ha I g another heart attack. Another was animals running thru the house after me. I got up at 2:30 one night and stayed up and tonight I am up at 3am.
So I decided to look up drug interactions. I started with the oxycodone since it was the latest drug added to the many heart meds I take. I ran across these comments! All the comments above make me understand what is happening to me! The hallucinations and wild dreams as soon as you close your eyes, before you are actually asleep are real people. No more oxy’s for me after these wear off tonight.
Abby
Boise, ID
My husband has epilepsy and broke his t12 during a seizure. He has been in the hospital for 5 days. On the third day he started hallucinations, and by the 4th day he was convinced I had poisoned him, and the hospital had kidnapped him. The Drs were trying to convince me that he was detoxing from drinking, which is stupid because he doesn’t drink that much. Finally, his neurologist came in and said it was the interaction between the pain meds and his seizure medication. He’s still in there and still confused. I’m so scared he won’t come out of this.
Lori
Florida
How is your husband ? Did he come out of it? God bless you both. My mom is going through the hallucinations as well. Told the doctors to take her off of it!!!
madrone
venus California
I started taking oxycontin again after years of being off it. I know better, and the stuff can cause an effect of more pain & inflammation. My bowels hurt, stomach hurts. Even low back which means my kidneys are upset. It is causing more pain then good. I think for a very short duration it is helpful, but long term NoWAy. The only med that relieves pain without terrible side effects is nucynta. Pricy but worth it. Its brand so you know what you’re getting, just as needed. And no costipation. It’s a miricle. To those interested I’d choose that over the big O ano
Matt
Bristol, U.K
There are two main formats for Oxycodone. Oxycontin Modified Release (or time release) and Oxycodone Instant Release Capsules. There is also a syrup, which is faster acting, but as dosing might be an issue for me, I stick with the capsules. The majority of issues relate to the 12 hour time release tablets which are similar to gobstoppers with your stomach acid peeling off layers periodically.
If it’s time release Oxycodone as Oxycontin it should be taken as a single tablet 12 hours apart. Occasionally it may be prescribed as two different dosages to make a higher or alternative dosage to that which are made. For example I am prescribed 50mg twice a day, which breaks down into 1x40mg and 1x10mg Oxycontin (MR) at 10am and 10pm.
I am also prescribed Oxycodone instant release capsules, which are to top up the dosage for instances of “breakthrough pain”. The number of instant release capsules I am prescribed is 3 a day, I use these to perform tasks I know I will struggle with otherwise. I take them about 45 minutes before I need to do something. For example, I take an instant release about 7:30am so I can get my son ready for school and walk him down there.
I take another in the afternoon before picking him up. The last one I either take in the evening about 6pm before doing anything that needs doing before sleep, or I save it so another day I can do something should I need to.
I am addicted to Oxycodone. There’s no two ways about it. It is a side effect of using this drug for therapeutic relief of chronic pain, without it I would have no family life, without the modified release dose I would be in bed writhing, literally, 24/7. I would be unable to take my son to school without the top up dose the instant release capsules provide.
I accept I am an addict and that at some point in the future there will be a period of withdrawal. I also accept that it bears close scrutiny by both medical professionals and family or friends. Should my behaviour take a turn for the worse – or a turn for the strange! I rely on them to tell me, and help me deal with the issue. It’s something that needs managing, as is the pain that it deals with, very effectively.
In terms of side effects there are many. I hallucinate, usually closed eye hallucinations, which persist at all times in all places should I close my eyes when I’m fatigued. I have never been scared, in fact aside from being surprised I was curious, and then when I found I could control the hallucinations to a degree they ceased to be a real issue. It’s not dissimilar to lucid dreaming in that you can steer what you are doing, seeing or hearing.
For me it usually starts with a line of thought and then my eyes close without me being aware and the thoughts burst onto the stage in Dolby and glorious Technicolour. I could be in bed in pain, exhausted, depressed, uncomfortable and angry, instead should I choose it I can build a world or explore one that arrives as soon as I close my eyes. I have no control over the occurrences, but I have control over the content. Because it is literally all in the mind there is nothing there to scare or worry me. It’s just like exploring a parallel universe, in some instances literally!
The first time the modified release hit me I was sitting up in bed in hospital, two weeks after surgery on a damaged disc and two days after discovering a rampant infection in the vertebra, disc and disc cavity, on a drip, and in constant severe pain with a temperature through the roof and being racked by muscle spasms.
Anyway – I was using my laptop to move some files around, without my being aware of it, my eyelids dropped. What I saw, and my memory recorded, was me moving files for the next 30 minutes or so. I opened my eyes only to find that I had moved no files. For the last half hour I had been having the most vivid hallucination. I honestly couldn’t tell it wasn’t real and it wasn’t until I opened my eyes that I realised it.
This is now a normal feature of my daily life. My memory records as many things that didn’t happen as things that did, the only difference between the Oxycontin world and the real world is in that world there is no pain. So given how chronic the pain I live with is, I find escape there.
I am however able to maintain a family routine (as a single dad 50% of the time). The time that is my own, when I am not needed to do the school run, or the days when I do not have custody, I usually give in to the hallucinations and let go of the pain and discomfort. There is finally a place where the pain can’t get me, where I can sit down and enjoy a good conversation with friends, even if none of it is real. As long as I am mentally focused on what I am doing at any given time I am perfectly able (more or less anyway) to function at a normal level and as a normal person. Most people wouldn’t be able to guess I was either under the influence of very heavy duty opiods, nor that I was disabled. It dials down, or mutes the pain to a degree where I am able to walk without my leg collapsing because of the pain. It reduces the pain to a degree where I can wear clothing over my legs without it being agony to have something touch the skin. It turns it down enough that I can actually think, without my brain being overloaded with pain signals and only being able to see red.
To me these medications are a lifeline! They allow me to function at least on the surface as a normal human being for a short time. They do come with serious downsides, a whole host of side effects and you need to be aware of exactly what it is you’re taking. An overdose of any opioid is dangerous, but particularly so with Oxycodone as it can slow or even stop respiration in higher dosages.
It’s also imperative that you check compatibility with any and all other tablets that you take. The doctor is supposed to do this before prescribing obviously, but things get missed and with medication this strong it could have serious repercussions if mixed with unsuitable medication or that with conflicting side effects.
Nate
Cairns Australia
I’m in hospital right now, on 30mg of Oxycodone 2 times per day and oxycontin (endone) as needed for breakthrough pain, (pain I still feel in spite of the oxycodone.) I’ve had auditory hallucinations for the last few days, I hear whispering voices but I can’t make out what’s being said.
A few nights ago I was in extreme pain and I took 30mg of endone in 3 hours (10 mg per hour.) after I took the last 10mg, about 15 minutes later the whispering got louder and I could clearly hear random voices even though nobody else was in the room. Nothing sinister, just really strange, I remember one because it made me laugh so hard. “Oh, make sure you turn off the washing machine before you drink the piano.” I rang for the nurse after that and said “look, this might sound strange, but I’m hearing voices. I think I might have overdosed on my pain medication.” She called for the ward doctor right away, he came in to talk to me. I found that just talking to him really helped calm me down. Accepting what was happening and not allowing myself to panic was a conscious choice. I knew it was a drug reaction, and all in my mind, and just having somewhere there helped me keep it together. It was only while I was in the room on my own that I was freaking out a bit.
It’s a bit like a bad trip. You can go one of two ways on a bad trip. One way, you can say to yourself “this is all in my mind, what happens in my mind, I control.” It’s a question of willpower, and believe me when I say, you DO have the willpower to keep it together. The other way is to give in to the panic and the craziness. That’s when you get in trouble. No matter how crazy what you think is going on seems to be, you can hold it together if you keep telling yourself “it’s just a bad trip, it won’t last forever and when it wears off, I’ll be OK.” If you go with the craziness and let your fear get a hold of you, it just keeps getting worse, you spiral away from reality and lose it. It also really helps if you have someone calm to sit with you and just keep you company.
I see a lot of people saying “they should take these drugs off the market.” No, they shouldn’t. They are extremely effective painkillers, but like most drugs, they can affect different people in different ways and they can have negative side effects. That’s a risk you get with any drug. If you need to take opioid painkillers, (or in fact, any drug,) you should ask “what are the side effects?” Not all doctors are honest, but there’s this thing called the internet where anyone can go and find out about anything :) You will find plenty of sites that list the side effects of the thousands of different drugs on the market. If you know what those side effects are, then you will know for example when you start seeing monsters or hearing voices that it is a known side effect of the drug and that you are in fact not you losing your mind. If you know what to expect, if it happens, you won’t freak out about it so much. It’s still no fun, it can still be very frightening, but it’s much easier to ride it out until you can get help.
The doctor asked me “are you still hearing voices?” I said no. He asked “they weren’t saying anything bad, were they?” I said no, it was just funny weird stuff. He said “Good, because if you still were there is a drug we can give you to counter those effects, so don’t worry. If you start hearing voices or seeing anything, ring for your nurse right away.” Long story short, I’m still taking those same drugs, and still getting whispers and seeing darting shadows out of the corner of my eyes and having really bad dreams, but __I know it’s just a side effect of the drugs__ so I’m not letting it bother me. If it gets scary, or if I start to freak out, I’ll go and sit with the nurses and tell them I just need to sit with someone. If that doesn’t help, well, I know I can just tell them I’m hallucinating badly and I need the doctor to see me.
tl;dr
learn the side effects of any drugs you are taking BEFORE you experience them.
don’t be afraid to tell someone if you start hallucinating. (and tell them you know it’s a side effect)
remember it’s all in your mind, use some willpower to handle it
if you can’t handle it, get medical help.
try not to worry too much, try to stay calm.
I hope this helps anyone who came here to find out more about the side effects of these drugs, and I hope whatever is wrong that you heal fast and feel better soon. god bless.
Sid
Australia
I recently had kidney surgery which was supposed to be partial nephrectomy, but through theatre error, acknowledged verbally by surgeon but not on paper, lost the kidney. Endone was prescribed intravenously and I was advised to “press the button for severe pain, you can’t overdose”.
The hallucinations that I experienced were so frightening that I thought I was actually mad. All manner of creeping, crawling and flying “things” were all over me and there was absolutely nothing I could do. This persisted for three days/nights until medical staff belatedly saw my distress and disconnected this terrible drug.
I was discharged far too early and suffered similar hallucinations at home in my own bed for two more days. Internal bleeding necessitated two separate hospital stays where drains were installed, and although severe pain persisted, I demanded that Endone not be used again. The effects of this drug are so bad that I wonder why it is prescribed at all.
Sad Marie
FL
We just lost a very close friend who shot himself during what appears to be a hallucination. The police say he “freaked out.” Everything they described is so out of character for him, he was so outgoing and friendly. The only thing that was near him was a bottle of oxy condone he received after having shoulder surgery a couple of weeks ago.
Dave K
I’m a 59 yo male who recently underwent spinal disc fusion for two discs. This was a difficult surgery for me (I’ve previously had both my knees replaced) but I’m four weeks out and doing well. After being taken off the morphine I was places on 12 hour timed release oxy and norco.
After about a week (at home) I had two of the most horrible nightmares/hallocinations. They were brief and both followed a difficult struggle back to reality. Fortunately my wonderful wife pulled be through. Took me off the oxy, modified my norco dose and problem solved. Now I’m daytime Tramdol and small doses of norco at night,
Bottom line, tell Dr ASAP and insist that they listen. My doc was super and we fixed the problem quickly, He gave me lots of options and was up to date on the problems related to the 12-hour oxy that affects a small percent of patients.
Mary S H
Day 2 of taking Oxycodone / Percocet for septoplasty nose surgery. Trying to stop meds asap. I saw a figure of my son standing in the room staring at me (like a scary movie) and then he turned into a wire sculpture of a person and I knew. It wasn’t logical so I stared it down and it slowly faded away bit by bit.
Heard whispering and throughout day. The trees outside appear to be moving like a waterfall and the pool veranda outside my room is waiving/moving. I’m not taking these drugs as I know they are doing more harm than good.
It is like your brain gets mis-wired when trying to make the right logical connections for what your eyes/ears are perceiving. Will return them to Walgreens for safe disposal. Yikers.
lk
I just had gall bladder surgery. I had bilateral carpal tunnel surgery in December and was given oxycodone for the pain. I can’t remember if I took 1or2 at a time, but just at bedtime for the first 3 or 4 days with no problem. I still had plenty of pills left so my gall bladder surgeon said I could take them. The first night I took one and then another 3 or 4 hours later- no problem. However, tonight because the pain was so bad I took 2 (which is prescribed). While I was reading a book in bed I heard a loud voice w couple of times. I didn’t think anything of it. Then I went to sleep and had hallucinating nightmares.
I work in a high school office and dreamed that our office aides were running around screaming. That wasn’t so bad but to escape their screaming I went to bed (in my dream) and tried pulling up my covers and there was someone under them who wouldn’t let go. I screamed to please give me my covers and who was there, but when I felt around there was no one. They kept coming back and were like some monster but I couldn’t find them. I woke up and haven’t had any problems but I’m afraid to go back to sleep. I decided to research if it’s the oxy and now believe it is. I think I will just take Advil.
C.P.
I had hip replacement surgery in 2012 and was given oxycontin. Took one in evening at home and awoke at 3 am hysterical. Had nightmares/hallucinations so horrible I couldn’t remember them. But the fear, dread, terror and panic wouldn’t stop. All I could say was “oh my god, oh my god”. I felt like I was going out of my mind. I knew I would have to kill myself before falling back to sleep ever again (sounds crazy now but…) I “knew” I was ok and should calm down but couldn’t. Went to ER and I presume the nurses felt I was drug seeking as they didn’t do anything for an hour and couldn’t figure out what was wrong.
Doctor came in and wanted me evaluated by mental health, who had to be called to come to hospital. Finally, after suffering for 2 hours at hospital plus the couple more while I was at home prior to going to the hospital, I received one lorazapam and the inner chemistry changed. Relief! Will never take any form of oxy again. Tylenol was all I could consider using for the hip recovery pain. Wish I’d been aware of this issue before being so traumatized.
Sophie N.
I was given slow release oxy condon for pain, after little more than 2 days I was having very vivid dreams/hallucinations when I closed my eyes before sleeping, I then knew I was hallucinating when I closed my eyes in the middle of the day and started to see beautiful flowers. This stuff is crazy – just after 2 days it’s was doing this to me. Thank goodness I was getting better and could stop taking the heavy pain meds. I didn’t have this problem on morphine or tramadol. But I think endone gave me similar crazy dreams.
Owen
I have recently had several bizarre hallucinations as a result of “Endone”. Opening my eyes returned things to normal. Two pills were given to me, about a day apart.
I declined any further pills, and declined the hospital offer to take a few home. Weird stuff and bad news in my view, furthermore, I don’t think they worked too well as a pain killer after an appendectomy.
Richard
I’m so glad I found this site. I’m now convinced my hallucinations were caused by pain meds. I had knee replacement surgery two months ago. While in the hospital I was given Oxycodone (Oxycontin) for severe pain. After being on this med for about 24 hours I began seeing odd things in my hospital room that I knew weren’t right. It became time for me to go home, three days after surgery, but the Docs and nurses decided I was so agitated I shouldn’t go. I was so verbally abusive to my wife she left because see was so upset seeing me in this state. I accused my wife of trying to steal all my money and other things.
I got out of bed and started down the hallway of the hospital using me walker yelling for help. At some point I became worried about my family and wanted to go home. During the night I tried several times to get out of my room and down a stairwell. I had all kinds of hallucinations during the night the worst were of people watching me from the other side of the walls. I woke up the next morning it was all over. I will never take Oxycodone again.
sarah
After a spinal surgery last summer, my doctor out me on oxycodone after about 2 days of another drug I think.
I had the worst hallucinations and begged my parents to let me die. The actual scenes I saw weren’t so scary and they were included things that were around me the past day so it was almost like a normal dream, except I felt like it was greatest pain on earth that I wanted to die. When asked to explain it I couldn’t because the thought of even describing it scared me and then when u did describe it, I probably be sounded nuts.
Oddly enough’ my parents who had spent so much time at my bedside caring for me’ were a part of the pain in a my ‘dream’ so I had the head nurse st with me for two hours, dead tired but unable to sleep in fear of what I might see.
When I think of my life entire experience, this is one of the worst parts. Its hard to think about and I get emotional when I talk about it. The pain was so real and so close to my heart that I wanted my life to end. Oddly enough though, when I Google the side effect, hallucinations didn’t even come up.
michael
All narcotics have similar side effects, in my opinion. Hallucinations are going to happen from time to time.
Kari
Hi
I had shoulder surgery in feb. have been on Percocet since then. I have a sensory thing going on, like I can taste or smell things that are not there. It happens really quick and I can’t describe it. I hate that sensation! Also, my moods have completely changed. Depressed and crabby. People have commented. I am going to try to get off the this medication to see if it is indeed the problem.
Oleander
I’m 23 and have been on oxycodone for 4 1/2 years after sustaining many back, neck, and knee injuries when I was hit by a drunk driver.
I don’t have hallucinations anywhere near this, and I am SO so sorry you have all had to suffer through this. But I am happy to know I am not crazy. Every time I close my eyes and start to nod off, if there is no background noise I hear voices whispering in my head. Nothing harmful, nothing even sensical, just words and very small sentences being whispered. If I fall asleep in the dark, which I no longer do, I saw awful, horrifying images in my head. Faces being distorted, turning into monsters, murder, etc. And I am terrified of everything when I am on it, you name it, I’m scared.
When I stand by my balcony door at night to blow my cigarette smoke outside (I refuse to go outside on roxies), my mind just says “black eyed kids, shadow people, aliens, serial killers” etc etc. I cannot turn it off, I have zero control over my thoughts. My mind just runs through everything I am afraid of on the pills and it cannot be stopped. My mind tells me if I keep thinking of these things they will come for me. It also makes up these almost rituals like, if I don’t stand up before the commercial is over, I’ll die. Or if I don’t finish my cigarette before my game is done saving, someone will get me. I can’t close my eyes to wash my fave too long because I feel like someone will come into my bathroom and get me. I have opened my eyes with soap covering them many times just because the feeling got so intense.
I assumed I was going mad. But recently, I lost my pills a little over a week before my script was due to be refilled and I went through withdrawal. I was afraid of absolutely nothing. None of those thoughts came, I went outside alone in the dark, everything was fine. It was so nice not having the terror all the time, but my normal pain, amplified by the withdrawal was unbearable.
I’m at the point where I am getting a little better at telling myself “none of this is true, stop thinking it”, because I can’t deal with the pain and still live a semi normal life, I can’t even walk or take care of myself without them.
It’s just unfair we have to choose to be in agony or be “sane”
I wish you all the absolute best of luck in regards to your minds and bodies.
JXM
I was given oxy after surgery to repair a broken ankle. I went to a nursing home for physical rehab. I think the nurses were giving me too much medication and after several days there I starting hallucinating. I had my husband come and get me and take me to the ER. While I was in ER I had the worst one yet. A large polar bear was breaking through the wall and coming after me. The doc gave me a shot of something and I started feeling better. It was terrifying.
SG
I have been prescribed oxycodone after tring almost every other pain med to control my fibro pain, which is exacerbated by my heart meds whose side effects are all muscle pain added onto the pain I already have! However, I though I was losing my mind when I went to bed one night a found spider webs hanging like a canopy over my bed…I reached out to touch it to see if it was real and the centres of the webs started to burst open releasing fluorescent spiders….I HATE SPIDERS! This has happened twice now, and recently it was snake skin that was draped over my head! I hear voices in white noise… but apparently this happens to people not on drugs too .Lots of fun!!
Trish
How long did it take to feel better after stopping Oxy?
Linda C.
In Dec 2010, my 22 year old son, who lived with me, was given a month’s supply of both OxyContin and Endone after microsurgery for an injury to his hand. During that month his behaviour became very erratic and he was not sleeping well. I believed it was the drugs and was glad when he finished the prescription. But his strange behaviour continued and he had by then started to hallucinate.
One night in February 2011 he kept me up all night raving about how he was controlling the weather and other weird things. The next day he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. They dismissed my concerns about the OxyContin and Endone and diagnosed him with bipolar. He was in the hospital for 3 weeks then was released on very heavy anti-psychotic medication.
Within a month of being released, he stopped the medication as he couldn’t work because it made him too tired. The doctor told him that he would relapse because he was bipolar and would need to be on meds for years if not for the rest of his life. He still refused to take the anti-psychotics. 18 months later and there have been no further hallucinations. Finding this site has confirmed for me that it was the oxycontin that triggered the psychotic symptoms.
It’s terrible that a person can be told they have a psychiatric illness and would need to be on medication for the rest of their life when it is a side-effect from a prescribed drug. I’m so grateful that he didn’t continue taking that the anti-psychotics when he didn’t need them. I would love to see this drug taken off the market – the pain and trauma that it caused to our family (it is a very difficult thing to schedule your child into a psychiatric hospital) and to my son has been dreadful.
Amanda
United States
Hi Linda. Your son’s story is almost like mine. I had the same symptoms after stopping Oxycotin after I had my wisdom teeth out when I was 17. Suddenly I thought God was telling me the world was going to end and the meaning of everything. Anything i encountered was some sign from God. A commercial was even some sort of sign. I begged my dad not to go work because I thought cats would kill him. I couldnt sleep more than 5 minutes for about a week and was terrified to sleep. I would have hallucinations and hear things. I was taken to the hospital and they said i was Bipolar. Then put on Geodon and had a dangerous reaction that made me have a seizure. After this was over I thought I went crazy and it was the worst experience of my life. I stopped taking bipolar meds many years ago and have been fine since. I saw another therapist and she said I didnt have bipolar. My mom looked up effects from oxycotin and told me she thought that is what triggered everything. I still worried sometimes that maybe it was me and about going “crazy” again someday until I saw your post. Oxycotin is dangerous to so many and should be taken off the market.
Gord
British Columbia
Interested to hear of impacts a year after taking Oxycontin. Brother had hip surgery then prescribed Oxycontin. Severe hallucinations followed with dementia-like symptoms for over a year
CAB
I have chronic pain. The level comes and goes and is dependent on weather, what I’ve attempted the day before, lack of sleep, etc. I have been having visual and audio hallucinations. I take the regular and long-acting oxycontin. I can’t decide if it’s better to have the pain or be goofy part of the time.
These comments do help me to know I’m not off my rocker but I feel so depressed at going off the med and having such devastating body aches and constant pain. The fatigue is unending! Sleep or no sleep I still have hallucinations. I’m participating in the conversations as well as having another conversation with a patient. What can I use that will eliminate these side effects. I never feel rested.
I had a TIA 12/10 and have had double vision since that time as well. Is there a medication that will treat my pain sans oxycontin? I am having a knee replacement this month and I hope again in the fall. Do you know of anything heavy duty to treat the pain? Thanks.
Alexis
My husband had a knee replacement and took Oxycontin for a couple of days and had bad hallucinations. The hospital staff almost did not believe us.
Be wary if you take it!
Noah F.
December of 2011 I was 13..I was put on Oxycontin because I had a tumor in my knee that was surgically removed. My 2nd day on Oxy I starting having terrible hallucinations. It was about Mid-Night and my mother was on the couch while I was on an air mattress. According to my mother I starting rapping..Then I looked at her and said “MOM LOOK AT THE WALL” She looked and said there is nothing there? Then I said “GRAMMY, HAHA SHE IS DEAD ON THE WALL. AND I TOOK ALL OF HER CLOTHES OFF. My mother was telling me she didn’t know what was going on..Then I starting Screaming..I remember yelling MAMA MAMA MAMA MAMA..I killed Grammy I’m going to hell. MAMA please..
Then I tried rolling out of bed and killing myself. Unable to walk at the time so I start squirming. My mom got my dad to hold me down before I fell out of bed and tore 1 of the staples in my knee sealing the 4 inch scar. Then my mom got the phone and had me call my grandfather. I called my grandfather screaming saying I”M SORRY THAT I KILLED GRAMMY. Then my grandpa said she is in bed right now with me? So my mom explained everything.. My mom and dad started to think my Hallucinations were gone, so they let go. Sadly the hallucinations were not gone. I rolled out of the 1.6ft tall air matress on the ground. It hurt so bad that I screamed for hours and hours. My dad put my back onto the bed and layed with me until the hallucinations were for sure gone. He took off my big cast thingy and my knee was covered in blood. I tore 3 staples..We called the doctor the next day. He said everything is fine, it my just take more time then expected to recover. I did not take Oxy ever again..
MSL
Years ago I had quite the experience with oxycontin. Reading these comments, I am glad to know I am not the only one because I felt like I was going crazy when it happened. After about 4 days of being on oxycontin due to the chronic pain of injuring my pelvis, the side effects started. I was laying down trying to sleep when I hallucinated that I was levitating and paralyzed.
I guess that I fell asleep since I could do nothing to get myself out of this state. When I woke up, my arms were numb, and I couldn’t control them. They were limp and heavy and just flopped at my sides when I tried to raise them. I also had one of the worst headaches of my life. All of this was terrifying because I was home alone. When I finally got enough coordination to dial my cell phone, I called a friend to take me to the doctor. He switched me to ultracet. It didn’t give me hallucinations.
I wondered whether people have the same stories about ultracet as I did with oxycontin since many narcotics cause hallucination. I feel that doctors or pharmacists should ask patients to keep there eyes out for hallucinations every time the prescribe.
D.A.G.
My wife was given oxycodone for kidney stones a month or two ago. Nothing seemed to happen to her. 3 days ago, I started having pain in my shoulder so I took 1 every 6 hours (the bottle says 1 to 2 every 4 to 6 hours so I’m not abusing them) I’ve been having visual and audible hallucinations. I try to sleep but see gruesome faces and images when I close my eyes, hear grim sounding voices muttering and I’m soaked in sweat. I think I’m having nightmares but I’m not sure I’m even falling asleep. I feel its better to just deal with the pain.
Taylor
I’m 13 years old and I got hit by a car when I was 9 and that was 3 years ago when My doctor put me on Oxycodon I started to see hallucinations I tried telling my Doctor that I think its coming from the Oxycondon but he said I just wasn’t getting any sleep.
Well that night when I went to sleep I tried to wake my body up but I couldn’t move my body but my eyes were open and these monster hallucinations were coming for me and pulling my hair. I was so scared and stressed that I haven’t slept for about 2 weeks. My mother was getting stressed because I wasn’t sleeping that she took me off the xycondon but as she took me off the xycondon my hallucinations started to get worse. I and my mother didn’t know what to do, were scared for me. I’m scared for myself and my doctor keeps saying that I’m not getting any sleep, well I tell him I would get sleep if I never took that xycondon. so please don’t put someone that you love on xycondon.
JM
My husband hallucinated on oxycontin after knee replacement surgery. Fortunately, he figured out that he was hallucinating because it didn’t make any sense for the things he was seeing to be there. He called me to come and be with him and told the nurses and the doctor changed his pain meds right away. It’s just so lucky that he could deal with the situation so well, but he’s like that.
Srs
My mother is addicted to oxycodone and is now hallucinating from them
I think she may be overdosing herself and I called her doc to let him know
He said he can’t discuss anything with me due to HIPA laws. He continues to prescribe them to her and I’m afraid of them killing her. Can I personally get her committed to a drug rehab without her permission?
Matt
Bristol, U.K
In your position I would try to check on her dosing if possible. It’s important to know what dosages your mum is on, how often she should take them, and if relevant what specific issues are the medication treating.
If it’s time release Oxycodone as Oxycontin it should be taken as a single tablet 12 hours apart. Occasionally it may be prescribed as two different dosages to make a higher or alternative dosage to that which are made. For example I am prescribed 50mg twice a day, which breaks down into 1x40mg and 1x10mg Oxycontin (MR) at 10am and 10pm.
I am also prescribed Oxycodone instant release capsules, which are to top up the dosage for instances of “breakthrough pain”. The number of instant release capsules I am prescribed is 3 a day, I use these to perform tasks I know I will struggle with otherwise. I take them about 45 minutes before I need to do something. For example, I take an instant release about 7:30am so I can get my son ready for school and walk him down there. I take another in the afternoon before picking him up. The last one I either take in the evening about 6pm before doing anything that needs doing before sleep, or I save it so another day I can do something should I need to. I am addicted to Oxycodone. There’s no two ways about it. It is a side effect of using this drug for theraputic relief of chronic pain, without it I would have no family life, without the modified release dose I would be in bed writhing, literally, 24/7. I would be unable to take my son to school without the top up dose the instant release capsules provide.
I accept I am an addict and that at some point in the future there may be a period of withdrawal, i also accept that it bears close scrutiny by both medical professionals and family or friends. Should my behaviour take a turn for the worse – or a turn for the strange! I rely on them to tell me, and help me deal with the issue. It’s something that needs managing, as is the pain that it deals with, very effectively.
In terms of side effects there are many. I hallucinate, both closed eye hallucinations, which persist at all times in all places should I close my eyes when I’m fatigued. I have never been scared, in fact aside from being surprised I was curious, and then when I found I could control the hallucinations to a degree they ceased to be a real issue.
I could be in bed in pain, exhausted, depressed, uncomfortable and angry, instead should I choose it I can build a world or explore one that arrives as soon as I close my eyes. I have no control over the occurrences, but I have control over the content. Because it is literally all in the mind there is nothing there to scare or worry me. It’s just like exploring a parallel universe, in some instances literally!
The first time the modified release hit me I was sitting up in bed in hospital, two weeks after surgery on a damaged disc and two days after discovering a rampant infection in the vertebra, disc and disc cavity, on a drip, and in constant severe pain with a temperature through the roof and being racked by muscle spasms. Anyway – I was using my laptop to move some files around, without my being aware of it, my eyelids dropped. What I saw, and my memory recorded, was me moving files for the next 30 minutes or so. I opened my eyes only to find that I had moved no files. For the last half hour I had been having the most vivid hallucination. I honestly couldn’t tell it wasn’t real and it wasn’t until I opened my eyes that I realised it.
This is now a normal feature of my daily life. My memory records as many things that didn’t happen as things that did, the only difference between the Oxycontin world and the real world is in that world there is no pain. So given how chronic the pain I live with is, I find escape there.
I am however able to maintain a family routine (as a single dad 50% of the time). The time that is my own, when I am not needed to do the school run, or the days when I do not have custody, I usually give in to the hallucinations and let go of the pain and discomfort.
There is finally a place where the pain can’t get me, where I can sit down and enjoy a good conversation with friends, even if none of it is real.
As long as I am mentally focused on what I am doing at any given time I am perfectly able (more or less anyway) to function at a normal level and as a normal person. Most people wouldn’t be able to guess I was either under the influence of very heavy duty opiods, nor that I was disabled. It dials down, or mutes the pain to a degree where I am able to walk without my leg collapsing because of the pain. It reduces the pain to a degree where I can wear clothing over my legs without it being agony to have something touch the skin. It turns it down enough that I can actually think, without my brain being overloaded with pain signals and only being able to see red.
To me these medications are a lifeline! They allow me to function at least on the surface as a normal human being for a short time.
They do come with serious downsides, a whole host of side effects and you need to be aware of exactly what it is you’re taking. An overdose of any opioid is dangerous, but particularly so with Oxycodone as it can slow or even stop respiration in higher dosages.
It’s also imperative that you check compatibility with any and all other tablets that you take. The doctor is supposed to do this before prescribing obviously, but things get missed and with medication this strong it could have serious repercussions if mixed with the wrong meds.
hmm
My Mother had a knee replacement done Wednesday before last. She was put on Oxycontin for the pain. For the past week she has had severe hallucinations. It got so bad that she almost tried to take all of her Ambien because she just wanted the depression and anxiety to stop. She said that is was the darkest place she has ever been in in her whole life. She said that she could not even watch TV because her mind was picking out all the negativity on the programs she was watching.
Someone has had to be sitting right next to her constantly because she refuses to be alone. I called the doctor and got her changed to Lortab which has taken away all the horrible symptoms. I can’t believe I almost lost my mother over her taking Oxycontin. I hate this drug. Please think twice before you or anyone you love starts taking this drug, please ask for a different drug if the doctor wants to put you or someone you love on Oxycontin!
EAHE
My mother in law was just released from the hospital and has begun having these hallucinations at home. She is waking up with extreme anxiety and has recently had a conversation with her baby brother who has been deceased for over ten years. Is there anything I can do to help her with this? Other than assure her she isn’t crazy?
Richard
While in the hospital about 3 years ago for diverticulitis surgery I was put on two morphine pumps for the pain. I had such bad hallucinations
that I though I was home watching TV, cooking, and lying on my couch. Then I felt like I was walking up the walls ceiling in the hospital room I was in. I told my doctor about it and he had it removed and order pain pills for me if I needed it, which I did not.
nancy Parker
I had a double knee replacement, and remember nothing but the hallucinations about 8 days later when I saw dead people being wheeled into my room at the nursing home. I broke thru the screen and dropped to the ground and rolled down the sidewalk and yelled for the cops. I knew the nurses were going to kill me. I got popped into the psych ward until my docs settled on another drug, vicodin which was fine. I did not break anything, lucky for me. I am terrified of being out of my mind and will never use it again. My husband is a doctor and he attended my side all day every day and did not pick up on my missing mind.