Parkinson hallucinations

My husband and I spend some time in home office. He likes to watch videos about how to build your own sailboat while I like quiet, so he uses head phones to listen to these videos. But he had to take one hearing aid out and put an earphone from the headset into one ear.. SO he's sitting with one hearing aide in one ear, one earpiec from the headset hooked up to his computer, andwhat is then the unused earpiece just lying on his desk. Thae earpiece is alive and well aand broadcasting but not very loud, so it sounds exactly like: (1) an aural hallucination; (2) a real conversation between folks who might be walking down the sidewalk in front ofour house. I have other ways to do reality shceks on sounds. If it sounds exactly the same, no matter where I am, then it's probably an hallucination; if it gets louder and louder when I walk in one direction or gets softer when I walk in the opposite directionit's pobably a real sound. Some hallucinations are so preposterous that it's easy to tell they aren't real ---lke when I could hear a men's choir singing just below the window of my hospital room, it's 2 am and raining, and my hospsital room is in Potsdam, Germany, and when the singers stop singing and start chatting and I can detect the the rhtym and cadence of the speech of folks who spent their formative years in east Texas, I'm pretty sure I'm hallucinating them. 😉

Hi i was told March of 2025 that i have PD. Yes, i criedvand then realized it was not going away. I also took csre of my dad for thr lastb2yrs of his life. He had PD. I have seen it all but hallucinations are not fun. I don't remember dad having them. Very scary. I should mention my age, 89.

My husband and I spend some time in home office. He likes to watch videos about how to build your own sailboat while I like quiet, so he uses head phones to listen to these videos. But he had to take one hearing aid out and put an earphone from the headset into one ear.. SO he's sitting with one hearing aide in one ear, one earpiec from the headset hooked up to his computer, andwhat is then the unused earpiece just lying on his desk. Thae earpiece is alive and well aand broadcasting but not very loud, so it sounds exactly like: (1) an aural hallucination; (2) a real conversation between folks who might be walking down the sidewalk in front ofour house. I have other ways to do reality shceks on sounds. If it sounds exactly the same, no matter where I am, then it's probably an hallucination; if it gets louder and louder when I walk in one direction or gets softer when I walk in the opposite directionit's pobably a real sound. Some hallucinations are so preposterous that it's easy to tell they aren't real ---lke when I could hear a men's choir singing just below the window of my hospital room, it's 2 am and raining, and my hospsital room is in Potsdam, Germany, and when the singers stop singing and start chatting and I can detect the the rhtym and cadence of the speech of folks who spent their formative years in east Texas, I'm pretty sure I'm hallucinating them. 😉

My husband of 3+ years had a black dog when we were dating. But he was the only one who could see him. After we married, the dog was around: if he was staring into space, I would ask about his dog. My husband became very close to my dad. When Daddy passed, he started seeing both his father and mine. Both hallucinations bothered him.
So I started researching and found Nuplazid via the Michael J Fox Foundation website. Within 10 days of nightly use, the hallucinations stopped. He sometimes misses his black dog but is grateful he no longer sees the fathers.

Hello @monmk and welcome to the PD support group on Mayo Clinic Connect. I'm sure that these hallucinations must be unsettling for you. I see that @barryl and @estutweh have already shared their experiences with you.

There is some great information. Here is a link to an article about PD hallucinations on the Davis Phinney website: https://davisphinneyfoundation.org/blog/how-to-bring-light-to-the-darker-side-of-parkinsons-a-primer-on-hallucinations-and-delusions-and-how-to-manage-them/

Here is a quote from this article: "Parkinson’s disease psychosis is a non-motor symptom of Parkinson’s that causes people to experience hallucinations and/or delusions. Approximately 50% of all people living with Parkinson’s will experience some form of hallucinations or delusions, and the longer one lives with Parkinson’s, the greater the likelihood they’ll experience them."

This is described as a non-motor symptom of PD and is a result of having PD for an extended period of time. As this is your first post, please share, as you are comfortable doing so, a little about your history with PD. For example, how long ago were you diagnosed? Are hallucinations a new symptom for you?

@hopeful33250 My spouse has been taking Carbidopa-Levodopa for many years. He just recently started to have what the physicians relayed to me as Parkinson's Psychosis. He is on Exelon. He is a different person with this patch/24 hr. It has bought my spouse back to me for as long as it works. He has not been doing well prior. He was appalled at how he was acting out. I cannot tell you how it bought him back in less than 48 hrs. I actually felt we could talk about so many things. He was so loving. He was apologetic to me and was upset at himself for his behavior. They tweked his seizure meds. Seizures under control. He is having physical therapy as well as speech. He speech is fine other than the talking quietly. Actually like he is whispering. He has shared more today..than he has in a long time. Actually months. Counting my blessings.🫂💞