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Extreme earworms: music stuck in head
Hi,
Over the past several months I've been having extreme earworms (music stuck in my head). It is so bad that it plays over my thoughts in my head.. just wish i could finally have some peace, quiet, and control over my mind..
My psychiatrist told me there is no specific condition for what i am describing, but the closest thing he would use to treat me for this was risperidone.. i didn't like the side effects so i switched to abilify (aripiprazole).
I was wondering if anyone else has had this, or is familiar with this and especially if there are any experts out there or anyone knows if abilify is indeed a medication that could treat this musical obsession symptom of mine.
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yes! I always have a song. Sometimes a 25-year-old song. Even weirder, as soon as I wake up, it starts.
I literally can't fall asleep because the music keeps going. Bizarre. I had a friend who had similar problems with music playing, but I'm way worse case. Luckily, I have a few days here, and there it doesn't happen. Glad I'm not the only one, but I understand the frustration it can cause.
I have had ear worms all my life and while they are annoying, I accept them as a fact of my life. I am 77. And I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s 5 years ago. Interesting that I developed auditory hallucinations after being treated with a levadopa infusion called Vyalev. I stopped this medication after 5 weeks because of the auditory hallucinations. I never developed any visual hallucinations. However, my motion disorder specialist treated me with an antipsychotic medication specifically for Parkinson’s called Nuplazid also known as pimavanserin. Unfortunately, while the frequency of the auditory hallucinations has decreased they have not resolved. I am back on my extended release levadopa which I absolutely need to take for my Parkinson’s. Unfortunately, one of the concerns of taking nuplazid is a cardiac anomaly where one’s QTc interval can increase to the point where arrhythmia can develop, leading to possible myocardial infarction. And I had already been treated with several other medications which can also contribute to QTc issues. So I have needed to monitor the QTc intervals with regular EKG s. And I stopped the nuplazid yesterday because it was not helping to eliminate the auditory hallucinations. Because these auditory hallucinations are primarily musical, it has not been a whole lot different than the ear worms.
Incidentally, before my Parkinson’s diagnosis, I developed severe hamstring dystonia after taking abilify for three weeks. And that was 5 years ago. It is excruciating for me to sit down. There are very few treatments for dystonia. But that is a different story…