Saturday, April 30, 2011 holdingbacktyrs asks

Q: I am 49, female, have bipolar II, and have been treated 3 yrs. Been on Abilify and Lamictal for over a year. I recently had hypomania and started hearing external voices. How can this be?

I see that there is an eyetracking dsyfunction that is a possible marker for schizophrenia--I often have a diffucult time reading because it is like my eyes wiggle too much--no other way to describe it. In addition, I scare very easily. It is embarrassing at work when someone comes to see me and I practically scream due to being startled.

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Answers (1)

Christina Bruni, Health Guide

5/ 3/11 9:09am

I know you would rather not have these symptoms.

It is possible to have bipolar and hear voices. Also: certain medications can cause hallucinations when taken together. You do not say what other medications you are on. I would suggest consulting with your pharmacist or psychiatrist, the pharmacist is a good bet too, about whether hearing voices could be a side effect of the medication routine.

If it turns out to be a symptom, your doctor might change the diagnosis to schizoaffective depending on whether he feels the voices are a symptom or not.

So talk to him right away about this.

Regards,

Christina

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Q: I am 49, female, have bipolar II, and have been treated 3 yrs. Been on Abilify and Lamictal for over a year. I recently had hypomania and started hearing external voices. How can this be?

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