My TBI was a intraventricular hemorrhage, brain swelling and edema. but as of Now I'm always paranoid and expecting the worst. It's so weird that I had such high confidence, 6 years later and I feel ugly and it feels like the TBI ruined me. After 6 months of being home, I developed this grandiose sense of self and I was convinced that I was going to be famous. It might have been drug induced because I was getting Haldol, IV fentanyl & dilaudid. When I first woke up, I was not aware that I was in the hospital, and the only distinct thing I can remember is getting mad that they wouldn't let me use the toilet and I couldn't understand why. I've read about hallucinations occurring from TBI but I've never come across an occurrence, the hallucinations, the hallucinations of seeing dead bodies must have been frightening? When it was over did you know that you had a hallucination?
She has been 6 months off of all drugs, her eating disorder has resolved evidenced by 30 plus lbs., she is very focused on speech therapy and physical activities the promote healing and off all prescriptions for 6 months.
She had been hearing his voice and he had proposed marriage, it was their wedding day, her sister was to do her hair and he was building a home on the coast for them to live in after the wedding. After 3 sleepless nights, yesterday she wrote 4 hours straight about events and memories with particular focus on the "love of her life". Recently she became manic and started profusely journaling memories that previously were clouded in amnesia. She woke up finally and having brought her home to oversee recovery.
She was not expected to live from her anoxic brain injury but did. She abused Ritalin and finally in 2/2020 stopped breathing from overdosing on probably Zanex. She also suffered from an eating disorder that complicated matters. She is highly sensitive and suffered from anxiety and insomnia so was diagnosed Bipolar. My daughter aged 29 struggled with divorce of her parents and subsequent death of her mother 7 years ago. These should only be prescribed by a practioner who has experience in evaluating and treating. If these symptoms worsen and he became a danger to himself or others, medications can be considered. Group therapy would give him a social outlet and can improve insight by seeing others go through similar challeges. Couseling can be useful in improving mood. Neurolpsychologists will evaluation his mood, insight, and judgment to establish if these are true hallucinations or a way of entertaining himself. Neuropsychologic and group treatments can be helpful. If no medical or social issue is found and these problems are not bothering him or putting him at risk, I would be cautious about using any psychiatrically active medication. Loneliness and social isolation can also be contributing factors and should be considered as well. Evaluation should also be done to ensure these symptoms are not related to seizures. Stimulant medications such as Ritalin, Adderall, and Amantadine all have this potential side effect. Some medications can increase confusion or cause hallucination or delusions.
So the healthcare professional should take a close look at all of your brother’s medications. If these problem are new for your brother, a careful medical evaluation by a physician who has experience in treating patients with TBI is warranted. The risk for new onset of psychiatric illness after a brain injury goes on for a long time and can be seen with any severity of traumatic brain injury. Psychiatric issues, including hallucinations and delusions, are certainly more common after traumatic brain injury.