[zdz221]

some background-
I'm 20yr male, I had my first manic episode in May. I was depressed for so long that I didn't know I was depressed, depression was my normal state. When it hit me in May it was amazing, I was more social, positive... blah blah blah. I was promoted at work, everyone told me I was a different person (better). I went from 215lbs to 155lbs. Since I wasn't experiencing any negative symptoms (I was more hypomanic) my psych didn't prescribe anything, although he did offer a mood stabilizer. My high lasted about a month, and now I'm in a sort of mixed state, I'm not as manic as I was, and I'm not as depressed as before.

I've been taking melatonin for sleep for about a month, 2 nights ago I was laying in bed and I started hearing voices. It sounded as if I was in a crowded auditorium everyone was talking, I could only make out random words, the only word I remember was 'running', but the voices aren't talking directly to me. I've never been so frightened in my life, it's one of those things where you don't understand it until it happens to you. I stopped taking melatonin, but the voices are still there, they only come in low light situations. I'm really afraid that I may have brought something out and now I can't get rid of it (the voices). I'm petrified to listen to the voices, so I try my hardest to block them out.

For those of you who hear voices how did it start for you? one voice, many voices, internal, external. I hope it's just the melatonin, and that stopping it will make the voices stop.

[Trippin2.0]

Melatonin is a hormone naturally produced by the pineal gland. It helps regulate the bodies circadian rhythm. Therefore Melatonin supplements are used to correct desynchronised sleeping patterns. The bottle infront of me lists the following side effects; drowsiness, headache, dizziness, transient depressive symptoms, mild tremore, mild anxiety, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramping, irritability, skin allergies, disorientation, confusion, sleep walking, vivid dreams, nightmares, hypotension and increased intraocular pressure.

From my understanding, melatonin merely opens a sleep window for those of us who do not have a regular opening into Lalaland, it doesn't even knock anyone out, and everyone expects it to because its a "sleep aid" so they quit taking it without knowing its core function. Anyway, my point is it cannot cause auditory hallucinations.

My voices started when I was stressed out and overwhelmed. Before diagnosis, after diagnosis and medicated, and even now, unmedicated, they show up. Its always stress, first there were people screaming horrid things at me, which made convos hard. Now I have 1 lingering voice who does all the scolding and self-deprecation. Commentary, yip I hear those too, and conversations as well, once I listened to an elderly couple argue about their grandson. I just drown it out with headphones, works for me. I do it because its annoying btw, not because they freak me the fk out or anything. These all take place inside my head, the only sounds outside my head is music nobody else ever hears.

Being petrified counts against you btw,to feed fear never helped anyone, it just makes the thing you're scared of bigger and badder. Its just voices, they can't climb out your head and hurt you, so don't give them the power you so eagerly just handed over without so much as a thought.

i don't remember fully how they started, but it was about 2 years before i got diagnosed with BP

i remember asking people.. hey do you hear that?. can you hear what they are saying?

when they couldn't- that's when the realisation of it hit me

[Victoria'smom]

I don't hear voices I hear "things", I use music with deep base to drowned it out.

[choocha]

Hi. Sorry you are suffering right now. You need to get a professional opinion on the voices you are hearing. Get yourself some help. You don't need to go through this alone. Good luck and take care.