[IamLosingMyMind]

Have you ever had a buzzing in your head? It felt like electricity running through your brain.

Have you ever talked normally and had garbage come out of your mouth?

Have you ever smelled odors for days at a time when no one else smells them, in my case dog poop and cigarette smoke?

Is this fairly common?

[*Beth*]

Hi Iam, and welcome to the forum. It sounds like you may be describing psychosis. Are you on medication?

[Soupe du jour]

Welcome, IamLosingMyMind! When you say "talk normally but have garbage come out of your mouth", can you describe this more? If you talk normally, I wouldn't think "garbage would be coming out", but rather normal talk. Or are you saying that sometimes you don't talk normally?

I wouldn't quickly label your symptoms strictly mental illness related. They could be, but they could also be neurologically based...or something else. As for neurological, non convulsive seizures came to my mind. Do tell you doctor about these symptoms. If they are seizure-based, an antipsychotic likely wouldn't help. Only maybe an anticonvulsant would.

Do your described symptoms sound familiar? Yes, but not so much as typical bipolar ones. They're ones I haven't experienced for years, even though I have had bipolar episodes since. During the period of "odd symptoms" including various hallucinations and sensory distortions when not depressed or manic, deja vu, bouts of gibberish, and the like, doctors suspected seizures. I had many EEGs with one possibly indicating seizures. I was prescribed anticonvulsants and they eventually rid me of the "odd symptoms", but not completely of bipolar symptoms. They seemed separate issues, though one psychiatrist said that bipolar disorder itself could be a type of seizure.

I'm definitely not diagnosing anything here. Again, in my case I had them along with bipolar disorder, but they never clearly seemed part of it.

[IamLosingMyMind]

Hi Beth,

Yeah, I’m on the following meds:

levothyroxine 50 MCG
acetylcysteine
buPROPion 450 MG
propranolol 80 MG
Seroquel 800 MG
Adderall 40 MG
sildenafil 50 MG
Depakote ER 1000 MG
Lithium 900 MG

[IamLosingMyMind]

Hi Soupe du jour,

Sometimes when I say something to a person, just a regular sentence, it comes out garbled or incoherent. Thank you for the suggestions. I will definitely bring it up to my pdoc. I love this forum! Everyone is so kind and thoughtful! You are the best! ❤️❤️❤️

IaLMM

[Soupe du jour]

Originally Posted by IamLosingMyMind

Hi Soupe du jour,

Sometimes when I say something to a person, just a regular sentence, it comes out garbled or incoherent. Thank you for the suggestions. I will definitely bring it up to my pdoc. I love this forum! Everyone is so kind and thoughtful! You are the best! ❤️❤️❤️

IaLMM

I see, IamLosingMyMind. It is good to mention to your doc.

You know, there could be much more innocent explanations for these symptoms you describe. I think seizure type activity or psychosis would be among worst case causes. Though we can't know what is causing yours, I'll offer some much milder causes that might be worth exploring:

The garbled/incoherent responses?

Could simply be effects from certain medications. Some meds (like Lithium and anticonvulsants) can cause mild non-permanent cognitive impairment. Happened to me on some of these meds. It affected my word finding and quickness and fluency of speech and memory. The higher the dose(s) the worse it got. Also, very sedating meds (i.e. Seroquel) can cause a similar-looking effect. In that case it may be more drowsiness effect, which may be there without blatant sleepiness.

Smoke smell?

A lot of things can cause this in absence of real smoke. Seizure stuff is an extreme cause. Some medications can be innocent culprits. Some like Lithium can leave metallic tastes in the mouth and/or some residual "remnants" which maybe cause some odor? Taste and smell are closely linked senses. Or other things do similar, such as sinusitis. I have the latter and smell smoke when it's at its worst. See Phantosmia: Smoke, Other Common Smells, Causes, Treatment

The more meds you're on, the more likely quirky stuff seems to be noticed. Believe me! There was a time I took as many meds as you, simultaneously, and I experienced weird stuff. I realize there are times it takes that many to obtain stability, but to lower side effects a goal should be to gradually go down on (or eliminate) one or two, if possible, when safe.

[Soupe du jour]

I should add that buzzing in the head can also be medication-related. It could be as innocent as med withdrawal effects. For example, some meds (often antidepressants) are known to cause "brain zaps" during withdrawal. See Brain zaps: Definition, causes, and how they feel

Or buzzing sounds perceived (see Tinnitus causes: Could my antidepressant be the culprit? - Mayo Clinic)

Again, in the links above the causes range from quite innocent to a bit less so.

[Nammu]

I was also going to say you’re on an awful lot of meds. Some with conflicting purposes. There was a time I was on so many meds and I had a ton of side effects for which they gave me more meds. I’d definitely talk to your doctor about side effects.

[IamLosingMyMind]

Originally Posted by Nammu

I was also going to say you’re on an awful lot of meds. Some with conflicting purposes. There was a time I was on so many meds and I had a ton of side effects for which they gave me more meds. I’d definitely talk to your doctor about side effects.

I agree Nammu. Unfortunately I still rapid cycle. Before these meds my mind raced so bad I couldn’t take it. My life was falling apart. I lost two jobs, my wife and my marriage was stressed because of the hypersexual feelings. I asked my wife to forgive me if I take my life. I just couldn’t take it anymore. This combination of meds really worked for me.

[HALLIEBETH87]

I take a ton of meds too. But they work for me better than ever before so I get why you take several. I’m sorry you’re experiencing this. <3

[Fuzzybear]

Welcome to the forum! I agree with Nammu re the meds (that's my personal opinion) (eta I just read your second post, feel free to ignore my post since I didn't totally get it before, I don't want to delete it though)

[IamLosingMyMind]

Originally Posted by Fuzzybear

Welcome to the forum! I agree with Nammu re the meds (that's my personal opinion) (eta I just read your second post, feel free to ignore my post since I didn't totally get it before, I don't want to delete it though)

Thanks Fuzzybear! It is true. It is a lot of meds. I wish I could reduce them without affecting my symptoms. I am just terrified of going back to the way I was.