Is my dosage too high? I have only been on it 6 days, and yesterday I heard voices twice when no one was around. It has totally helped my pain, but I also have eye pressure/pain but it goes as quickly as it comes, but on a daily basis.
Has anyone experienced hallucinations, like hearing voices while taking Zanaflex?
Question posted by cathi1960 on 10 May 2011
Last updated on 8 October 2023
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35 Answers Page 3
painlevel11
7 Dec 2016
Yes, Zanaflex/Tizanidine causes me to have hallucinations, hearing voices, seeing things and also talk/mumble in my sleep. I've woken myself up talking not knowing why i was talking too. I've seen objects in my bedroom turn into bugs, intruders, family or others, all from hallucinations from taking this pill.
Jennaveive
23 Feb 2017
That's exactly what is happening to me. The roses on my plllo turn to bugs.
echo08
12 April 2012
Hi Cathy - first I'd like 2 get one thing out of the way - meds effect different people differently. Having said that, my *former* PM doc arbitraily switched me from Soma (which had been working great - no side effects, etc. 4 two yrs) 2 Zanaflex bringing on one of the worst months I've ever had. It wasn't just that it was of no help, I got pretty much every side possible, including hallucinations (thank G-d 4 the awesome people here who helped me through that & helped me get back 2 what was working!). If u check this site 4 info on side effects of Zanaflex, one thing stood out 2 me as interesting - hallucinations are a side effect but like u & I experienced, the person is aware that it's not real but a halluciantion. Mine were auditory & visual - I could see & hear other people yet knew it wasn't real. I know it works well 4 many, but it's something I will *never* take again.
The only positive that came out of it was now I have even more empathy 4 clients I work w/ who have schizophrenia, psychotic breaks, dementia, etc. I don't know if you've tried any other muscle relaxers in the past, but IMHO, if ur already experiencing some of the worst side effects 6 days in, perhaps u could talk 2 ur Dr about switching? Best wishes 2 u & hopes that u find the best med fit 4 u!
Echo
alieversole7806
28 Aug 2017
I have suffered from insomnia since I was a child started taking Tylenol PM when I was 4 I'm up to 21 sleeping pills and night I tried everything and being excetera they put me on the Zanaflex when I first started taking it I was seeing people in my room people standing at the foot of my bed but they were Dark Shadows it progressed I started seeing neon writing letters and shapes everywhere on everything skin the walls bed floors my phone as it went on I started taking a little more that's when things started getting really scary so I down the dose little bit but I was still seeing the scary stuff for instance there is this thing I call the long man it almost looks like the demons from Constantine and they climb through my mirrors I now keep my mirrors covered when I go to bed at night I still see the neon everywhere and try to fight it it's only worse and intensify when it's completely dark so I keep my light on by my bed,
sometimes I still see it and sometimes I don't, I've also seen in my TV screen spider webs and a spider that's not there's nothing there these are just some of the things that I've hallucinated I've come to a conclusion after reading up on this that really disturbs me and I have a theory and might be crazy but I find it odd that when I look up people who hallucinate on this medication they all seem to have almost the exact or close to similar experiences as me when it started in the beginning, I've upped my dose I've been seeing the really weird crap coming out of the mirrors I think the other people haven't gone that far because once I start hallucinating the first things that I saw they usually stop, I can't stop taking this medication because without it I can't sleep in my immunity to it keeps growing so I have to keep upping the dose I'm at 7 at night that's my lucky number, by take any less or any more I hallucinate horribly so I stopped at 7 anybody has any input some hallucinations that may seem to make you feel you've experienced the same just comment no judgement if you think I'm crazy it's fine with me I really don't give a crap, I'm just being honest, like I said I have a theory I can't be coincidence that everybody who was hallucinated has seen the same things I have seen in the beginning I'd like to know if anybody else is seeing things coming out of the mirror orTV if you have please message me back I want to try and gather as much Intel about what people see because so far somehow people are seeing the same things as I did in the beginning It can't be coincidence that everybody sees the same thing when they take this medication what it should be is different hallucinations could not the same hallucination with each person because every person is different in theory maybe we're just seeing things we aren't supposed to see, this man that medication lets us see past what normal people can't see like I said the theory but I'd like to put that theory to good use hit me back I appreciate it thanks
HustleRose
10 Dec 2017
I have the exact same things going on too, except for someone coming out of the mirror. It's my tv, that's where I see things coming from sometimes. I close my eyes and I see a bunch of snakes twisting in front of my eyes and they keep coming closer and closer. I have seen spiderwebs and a spider. There was someone standing at the foot of my bed. I see neon everywhere too, sometimes like a grid of red lines with a black background. But the weirdest things I've seen, which I think it's from my memories of the day, is I keep seeing Xmas trees and reindeer shapes next to my bed. We have a display at work and this is exactly what I'm seeing. I opened my eyes and saw to two wooden reindeer right next to my bed, staring at me. I also experienced sleep paralysis, which I have all the time anyway, but this time it was weird. I couldn't move or wake myself.
I was seeing weird things around me and I forced myself twice to say help me, so my husband would wake me. It's really scary. They say it's bc your blood pressure gets low. But anyway, I know exactly what you're talking about and I know what it's like not to be able to sleep. Good luck. :)
Havilah
7 May 2018
I am absolutely floored by these responses! Why? Because it's like reading my own story! I see and hear and feel these "things." The shadow people, huge spiders, hands grasping at me, and whispering in my ear... My eyes are open and I am fully lucid when it all happens. Because of this, I don't take tizanidine very often at all. I know that I better be done with household chores when I take it, because my body absolutely can't function after about an hour. I do have a prescription and sometimes find it's necessary for the pain and insomnia relief it provides. I personally have learned to close my eyes and ears to these hallucinations, and to pray. I finally get to sleep that way. Also, I have three cats who sleep with me, and I know if they are not reacting to any of these things, then it's not real. God, I honestly thought I was alone in this. So good to see other stories. Thank you so much.
remarkabel
11 April 2012
Yes I have had some weird dreams from this drug and hard to tell if it was a dream or reality.
tm1996
21 June 2018
My doctor prescribed me this medicine because I have tension migraines and she said it’s mostly in my shoulders and neck. She gave it to me mostly to help me sleep when I have a migraine and it has definitely helped me sleep and with my pain but the first night I took it, I took 8 mg cause I was hurting pretty badly to the point where I was nauseated. I went to bed at a normal time (around 10 pm) and I’m not sure how long I had been asleep or if I had even fallen asleep yet but I woke up to a black shadow beside my bed and it freaked me out. I didn’t think it was the medicine because I’ve had night terrors since I was really young and I’m 21 now. So I didn’t really think anything of it and went back to sleep.
Well last night I took the same dose because I just can’t get rid of this migraine no matter how hard I try and I just wanted to sleep. Well I had eaten dinner, and was sitting in the living room with my mom. Everything was fine, I was just feeling drowsy and was ready to go to bed. But then I started seeing squigglies on the wall across from me and thought yeah it’s time to go to bed. So I sit there for a few more minutes thinking I’m talking to my mom but apparently I wasn’t and I start seeing visuals like a scene out of the Lion King. I’m not kidding, I saw the scene of Mufasa falling off the cliff as if I was watching the movie... I haven’t watched that movie in probably five years. It scared me so much my mom made me stay in there with her.
I was too uncomfortable in the living room so I just swallowed my fear and went to bed but left my lamp on for most of the night and didn’t have anymore hallucinations.
I’m not sure if my migraine was interfering and making me see things that weren’t there or my birth control or my appetite suppressant... I’ve only been on it for two days and I’m honestly afraid to take it again but if i don’t I know I’m not going to sleep and it’s just going to make my migraine worse.
smileyhappy
10 May 2011
Hi Cat
I would call the pharmacist to see what he/she thinks. I also would call my doctor right away to tell him/her what is going on. Sounds like you need an adjustment or different med. Good luck!
cathi1960
10 May 2011
I am calling today I quit taking it after that and I am in need of something to keep me mobile.
DzooBaby
10 May 2011
I dont know if what I have is hallucinations but sometimes I feel like my brain tries to dream while I'm awake. I can only take this medicine at night because it makes me very sleepy and I've been on it for over a year and that sleepiness has not faded with time. I find that if I take it during the day I have about a half an hour where I am so sleepy and if I try to stay awake that is when my brain tries to dream anyway. That is my experience. If I take it before bedtime I usually just sleep, which is good, because my pain often keeps me from getting a good nights sleep. I have found on occasion though, with this drug, that I wake with a severe sense of smothering and sometimes I have to get up and sleep in a rocking chair for a bit before it passes and I can lay back down in the bed. It only happens on occasion, thank goodness, as it is very uncomfortable.
DzooBaby
10 May 2011
Hallucinations are a common side effect of this medicine, by the way!
Inactive
10 May 2011
My brain does that, & i'm not on that medication!
cathi1960
10 May 2011
I have to get up and sit up also, it stops me from having anxiety..
mercimee
24 Oct 2016
I have been on zanaflex for over a year now and my Dr increased the dosage from 4mg to 6mg. I stated having the same reaction. I was somewhere between sleep and awake and I was hearing people talk to me and I was reacting to them as if they were here. I guess that's a hallucination! I finally fell and hit my head and neck and I call 911. The first thing I told the Dr there was that change of medicine and he agreed. It was the increase. He said to go back down to the 4 mg and talk to my Dr. I thought I was going crazy, but it helps to know that I'm not the only one to have a reaction to this medication. This can be a very dangerous drug and I'm going to stay on the old dose. I am having so much pain but my Dr is going to have to figure out a different way to help alleviate the pain I'm having. This seems like it can be a very dangerous drug if the dose is too high. I was having the same reaction, and it was very scary. In a state between sleep and awake... It was hallucinations... I'm glad I wasn't going crazy!
Anniesnap
27 Feb 2017
Yes! I took this medication with my Xanax one day and oh my!! I would be perfectly normal than I would like drift off to this other place where I would do things that were very strange including talking to people who weren't there, then after awhile of absolute insanity I would snap out of it and be normal again. This would go on for an hour or two until I would fall into a deep sleep!! Very strange!
Related topics
zanaflex, pain, dosage, hallucination
Further information
- Zanaflex uses and safety info
- Zanaflex prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Zanaflex (detailed)
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