Oxycontin News Blog

I think her pain is driving her crazy. Sometimes in the morning, just after she wakes up she starts seeing and hearing things. It's like a play going on in her head for a minute or two. While it's happening she seems in another world. Afterwards, she remembers it all and is not very concerned.

This scares me because we are both getting old and starting to have trouble with our memories. When my mother had this problem, it was the beginning of her Alzheimer's disease. Any information would be helpful.

There are two types of perceptual disturbances - illusions and hallucinations. An illusion is a false interpretation of an external stimulus. It can occur with any of the senses. Most illusions do not indicate an underlying physical problem. But a change in taste or smell is a type of illusion that often indicates abnormalities in the sense organs or brain.

A hallucination is a sensory perception that does not result from an external stimulus. It results from the interplay of chemical and neural circuits in the brain. Hallucinations can occur with any of the senses and are categorized based on which sense is involved.

Hallucinations often seem "real" enough that the person responds emotionally and behaviorally to them rather than seeing them for what they are.

Without more information, I can only speculate that your wife may be having visual hallucinations associated with delirium or a sleep disturbance such as sleep walking.

Delirium is a type of cognitive mental disorder - others are dementia and amnesia. It is characterized by a disturbance of consciousness and a change in awareness and understanding (cognition).

condition (e.g., medication), or a combination of the two.

Delirium caused by a substance may be due to either intoxication by that chemical or withdrawal from it. Research has shown that some people taking an opioid medication, such as Oxycontin, will develop hallucinations. This is more likely if your wife's pain, when she awakens at night, causes her to take more of the drug.

The fact that your wife sees her "plays" just as she is waking up suggests that she could be having sleep-related problem as another contributing factor.

I recommend that she seek professional help. She should make sure that she is not taking extra Oxycontin in the middle of the night and consult with the doctor about a possible connection with her hallucinations.

The presentation of her problem, especially since there are no other symptoms of mental disturbances or mental capacity, does not indicate that she is developing Alzheimer's disease.

It's been known for years that the excess weight of obese people puts a greater strain on their heart and joints, leading to increased problems. And last month I reported that people who are obese have an increased risk of asthma.

Now two new studies indicate that people who are obese have greater inflammation of their blood vessels. In one study, obese people were found to have 2.5 times the risk of developing blood clots in their leg veins. And the other study found that fat cells produce C-reactive protein, which is a chemical that inflames the lining of blood vessels and increases the risk of heart attacks.

I hope this new information helps people who are obese or very overweight to work even harder at losing weight.

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