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Case Reports
. 2024 Dec 1;16(12):e74915.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.74915. eCollection 2024 Dec.

Opioid-Induced Hallucinations: A Case Report

Arvind Dhanabalan  1 , Sall Saveen  2 , Christina Singh  3 , Ramona Ramasamy  4 , Keerthiga Raveendran  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

Opioid-Induced Hallucinations: A Case Report

Arvind Dhanabalan et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

This article presents the case of a 67-year-old African American male patient who was referred to a psychiatry clinic by his Internal Medicine Provider with a diagnosis of "schizophrenia, unspecified." The patient reported the onset of auditory and visual hallucinations (AVHs) two years ago, coinciding with his starting Norco (hydrocodone 5 mg/acetaminophen 325 mg) for chronic back pain. He noted that his AVH worsened when he increased his prescribed Norco dosage (within his prescribed recommended range) and observed that the hallucinations ceased when he discontinued the medication. This case highlights the potential for opioid-induced AVH to be misdiagnosed as schizophrenia while emphasizing the importance of careful evaluation of opioid use in psychiatric assessments.

Keywords: drug-induced hallucinations; drug-induced psychosis; opioid-induced hallucinations; postictal hallucinations; schizophrenia.

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Conflict of interest statement

Human subjects: Consent for treatment and open access publication was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

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