Mother in law (83) hears music when there is none. Calls husband to come and listen, there is no music. Is it dementia?

My mother always hears 'Oh Tannenbaum.'. It was her favorite song when she was a little girl. Of course, it's never playing, but I just act like I can hear it, too, because she seems to enjoy it.

My 89 year old mother has serious hearing loss. The audiologist has said that when the ears / mind are not hearing things that the mind fills that void with other things - in my mom's case it is music. She will ask my son about the music he is playing (he isn't) and she thinks the neighbors play music she listened to 60 years ago. She will go around the house singing along to the tunes she thinks they are all playing. It makes her happy and so I do not tell her she is just hearing things - that would just bring her mood down.

pam got it right -- prob'ly. thalamic brainfarcts..
i hear pink floyd right now and the dam stereo aint even on ..

Those elves and pixies, they can be mischievous! :)

When my dad first came to stay with us a little over a year ago, he kept hearing someone singing outside his bedroom window at night. He said they were singing old Irish and Italian songs he knew from his childhood. I reassured him that no one was singing and it gradually went away. His PCP did not think it was anything to worry about. He does not have any dementia.

Some people are blessed to hear the music of the spheres, as described by Pythagoras, the ancient Greek philosopher. ohmoondance understands!

Does she wear a hearing aide? Does the music wake her up? I am asking bc my Dad went thru this but only at night and it was so real, he accused the neighbors of playing music and waking him up. His solution was to wear his hearing aide to bed. It is phantom music but very real to them.

My MIL also started hearing music occasionally. Just about that time I heard a news report, which was about just this topic. The explanation was that sometimes, when someone's auditory stimulation declines, their brains will "fill in the blanks" with music.

my 87yr old mother is fairly sharp for her age,but she hears people talking downstairs at night, hears doorbells ,sees people and says it seems very real although she knows that it is not. she tells the 'ghosts' to go away and they do.

JAW b40, I have tinnitus, but hear annoying rushing air and ringing instead of music. I would much rather have the music. Would the Lipoflavonoids work for me?

My mom had this happen, according to the doctor it was dehydration. My Dad had this, "Do you here music/" which I didn't. I took out his hearing aids and they were making some strange noise (not the usual squeek). I changed the batteries. I have inner ear trouble which effects my balance, used to make noises, and for me travel sickness pills (meclazine: an antihistamine) for a week helps (it makes me sleepy so I take it at night). Don't use antihistamines without doctor's ok, it seems like it would increase dehydration, sleepiness.

I just had to offer this for a laugh: I was on the home phone with my mom when my nephew walked through the room. I said, "Hey, Evan, say Hi to grandma" and put her on hold while he gathered his thoughts. When he got on with her, she told him she didn't know he was a musician and thanked him for playing for her. Mom has dementia and Evan assumed this was another manifestation. We have a home-based business and a business phone account for all our phones ... so today I called the home phone from my cell and put myself on hold. Sure enough -- our phone company, Comcast, provides "hold" music!

My mom had auditory hallucinations-kept telling me to turn down the music as it was making her crazy-always the same song ,though later, turned out to be a different"same song-as a result , I had stopped listening to my own music (she is hard of hearing with two hearing aids,by the way)..my son then bought me an ipod so I could still listen without her thinking I had music too loud...we saw several Drs' and the ENT Dr. said it is not so uncommon , and is a type of tinnitus-he recommended Lipoflavanoids ( at the drugstores by ear products) and it worked. She still takes them and , if she forgets, she starts to hear things again-it saved her sanity!! She didn't mind so much during the day but when she tried to sleep, it kept her awake-usually distractions helped keep it away also-never had it while watching TV....I have a friend whose husband started to have the same issues and received many different pills , including sleeping pills,from the drs. which did not help-he took the lipoflavinoids and is doing well......she is also prone to visual hallucinations, with narcotics , so doesn't take them -the worst was Tramadol where she claimed she was at her own funeral and waiting to be embalmed-another pt, I had at the NH also said she had the same hallucinations from Tramadol, and says she will never take it again as it was horribly scarey....neither had UTI's or other sicknesses that would have contributed but did have very early dementia....my brother said his father in law had the music also-_"They keep playing "Three Coins in the Fountain" -can't you hear it??????

I have been a nurse for 33 years and often patients tell me they here music often when there is no music playing.
I am currently working with a 86 year young gentleman and he states he often hears classical music.
this gentleman still works part time,,,,,,good conversationalist and sharp memory, with.no signs of dementia. Documented by physcians.
The gentleman is in chronic pain however.........better to have him express the lovely music he hears than complaining about his pain
Neil B. CNA

Made me laugh. As a nursery school teacher we often have a repetitive song playing through our heads. And often it is a very annoying song you just want to get rid of! But it was inevitable after music day. Besides that often the children go right on humming the tune after music was over. And when I taught in the grades I would often have children humming their favorite songs.

As an R.N. , working in the field & as a care giver with my husband, I HEAR MUSIC & have all my life. I do not have Dementia or Alzheimer's...
Music is a very spiritual part of the life. Just another perspective...take what you need & delete the rest...Hearing music is not a bad thing...nor is it always "Something is wrong..."
Blessings...

Get her checked for a bladder infection, also. Mom (with Alz dementia) had visual and auditory hallucinations when she developed bladder infection.

Auditory hallucinations can also be normal, without any stimulus like alcohol drugs or stress. I have had a few episodes during my life that I remember; all took place as I was waking up from a nap or overnight sleep. All involved hearing classical orchestra music, nothing I could recognize. Unless the patient has other symptoms and has been evaluated for other disorders, it can mean little or nothing when there are such "hearing problems". That is what I was told by 3 specialists over the last 30 years. I have normal hearing, have no dementia, but who knows what is anyone's future..

My mother had a knee replacement, 88yrs old with dementia. After the surgery, while in rehab, she heard the same song daily for about 3 months. Thank goodness it did eventually go away. But she still hears door bells and people talking in the middle of the night, when it is at it's quietest.

Jonilc : abnormalities in the auditory cortex, thalamic infarcts, subarachnoid hemorrhage, tumors of the brain can be the cause. See a neurologist.

Visual or audio hallucinations can be an early symptom of certain kinds of dementia, such as Dementia with Lewy Bodies. I'm sure that isn't the only disorder that hallucinations might be associated with. The best course of action at this point, in my opinion, is for MIL to be evaluated by a geriatrician.