Search the Community

In 2011, during a month, I developed a lot of neurological symptoms (I was 20 and then only marijuana several times in my life) - visual snow, palinopsia after images, floaters and tingling of the whole body (24/7), muscle fasciculations. In 2011-2014 I was diagnosed comprehensively (MRI, cerebrospinal fluid, evoked visual potentials, blood etc.). It only turned out that I was infected with Bartonella. I treated myself for several weeks according to ILADS, but finally I gave up. I have learned to live with these symptoms since accepting treatment failure in 2014. Now some of the symptoms are gone, some are still present (like VS, body tingling). Now to the point. A week ago I had the opportunity to take half a pill of ecstasy/mdma (it was my first time in my life, I only thought that LSD can cause permanent vision problems, so under the influence of alcohol I took half a pill). That night I also drunked a loooot of vodka and beer. And I don't remeber second half of the night. The next day I sobered up and read that MDMA may also cause/worse with HPPD/ VS. I got stressed and think my visual symptoms have got a little worse. But I wonder if it's not that under stress and paying attention to visual snow, palinopsia - I just see them more...? 1. Is there anyone here who caused (or worsened) visual snow, palinopsia - after images by ONLY ONE (1st) USE ecstasy / mdma ? I took a half a pill and drink a lot of alcohol (Does alcohol weaken the effect of ecstasy in the brain?) 2. Does it pass someone or is it permanent forever?

Hello All, My name is Allen. I've browsed this site randomly over the past couple years but was afraid share. I'm in my 30's and have had HPPD 2 for 18 years. I was diagnosed 5 years ago after a seeing countless doctors through the years. Recently I found out my wife was pregnant and I became determined to find a treatment or, god willing, a cure. When I was in my mid teens I took lsd about 5 times and I was a chronic marijuana smoker. The last time I took lsd I smoked weed at the same time and I had the worst experience of my life: My heart began to race uncontrollably, my arms and face became numb; I saw long blury trails on everything and I felt hot and cold all at once. It was so intense that I thought for sure I was going to die. In desperation, I curled up in a ball on my couch, closed my eyes, and began to pray to god repeatedly to make it stop and let me live, until eventually I fell asleep. I woke up the next morning and thanked god I was alive. I swore of lsd forever. Unfortunately that didn't stop me from trying to party with my friends as usual. Every time I smoked weed after that I would have severe panic attacks and almost black out. When I'd drink alcohol I felt like I had a lump in my throat and couldn't breathe. A couple weeks after that horrible trip I woke up to a dull version of the same type of visuals I had the night of my bad trip, I was petrified and began having random panic attacks. I finally told my mother what I did and what happened since and she took me to the doctor. The doctor swore it was depression with anxiety and completely dismissed any lsd involvement. She prescribed me Effexor and xanax. The effexor didn't help at all and it made my heart race. The symptoms were not going away. I was afraid I damaged my brain beyond repair. Shortly after I withdrew from school and became a hermit. The xanax helped a lot with anxiety but the visuals remained. Through the years I saw about a dozen different psychiatrists and none of them knew what was wrong with me and continued me on benzodiazepines and ssri's. I lost my insurance and couldn't afford all the doctor appointments and medicine, so I began getting zoloft and Vicodin off the streets to self medicate. Eventually the visuals became less intense and my panic attacks were less frequent. Although the visuals and anxiety are a part of my daily life, I still manage to function. Some days are worse than others but I forced myself back into society and I got a good job in construction, and married my girlfriend who has been with me through this whole experience. I got off the vicodin with suboxone and continued the zoloft. With the news of our first child, I found a new determination to get rid of this horrible disease for good. I told my doctor that I wanted to try anything we can to make this stop and she agreed to start prescribing me different medications to see what, if anything, will work. She prescribed clonidine last visit and I started it 6 days ago. Unfortunately it hasn't helped my visuals at all and last night I began having strange thoughts and seeing weird images when I closed my eyes. I'll keep everyone updated on how it goes. I'm really hopeful that something will get rid of this for good. Wish me luck and good luck to all of you. P.s. I am thankful to whomever started and maintains this site. I hope we can get this horrible disease more attention and find a real treatment for it.

Hey guys, I started taking Clonazepam in a really small dose (0,2mg per day) 3 days ago, and yesterday evening I started getting possitive palinopsia and hard afterimages. Is it possible that Clonazepam induced me this? My psychiatrist prescribed it to me for Sertraline and Lorazepam withadrawl, for not getting too much abstinence (I am currently on Sertraline 50mg and Lorazepam 0,5mg and going down every week step by step)

Hi all, long time reader, first time poster. I got a mild case of HPPD from a six month weed bender. There were like five MDMA rolls and three mushroom trips also. I realized i didn't feel myself and stopped smoking weed, using mushroom and MDMA. This happened about four years ago. My symptoms at their worst during that time was mild VS, mild after images(barely noticeable, but they existed), depersonalization and brain fog. So, up until recently, the DR, DP and brainfog have really lifted. I barely have any problem with them. I had used some drugs sparingly on the weekends. Stuff like 3-fpm, Hexen, and some others. I'm not proud of this, but my visual symptoms didn't change from what I could discern, so i thought, why not? One day, I tried a compound I've never had before called 4-mpd. I snroted 30 mgs and went for a jog. When I got back in the house, I realized something was off. My visual snow was a couple levels stronger now. It now climbed freely on the walls with the lights on, and before it didn't. Everything was giving me an after image also. Any light, no matter how dim, caused an after image that would flash for a second of two before fading. I also have illusory palinopsia now; waving my hand causes it to blur across my field of view. It's been a few months since things have gotten this way and nothing has improved. I wanted to hear any thoughts on this situation. I quit all drugs and I mean ALL. I run daily and eat reasonably well. I'm just shocked that my visual stuff got so much worse when it seemed like nothing could make it change before. I'm guessing this will probably never get any better. Wanted to share this experience as sort of a warning. Leave the drugs alone. Ask me any questions, no matter how old the post is, I'll keep up as much as I can.

Hi, everyone! I would like to ask you a question. Does anyone have a "real" palinopsia? In other words, positive afterimages, same colour as the object I was looking on. I have constant "strong afterimages" after looking at objects and "tracking afterimages" after looking at lights. Strange thing - I don't see trails behind moving objects. It looks like on this video and picture: http://palinopsiafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/afterimage_ship.jpg I will be very thankful for your answer. Good luck everyone

Hello, I'd like to preface my story by mentioning that ever since I was a little kid, I've had lots of HPPD symptoms before doing any drugs. The first one I noticed was visual snow. i wasn't born with it, but it developed when I was probably about 5. I actually thought it was normal. I also started seeing CEVs, with big splotches of bright colors moving around in my vision after closing my eyes for long enough. Then when I was maybe about 13 I started developing mild palinopsia. I never saw afterimages per se, but if I darted my eyes somewhere, and they happened to pass by a light, I would see a long trail of the light. There were a few other symptoms but they were pretty mild. About a year ago, I first started smoking cannabis a few times a month (not synthetic). It's the only psychedelic I've ever done. For the first 6 months or so I had no problems at all. One night though, I got much higher than usual. I don't know exactly how many hits I took, but even my friend who was an experienced smoker admitted to being really high. After I came down, I was driving home and I noticed some trails or afterimages along the white lines on the street. I could see that something had changed about my vision as time went on, but it was really mild. I would see more afterimages than usual and was more sensitive to light. I ignored it and attributed it to being a coincidence. I smoked a few more times, but in small amounts, and it never got worse. Convinced that the weed didn't cause it, I decided to get really stoned again just to see what would happen, and sure enough the palinopsia got much worse. I now saw true afterimages after looking at anything, even if it wasn't very bright. The afterimages lasted about one second. I felt very depressed but eventually got used to it. Now here's where you'll stop feeling sorry for me. 3 months after the last episode, I decided to try smoking in a very low dose again. Since I didn't have any problems with the lower doses before, I figured it might be okay. I only took about 5 hits or so and the palinopsia did get a little worse. The afterimages are more intense and easier to induce. Also, my visual snow has noticeably gotten worse. It's been about two weeks. Needless to say I've learned my lesson now, but it does suck because I'd honestly like to continue smoking, but I guess I can't take any more chances. Migraines run in my family, so I have a feeling that this is an underlying migraine problem that's just been exacerbated by the weed. I've been seeking treatment from a neurologist (although I didn't tell him this was from a drug). He prescribed me Topamax which I tried briefly and experienced no results from. I don't like that drug because it messes up my cognitive function so much. That's the extent of my treatment thus far. I decided to join the forum after learning that this was HPPD. I hope I can get back to my old normal one day.

?

Hi guys, New to this forum. I have had palinopsia for about 12 years now. During 2002 I was using cannabis daily, not in vast quantities, but I was stoned most days of the week. At the end of June I was hitting some of the creamiest, dirtiest bongs known to man. had a number immediately after one another. I knew it was too much but was trying to push the limits. For about 30 mins I couldnt see anything but I could hear voices. Then suddenly everyone and everything became very much like a cartoon character. My friends all looked like they should be in a Simpsons episode. I also thought there were giant insects buzzing about. I was advised by my friends to go outside and try chill out. It took me a long time to walk the short distance. Once there the sky went a dark red colour and everything else went varying shades of black. The sky then switched to green. There were constant loud screeching noises. Felt a bit like when Frodo puts the ring on in The Lord of the Rings in fact. Also felt like there were worms wriggling in my head. Very frightening experience. I then lay down for a number of hours whilst it felt like my arms and legs were smaller than they should be. It eventually all wore off but for next number of months I was quite badly fatigued and would frequently go to bed early. Then in August one evening when closing my eyes I noticed a strong after image remained. This gradually grew until I had strong palinopsia. I no longer drive at night as its too difficult, I have visual snow and the rest of the usual symptoms. I went to my doctor at end of 2002 and he thought that it was nothing. I thought it was maybe all in my head. I then went to my optician in 2007 to tell him but there was a more immediate problem with the eyes themselves that needed treatment which took a number of years. It was only this year that I actually came across the term palinopsia. It has not got any weaker over the years although I have learned to live with it. Basically the question I have is could that cannabis use have triggered its occurrence or is it just a coincidence that those two incidents were in the same summer? Thanks for reading!

I've been meaning to post this for a while, but here it is, my experience with Keppra. I took Keppra for a little over two months, taking 500mg/day for the first five days and 1000mg/day for the remaining two months. Before beginning Keppra treatment I had all the usual bloodwork done and all looked fine. During the period where I took 1000mg/day I had blood tests done twice and both showed elevated liver figures - I don't remember the details, but my ALAT/ALT was twice the upper boundary of the normal range (indicating liver problems). Since it hadn't decreased at all by the second blood test after beginning Keppra (which was about a month after the first one) my doctor recommended that I didn't increase the dosage and advised me to perhaps taper off if the medication wasn't having substantial positive effects. Now, I didn't feel anything remarkable during the treatment, but it did seem to have some effect. It seemed to reduce after-images/palinopsia, which was great. It seemed to do very little for general "patterning", but it may have helped this a little bit as well. It made me pretty confronting and unrelenting. I seemed to fall out with a few people while taking it, which is unusual for me. It may have helped general anxiety somewhat, but not much in any case. So, all in all, not remarkable nor a complete let-down. Oh, and if you take Keppra, remember to get blood tests for liver function!

Ive had this crap for 11 years. Can someone explain to me why my visual trails have progressively gotten worse over the years at a constant pace. I used to be able to drive at night now it is getting very hard to do. During the day now i see trails on stuff that i never used to see them on. I mentally count how long i see afterimages on different things and have written it down, and they are definatley longer over the years. I have things i use to measure how long my trails are and i would say every year they get 10% worse. Is my vision goin to be one long trail in a few years? Dp, floaters, afterimages, disequilibrium(6 years) and static also. .75mg klonopin for 6 years