Color of afterimages

[mycall81]

Hey there.

I get bad negative complimentary color afterimages. For instance, anything blue a glance at turns to a bright yellow upon looking away.

Does anyone else have this???

If you did/do, is it possible for it to fade away???

I also get real bad afterimages from my face in the mirror. Same question...can this fade? I'm at 9 months of this and still getting more detailed.

[Granite]

Anything can happen.  I know you want to hear experience that gives you confirmation that it can, but this is really subjective and different for everyone.  I also have afterimages (palinopsia) like you.  You might find more information searching the web for palinopsia; there 2 are main variants -- illusory and hallucinatory.

 

If you're afterimages are getting worse, you need to take a hard look at everything you're putting into your system.  Start with food (maybe a diary) and see if anything you eat is making it worse.  Also, caffeine is a trigger for my HPPD and that had to go.  Cigarettes, drugs, stimulants....  get the axe...

[umit]

Yes mine is olmost gone and its year 3 buth i do lot of running thats the fastest way to speed up recovery for me

it wil fade not by its own because there was no change in the first 2 years and one year of doing intensive sport i can say i am 90 recovered i am on my way to reach 100 precent its great what you can reach in 1 year and i did maybe only 120 days of sport in one year if i shall count

[mycall81]

You had complimentary colored afterimages?? Blue turned to yellow for instance.

[mycall81]

Granite.

How long have you had them? Had you tried meds for it?

My issue is this. I just smoked pot prior to his starting. Other than that, I had a migraine afterwards. I can't be sure which caused it. I want to know which and I want to know if it will keep worsening.

[umit]

No i didnt had complimentary after images

Buth i have still dark blue colors when i walk in the dark in the streets its the only thing thats didnt cure buth its not a problem

Yea i can look to peoples face and in the mirror thats issue is cured i like to watch my self in the mirror sometimes what i avoid it in the past

[TheGman6072]

Certain colors like hot pink would have turquoise color afterimages like when looking at somebody with a hot pink shirt and then their afterimage is turquoise green. Others would just be like a ghostly faded version like I would look at an object, look away and then I still see a light gray ghostly version of it

[mycall81]

Did that fade?

[TheGman6072]

Yeah it has faded

[mycall81]

Good to hear. Mine seems to worsening ????????

[TheGman6072]

They still are pretty annoying though especially when I am trying to read

[trip into hell]

why are you discussing different symptoms...they all have the same cause + they are different for everybody which makes it impossible that talking about it is helpful for the individual...you cant compare youre situations just because its likely that you have the same mental condition....everyone has to find his/her own cure...to be honest..posting here never helped me and isnt responsible for my cure at all...

 

have fun

[Daaar]

Mine usually go dark purple/blue or black no matter what colour it was. I have small black afterimages that are just small dots, they never go away and they often turn into holes or spiders when I look at bright surfaces.

[mycall81]

How long Daaar?

[peanuttiest]

You have to stop smoking weed if you want this to lessen - that's a huge trigger. Even being at a party where people are smoking weed can trigger some people.

[mycall81]

Well aware of that. It was a momentary lapse of reason. I was essentially 100% better and this all started after smoking a few times. I had a migraine though which seemed to trigger everything which is why I believe it is more a persistent migraine overlying HPPD.

[trip into hell]

as my hppd went away i was able to smoke small amounts of weed without going crazy...but i want to smoke as i used to again without having panic attacks cause they are annoying

[Mr.50's]

Trip into hell, how long did it take for you to recover? Were you drinking caffeine or smoking during your recovery? How did you recover from depersonalization?

[Gaz]

i have this problem as well I have noticed a reduction in the frequency that I get them. I had them really bad about 4 months ago but now they are almost non existent apart from when I look at bright lights but that's normal. It's basically a problem with sensory gating in your visual cortex so neurons keep firing after the stimulus has been removed. Your sensitivity has been increased to outside visual stimulation. Normally with sensitivity the more you are exposed over time the more it will gradually fade. If it's really bad then sunglasses will offer temporary relief in bright conditions. As with any hppd symptom the more you focus on it the worse it tends to get so just try your best to live with it and it will sort itself out.

[VisualDude]

With HPPD, there are two distinct categories of afterimaging: Positive and Negative.  Here is IMO ...

 

Negative Afterimages:

 

A certain amount of this is completely normal.  It is because the photo-receptors in the retina take time to chemically 'recharge' ... up to 30 minutes to completely recharge but 'mostly' recharged is quick.  You may wish to read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptation_(eye)#Dark_adaptation and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afterimage .  One can make these afterimages last longer by focusing/concentrating on them.  They are complementary in color (i.e. black is white, orange is blue, ...)

 

On the back of each photo-receptor is a dopaminiergic neuron.  These carry the signal ultimately to the brain but there is a complex network throughout the retina that 'spot-adjusts' light level (contrast).  If something is dim, the gain is increased.  If something is bright, the gain is turned down.  This is on a per-pixel (photo-receptor) level.  The gain should be dynamic enough to compensate for most of the recharge delay of the photo-receptor as well as changes in lighting.  But for some with HPPD, this seems to be a problem.  Contrast problems are experiences with people who have advanced Parkinson's Disease (which involves dopamine rarity).  For myself, like these people, taking dopamine increasing meds helps to resolve this issue.

 

So, in short, negative afterimages originate in the eyes.

 

 

Positive Afterimages:

 

These are from difficulties in visual processing in the brain.  Stated succinctly, these symptoms with HPPD are memory processing problems.  With a little reading, you can get the sense of what is going on by learning about short-term memory.  Specifically Iconic memory (visual sensory memory) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iconic_memory and Visual short-term memory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_short-term_memory .

 

There are different forms positive afterimaging.  One is sort of a flash-back where what you saw moments ago reappears as a flash.  This are not in complementary colors but usually the same ones, B&W, or with some colors dominating (i.e. yellow, purple tinted).

 

Another form can be overlapping frames, so one might see multiple copies/positions of a moving object.  And there are other aspects of HPPD related to memory processing issues besides afterimages.

 

Well, sorry if this is too nerdy but my communication skills aren't the best.  Hope this helps

 

[trip into hell]

Trip into hell, how long did it take for you to recover? Were you drinking caffeine or smoking during your recovery? How did you recover from depersonalization?

 

recovering from hppd: took me almost 5 month until my visuals went away and the dp/dr faded about 1 month later or so...

drugs while recovery..i tryed a view anti depressants but they made it worse and gave me horrible dp/dr and more visuals so i stopped immediately + 3 times i tryed extreme micro doses of tobacco or weed but they gave me dp/dr, strong visuals and panic attacks so i didnt do it anymore + i tryed a view times coffeine which made me feel dizzy and sick for a while and a view times alcohol which only increased visuals and next day slight dp/dr so i stopped that too

 

i dont know exactly what i did for dp/dr to go away but my best guess is that it was a combination of not taking prescribed chemicals, avoiding drugs in general, trying not to think of dp/dr by just giving up to get cured and looking at it as a strange trip, healthy diet, some suppliments, naturals, socializing, laughing, long walks in nature and rarely doing some sports and meditation

 

these days i can take small doses of all these substances again without relapse or anything..but still get panic attacks if i exceed my dose...i guess it takes me a while to fully enjoy these things again...anyway im now concentrating on my grow cbd extraction project which i started in a secret place with a very good friend of mine..i hope the cbd oil will help the anxiety to subside a little

 

and since i had a cold 2 weeks ago it feels like the rest of my anxiety is improving and fading completely...its very strange..i am more confident than ever before since my onset ..dont even know whats going on with me..im just happy for the first time

[mycall81]

i have this problem as well I have noticed a reduction in the frequency that I get them. I had them really bad about 4 months ago but now they are almost non existent apart from when I look at bright lights but that's normal. It's basically a problem with sensory gating in your visual cortex so neurons keep firing after the stimulus has been removed. Your sensitivity has been increased to outside visual stimulation. Normally with sensitivity the more you are exposed over time the more it will gradually fade. If it's really bad then sunglasses will offer temporary relief in bright conditions. As with any hppd symptom the more you focus on it the worse it tends to get so just try your best to live with it and it will sort itself out.

This gives me SOME sort of hope that it can improve. I must admit that, at times, I become super obsessed with looking at the afterimages. It gets to a point that I can't stop looking for them. Gaz, how long did you have afterimages like this?

Visual. What would be an explanation for continued worsening/intensifying of afterimages? For instance, I did not have positive afterimages for the first 6 or so months, then I developed them. Trails are getting more and more apparent.

People on other forums harp on about Lyme disease. I don't buy it. I was told by a researcher of palinopsia that I had BOTH HPPD and persistent migraine aura (mainly due to the constant headaches).

[VisualDude]

Lyme bacteria 'hide' in neurological tissue and people can get any number of neurological symptoms.  That aside, Lymes as become rather a buzz word everytime someone has something weird going on.

 

'Persistant migraine' seems to be a term used for people with these visual issues.  Terms are terms and it is as good as any.  My only concern is that these are not 'migraines' or 'seizures' which can be misleading ... though it is true that some with HPPD have intermittent symptoms.  Many are born with visual snow, etc.  Some different branches or groups of people collect together to understand weird stuff.  This forms fragmentory groups that should eventually communicate together and join as one ... how about PAL (Perceptual Anomalies Limited, lol).

 

As for worsening, it is very common for people to get worse over several months.  Even if some symptoms get better.  Sometimes its more a 'sideways' thing.  The brain is adapting.  The adaptation we all hope for is to get well, but what we get is something else.

 

HPPDers also tend to be hypersensitive.  Not strictly 'emotional'.  Be even physical.  Coffee, second-hand smoke, certain foods, lighting, exercise, etc...  In some regards we become aware of visual processing steps and start to notice them and it helps to learn to ignore them if we can.

 

So now you notice positive imaging.  It is hard to say why.  Probably the annoying progression often experienced.  Perhaps one could describe HPPD as a mild but very very long bad trip.  It is one thing to hang on for a few hours.  Another set of coping skills needs to be used for hanging on for many months.

 

Ive had doctors say that 'trails' is a dopamine thing.  Don't know the specifics of why they say that ... but as a dopamine hound, it perks up the ears

[Gaz]

I had very bad negative after images for about 2 to 3 months I would say. I would say that even now I am more sensitive to them than I used to be but its not really noticeable unless I focus on finding them. Mine also didn't start straight away. They started about 2 months after my bad trip along with other symptoms. The thing is because so little is known about HPPD and the chemistry of the brain it's very hard to say what causes it. Personally I believe that HPPD is a very mild form of neurological damage. "Damage" is a strong word I prefer "alteration". Just as with neurological damage, the symptoms can appear immediately after exposure or they can be delayed. I personally believe that the receptor agonist drugs like LSD, Mescaline, Psilocybin and all of their relatives cause HPPD by slightly changing the shape or "stickiness" of receptor sites in the synapses in the brain. This then results in real neurotransmitter chemicals either binding to the receptors for too long or not being able to bind at all. The drugs literally cause a huge "power surge" in neural signals and this may have left the existing connections changed or damaged or on the verge of damage. The neurones can only handle so many more signals from normal everyday sober stimulation before they are changed or damaged. This is probably complete bs but it has to be something similar if not. The brain is just a massive collection of electrical and chemical signalling and just like a computer things can go wrong after a power surge. However, the good thing is that, unlike a computer, the brain is resilient and is constantly adapting and changing. Therefore, with proper abstinence from drugs and a healthy balanced lifestyle there is a very good chance of improvement.