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How many have recovered?


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Hey guys,

 

Used to take LSD lots a couple of years back, but never noticed any recurring symptoms until last year when I did LSD 2 or 3 times. Went to bed after the last trip and woke up the next day with HPPD that has stuck ever since. Over the past year I think I've noticed perhaps a 10% improvement in my symptoms.

 

Anyways my question to you guys is how many of you guys have fully recovered from HPPD to the point where all of your visual symptoms have gone away? My symptoms are manageable during the day, but its after I get tired in the evening and when I close my eyes to go to sleep that my symptoms come into play. (IE; when I get tired I start to 'feel' the HPPD in my body, and the static becomes difficult to stop focusing on when I close my eyes to sleep)

 

Thanks for the replies guys, it really means allot to me to be able to hear of other people who have fully recovered and given a time frame on that as it allows me to plan and base my recovery off of.

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As a very rough guess from being on here for 10 or so years... I reckon at least 70% of the people who sign up post alot when they first get symptoms, then slowly stop coming and leave.. Most of which will have made a good recovery.

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Totally agree with the above. I've been here two years already, noticed a huge improvement in my symptoms over that span, but also noticed an entirely different group of people who comment now as opposed to two years ago. When people get better they move on with their lives and don't use this forum anymore and so there's not nearly as many recovery stories as there likely are in real life. If you're improving that's a great sign but you just need to be aware that this doesn't disappear overnight. As long as you eat healthy, exercise and do everything else to improve your health and stay sober you'll likely fully recover one day. 

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22 hours ago, K.B.Fante said:

Totally agree with the above. I've been here two years already, noticed a huge improvement in my symptoms over that span, but also noticed an entirely different group of people who comment now as opposed to two years ago. When people get better they move on with their lives and don't use this forum anymore and so there's not nearly as many recovery stories as there likely are in real life. If you're improving that's a great sign but you just need to be aware that this doesn't disappear overnight. As long as you eat healthy, exercise and do everything else to improve your health and stay sober you'll likely fully recover one day. 

Would you describe your symptoms as being gone entirely? Or do you still notice some form of visual snow? I'm totally past any form of DP/DR or anxiety, but I still notice static. Its not bothersome but I long for the day I can look at a blank white wall and see it for what it is; a blank white wall, haha. :)

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"I long for the day I can look at a blank white wall and see it for what it is".

In my case I doubt that's ever going to happen.  That being said, some of my symptoms have gone away.  For example CEVS have almost totally cleared up.

Good to hear your symptoms are moderating some.  That's a good sign! 

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2 hours ago, jbalsa2 said:

Would you describe your symptoms as being gone entirely? Or do you still notice some form of visual snow? I'm totally past any form of DP/DR or anxiety, but I still notice static. Its not bothersome but I long for the day I can look at a blank white wall and see it for what it is; a blank white wall, haha. :)

No, I still have many of the symptoms I started out with two years ago it's just that they've improved drastically to the point where I can live a pretty normal life day to day, which I never could have when I first got HPPD. Eventually my symptoms will completely go away but it'll likely take another couple of years given the pace I've been working with.

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  • 1 month later...

Hey guys!

Just thought I would post an update here. When I started this thread I was pretty disappointed with the fact that nobody had reported any instances of their hppd improving, or going away, while there was allot of info on tips and tricks about how to simply deal with hppd. Given some good news on my end i'd like to change that, and keep an ongoing log of what happens over the next year or two to come.

 

I'l start with the good news, and that is that after getting moderate to severe hppd just over a year ago, I am starting to notice major improvement in allot of my symptoms. My hppd came in really strong, as in when I woke up the next day after my trip I still had full on visuals, colours, distortions etc that simply didn't go away. Prior to getting hppd I had done acid numerous times, easily 20-30 times, with some nights being very high dosages whilst mixing the substance with mdma. For a full year leading up to this point my hppd was a nightmare, giving me certain schizophrenia like symptoms, as well as delusions and ideas that I believe stemmed from the DP/DR side of the condition and its associated paranoia and stress levels. 

 

It's only just now, over a full year later that my DP/DR symptoms are starting to completely fade away. What was interesting is that this transition of improvement  only actually took about two weeks for the full onset of the improvement to take place. My visual symptoms, although still just as visually acute and prevalent, are beginning to fade ever so slightly into the background. And by that I don't mean that I am noticing them less, but that their presence of consciousness in my own head is starting to become more distant. 

 

I just thought id share this information with you folks, as for the past year I have gone through some serious turmoil, at times worrying for my own life. What I would like to do is to post here periodically and document the progression of my symptoms to keep you guys, as well as those who are curious as to what the timeline of this condition is like, updated and perhaps to give people insight and hope. Given the amount that my condition has improved, I don't think it would be farfetched for me to say that another year will bring another vast reduction in symptoms, and in 2 years give or take I might see complete regression of all symptoms.

 

Over the past year I didn't take any supplements or any form of pharmaceuticals, and did occasionally smoke weed and do mdma, however I would strongly urge against this, as everyones physiology is different. I'm currently 22 years of age, with symptoms having started just before I turned 21.

 

Heres to the future, and I hopefully look forward to being able to post back here at some point in the future being able to say that I made a complete recovery from hppd, and so can you!

 

Thanks

Jason

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It sounds like your symptoms are improving quite quickly.  Yes, a year is quickly!  That's excellent!  You suggested that people stay away from MDMA.  You might want to take your own advice (if I understood your last post correctly).  I've never taken it but some in this forum have said that it caused some extreme symptoms.  Just a suggestion, it's your space.

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On 2017-08-04 at 9:24 AM, Cjb007 said:

How long and how did your dpdr go away

Not sure I understand your question fully, moreover the answers are posted in the blurb I posted above.

 

It took me just over a year to get to where I am now, yes I still have very prominent hppd, but the DP/DR aspect of the condition (Feeling like my head is always permanently stuck inside the trip) has faded away enough that, if I ever notice that I have some DP/DR, I can quickly snap myself back into the ability to just move around it, which has become much easier to do.

 

The feeling of being able to literally shrug off DP/DR gives you a sort of brain confidence boost that tends to exponentially affect the way you feel about and view the HPPD in the first place.

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  • 11 months later...
3 hours ago, Gabriel S.D said:

@jbalsa2

Hey, how r u doing now? Did u get better?

Hey Gabriel. Much better than I was a year ago. Actually a couple of months ago I started taking brand name Keppra, improvement is marked and cumulative. Schizzoaffective symptoms I was talking about a year ago now are pretty much completely gone. My visuals are improving, and I don't really have much to say about DP/DR anymore.

 

I can't imagine my hppd having really any noticeable effects on my a year or two from now, if only mild visual snow.

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On 8/3/2018 at 10:17 PM, jbalsa2 said:

Hey Gabriel. Much better than I was a year ago. Actually a couple of months ago I started taking brand name Keppra, improvement is marked and cumulative. Schizzoaffective symptoms I was talking about a year ago now are pretty much completely gone. My visuals are improving, and I don't really have much to say about DP/DR anymore.

 

I can't imagine my hppd having really any noticeable effects on my a year or two from now, if only mild visual snow.

Thanks for responding! Wow so you are really next to the recover haha

This really gives me hope

Good luck bro!

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7 hours ago, Gabriel S.D said:

Thanks for responding! Wow so you are really next to the recover haha

This really gives me hope

Good luck bro!

To you as well.

If you don't mind my asking, Gabriel, how long have you had your hppd? Is it LSD induced?

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7 minutes ago, Gabriel S.D said:

Thanks! Actually I just have it for 2 months. And it's from mushrooms (just one trip, 2g).

Hmm. Interesting. I've had mine for 2 years now. LSD induced. 

I did LSD numerous times prior to developing full on hppd, and also continued poly-drug use well into my hppd.

Although I've quit nearly all drug use completely.

My advice to you - hppd induced by a single trip of shrooms shouldn't be too bad to kick. I would recommend keppra as it reduces symptoms of depersonalization and some visuals, but im hesitant to recommend it as im not sure what the differences are between LSD induced hppd and psilocybin induced hppd. Give it a year or two. And if by that point you still have hppd, perhaps give keppra a try. I can't see it hurting in too many ways. 

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15 hours ago, jbalsa2 said:

Hmm. Interesting. I've had mine for 2 years now. LSD induced. 

I did LSD numerous times prior to developing full on hppd, and also continued poly-drug use well into my hppd.

Although I've quit nearly all drug use completely.

My advice to you - hppd induced by a single trip of shrooms shouldn't be too bad to kick. I would recommend keppra as it reduces symptoms of depersonalization and some visuals, but im hesitant to recommend it as im not sure what the differences are between LSD induced hppd and psilocybin induced hppd. Give it a year or two. And if by that point you still have hppd, perhaps give keppra a try. I can't see it hurting in too many ways. 

Yeah, I think I gonna wait a bit more to take medications, because maybe it causes side effects. But this keppra seems interesting, I'll consider taking this one in the future m8. Thanks!

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1 hour ago, Gabriel S.D said:

Yeah, I think I gonna wait a bit more to take medications, because maybe it causes side effects. But this keppra seems interesting, I'll consider taking this one in the future m8. Thanks!

Remember - if you do decide on medication - don't let a psychiatrist push antipsychotics on you, they don't actually do anything to help cure your hppd. The only two medications I would recommend that you try (If, of course you do try anything) are keppra and lamotrigine.

Don't use benzos unless your use of them is super intermittent - ie; once, twice a week.

 

I like to look at it like this; remember when you were tripping, and at some points in the trip you felt like it would never end? And then of course - several hours later, you finally moved into a different state of the trip, and then several hours after that you finally felt 'normal' again?

I look at hppd as much like the same thing. You think it will never end, but the more you think about the fact that its still there the more you will get sucked into that panicked mind state. It takes time to progress, but it does progress, in the same way that your trip progressed while you were tripping.

The nice thing about meds such as lamotrigine or keppra, in my experience so far, is that they can help your mind state along the way - allowing you to think about other things and not get so distracted by your hppd, which i believe accomplishes two things. One, distracting you from your hppd which eases the process of passing time, and two; by helping your brain to become neurologically distracted from your hppd; which I believe may aid some of your neurology to recover better on its own naturally, by aiding the process of neuroplasticity in the sense that you are actually causing 'less' of your brain to have hppd. If that makes sense.

Good luck!

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9 minutes ago, jbalsa2 said:

Remember - if you do decide on medication - don't let a psychiatrist push antipsychotics on you, they don't actually do anything to help cure your hppd. The only two medications I would recommend that you try (If, of course you do try anything) are keppra and lamotrigine.

Don't use benzos unless your use of them is super intermittent - ie; once, twice a week.

 

I like to look at it like this; remember when you were tripping, and at some points in the trip you felt like it would never end? And then of course - several hours later, you finally moved into a different state of the trip, and then several hours after that you finally felt 'normal' again?

I look at hppd as much like the same thing. You think it will never end, but the more you think about the fact that its still there the more you will get sucked into that panicked mind state. It takes time to progress, but it does progress, in the same way that your trip progressed while you were tripping.

The nice thing about meds such as lamotrigine or keppra, in my experience so far, is that they can help your mind state along the way - allowing you to think about other things and not get so distracted by your hppd, which i believe accomplishes two things. One, distracting you from your hppd which eases the process of passing time, and two; by helping your brain to become neurologically distracted from your hppd; which I believe may aid some of your neurology to recover better on its own naturally, by aiding the process of neuroplasticity in the sense that you are actually causing 'less' of your brain to have hppd. If that makes sense.

Good luck!

Hmm interesting this comparision. But something kinda interesting is that I didn't have a 100% bad trip. In the first half of the trip I was with a malaise and belly ache (the bad part), but after a couple of hours it went away and the trip started to be fun. But after some days I started to feel really strange and then I figured out what it was.

And why are benzos bad? Because some people say it's helpful to momentarily relieve the simptons.

And one more thing, have you ever tried acupuncture? I read that it helps epilepsy patients, maybe it can be also helpful for hppders?

 
 
 
 
 
10/5
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9 minutes ago, Gabriel S.D said:

Hmm interesting this comparision. But something kinda interesting is that I didn't have a 100% bad trip. In the first half of the trip I was with a malaise and belly ache (the bad part), but after a couple of hours it went away and the trip started to be fun. But after some days I started to feel really strange and then I figured out what it was.

And why are benzos bad? Because some people say it's helpful to momentarily relieve the simptons.

And one more thing, have you ever tried acupuncture? I read that it helps epilepsy patients, maybe it can be also helpful for hppders?

 
 
 
 
 
10/5

I didn't have ant bad trips either. My LSD trip that led up to my hppd was a great one, it was just when I woke up the next morning that I realized I had developed hppd. Although bad trips and trauma may play into it a little; I don't think having a bad trip is a solid prerequisite for developing hppd.

Benzos are bad because the moment you get used to them, or even start to enjoy the feeling of being on them, it'll make it really difficult to cope without having them. And as just about anyone on this forum will tell you, it only makes things worse in the long run. I have had several run ins with benzo use over the past couple of years, and am finally happy to say I have ceased using them - except for the odd time every month or two.

I have not tried acupuncture, but my best guess is that perhaps it can provide some external relief to physical symptoms that you are experiencing - where as hppd is a neurological disorder. So its doubtful it will do much to help your mental side effects.

Find what works for you ?

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On 8/6/2018 at 7:44 PM, jbalsa2 said:

I didn't have ant bad trips either. My LSD trip that led up to my hppd was a great one, it was just when I woke up the next morning that I realized I had developed hppd. Although bad trips and trauma may play into it a little; I don't think having a bad trip is a solid prerequisite for developing hppd.

Benzos are bad because the moment you get used to them, or even start to enjoy the feeling of being on them, it'll make it really difficult to cope without having them. And as just about anyone on this forum will tell you, it only makes things worse in the long run. I have had several run ins with benzo use over the past couple of years, and am finally happy to say I have ceased using them - except for the odd time every month or two.

I have not tried acupuncture, but my best guess is that perhaps it can provide some external relief to physical symptoms that you are experiencing - where as hppd is a neurological disorder. So its doubtful it will do much to help your mental side effects.

Find what works for you ?

I thought bad trips was kinda necessary because most posts I read they say they had a bad trip. And I didn't know about this dark side of the benzos, thanks for sharing haha!

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