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General advice


Jay1

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I thought i'd start a topic where we can all contribute ways we have made our lives a little better (non medicinal).

Get healthy and sober

This is the obvious one... quitting drugs, stimulants like coffee, smoking etc.... Then eating healthily and working out really do help alot.

Forget the past

It is easy to get caught up in a spiral of guilt, anger and jealousy about your current situation. Why did I do drugs? Why did I get hppd? Why are my friends ok?

Like all the mistakes and regrets in life... learn from it and move on (not easy, I know). These emotions will just feed the anxiety and hppd.

Change your life

hppd is at it's worst when we are stressed. It is impossible to avoid all stress, but do what you can to change your lifestyle for the better. If you hate your job, try and change it.... If you hate the city, move out. If your friends don't seem to support you, move on (the real friends will let you back in, when you're ready). These are big, life changing decisions... but hppd doesn't have to stop you making them.

Grab your life back

hppd can strip you of your ability to do the simplest tasks in life. Retrain yourself to do these tasks. If making eye contact is tripping you out, just slowly do it a little more each day... The more you do it, the more normal it will become. Same goes for all sorts of things... making small talk, going out and about, chatting to someone you are hot for.

Your life isn't over

This is a key thing to remember. The 1st months and years can be very, very tough... But life goes on. There are numerous people on here that have gone on to have successful educations, careers, relationships and families. hppd is not the end of your life, your dreams or your happiness.

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I've changed my life from vegetarian to vegan. Not only because of hppd but for many other reasons as well. But somehow the drug experiences gave me the kick in the ass, so to speak.

I am also more happy to be alive now. The world is beautiful, if you take a close look.

In my opinion we just get a chance to have a closer look at this planet. People who never experienced this hppd-stuff don't know how lucky they are. Is it luck? I don't know, but their life seems easier.

I don't think compelety negatively about hppd, but it is annyoing over time.

Great idea to have a thread like this, btw.

Your suggestions are good but hard to follow. But I will give it a try to change even more :-)

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I got my HPPD a couple months ago from mushrooms. I remember that during one of my last trips, I was looking at the carpet and thinking how nice the world would look like if I could always see patterns on surfaces. Be careful what you wish for. Now whenever I stare into something, I see the patterns that remind me of my HPPD. :(

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I got my HPPD a couple months ago from mushrooms. I remember that during one of my last trips, I was looking at the carpet and thinking how nice the world would look like if I could always see patterns on surfaces. Be careful what you wish for. Now whenever I stare into something, I see the patterns that remind me of my HPPD. :(

During my hellish trip that gave me hppd i thought to my self: " Well, might as well get used to this if it won't pass."

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some sound advice for everyone there Jay , I think number 3 is possibly the hardest to do but probably the most beneficial. When I first realised that something was wrong with me about 10 or 11 years ago I really struggled to cope and didnt know how to deal with what I was experiencing so as a kind of self help strategy I shut my self off from the world for about 6 months, only really speaking to family and staying clear of all recreational drugs. The 6 months were just what i needed as my visuals became less intense and more importantly I was able to think straight and a bit more rationally. After the 6 months I was able to slowly get my life back, meet my friends for a pint have a laugh and enjoy life again. I guess you just learn to live with it and try not to dwell on it.

Like my self I'm sure there are a lot of people with this dissorder thinking that they are the only ones with it, which is what makes this message board so important there really isnt enough info out there about this.

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I started a new job last monday, i work for a company that deals in meat delicacies, i work in their factory and my averagr day is 10 hourshard physical work, heavy lifting and a lot of concentration. I also have to speak english every day becouse i only work with brits. Since last monday my anxiety is basically gone, i don't have time to think about hppd anymore and i feel normal! Visuals are still there but they don't bother me as much. Keep yourselves occupied people!

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Something that makes me feel better is when I see inspirational people with horrendous illnesses and diseases who make the most of their lives and have such passion for life it makes me remember things can always be worse and gives me a better outlook if they can live a happy life then so can I

Also I'd suggest thinking really positively if you can if you think you can heal there's a bigger chance you will it's been scientifically proven people who have something to get better for get better quick so look to the future also

I've also found reading to be really helpful

As Jay said exercise be healthy good diet drink plenty of fluids supplement some people find help in yoga and meditation Sex helps lol

The busier you are the more things like dr/dp have passed for me and visuals are less noticed

Good luck people been here a while and wanted to give some advice with little things that help me to any newcomers

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  • 3 years later...

Also a good thing to do if your hppd I like mine "only noticable on walls and in the dark" is to become a workaholic somewhere where you can ignore your hppd and not dwell on it so much. Even if you hate your job it's better to hate your job than to hate your life.

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  • 1 year later...

I'm unfortunately only new to this entire experience, having been experiencing after-images for about three months now. Prior to this, I'd been depressed over other vision problems cause by laser eye surgery (don't ever get it done by the way - the risks are not worth it).

For me, as I had been trying to sort out my life after the laser, I had already developed some support mechanisms for my problematic vision. It was just a stroke of misfortune that brought me more visual problems - the snakes in life are always around, no matter how many you kill.

Luckily, the support mechanisms I had been developing for my problematic eyesight already existed. Some of these have been helpful in dealing with my new HPPD-related vision problems:

  • Psychotherapy. My psychologist is great - she has a great understanding of the theory in her field and applies it magnificently. She is also very smart and understanding, often putting pieces together that I would never have been able to arrange.
  • Psychiatry. I'm not sure if this has helped or not, but I've been on Lexapro for six months. I'm wondering whether this could have contributed to the development of my HPPD, but for now my medications are at least available to help lighten the load of negative emotion.
  • Mindfulness Meditation. I was told by another psychiatrist to start looking into this, and it's been one of the most important changes I've made in my life. It has helped reduce my anxiety - even more than CBT did. I would recommend that you give this a try using the Headspace app to encourage daily practice and for an accessible introduction to the practice.
  • Journaling. I've recently begun doing this and have enjoyed it immensely. Journaling has been around for centuries, and it's no wonder - it helps you articulate and better understand your thoughts and feelings. Give it a try - buy yourself a nice book to write in, and set aside 10-15 mins each night to just write about your day. Don't hold back, and don't write for anybody other than yourself. There is no right and wrong, just write without editing. It's a very liberating feeling.

These are some of my strategies so far. I hope they can be of some use to anyone else here.

Facing the struggles of life doesn't necessarily mean getting rid of them, it means getting stronger so that you can tolerate them. Remember that each day you make it through is another victory for you to be proud of.

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17 hours ago, James842 said:

Im 16 and got HPPD from excessive LSD MDMA and other drug use, had for like 6 months maybe more now, was gonna try speed and was wondering if this would make the visual effects worse?

Yes stimulants will enhance the visuals, at first I avoided stimulants at all costs, even caffeine, but 4 years later and I'm taking drugs again (occasionally cocaine, MDMA etc.) and I take dexamphetamine for ADHD and it does increase the visuals but not to a huge extent. The visuals are only worse temporarily though, it's not permanent but I would not recommend taking LSD or any hallucinogens again. 

 

17 hours ago, James842 said:

was also wondering if Xanax would help or worsen the affects ? thanks 

 

Benzos definitely reduce the anxiety which sort of takes your mind off it, but I find the only benzo that actually legitimately reduces the visuals is clonazepam because it has anticonvulsant effects and anticonvulsant drugs are used in the treatment for HPPD.

Edited by dreamboatqueen
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20 minutes ago, James842 said:

lifes already fucked, will it make them worse or nah?

 

Yes. I know life's fucked I hate it too, but meth is the filthiest most detrimental drug. You're so young darling, and I'm not gonna lecture you and I can't stop you from smoking shard if you want to or that's gonna be your coping mechanism, but from seeing what it's done to my friends and the people close to me and the relationships that have been destroyed, I wouldn't advise it. We all have our coping mechanisms and drugs can be great for that, for me it's benzos (not good either) but I'd choose them over meth any day cause I'd rather chill out and not care about anything and just pass out than be restless, hyper-focused, paranoid, aggressive and sleep deprived than anything. Why meth? 

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1 hour ago, James842 said:

yeh cheers for the advice and I know meth is a fucked drug but Im not smokin it im snorting it and only doing it once and I know its super addictive but I feel confident enough that I won't fall into that hole 

snorting it? that's even worse than smoking it dude. if you're gonna snort anything make it cocaine haha but okay i hope you'll take care of yourself young man. good luck with everything

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