Lobotomizer

Sorry ....do I think that these activities can activiate/increase HPPD? Absolutley ....I dont think that HPPD is a psychedelics phenomena....its a bump in the road of any humans journey through life....Ive read about and heard of people who have aquired "HPPD" from a nervous breakdown, spiritual experience while sober, meditation, yoga, kundalini, SSRIs, other perscription drugs etc.....I dont think HPPD is exactly what it appears to be. I dont think it is any drugs "fault" in particular....I think that it is a condition that is triggered is triggered by certain states of mind.

We dont know for sure if DMT has a hand in dreaming at all. I speculate that it probably does partially. I think that dreams are a result of several chemical reactions in the brain and possibly DMT is one of them. I also believe Melatonin to be involved. All we know FOR SURE about DMT is that we have located and secured it from a rats brain. We can only guess that it is indeed in our brains too....Its pretty much a closed case but science doesnt work that way.....and stranger things have occured....but we can pretty much guess yes DMT is part of human conciousness in some way. But I digress.... I have been lucid dreaming and astral projecting for almost 20 years...around the same time I had my bad trip on LSD is when all this dream phenomena began occuring. I had a few experiences that simply cannot be explianed away by mundane means and thus became obssessed with lucid dreaming and OBEs. Interestingly I had a recent acid trip which was so powerful i cannot put it in words...at one point whle walking around in my town I literally stepped into the dream world. I dont know if you recall from your lucid dreams but the way peoples faces are kind of like a liquid sludge..almost like gelatin...anyway all matter turned into what the dreamscape looks like.....just energy at a slow vibration....it was one of my most profound trips. It was EXACTLY like I was in a dream....I think there may be some parallels to psychedelic states and dreaming.

Do you live in cali?? ^^^

No Jess, but its a side effect for some people. There are MANY prescription drugs that can give it to you, namely seizure/migraine meds, seratonergic meds, blood pressure meds...there are tons out there where people report palinopsia , "multi colored static" etc. continuing many months after ceasing the meds. Visual, in 1996 I had an "overdose" of LSD and I suffered for years feeling like everything was plastic and "unreal". That I was some sort of plastic shell "fucnctioning" in some fucked off pseudoreality. The DP/DR was accompanied with HPPD and PTSD like symptoms. Until I bit the bullet in 2000 and decided that I would try the "hair of the dog" method. I used a small doe of mushrooms and damn it was terrifying as it came on...it felt and SEEMED exactlt like LSD. In fact I thought that the muhrooms had been laced with LSD...and that there was no way that the mushroom were a separate substance...as I began to ease inyto the trip I let myself relax. As I came down about 5 hours later , for the first time in four years LIKE SOMEONE PULLED A SWITCH....the drug was wearing off and a very REAL reality was setting in.....The DP/DR was not there....for the first time in 4 years I felt calm....serene....NO anxiety....every fiber inside me was genuinely... happy for the first time....I told everyone around me that I must go....I must be alone to soak up what was a reality that I was detatched from for so long...I didn't know how long it was going to last...this reality that I understood on an emotional level...not an intellectual one...it was a reality that I hadn't FELT in 4 years.... This feeling did not fade over the next few days......weeks later it was still with me....somehow HPPD was the furthest thing from my mind...as I had my precious connection to reality again....but I DID notice that my vision was much CLEARER during the acute experience and that this "clarity " lasted...The visual snow was not as bad. I had no trails off objects, As time went on , I was used to the reality again and I wasn't "glowing" like I was initially but at least I had a fundamental connection with reality again. I continue to this day to use mushrooms about bi-annualy ...no worstening of visual symptoms.....I don't particulary "enjoy" the acute effects. They are rather uncomfortable at times but the mushrooms without a doubt do something for the spirit...they make me more empathic and understanding.....less self serving. ...I have a more positive out look on life which seems to have a strong effect for many manyt months. I would like to say DO NOT USE MUSHROOMS expecting this same effect. I don't know why this worked for me but everyone reacts differently to powerful psychedelics so please use caution and don't assume what worked for me will work for you.

Benzatropine, any reason why it cant clear up post drug use hppd?

Its funny, there are so many prescription drugs with HPPD like symptoms as a side effect. No one thought they would get it from Zoloft right?

I want you guys to all click on the link below. Read through these anecdotal comments. What you will find is that there seems to be MORE individuals who are describing HPPD to a T(palinpsia, bright colors, static, halos, ghosting vision, etc) without ANY PRIOR DRUG USE. That's right many if not most of the people posting here have had these visual symptoms occur to what seems like varying degrees without ANY prior drug exposure. Now many of these people are claiming to have anxiety as a result just like many people here on these boards. What does this tell us??? This tells me that we may be barking up the wrong tree. Calling it HPPD may be misleading. If those who have not used drugs are being stricken with this then this is an issue that does not require drugs to manifest. There is something else causing this. While its obvious that these drugs can cause these problems to occur, there must be an aswer that lies elsewhere. For one its a huge PLUS that this happens to non drug users as physicians are unfortunately more sympathetic to people that have abstained form drugs. Way may be successful by discussing this with those that don't use drugs....we might be able to find an answer this way. http://ehealthforum.com/health/topic61133.html PS perhaps changing it from HPPD to something new would be conducive. "Persisting visual anomalies disorder." That way we can include those that have these identical symptoms who have been effected by other means....for example, I have known of individuals that got this from spiritual practices like meditation, in some it occurs spontaneously with no prior drug use, others have gotten it from non-hallucinogenic substances such as prescription drugs and another group got it after a traumatic experience ....There are many other groups that I cant think of from the top of y head who have HPPD like symptoms and have never touched illicit drugs. EDIT- interestingly it seems theres quite a handful of people who got HPPD like symtoms after using Topamax , and anti seizure and migraine medicine. Another piece to the puzzle...Im starting to think the answer is somewhere inbetween ANXIETY---->MIGRAINES----->optical seizures....is it the anxiety triggering siezures/migraines??? The siezures/migraines triggering anxiety??? I really think its starting to narrow down and if we know where to look its not going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack anymore One example of a quote I lifted from the link "To everyone that's worried about LSD giving you tracers decades later: I have had tracers on and off since I was a kid, way before I tried any drugs (besides massive amounts of asthma medication). I have had the ability to make walls and patterned ceilings move pretty much all my life. Narrow striped shirts and similar patterns make me nauseous because my eyes can't focus right looking at them. I have always had very bad vision (-7 contact prescription by high school) and I'd bet that part of the problem is your eyes weakening as you age. I wonder about the person who said it might be a cornea problem and how changing cornea shape fits in, because cornea shape affects your vision a lot too. An example of a quote I lifted from this link - "To everyone that's worried about LSD giving you tracers decades later: I have had tracers on and off since I was a kid, way before I tried any drugs (besides massive amounts of asthma medication). I have had the ability to make walls and patterned ceilings move pretty much all my life. Narrow striped shirts and similar patterns make me nauseous because my eyes can't focus right looking at them. I have always had very bad vision (-7 contact prescription by high school) and I'd bet that part of the problem is your eyes weakening as you age. I wonder about the person who said it might be a cornea problem and how changing cornea shape fits in, because cornea shape affects your vision a lot too." And another very interesting - "Still no anweres. I have had snow or static looking at dark images since I was a child. I also remembered that if I staired at an object long enough it would start to glow or even wiggle. Later on when I was a teen I ignorantly tried LSD. Shortly after I noticed tracers. They bothered me and caused me depression thinking I did something bad to myself. I started smoking pot to fight my depression that worked for many yrs but after a decade it started to cause me anxiety instead. Now I'm in my mid 30's and a single father. They have never gone away and now I fear that my anxiety is causing me to see them more clearly which in turn causes me more anxiety. Just recently I even started to see halos around certain lights. My child has told me he can see the halos as well but is only 7 and is on asthma meds. I'm hoping this is either genitic or health realated. After speaking to my father who is in his 60's he tells me that he has tracers as well but has never done anything like LSD. I have turned to God for help and pray that I can get myself together for my childrens sake. Please if there is any doctor out there with any idea we could use your help. Is this simply something that runs in my family?" And another - "I have never used LSD and I have a major issue with this. I have never done drugs period and am 28. I hate the tracers and in the mornings and night is when it is at its worst."

I think afterwards, from what I can remember... it did heighten HPPD visuals for some time. When when i came back into my body the hallucinations were quite strong still.. and I think reflecting on this and the experience may have amped / heightened my hppd for a day or two or three. Then likely it returned back to the normal base level. THIS ^^^ I just wanted to asure you that this is normal with any drug experience , especially psychedelics or cannabis. But even opiods or other classes make you sort of "off" for several days even after the drug is out of the system, many aspects of our consciousness is still quite stimulated. Spartan as I menytioned above PLEASE keep your eyes peeled for a new post I will be making within next hour or so....its crucial that everyone takes a look. Its quite possible that HPPD is a completely inaccurate diagnosis/term. What im suggesting from my research its quite possibly NOT THE DRUGS.

Spartan, that's interesting that you tried DMT post HPPD. May I ask if it had any effect on your chemistry at all? Did it worsen or symptoms or did it seem benign to it? Like I stated above. I believe that tryptamines or more specifically DMT based substances are less likely to cause these problems...perhaps because DMT is compatible with organisms? This is a very loose hypothesis. But I have noticed zero increase in HPPD and I undulge in mushrooms for creative, spiritual and personal growth reasons roughly bi-annually. I did however notice exacerbation of symptoms from other drugs such as cannabis and acid. DMT based chemicals seem to be extrememly commonly found in nature, and there are obvious benefits to it as medicine, hence the shamans discussed above and also the newest scientific research that's being done. That's not to say theres no side effects to using these compounds....there quite obviously is ...especially if you are predisposed to mental illness.

Awesome Spartan....Im glad you have found something that is so healing for you! Ill look into it as well!

OP , I had my main HPPD symptoms subside up to 60-70% from one experience with low-dose mushrooms. My hppd started 4 years prior with a high dose LSD experience....I had never tried any other psychedelic and was teriified to try mushrooms... something about them was calling me. I felt cleansed by it when I came down. It removed my anxiety and depression and healed my vision to a considerable degree. I definitely did feel a release of built up stagnant energy(although I was tripping mildly so it could have been in my head) Im just sharing what happened with me...as this could be potentally high risk for other to try it. Since then I used mushrooms several times a year with no ill effects besides the occasional uncomfortable experience. I also used non tryptamine psychedleics and they seemed to worsen my symtoms but LSD was the worst. Interestingly 4-ho-dmt is the chemical name for psilocin (the active chemical in mushrooms) It is extremely close to the DMT in ayahuasca. In fact psilocin is basically DMT and many report ayahuasca to be almost identical to a high dose mushrooms experience. This is a very interesting documentary from BBC. (aprox 19mins into the video) It includes a study on a Brazilian modern urban community that uses ayahuasca about every two weeks at their church for healing purposes some of the users are young teenagers. They did a study alongside a control group and found no neurotoxic effects and the ayahuasca users actually scored higher in some areas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEdxrHud5tE

Jay, just how bad is your HPPD? I have never heard of anyone that feels like they are full on tripping? Im not doubting you, Im just curious, are you saying you have full blown peak trip visuals and psychedelic headspace?

I know being bias and stricken with HPPD many of you will immediately base your answer on emotion with a vehement "NO, these drugs should be wiped from the face of the earth"!! Now if you do feel this way try and separate your emotions from logic for a second. Psychedelics have been found to be immensely medicinal and beneficial. Now seriously with the exception of HPPD the major dangers of most psychedelics or low to none. With the exception of those who have problems with major vital organs HPPD seems to be about the worst thing that can happen. But again you should not be using MOST substances if you have illnesses. Now one of the studies I referring to is this one that was done at johns Hopkins university http://healthland.time.com/2011/10/03/want-to-feel-younger-more-open-magic-mushrooms-trigger-lasting-personality-change/ HPPD or not we should all be completely PRO studies like this as it will inevitably give insight into side effects like HPP and we may also find ways how these amazing substances may be used as psychiatric tools. Just a thought, would love to see how others feel about this

I feel that it has more to do with our psychological threshold. As we all know that anxiety or fragile states of mind make it seem worse. Many of my peers use psychedelic drugs to varying degrees. Most if not all report some change in their vision, including visual artifacts such as palinopsia and visual snow. Most also report not being bothered by it and at worst feel that their vision has worsened from their drug use but spicing up their life is worth this trade off for them. Now what I have found is that anxiety prone individuals or people who are sensitive to their sensory input tend to report or self diagnose and experience HPP to a higher degree. On the other hand those who are more easy going and "roll with the punches" in life, so to speek don't notice their HPP. I have found howe\ver, that if I do a little prying and interviewing that we can conclude that many of the individuals who claimed to not notice any change in their vision in fact DO realize that psychs have effected them. Its just that they aren't people who are very "in tune" with their senses. Another way I have concluded that HPP is much more common than it seems is that I post on another forum made up of members who use psychedelics to varying degrees and with a little prying Id say out of the twenty people Ive talked to about HPP 15+ admitted to having some visual differences post psychedelic use. Hpp to psychedelics is what addiction to opiates. Some may not find themselves hooked on opiates but the majority of users will find that they have experienced some degree of dependence in some form or another with prolonged use. PS I refuse to call my condition a "disorder". Perhaps when I was first afflicted by it, the anxiety, depression, DP/DR was severe enough to be called that. But nearly 20 years later I have some visual snow, trailing objects and other visual artifacts I do not let these things consume my life. I would say for the record IM about 75% cured and the anxiety I used to feel made things seem a lot worse than they really are.