jbalsa2

Update! Brand name Keppra is continuing to work wonders for me. Just a couple of things I've noted since being on it, and more specifically the brand name version. One of the side effects of hppd I've always experienced was icons on my phone screen or letters on my phone's keyboard would always appear to be floating or shifting around. On keppra this effect has almost completely subsided. Letters and icons now appear completely stationary - glued in place if you will. Another effect I've noticed - I can drink alcohol regularly again without it having severe consequences on my hppd. Alcohol just flows freely as it did before acquiring hppd, both in terms of how the alcohol effects me during my period of drinking, as well as the day after. My hangover feels like just an alcohol hangover, and not a full blown flare up of my hppd symptoms as it normally is. When I wake up the next morning, my hangover is specifically an alcohol hangover while my hppd symptoms pretty much remain at baseline. Exciting stuff!

Started taking the UCB brand name pills (Brand name Keppra) Oddly enough I found that there are significantly less negative side effects with the brand name version. Notably less tension, and headaches/head pressure that I'd get from the generic version. Which is odd considering they should be identical. Just thought I'd note it.

Quick update - still on 750mg twice daily. I've just switched to keppra brand (UCB) 750mg tabs. Im excited to find out if I notice a difference between the generic and name brand versions and will post the results here, though I think differences will be negligible. With income support covering 40% of the cost of the med, im only paying around $140 a month for the name brand version of keppra. My improvement is still very much prevalent. A week later and my visuals are seeking to calm down quite a bit. The intensity, depth, and hold on my anxiety that the visuals have are much reduced. Here's to hoping that after a year or two on this med I can rid myself of the V.S. completely, as it's one of the only effects of hppd that I currently experience to much extent anymore.

Hey guys, just wanted to start this thread as I've started taking a generic form of levetiracetam (keppra) just over a month ago. We started dosing at 250mg twice daily, then moved up to 500mg twice daily, and are now at 750mg taken BID, once at 8 am and once at 8 pm. I should note that with my hppd I experienced quite allot of effects that would be considered schizzoaffective; unusual and uncontrollable thoughts which I had no ability to regulate, involuntary body and eye movements etc. I've been through the ringer with different meds that I've been on in the past, ultimately it took allot of convincing for my psychiatrist to finally be willing to let me try levetiracetam. However after showing him the case study that was done on keppra, he was willing to let me give it a go. The first month that I was on it, I initially felt an increase in psychotic symptoms, and irritability etc. However about 3 weeks in, and after my dosage increase to 1000 mg these symptoms began to stabilize, and I started getting used to the medication. Now we are about a month and a week into treatment, and are at 1500 mg a day. I no longer have uncontrollable schizzoaffective symptoms, and am now pretty much in complete control of my thoughts. Depersonalization and derealization have improved by 70-80%, and visual symptoms are improved by an easy 50%. I sometimes supplement with either Klonopin, alprazolam, or zopiclone, however this is never done at a frequency of more than once or twice per week. Moreover I've completely ceased the use of any other drugs or medications, sticking to a clean regimen of strictly levetiracetam and minor spaced out use of benzos. Il keep this thread updated, fingers crossed that my symptoms continue to improve over the course of the next year, as they have been steadily ? Don't give up guys, my life has become easily livable with the regimen that im on now, which is something I could not say about the last 2 years of my life that I've been affected by hppd.

@Onemorestep am just on keppra now. Im going to hold off on posting any threads, and stay on keppra for a full year. So far after 1 month and 1000mg split twice daily I've noticed a drastic decrease in DP/DR and about a 30% improvement in visual snow and visual symptoms. Increasing to 1500mg daily tomorrow. Im going to stay on just keppra for a full year, fingers crossed a year of this can cure my hppd, as my symptoms are already hugely improved. ?

Stopped taking it, worked good for the first few weeks , then started to have negative reactions. Sigh :( Trying out sertraline and clonidine now.

It is beyond me, One thing I can say is that Mirtazapine is continuing to have a profound effect on my pathology. Its now day 4 on my initial dose and I feel like the old me, the me that existed before I ever had HPPD. Don't get me wrong the visual snow is still there but it's just become a fact of life. A simple visual phenomenon that has only a minimal effect on who I am. My depersonalization and derealization no longer exists. I guess I'm just lucky in terms of my pathology in that my visual symptoms have remained exactly as would if I wasn't on the mirtazapine. Perhaps worth a try if one was really looking for relief. My 2 cents

Hmm that's weird, goes to show how everybodies neurology is a bit different, as it's day 4 and mirtazapine has absolutely no effect on my HPPD. wha medications are you currently taking?

Yeah that's really interesting. I'm on day 4 mom mirtazapine, no worsening on visuals to report. But As far as the way I feel, I feel fantastic. To each their own I guess. @dayum_son how long where you on it for, and at what dosage?

Its actually an antagonist at 5ht2a, although some people have reported worsening of visual symptoms on mirtazapine. So far my visuals are exactly as I would perceive them when I wasn't taking an antidepressant. This medication seems to differ in side effects from person to person, as for me, I'm well immersed in its antidepressant activity, and my hppd symptonology has been left untouched. This could prove useful for people who are depressed and can't take SSRI's due to their hppd.

Hey guys, Just thought I would add a quick post for anyone who's interested. I saw my psych doctor a few days ago, and he's decided to start me on an antidepressant called Mirtazapine. Mirtazapine is a tetracyclic antidepressant, one that is relatively new to the market compared to most tricyclic and SSRI anti depressants. It's day 3 now, and so far I am absolutely loving this medication. I had let my psych doc know that most SSRI's that I have tried have exacerbated my symptoms by a fair margin, and that I had to stop taking them. He gave me this one to try out. As with all anti depressants and HPPD, it does affect the way you perceive the HPPD a little bit, but what separates Mirtazapine from other SSRI's is that Mirtazapine plays nicely with my HPPD. My visual symptoms have not gotten any worse, although the way that my body perceives the HPPD is a little bit different. What i'm loving about this med is that it's pretty much completely taken care of depersonalization and derealization, while also working wonders for my depression and anxiety. I think once you've found a med that tackles DP/DR and anxiety and depression all at the same time, it makes dealing with the visual symptoms a very minor disturbance. Not everyone has had luck with mirtazapine, but I guess im one of the lucky ones here, as it is easily the best medication if taken for my HPPD by a long shot. Just thought I would start a topic as I really believe that this medication is worth a try if you find yourself struggling with DP/DR and anxiety+depression all at the same time. If any of you guys have questions feel free to ask! I'm on 15mg once daily, and il be staying at this dosage for a full month before I titrate. The maximum dosage of this medication is 45mg daily.

@TheMythos my psych doctor is likely going to put me back on benzos for a while, and I think il use that opportunity to test out Keppra. I've also heard success stories of people using Naltrexone, so i might also give that one a go as well.

Its been 5 days now since I stopped taking all 3 meds, buspar, topomax, and lamotrigine. I would say by far buspar had the worst side effects - but after being on doses of these meds for 3 weeks, and stopping all of them at the same time, I'm more or less back to baseline. Topomax I would say is definitely not a cure on its own, but can be useful at aiding in dp/dr symptoms. What's nice is that the lowest dosage (25mg) has an immediate effect, and I don't believe topomax on its own had a tremendously negative impact on my hppd or baseline as the buspar did. I'm seeing my outpatient psych next tuesday to see what my options are. Might give keppra a go.

Funny, I had to stop taking Lamotrigine as it was giving me ataxia. Loss of coordination in body movements, involuntary body movements etc. I'm wondering what the risk of developing Ataxia is with Depakote or Keppra?

@Onemorestep although I can't find any information that directly mention Topomax's dopaminergic activity, I can only mention how my experience went, and can confirm among the various other people at the inpatient centre who were on Topomax had felt the same effect initially. It does stabilize after a while though. From what i've read about Keppra, Topomax and Keppra seem to have a similar initial onset, where one feels alert, full of energy etc, but similar to Keppra, Topomax's rush stabilizes over time. @TheMythos definitely not a placebo effect, topomax's effects can be felt immediately after you take your first dose, and at the smallest dose available. (25mg) It just aids your brain in the hear and now moment to sort of snap out of DP/DR. Visual acuity is improved, without having an effect on visual snow, and you feel clear headed for a while. Unfortunately in my case, it didn't take long for me to recognize the negative effects that Buspar was having on my visual snow, and at that point my doctor was really trying to push my dosage of Topomax, far too fast for me to handle in such a short time frame. This is inevitably what caused me to have to stop taking these meds and reset for a while. Does depakote carry a risk for Ataxia? I'm just getting myself back to baseline state before I start trying out some new medications, although keppra is definitely on my to do list at the moment.

Perhaps maybe why some people have reported that taking more LSD with meditation has cured them etcetera etcetera.

@Onemorestep any thoughts on this theory? If anything it would have been the buspar that actually caused the chain reaction to happen due to its excitation of the already neurotoxic 5ht2a. Its only after I've completely discontinued buspar that I've noticed lamotrigine have any effect on my hppd. It had never helped prior to me having taken the buspar or topomax. Sigh. I wish I could spend a whole life doing research on the subject. And help people in the same boat. But, it's almost serendipitous, that this would work.

My only theory (and sad attempt at pharmacokinetics) is that part of the basis of action of LSD or HPPD is that certain neuroreceptors fold in on themselves. Thus not really being in a convulsive state. Perhaps the other medications I was on (which re-aggravated some of those neuroreceptors) caused them to temporarily open back up again just long enough for the lamotrigine to work its anti convulsant magic, not allowing those neuroreceptors in their re-aggravated state to fold back in on themselves.

Either way, i'm going to continue to pursue treatment, for now with lamotrigine mono therapy for a couple of months. Il keep tabs on myself I suppose.

I'm only speculating at this point, I can't help but wonder; i've been on lamotrigine for a little over a month, and just started taking it in the mornings. In my current overly stimulated and exacerbated state the lamotrigine is having a very positive side effect, visuals are decreased by like 50%, and my body calms itself right down from all the other meds I was on. It really sucks, but the lamotrigine is noticeably working now, something i've never noticed before. I can't help but wonder if there is a connection between that overly stimulated state, and the lamotrigine actually starting to become effective. Perhaps part of the reason why it works for some but not others? Not sure, and not going to say anything thats either here nor there. What makes me wonder now is if the lamotrigine will continue to work as it is after my symptoms return to baseline, or if it is just temporarily helping my overstimulated state. Im reluctant to say.

Topomax is used in addiction/rehabilitation centers here as an aid for people who are going into post acute withdrawal from other drugs as it has an initial stimulant effect. The whole idea being that it's a pharmaceutical option to being able to viably provide people with a better chance of not relapsing.

Yup. What I noticed with buspar was that if I took it alone it would make the visuals worse; interestingly enough being on a dosage of topomax was able to make the negative side effects of the buspar disappear while holding onto the good ones. Unfortunately my doc really wanted to push the dosage of topomax, and when the topomax ship hit the iceberg the whole thing got revealed. Topomax was doing a really good job at hiding everything that was going on and replacing it with a dopamine rush (think anticonvulsant, and your brains literal ability to block out allot of neuroreceptors you normally wouldnt and just bypass all of that, and think) What I'm not sure about is this, for the first two weeks I did feel great, I think what ultimately winded up happening was that I couldn't notice that buspar was having a negative consequences on my neurochemistry, and that the topomax was hiding it. After having a negative reaction on topomax everything flipped and started to come crashing down. I'tl probably be a week or two before I return to baseline, but interestingly enough in this really sort of 'exascerbated' state after stopping both other meds, I've continued to take lamotrigine. Interestingly enough I seem to notice a quaint positive side effect from taking the lamotrigine. I've only been on it for a month, and maybe it's only in this exacerbated state, but it absolutely helps with a certain level of my hppd's excitation right now.

Ah. Guys I have to update this. Ever since I had a bad reaction to topomax at 200 mg it ruined the combination of these meds. I've never been able to regain my baseline again, after re taking topomax and buspar. I've stopped taking both completely, visuals are still flared up from my breakdown at 200mg. Luckily this all happened in under 3 weeks. If anyone does try this method, start out at the lowest dose of both meds. Stay on them for a full month, and then decide how you feel and if you'd like to keep taking them. I'm on a break right now and am just on 100 mg of lamotrigine.

Update: Hey guys, just an update, had a bad reaction at 200mg of Topomax. Exascerbated my HPPD symptoms by quite a bit at that dosage. We've dialled it back to 75mg split up twice daily (37.5 mg x2) which is where I found my sweet spot was in terms of it clearing up my DP/DR, and increasing visual acuity and mental clarity. Buspar is continuing to work really great at treating anxiety and brain stress symptoms that i'd get from HPPD (Feels much like a benzodiazepine) and will definitely be continuing to take it on a daily basis.

Just an update guys, Have increased my dosage of Buspar to 15 mg 3x daily, as well as my topomax to 100mg 2x daily, and lamotrigine to 100 mg 1x daily. All of the medications are beginning to stabilize, and I am absolutely flabbergasted at how amazed I feel. I'm tentative to speak to soon, but I feel like the way these medications are working, I may very well be on the path to being able to pharmaceutically cure my hppd, as that's exactly what feels like is happening. My visual symptoms are gradually tapering off, visual acuity is returning, sensory normality and thought process that I haven't felt in years is coming back. This is obviously coming with a completely drug free and healthy diet regimen to go with it. There are side effects to the combination of these medications, but they far out weigh the positives that I am gaining from them. I'l keep posting as I go along. I really, wholeheartedly hope that one day I can defineably cure my condition on a documentable basis and post that information on this forum in an easy to read an understandable format for others to read. Thanks for taking the time to read guys.