dayum_son

It got worse for me during the first few months, probably because it needs to settle down and you also tend to think about it all the time which doesn't help. After I'd say around 6 months it baselined and got better during the following years. 5 years in, it got much better and barely notice it now unless I think about it. I still think about it now and then but not as much as before. The condition probably doesn't get much better with time, you just notice it less in my opinion. Changing the way you perceive this disorder is the easiest thing to do to make yourself feel better. Stay off meds if you can. Don't hesitate to ask questions.

Mild visual snow and photophobia. I think what made a huge difference is the moment I stopped caring about HPPD so much.

My symptoms did worsen for maybe 2-3 months after last intake, then stabilized and stayed the same for about 2 years. Then it started to decrease gradually.

I'd say it's better not to take anything at all but since there's a good chance you will end up high on something, I will rank these following drugs from least triggering to most triggering when it comes to HPPD. Mind you that this is how it affects ME, drugs don't affect everyone in the same way. - Coke = just some low increase in Visual Snow - Speed = a bit more VS than with coke - MDMA = general increase in all symptoms. Symptoms return to baseline after a few weeks - Weed = Huge no no. Huge increase in all symptoms, lots of anxiety. Returns to baseline after a few weeks but regular smoking will significantly postpone the baseline it's supposed to return to. - LSD / Shrooms = You have to be crazy to do these will knowingly being affected by HPPD. LSD is the one drug I have never touched again after HPPD. Again, this is how I experience things. Some people will be more affected by coke and less by weed. HPPD is a very random disorder, no two people react the same. I don't know if you already went to your rave but I thought answering might still help others take a decision. BUT IF YOU CAN AVOID TAKING THESE DRUGS, AVOID. All of us here wish someone would have told us not to take them, but here we are.

I had that too, it took a few years but went away. You just have to give it time. If that's your only symptom stay far away from any kind of meds. And drugs.

As rlopes said, it didn't make it worse at all, might as well give it a shot.

400mg

I took CoQ10 for a few months but no effect. The only things that helped me get better are good sleep, good food and good experiences in life. Meet new people, or just do anything that distracts you from Hppd.

*Your. I don't see how insulting me proves your point. I'm sorry, I'm too lazy to argue with you today. Maybe another time. Or maybe reread the thread.

As a Jeep mechanic, I can say with confidence that your car was indeed an issue.

What's weird is that I started getting GERD again when my stress related to HPPD went away. Well, my workplace is a big source of stress already, that sure can't help.

Never. I did have terrible GERD around 6 months old but subsided. Came back probably a year after HPPD kicked in.

Very interesting information. I'll do some research as well in the next few days. However I'm also 75% sure we have a genetic, maybe not defect, but weakness at the very least if you know what I mean. We have a history of vision issues in the family, both with the brain and eyes.

You are yourself saying it's a mystery, so why do you keep saying that the only solution pretty much is linked to anxiety ? What makes you say that ? Research suggests that bad trips could make HPPD more likely to appear, but again, it's just speculation. Many people have HPPD without any anxiety or caused by a traumatic event. This sentence applies to you as well. Your answers make it look like you are the one with the solution. Mean-fucking-while, there are people who have looked into every single possible explanation, anxiety, neuronal, immune etc etc etc, dasitmane and others are no exception. Trust me, we are open to all ideas, even the weirdest ones, but being so stubborn to say that the only way out of this mess is by focusing on anxiety and anxiety only is stupid imo. Even actual research, people who know what they are talking about, found no proof of anxiety triggering HPPD. It can worsen it, but not cause it.

A lot of HPPD sufferers do NOT have anxiety, I myself barely had any anxiety during this whole HPPD experience. I am now completely anxiety free, the visual disturbances are still here and might actually be a bit worse than they used to be when the symtpoms first kicked in. Considering the overwhelming number of reports which put anxiety out of the question, I don't understand how you can hang on this theory so much. Now, I think we can all agree that anxiety can exacerbate visual/cognitive disturbances, however I cannot see how this would be the cause of such disturbances. Many people have seen HPPD emerge months or even years after the last psychedelic dose, and it wasn't related to events in life or other things which would cause anxiety. As I said, anxiety and HPPD can and very well do mix, but I do not think anxiety causes HPPD. I myself am very strong mentally and it really takes a lot for me to be afraid of something. I don't see how I cannot be afraid of most things but have anxiety about HPPD which by the way I don't even feel. I might add as well that, as I said in one of my posts on your first thread, if your logic is that HPPD is just anxiety, benzodiazepenes or other anxiolytic medication should be very effective against visual/cognitive disturbances, since these drugs are very effective at removing anxiety temporarily.

This magnificent disorder has been introduced to me around the end of 2017. I took throughout my "psychonaut" part of life 4-5 tabs of LSD. These didn't trigger any HPPD. The disorder kicked in once I started microdosing. I have probably microdosed around 5 times, not more than once per week. Now, we could debate about how bad it was for my brain to microdose but the real issue was the weed + microdose mix. Since microdosing boosts your brain to unimaginable levels (I have ADHD as well), it was difficult to sleep each day I'd microdose. To ease myself into sleep, I'd smoke a joint, usually from a strain that was 15-20% THC. After 2-3 microdose + weed mixes, I started to notice Visual Snow and small tracers when under the effect of THC. I thought it was cool and part of the microdose, didn't think much about it. Between the 4th and 5th microdose, I noticed that the Visual Snow and tracers would not go away, they would be there 24/7. Again, didn't think much of it since, well, I was taking many drugs, partying, and quite often. Last microdose, the visuals (no THC involved yet) started to freak me out and thought they just could not be normal since the dose of LSD I was ingesting was under the threshold dosage. But because I was an idiot back then, I still smoked the usual joint in the evening after the microdose. Visual Snow was VERY strong, it was broadband and pulsating as well. Since that day, I decided to stay sober. But the visuals stayed. The symptoms at first worsened, partly because the visuals were getting objectively worse, partly because I was obviously obsessing over them. Then they have stabilized and never really changed in intensity, maybe slightly worse for some visuals and slightly better for others. So what's going on with my vision as of today ? After-images, VS, bad night vision (well, bad daytime vision as well ), tracers though not very noticeable, among the other typical HPPD visual symptoms. The one that appeared much later than the other ones is what I'd call bouncy vision. It only happens when I'm calmly sitting reading a book or looking at my computer screen, suddenly my vision would bounce up and down rapidly just as if my eyes were looking up and down uncontrollably. Visuals aside, how's it going psychologically wise ? Not too bad. Mind you, I never had huge anxiety or DP/DR, only mild anxiety during the first year or so. It took a good year to stop obsessing over the whole story and to get (partially) rid of the guilt. I still think about HPPD all day every day and will probably for the rest of my life since the visuals are distracting. I consider myself lucky since I view my HPPD as pretty mild compared to reports from other members on this forum. I am also very resistant psychologically. I do not plan to seek medical help, doctors here usually just want to make a profit off the drugs they prescribe and do not really care about the patient's well being. I'm pretty sure most of the members here can relate to this. I have to confess, I did use a moderate amount of drugs even when affected by HPPD, and I have to say, it usually comes back to baseline after a few days. Still, not a reason to abuse drugs or alcohol. So what's next ? Party only a few times a year, no drugs except alcohol and cigarettes when out partying, get a reasonable amount of sleep, and go for a jog every now and then. I will look for a new job since the company I work for is making me go crazy and this actually increases my symptoms. Recently redeveloped OCD and hardcore ADHD because of the stress I endure in this place. The OCD + ADHD symptoms sort of vanished a few years ago but are now back stronger than ever. I should also start looking for a girlfriend since I spend most of my time alone. Even though I like this way of life, I realized it cannot be a good way to carry on with stuff. There's still a long way to go, but I believe that with some good will as well as with future experiences in life, things can only go for the better. Even if one day the disorder leaves my brain, I will always stand beside this wonderful community that, quite frankly, didn't deserve all of this. I wouldn't wish HPPD to anyone, even on my worst enemies. I wish everyone the best. Never give up ! P.S.: English is not my mother tongue and it's currently almost 3AM here, so do not mind ze somtims wierd inglish :p.

Yes, as the brain tries to filter out the snow you see on the screen, it also tends to ignore the actual snow you're seeing. It works for a minute, maybe more if you stare at it for a long time. There was one person (maybe on this forum ? Not sure) which claimed that, by watching it for hours on end, this on the course of many months, got rid of Visual Snow. I doubt this has actually happened, but hey, it's the internet, no one knows what's true and false. But if someone on this forum is willing to try this method and spend their time to let the community know if it works, I will be the first to encourage that person.

Found these two posts : Maybe there are more than two people reporting this, haven't bothered to look it up right now. Apparently, the key to taking Lamotrigine is slowly upping the dosage and not directly go into full hardcore healing attempt mode. @AntoCVSS But as I said previously here and in other threads, if it really is that bad and really unbearable, give it a shot with moderate dosage. The desire to try medicine has been here for ever but I never came to actually trying it. My mindset is as follows : As long as the disorder is bearable, might as well keep it that way instead of messing things up. It's just like you going to the Casino when you are poor. There is a chance you will come out of there with much more money or maybe even rich, but there is also a chance that you will come out poorer than ever. I'd rather slowly take myself out of poverty instead of playing the gambling game. I hope the comparison shows what I'm trying to say.

By tagging do you mean writing "@" followed by the username of the intended recipient ?

A few people have stated getting HPPD from cannabis/hash, so yes apparently it happens. However, Sertraline is an SSRI. SSRIs are very well known in the HPPD community to violently exacerbate visuals or other HPPD related symptoms. Stopping SSRIs could also make visuals worse for some time. Just like when I stopped LSD microdosing, the visuals were worse for some time and then went back to baseline. Many reports were positive about Lamotrigine. However there were some bad reports too. If it's really too much to bare, try Lamotrigine or other "success story" drug, but remember, they are no miracle and could make things worse. I'm not sure if I remember correctly, but there were a few reports stating that it was bad at first when taking Lamotrigine but got better afterwards. Can anyone confirm this ?

The thing is, we already DID explain many, many times that we didn't agree with his opinion which he considered as fact. Of course anyone is allowed to disagree with what we think is right or wrong, but there is a way to discuss the matter. Constantly telling everyone else that they are stupid and don't understand anything because "I KNOW" is a stupid way to make an argument. The way he expressed his opinions angered everyone, even people like me who never insult people on forums. I started swearing as well. So as dasitmane says, read his previous posts, the ones under MattyHouseMouse as well.

@dasitmane I love these gif answers, it's making TryingToHelp look even more retarded and very accurately represents the HPPD community's feelings.

@TryingToHelp At first I was being diplomatic since I think everyone gets to have a second chance. But now I'll say it : Please fuck right off. You're just a troll and do not contribute anything to this forum. If it were for you, every single disorder is caused by anxiety. Yes I'll repeat it again, Fuck. Off.

I did not have a single visual anomaly prior to LSD use. Let it be static, long after images, tracers, floaters, flashes of light etc etc. Before HPPD, my vision was as clear as it could get. Night vision was perfect apart from the thing that happened in my previous post. However, and as Dr. Abraham stated, there is some kind of hereditary pattern here. My mom does have static, says it was very strong when young and somewhat got better with age. She never did drugs and neither did her parents. I'm guessing there's a genetic weakness that once attacked by hallucinogens, throws the brain out of chemical balance and leads to unexpected visual and sensorial changes. I was at first convinced by the neuronal loss theory, but I have thought about it a lot and a few things bug me. If it's neuronal loss, how come it sometimes happens overnight and randomly, after one dose of acid or 20, 50 ? The HPPD for me started when I was on an LSD microdose and smoking weed. Weed is supposed to be neuroprotective right ? How come then the neurons degraded so quickly on a drug that is supposed to protect them ? However I have to say, I have some faith in the "neurons being overly excited due to hallucinogen use" theory. I have been diagnosed with ADHD as a child. Did not take any medicine. It sort of subsided when growing up. With HPPD, ADHD kicked back into life pretty violently, I'm hyperactive enough that caffeine has little effect on me (actually slows me down sometimes) and so does cocaine or anything that is supposed to stimulate the brain. Hyperactive to a point where it is actually annoying and almost a handicap. @dasitmane, I have read your last posts on your "part 2" thread just now, so yeah it might not be neuronal loss after all. Still necessary to explore all the possibilities.

I can relate to this. I remembered this probably a year after I got HPPD and thought "Shit, that may have been a warning". This was probably when I was around 10-12, I would go to bed, however there wouldn't be any static BUT : If I focused my eyes in the same way that you'd focus them to see far away (I would call it "Seeing deeper in the dark"), after a few seconds, it would flash violently for a few seconds and then stop. This could be repeated for as many times as I wished. The flashing was similar as to when you poke your eye really fast in the dark and stimulates the photoreceptors thus creating artificial "light". You may have this kind of white flashing with HPPD as well. Since HPPD, I have this thing called "Exploding Head Syndrome". Happens rarely. Name is fun though.