shaolinbomber

Opiates SHOULD lessen the HPPD symptoms.

i just read about it on that forum as well and im willing to ask my doctor about it and maybe give it a try IF I can get ahold of it without spending too much.

I dont remember really since I had mine almost 3 years ago. I'm waiting to get into a much bigger hospital in my area and to have a qEEG done.

Opiates are the only thing i've found that totally alleviate ghosting for me and it's because of their effect on pupil size. The constriction really reduces the amount of light entering your eyes.

2mg was overkill for me. 1.5mg was perfect for combatting the anxiety and it also helped slightly with the visuals.

And why do you assume that any neurons have been damaged? It seems to me that the brain is highly capable of adaptation as is evident by it's function of learning new things at rapid rates during childhood. Epigenetic responses from a very chaotic situation that arises quickly from drug use, like the mass release of neurotransmitters, a situation that someone's brain would never encounter otherwise, seems more plausible to me.

But I do agree with you on the Dopamine aspect to the HPPD question. I have a rather unfortunate opiate habbit and it seems that the opiate effect on the brain releases large amounts of dopamine and this counteracts my dissociation and visuals by quite a bit.

IS this med similar to Sinemet? I'm doing well with my Suboxone but it's a bandaid effect and it wears off too soon during the evening. If this med works differently than the mechanisms of Sinemet then I might ask my doc. about it.

What sort of dosage do you take for hppd relief?

I'm on 8mg a day but this dose comes with a rather strong tolerance for opiates. If you were to try Suboxone and you don't take opiates often I would start out with nothing higher than 2mg.

But I get a lot of relief with it. It's good for muscle tensions, facial pressure, the headaches, and it constricts pupil size and this cuts down on a variety of the visual symptoms. Plus my DP/DR is lessended with it too. I think that is contributed to the opiate's effect on the Dopamine system.

I used 5-htp before I got HPPD. I definitely felt a difference on it. It changed my mood considerably for the better and I would think that meant that it was increasing serotonin levels in my brain like it said it was supposed to do. That being said, I think i got HPPD from the fact that i combined that drug with a rather large amount of MDMA one night.

I've just started Suboxone (Buprenorphine/Naloxone) for opiate addiction maintenance and this is probably the best med i've ever come across for treating my DP/DR and visuals. It's a very strong narcotic though so make sure you know what you're doing if you ever try opiates.

Ya, try to stay away from amphetamines if you have HPPD.

i dont think it makes genes change, tho may change which ones are turned on (epigenetics). so theoretically may be a reversible process.

^ this.

No offense here but people who say that ignoring the symptoms makes them "go away" I dont believe even have HPPD. The problem is much deeper than that. One simply does not ignore the dozen+ visual symptoms and the dissociation and feel ok again.

No, if you think ignoring is a cure then you're on the wrong message board.

I have tried Lamictal. It did`nt work for me, besides all the other I`ve tried. No medicine have done it for me, except Klonopin which only masks the anxiety symptoms and not curing it. That`s why I think HPPD is a perceptual problem and not a physical. No medicine will cure HPPD, only mask the symptoms.

Perception of reality comes from your visual cortex which is very much a physical entity. It's the back part of your brain which processes everything you see.

Sounds like some mild HPPD for sure. But read what Jay said carefully. The disorder can become much worse and you dont want to go down that road.

well i know what the starbursts are trust me. Im talking about seeing a complete band of light go from the light source straight to the pupil in theory it would be bigger then a starburst.

i know what you're talking about. I noticed these towards the beginning of my HPPD journey. They would happen more often whenever I'd take an amphetamine based drug like adderall. Now I don't get this effect so much either because my brain has repaired some of the damage or because I've stopped using anything amphetamine based.

Yes. Startbursts indeed.

Am I the only one that has dp/dr as a 24/7, continuous symptom? I have had a very FEW moments that lasted about 3 seconds where I felt normal again, and this was with the help of powerful narcotics, but other than that I always feel like i'm in a dream and everything has no meaning to me.

I have it as well. I think it came one when the visuals did but I didn't notice it till later.

I get this effect in my afterimages. Ill look at a bright light and look away and ill have multicolored dots sparking all over the afterimage. Very weird.

About the same. The helpfulness of Sinemet seems to have leveled off a bit.

Wow, 5 or 6 tramadol a day would wipe me out.

What dose did your PCP prescribe you Sinemet for? 1/2 pill 3 times as you are taking now?

Since you respond for 2-3 hours, you could try either 1 pill 3 times or 1/2 pill 6 times (with PCP permission). This is still considered a low dose. [For trial you can go up to 4 pills a day before needing a different formulation.]

You could also extend dopamine with an agonist. Doctors seem to like Requip (it was useful but not well matched for me). 75mg Wellbutrin SR ever so often has worked as well but not everyone can tolerate this med.

And there is time as well - as you are already noting progressive improvements.

I forgot, do you have pain issues besides headache?

If im standing for too long my back begins to hurt a lot. I was a heavy weightlifter for about 8 years so I don't know if that's what causes that but the headaches I get are the biggest problem.

What opiate med are you taking Shaolinbomber?

The only thing I can get prescribed to me right now is Tramadol and I have to take 5-6 50mg to feel them at all. Where I live, Codeine is not even an OTC med. I live in Texas and they're very strict about that kind of thing. Im going to my dr. on Tuesday and i'll be asking to be moved on to another, more effective pain killer. I get a lot of involuntary muscle movement and head twitching from Tramadol. That can't be good.

shaolinbomber,

One word describes it for me. - Terrible. Although Sinemet helps a lot when it is active, the times when i'm at 100% dissociation are bad. To put it in perspective, mine is/was so terrible that I ended up descending into a heavy opiate addiction to escape. http://hppdonline.co...r-derealization

You are taking ½ pill of Sinemet 25/100 (not CR) 3 times a day?

yes

How long does it stay active?

2-3 hours usually

Before Sinemet, did your DR vary and if so, do you know any contributing factors?

my Dr was at a constant 100% all the time before Sinemet

The only other thing that I can say for sure that drastically reduces both visuals, anxiety and DP/DR are opiates http://hppdonline.co...nch-of-placebos

So opiates help more of your visuals than Sinemet. But Sinemet helps DP/DR the best?

Opiates are a cure all for me. If I could find a dr willing to prescribe them for off-label use in treating my HPPD/DR/DP I would be fine and content with life.

But because of the high levels you must take and the corresponding dependency, you can’t continue on opiates?

I continue to take them, but I try to keep my usage low

How much of which opiates help you the most? (this might be an important clue)

Any opiate except Darvocet helps me.

It still has a reducing effect on my afterimages as well

Negative afterimages? Positive ones? Both?

The kind of afterimage that stays in your vision after looking at a light. It also greatly reduces the multicolored dot effect that I see on afterimages.

[Warning, another boring lecture about the dopamine system]

While dopamine has been called a ‘pleasure’ neurotransmitter, it is actually more ‘primitive’. At its best it is about motivation and reward. [Lets face it, what is sexy about how dopamine in the retina adjusts for contrast?]

This main limbic dopamine system has 2 partners – oxytocin and opioid.

You know all about opiods, lol. In context with dopamine, it is feel good. Oxytocin is also feel good, but more ‘sophisticated’ – it is about bonding, about friendship.

Take marriage as an example. You meet a girl, fall head over heels, and can’t stop thinking about her. This is endorphins (dopamine-opiate system). While in this state a lot of life falls to the background. Generally your job performance goes down. You are likely to get into accidents. This level of endorphins cannot be maintained and falls away. After 3 years or so, relationships deteriorate (this is the biochemical reason behind '7-year itch').

But endorphins have done their job – you got hooked. Now it is time of oxytocin. While most commonly known as mother-baby bonding, it is ALL bonding. If a couple doesn’t not cultivate being best friends with each other, then as the endorphins go, so does the relationship.

How does one stimulate oxytocin? In progressive intensity -- a smile … a handshake … a helpful hand … a hug … a kiss … XXX.

The point here? Understanding dopamine role in pleasure.

As a contrast, serotonin is the major ‘feel good’ neurotransmitter – but it is about self and is blunting. It doesn’t motivate. It doesn’t build friendships. It is highest when you go to bed – to help you to sleep. Whereas, dopamine helps you to screw first, sleep later.

It feels like plateaus. Every 2-3 days after my 1st-2nd dose a new wave of emotions and familiarity washes over me and i feel even more connected to myself and my surroundings

Are you saying that, even though the Sinemet looses ‘activity’, when you take it again you are progressing?

I take it everyday. Im just saying some days it feels like it's helping a lot more than others. So it kinda feels like every so often it's making more and more headway with fixing whatever the problems are that cause the disorder.

When it wears off, are you back to the way you were before ever trying it?

Well I gotta say my dissociation is hardly ever at 0. There is always some in the background but Sinemet reduces the amount of time that i'm completely out of it.