Syntheso

Good to have you back!

Interesting. Serotonin (and noradrenaline) have regulatory roles in the vestibular system, so perhaps altering the physiology of vestibular-associated parts could indeed affect serotonin levels.. Check these out... http://www.tinnitusjournal.com/detalhe_artigo.asp?id=251 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20847126 http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/treatment/drug/drugrx.html [from the last link]: Have you ever seen a chiropractor? I am currently doing work with one to see if I can improve my condition. I was born with hydrocephalus so I have a shunt installed in the right side of my head. This has caused a life long head tilt. After reading a post on here about massaging the sternomasticoid muscle and finding symptom relief (which is quite marked if I am particularly tense), I thought it would be good to see what a chiropractor had to say about my upper back, neck and jaw. As it happens, she has identified that I have a colic torticollis, which if I understood her correctly, means one of my vertebrae is not hooked up properly, perhaps causing the head tilt. She will treat it after an x ray. With any luck this will correct my head tilt, and thus might provide some symptom relief for HPPD if it alters blood flow/the spine.

What exactly were you doing in your neurofeedback session?

Want to try this http://www.pharmanac.com

Indeed... I also have quite restless legs, although it is cognitively controllable.

Does anyone get shaky? I sometimes get shaky in my legs when stressed/anxious/fatigued and standing.

I would be cautious with the amount of stuff you are taking. You should introduce things one by one and get a feel for them. Have you checked everything for contraindications? You don't want to further confuse your already confused brain... Specifically I would really really do your research into the nootropics you are planning to take. I would be interested to hear what piracetam alone does. I myself was going to do a trial, I have 1kg of powder, but I want to be really sure before I do. It has a similar molecular structure to GABA, interestingly, which might be responsible for some of its effects. You don't need to take both alpha-GPC and CDP-choline, they are both forms of choline. The latter has been shown to increase dopamine receptor density. I would ditch taurine and picamillon. They may help, but you can build a tolerance in the long run as they are GABA agonists. Theanine is a good choice.

Do your homework, but I can recommend a few things. I recently did some work experience at a hospital and patients whom presented (urine) infection were advised to take probiotics alongside meds. The idea here is that you promote good bacteria which will help fight off the bad bacteria. Cranberry supplements were also recommended, but this might only be exclusive to urine infection. Other than that, eat super healthy, get lots of antioxidants in your diet and exercise. Green tea is a great antioxidant. Type 'antioxidants infection' in Google and read studies. Stay hydrated-to be really cautious for your immune system, you could buy bottle water but drink it from a glass. You must ask your doctor what to do if you choose to stop the antibiotics though. Keep us posted!

I would stop taking the antibiotic immediately and explain to the doctor what is going on. People have been known to get HPPD from antibiotics / it worsening their condition. It is already worsening things for you.

It will be done online. When you have your results, let myself or Visual know. Thanks

http://plus.maths.org/content/os/issue53/features/hallucinations/index

Visual, check this out; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3064905 If anyone has access to the full study, could you send it over.

"The increase in DA content, decrease in locomotion and enhancement of the effect of apomorphine can be explained on the hypothesis that CDP-choline may act as an antagonist on the DA neurons and receptors." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7253343 It is not completely conclusive, so I shouldn't have stated it so, but there is the indication. I will respond to your other points asap.

Am not saying it will prevent it by any means! But it could help and make things less severe later on down the line.

Perhaps the answer is obvious, but perhaps not. Would you recommend trying a psychedelic at a low dosage? The only thing I have thought that might guard (somewhat) against HPPD is magnesium. Magnesium is crucial in regulating the flow of calcium ions through the NMDA receptor (a receptor that is important in learning and memory). LSD affects this receptor in a way that is not clear (see this). I have wondered, like some others, if HPPD involves some sort of long term 'memory' being coded in your brain, mediated by this receptor. This is purely speculative and has not been tested, but I think it's a reasonable idea. Magnesium does protect against excitotoxicity, a process whereby calcium ions infiltrate the NMDA receptor at a rate that causes neuron death. This is not a good thing, and is suggested to be an aspect of HPPD. I would want to make sure my brain is protected from the negative effects of glutamate, magnesium being the endogenous administrator for that task . I am not a physician though, so do your own reading. Good luck!

There are a few studies that show it is possible to increase certain receptor densities. Although, I have only seen this in mice. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1908237/?tool=pmcentrez CDP-choline is anti-dopaminergic, oddly.

post deleted

This is why it is crucial to have a thorough survey alongside the DNA results. If there are patterns to do with genes, drugs and symptoms, we should be able to pick up on them.

Sorry you feel that way. What makes you say that?

Has anyone else thought about this or made some steps towards getting tested?

Also no mention of glutamate and dopamine systems, it only touches on the possible role of glutamate. Although only the latter has a study supporting it. It is about the serotonergic system though...

This is happening right now. These things take time. But some considerable progress has been made in the last couple of months with these two new studies; http://hppdonline.com/index.php?/topic/3865-hppd-and-the-serotonergic-system-a-comprehensive-review-including-new-mdma-related-clinical-cases/ http://hppdonline.com/index.php?/topic/3849-the-relation-between-migraine-typical-migraine-aura-and-visual-snow/

Yes, I think so. Everything is a step closer, isn't it? You are a step closer to resolving things when you have a diagnosis and it is not a GP handing out SSRI's. A step closer when you are able to try levetiracetam. When people care and listen. When you get cognitive help. All these things help, especially psychologically; even if no one can cure you. I might have responded well to levetiracetam and be even better, but that couldn't have happened if no one was willing to diagnose me and if I hadn't taken in the study. Most of my healing has been to do with time, but without specialists doing their best to help and reassure me, I would be worse off. One day I will see a specialist who will be able to help, maybe cure my (our) condition. The new research on locating the cause of visual snow (hypermetabolism in the lingual gyrus) is really promising. As is the review paper.

That is not true. You might go to a doctor who doesn't believe you/isn't willing to acknowledge you. If someone has diagnosed you, you don't have to convince another doctor what you have. "I don't need your diagnosis, look on my record" is a wonderful piece of ammunition against sceptical/unempathetic doctors. This is particularly useful with GP's. I had a diagnosis from a great psych who specialised at a drug clinic. It has been really useful for me to get referrals to psychotherapists, neurologists etc from my GP, who before were much more unwilling to help. Not to mention, if you have a diagnosis of 'hallucinogen persisting perception disorder', and want to try levetiracetam, you can present the study "Levetiracetam efficacy in hallucinogen persisting perception disorder" - you can try meds based on what has been shown to be relevant.

Club Drug Clinic at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.