Syntheso

I concur with Ghormeh; I wouldn't partake in Sertindole. I would advise you to inform your doctor of the adverse reactions documented in response to Risperidone etc.

NAC and Sarcosine would appear relatively harmless; I've taken both myself without any harm afaik.

D-AA is a full agonist, and taking it together with Sarcosine and NAC might be overkill. Also remember that Lamotrigine is Glutamatergic as well; as such it may interfere. If you insist on taking these, I would suggest starting them one by one; taking time to adjust to the necessary dose. Then, if tolerable and no ill effects are noted; progress to the next. I would suggest NAC, then Sarcosine, then if still nothing, perhaps small doses of D-AA that are more closely monitored. Of course consult with your doctor etc.

Lastly, magnesium works quite differently from sarcosine. Bit tired to explain now, and to be honest I'd have to have a refresher on that. There's plenty of discussion to be found on all of these (except Sertindole) on the forum though

Best,

-odisa

Good to have you back!

hey everyone, i use to read this forum back in the day quite a bit, i had hppd for like 4.5 years, and after experiencing a strange incident that felt somewhat like a stroke, in which i had no ability to hold my neck upright, as well as an inability to walk in a straight line when my upper body was tiled to the right or left (i would literally veer off into the direction i turned my upper torso towards. strangely enough, the next day my hppd symptoms were completely relinquised, no static, afterimages tracers, depersonalization, anything! the only thing i saw were an extremely subtle red and blue set of very fine dots in the dark, pitch dark, i use to see these as kid. in addition i had very prominant white star like visual phenomenon occur, not visual snow at all, very different... it's important to note that this occured 2 weeks before the onset of hppd/migraine aura 4 years ago. whats idiosyncratic about my case is that i had never used serotonergic drugs, antipsychotics priors to getting hppd... i did afterwards. the only drugs i had used beforehand were pot, adderall, and dexedrine ( i  have severe adhd).

 

anyways, i have quite a bit of education in health care... so i started to think to myself, could this be a vestibular problem, perhaps, which would also have caused my balance etc. to have gone the night i thought i may have had a stroke.

 

strangely enough, i noticed that my jaw wasn't quite level, i had for years had a pressure in my ear that was unrelenting, but thought nothing of it... but i had to test something out... strange as it sounds i literally pounded my left jaw 5-10 times, until i heard a crack, and sharp pain in my right ear drum... my vision improved over the next day...

 

even 2 weeks or so, my vision goes somewhat back to hppd type phenomena (very mild vs and much milder negative afterimages... annoying, but nowhere near the crap i had before)

 

i would literally do the same thing, the right jaw popping from, now, much lighter force... but stille, the right ear drum pops...

 

now get this, when the snow comes back even mildly, i, to a much much smaller extent, will very heavily apply pressure to one side, as well as a bone above the jaw, level to my ear, just in front of it, i can feel a very mild cracking sensation... but even moreso, when i shit it back and forth, the snows density worsens or improves, within 20 or so seconds.

 

even stranger so, this only works when i take lamictal... ive tried this when i stop taking lamictal for 4 or 5 days, and theres an improvement, but nowhere near the 99 percent remission when i do the above and am on lamictal (i'm very very bipolar as well as adhd... so i take 500 mg lamictal daily (200 mg recomended for seizures, 400 for bipolar, with some wiggle room based on clinical judgement)... absolutely bizarre stuff.

 

finally, after i crack my jaw, so to speak, it takes about a day or so to totally remiss again... and up until, i feel this intense pressure in my ear drums... when i hold my nose and blow to relieve the pressure, as one may do when diving in a pool... the right ears pressure is relievd immediately... while the left ear persists...

 

now, getting to the weird point, when i take dexedrine, the pressure in both ears dissipates extremely quickly, ditto with adderall, and the remission is much faster, like an hour (versus like 24... where, no joke, it just takes longer for my left ear pressure to equilibreate with my right... wtf eh)

 

i know this sounds fucking ape shit crazy... but for me it was a totally vestibular thing... totally of the wall stuff.

 

to give some history, ive taken valproate, topimax, lamictal (3 times... always helped for depersonalization), levitiracetam (keppra (helped somewhat for depersonalization), oxycarbemazapine, carbemazapine, acetozolamide, furosemide, and of course,  clonazepam(worked perfectly, perfect... at 3mg, i only came off because i do very very cerebrally challenging work, and the memory problems were untolerable) , dexedrine, adderall (both worked for depersonalization, as well as reducing the distraction of hppd, which for me, is worse because i have adhd (worked perfectly, perfect... at 3mg, i only came off because i do very very cerebrally challenging work, and the memory problems were untolerable)

 

i should mention my dosing, was at times obscene, keppra at 4000 mg, lamictal at 800 mg, clonazepam at 3mg-4.

 

i never got to try comt inhibitors... but i wanted to insanely,, because i was suspected to have a v158m mutation in comt... it creates really idiosyncratic effects, different phenotypes that are highly, specific i suppose, and which are extremely represent on my mothers side, all of her 7 bros and sisters have schizophrenia, adhd, bipolar... my grandma is schizophrenic... im totally bipolar and very adhd... but also have some other very unique sensory-processing anomalies... i could get into more detail, but for brevities sake i wont.

 

i really don't know what to say, this sounds pretty effing insane... especially since clonazepam worked perfectly... but the effects of hallucinagens on decreasing comt activity, is the same process that my highly suspected mutation does (my psych specializes in developmental disorder, adhd etc. and she suggested it, based on 2 years of weekly visits..

as well, i never took mdma, ecstasy, lsd, any hallucinogen at all... ssris... nothing, just a sudden onset... hmmm, halucinogens have the same effect as the genetic variant... shit eh

 

. yeah, i dont know, hope this helps in some way... i hate hppd, it fucked my life entirely for 4 years... i was an elite, top student, and i dont mean good, i mean, inanely good, i wont get into specs to protect my privacy... but hppd just made it so i was too distracted and honestly, fucked, to perform at that level, i could think at the same level, but acting out and doing things that exhibited the stuff going on in my head, was just fuck, undoable, it was brutal just having conversations (until i got on clonazepam... but fuck the cognitive effects sucked), trying to not be insanely depersonalized and really, just fucked... i'd gotten so pissed... like i would rather have had fucking cancer... because at least it could be treated... suffering is no biggie... the biggie is the loss of hope, especially since i had a redicioulous ammount of potential...

 

i've been symptom free 5 months, clonazpeam free for 9 months (im on lamictal and adderall xr and dexedrine sr, now, but thats for other things ( id take the lamictal anyways for bp)) and wow, no side effects, and no hindrance... in 5 months... my life, is wow, amazing... so god, from experience, i hope this helps someone... i know there's only 2 cases of people being symptom free on lamictal... so i wanted to share my experience... with the strange caveat of the vestibular stuff.

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]:

Serotonin receptors are also found in the vestibular nerve, but the functional significance of this uncertain (Ahn and Balaban, 2010). Withdrawall from serotonergic drugs, such as SSRI antidepressants, is commonly associated with vertigo. It has been speculated that this is due to loss of inhibition of glutamate -- in other words, increased vestibular responses as glutamate is excitatory (Smith PF, Darlington CL, 2010).

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.

Hey all,

I know just about no one gets on here anymore but any help would be appreciated. This is what I have in my stack and then I will explain how I will be taking it.

 

Selegiline 

Naltrexone

Aricept

Galantamine

B6/Magnesium/Zinc/Calcium

ALCAR

ALPHA-GPC

Cdp-choline

Piracetam

Noopept

Theanine

Picamilon

Taurine

Fish oil

 

Whew....

 

Alright this is what I have for my main stack, now for my workout supplements. This is where I do not know if I should avoid anything or not. I make my own pre-workout with these.....

AAKG

Alanine

BCAA

Creatine

Agmatine(Ran out need to order more)

Maral root

 

Basically I do not know if it is ok to take AAKG or Alanine because of the Selegiline(will be doing some research on this myself soon).

I feel the rest is ok because there would really be no interactions and I understand I won't get a answer for the Maral root so I will just have to play that one out.

 

My planned routine......

 

Ok so I just got my Selegiline the other day from online, it is Dep-Pro the liquid stuff. I used it yesterday at 2mg and today at 5mg. I liked the 2mg dosage better so I will continue the 2mg dosage everyday for a week and then 2mg EOD.

 

I also just got my Aricept filled and this is my first time taking it and will be doing 5mg each day in the morning.

 

Fish oil 900mg DHA, only thing that really matters here. 

 

I take 300mg Alpha-GPC in the morning, 750mg ALCAR in the morning, 100mg Picamilon in the morning.

 

I take Piracetam 4.8mg 2x a day daily. Noopept 10-15mg 2x daily. I just got my Noopept and have only used it once so I am new to it and not sure if I will use it or not. Haven't used it today, I will add it in tomorrow and judge from there.

 

B6 and Magnesium in the morning.

 

Ok now for my nighttime routine...... 

 

I take 4.5mg Naltrexone EOD at night. I would like to do this each night but and running low so am stretching it out and probably won't be able to order some more until later. I think I have like 10 or so more doses left. But when I do I will be using it every night.

 

Galantamine 4mg each night. 100mg Picamilon, 300mg theanine(might have to drop this dosage not sure how it reacts with Selegiline, will do research), 3g taurine, b6/magnesium/zinc/calcium and 250mg Cdp-choline.

 

I have been using most of this stuff daily but the new addition of Aricept, Selegiline and Noopept kind of change things a bit. 

 

Any ideas if this combination of stuff should be safe to take? Or any advice would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Andrew 

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.

ok this sounds great... i will get it done too..

 

where should i post them too ?

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.

The precaution is simply dont do drugs. No magnesium or anything else can prevent hppd from striking.

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

I'd be interested to be in the study however I don't have $99 to get the test kit as I cannot work and am broke

The only other thing that concerns me is, seeing as many of us have gotten hppd from all different kinds of drugs which may alter different pathways in the brain etc not sure how we could all share similar mutations u know..

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.

U have to mention Justin Bieber than u might get a response..

Waste of time imo

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...

It's nice to get a diagnoses but it would be nicer to get an exact clear explanation in regards to what specific area of ur brain is being affected or malfunctioning and why.. It would be the nicest feeling for a specialists to sit down with you and clearly explain what has happened knowing the proper protocols that work with exact antidotes for solutions.. Furthermore maybe they could explain what components are lacking certain chemicals and elements with a plan to fix them.. Instead of just guessing all the time with mask conventionals for anti-psychotics or anti-seizure type ball park solutions.. I feel personally we need to figure out the specific areas that have been torn or damaged understand the correlations between the anatomical structure, pathology, nervous system, etc and their supporters exactly why they are not operating correctly. Time is of essence but so is death.. I hope the hyperspace button gets pressed here soon because I'm becoming an old fart..;O)

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/

I do see your point syntheos, however the question remains... After visiting these numerous specialists, are you any better off ?

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.

Having some quack acknowledge your disorder won't do shit for you.

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.