Syntheso

N.B I realise this is quite a simplistic poll (limited by the forum software). I am tempted to say only vote if you have tried a substance for at least 3 weeks because some may not have an immediate effect. But at the same time I would like to see what people have found immediately helps. I will look into making a more detailed poll outside the forum for people to access.

Thought it would be good to draw a profile of results. Let me know what I've missed. And also it would be good if you wrote some more specific info in a post. Best, S

For me a flashback is a distinct, sudden feeling reminiscent to tripping. It is distinct from the day-to-day HPPD phenomena I experience. Whilst my day-to-day HPPD is reminiscent of tripping, or contains elements similar (only visually, really) to tripping.. it does not feel like I am actually tripping or on a trip. But a flashback, for me, does. I have had two episodes over a year ago after alcohol use, going to sleep, where I suddenly felt like I was tripping on acid, months/years after psychedelic use. That for me is entirely different to how I feel usually with HPPD. For me, HPPD is not a continuous flashback.

For people in the UK, I recommend referring yourself to http://clubdrugclinic.cnwl.nhs.uk/ They recognise HPPD as a condition (they claim to have treated many people before me with HPPD/HPPD-like symptoms), have a decent understanding of it, welcomed studies I brought them, are willing to provide treatment if necessary and you can talk to them openly with not a worry. I've only had one appointment with them so far but it is very clear they are doing important work. I feel blessed to have come across them so soon in my HPPD life (well, if 2 years is short in comparison to some of your 20+ years!). The referral process took quite a while I should add, just be patient, they are clearly very busy! Best, S

Hello mate, how are you? I've been squeezing in as much reading when I can but have been / will be recording 12 hour days till the end of the week. One thing I got into reading with relation to your writing above is the often overlooked supplementing of manganese as well as magnesium in relation to DA. I also wanted to read some specific studies about Magnesium and DA but haven't got around to it. Unfortunately, I won't be able to continue the Piracetam trials because (fortunately) I have been prescribed Keppra and/or Sinemet :-) (side note: I will be making a post for UK HPPD'ers on this success). I have to do a 3 week control with no alt substances (inc alc if poss) so then after we can plot to see if they're working. I think I read you are doing the same?

How about you? I don't really remember to be honest.. I didn't have any bad trips. I only had a couple of bad trips after I got the disorder. I just remember stuff still moving around one day, researched it, found out it was called HPPD. It beame unnoticable after X amount of time, I continued tripping.. eventually it became more permanent and I realised how bad my cognitive function was when I eventually came to need it.

Thank you, that thread is already very thorough. Damn, you just gave me shit loads more homework (all good stuff)! I'll reply to that separately when I've gone through it (will be a while unfortunately). (aside) Mmm yeah, in a way HPPD has been a blessing for my music (emotionally).. when you have something to confront like HPPD daily, the emotional potential is enormous and venting that through an instrument or compositions gives you a force that can't really be practiced or taught. Okay, I can't hack practicing in a practice room for 6+ hours like many other students around me; a seriously good day would be 2 hours of decent practice for me, but it's usually 20 mins and then I'm in space. But, not to sound egotistic, but my more emotive playing (as opposed to technical) seems to lead me down a more 'musical' and acknowledged path.. Anyway, whatever I just said, put simply - yes, psychedelic use has made basic cognitive function extremely difficult... but, not to sound cliche - it has opened up huge emotional realms. Honestly, before I dropped some acid, I used to be a very temperamental arsehole. I severed a few brain cells and the concept of love that I cried about for hours after my first (of many) acid trips, stayed with me, and opened my mind. Call it cliche, whatever you want, but that is what I believe - my mind was opened up (but fucked up, at the same time). Huge tangent there. So, back to the topic- Ah, well it's good that you looked into things further (well, a few scrolls!) than me and saw that thread was a fake. As you will have noticed, I am not the most thorough of researchers (yet!) Well things have been worse since my dog's adventures (not unbearably though), you might have missed it in another thread. Visuals when in the dark looking up at fairy lights on my ceiling have been pretty mental (scholes of black fish swimming allover the bloody place!) - last two nights. But no effect on anxiety (not really been a big issue of mine anyway) or concentration (yet). As also mentioned, could still be the calm before the storm. And also, just after the dog's adventure I started the 4.8g of piracetam. So I am not sure if the madder visuals would have been there whether I had taken Piracetam either way. Anyway, despite what you present in the other thread about Piracetam appearing to be potentially unbeneficial to HPPD, I will continue for 3 weeks with the same dosing as mentioned above (I am happy to test even if there is a negative result, on the basis that anxiety isn't really a huge issue of minel). Two days on that dose of Piracetam and I haven't felt the spaced out/lethargy I suffered for ages, which initially I got over thanks to the recommendations of Modafinil and NAC. So as not to become dependent (specifically on Modafinil), I stopped taking that daily and am quite far out of the slump I was in (still not at full capacity though). Two days of Piracetam without Modafinil and I am just as functional. Wishy washy explanations but that's all I can really say so far. I will conduct the 4.8g piracetam daily for at least 3 weeks unless I do happen to walk away with Sinemet and Keppra on my first drug clinic psych appt on Tues. That's probably unlikely though. With regards to Choline... I take a a B-100 complex (Choline is contained in that?!) daily. I would have like to have spent more time researching and responding more properly but I am rehearsing/recording full days this week and it's nackering me! I will contribute as much as possible. Best, S

That is very interesting! I look forward to hearing further comment. Aside; I did a blood test recently for the same reason as you. I was interested in doing a catecholamines test, but they seem expensive and I wonder what value I would get from it.. have you considered that?

Ah glad I could contribute a lil something, since I've been getting so much value out of stuff you and others have written! And that you found that punny (even worse!) Yeah it will take me quite a while to do all the homework you gave me across loads of threads. Skimmed it all but looking forward to digesting fully. Really enjoying (pseudo)getting into neuroscience.. but simultaneously attempting to compose shit loads of orchestral pieces which is taking up time. It all flows together nicely though. Mate, with you- I definitely like to have a drink now and again. Doesn't seem to worsen HPPD too much to not be worth it for me. Besides, it is very difficult not to drink as a musician (when gigging.. and not I guess).. especially when sometimes/usually the fee is alcohol based On Piracetam.. mentioned briefly in the other thread.. I had a solid day today despite my dog's slip up, which I wasn't expecting.. thought I would start going insane. Could just be the calm before the storm. But yeah.. today, 4.8g piracetam, 20mg magnesium, 1mg l-tyrosine, vit b complex, vit c, fish oil. All good... I will be continuing that as a trial for a while to see how sustainable it is. Everything except for the piracetam has been my daily constant for a while now with 'something else' being tested on top on different occasions. So I have a control and will inform you if anything worthwhile comes of that recommended dose of Piracetam in the long run (one of the threads on Longecity also suggests that if you don't feel positive effects it could take up to 3 weeks of dosing before you do). Best, S

Oh and to add - at least I had a jolly old time! 80% of the time that I had done stuff since HPPD first came on I would have a negative time overall. So not horrific.

Yeah, with you guys, these things happen, and don't worry, dog not dwelling on it negatively, the opposite in fact. Could definitely have not done it if she really didn't want to... but she did want to.. was already so much sober love meeting up with some old old friends.. one knew the potential consequences of intoxication, but it was one of the best days of my (what happened to the dog?) life (for many reasons), so it was definitely worth it. Thankfully I don't really have anxiety issues. At least for me they are rare and only in social situations. I tested how bad my visuals were last night.. probably the worst I've ever seen them ever actually. I did deliberately try and see how fooked I could make them. Dark room, looked up at my ceiling where I could faintly see the outlines of those xmas light type things I have draped across my ceiling. Looked at them shook my head viciously back and forth to induce some sort of a repetitive lag that would develop (based on the idea of cereberal dishibition and afterimages).. if that makes sense. Shortly, the ceiling had a huge schole of black fish swimming all over the place. Then they started coming straight up to my face. I tried avoiding a few who came right up to my eye, but kind of laughed it out maintaining that I am just hallucinating so as not to have any anxiety at all. I rolled over and fell asleep straight away. Visuals today in the day haven't really bothered me that much. Worse than usual, but then they have never been that bad anyway.. except only in the beginning stages a few years back when I first acquired HPPDiddle. Functioned well today. I might put that down to my first trial with Piracetam and Magnesium supp. Probably also my seretonin/dopamine levels haven't swung quite down to the underworld yet. I like to think it's my positivity. Who knows?! Anyway, stay well, as always!

Yup, yup. :-(

Just thought I would add this. I am trying my first 4.8g of Piracetam today and conjunctively was doing a bit of research on the old thing. Came across this which is of interest with regards to your topic. On Piracetam... See: http://www.longecity.org/forum/topic/54394-piracetam-how-to-get-all-the-benefits-from-it/ I also only just discovered (somehow overlooked) that it is from that is a racetam like Keppra/Levitiracetam, which as has been iterated many times here as a successful HPPD treatment. I have read a few anecdotal reports here of people not having any effect with Piracetam as an adjunct to treating HPPD. Give this a read; and the above linked writing, maybe you can find it more effective. Anyway, I know most of you are leaps and bounds with regards to research and am pretty sure I haven't added anything you didn't know, but when reading the quote and myself using Piracetam at the same time I thought I should include it and contribute what I could! I will report back on my usage of Piracetam and see if it helps at all. Best, S

Bleh, my dog was doing so well (being sober other than playing fetch with nicotine, alcohol and caffeine), finding various stacks and lifestyle choices that helped her get by (a lot better she said-but not at all cognitively where the furry thing wanted to be) before her long awaited psychiatric appointment next week. So, my hound, she's called Fi-fi Rover, by the way, only went and met up with some old school friends.. didn't realise they had 5g of (high quality) mephedrone delivered to their veterinary hospital (my dog would like me to add it was very well sourced, and despite what one might associate with 'MCAT', my dog believes it's a lot safer than MDMA, though little scientific research has been done into it, and my dog would also like to add this was a more mellow buzz than feeling completely dog and boned). The young pup had a few free lines. Jolly good time she had. "F- it!" She was only young once she thought, and how she had been so focused and boring and not had that much fun for a while. But of course, the long nosed barstard instinctively knew there would be consequences, so she waits for the storm after the calm. But she has an internal love for the vibe of the moment, the concentrated peak experience is what she desires, though, she knows she can never desire such things. She contemplated and researched the specific poison before doing her doggy deeds in the morning, and most conveniently came up with some ridiculous justifications.. 'ahh maybe just getting some DA/5HT movement happening might encourage some long lasting positive effect' (wow, how bloody stupid!).. and, 'ah, well, even though a little pup like me speculates that low dopamine levels are the primary cause of my cognitive dysfunction.. woof, Fi-fi just decided that actually it's just the visuals that cause her dysfunction.. just need to remove them with some Keppra or summin' and I'll be able to do (a) shit, cause my dopamine's all fine'. Needless to say, the dog feels utterly stupid. Taking her for walks might entail stormy weather. So, I reiterate the importance of training your dog. Well, Simic has something to say about the dog. Stay healthy, unlike my dog.

Seriously rate you man! I'll respond to your points in some of the threads I started when I have some decent time to look through the homework you gave me. Keep it up.. (bad pun alert)... magggggnificent work.

Ps didn't really respond to a lot of what you said.. went off on my own trail of thoughts.. but again admiring your personal studies.. keep it up :-)

No need to apologise for the long post.. whilst being concise is usually held highly in intellectual dialogue, thoroughness is necessary (if possible)! Modafinil for me too, has been the first thing that has been able to kick my ass into gear and cognitively function remarkably more than usual (for fecking ages). But it doesn't quite cut it when anxiety comes into play (and only really helps my concentration/hypersomnia)... not quite all there though (still a bit spaced out)! What's the deal with you and the addiction clinic? Are you suffering some sort of addiction? Or is it just that they're 'drug guys' and understand that niche of psychiatry better than a generic neurologic/psychiatrist? I have my first psychiatry appt next week with drugs people and am really hopeful about it, the guy I have been talking to (another psychiatrist) has highly recommended the person I am going to see.. and they all seem to know about HPPD.. though from what I gather they seem to think the whole thing's largely to do with anxiety causing all these other symptoms and seem to be suggesting SSRI's, citalopram etc.. also Lyrica (I haven't really looked into).. I haven't read much about them but I am sceptical of their potential based on anecdotal reports here.. and I was on citaporam for 2-3 weeks and if anything didn't really affect me other than making me feel less anxious (but almost affecting a different sort of anxiety than the one I associate with HPPD, if that makes sense).. although, my lack of success with this could be because I wasn't on it for very long and apparently it lowers dopamine levels temporarily.. maybe you have to stick at it. Still not sure about the route though. From what I've read from people's experience with SSRI's.. and I think it's more than just an anxiety routed issue issue, not for me at least. I certainly perceive that anxiety can worsen the other symptoms, but I don't think it's solely an issue of anxiety.. for me anyway.. just based on that I generally don't feel anxious in myself (only very mildly, certainly compared to what other people have reported here).. yet my cognitive abilities are up the spout... I still speculate low dopamine (and possibly/probably seretonin levels). It is interesting that benzos really do seem to help my cognitive function... and have been known to really reduce my visual symptons when I took high doses with no tolerance (20mg of Lorazepam to be precise). Sinemet + Keppra is what I want to give a try. And perhaps a (apparently unique!) benzo like Tofisopam you mentioned. Like you I have an assortment of different things that I try at different times, under a control to see what works best for me. Also-sure this would have been asked before. A final point to my post and something I wonder about quite a bit... whilst some of these treatments we are looking into seem to be effective in the short term.. I haven't yet read research to suggest their long term effects (except for that the levdopa/Sinemet approach could higher the risk of parkinson's disease in the future, which already runs in my family, as it happen.. and I do seem to have restless legs syndrome...hmmm!). What I mean is.. whilst certain meds/supps may seem to help things for the time being, I wonder if some in the long run actually make things worse and perhaps there is a sense in that we should hack it (as unbearable as it can get sometimes) and let our brains try and recover naturally. Otherwise it might be a case of having to stick with and alternate with meds long term to keep regulating and balancing different chemical levels in our brain.. do you know what I mean ? By more immediately + continuously altering chemicals in our brain, we might be interrupting natural gradual permeant reparation that the brain could independently achieve... which in the long run might truly improve things more efficiently. I very much need to do stuff NOW in my life, so I feel if I waited years for everything to naturally go away it could waste a lot of valuable time in my younger life and so have a tendency to what to treat things immediately. But I wonder if that prolongs the condition in the long run, essentially forcing us to constantly need to control our brain chemically with medication. Not sure if I'm making sense. Thoughts?

Fascinating thread. Perhaps you already mentioned, but since you're willing to conduct your own experiments, why didn't you order some Keppra online? Because you want to be supervised by a professional? Also - what do you do for work/study/whatever blah blah..? Did you start enquiries into neuroscience after HPPD came on or have you studied in this area 'formally' (whatever that means)? I assume you were probably into reading about drugs + their effects before/when you started taking them.. I ask just because it's lovely to read your findings (as with many other members), you clearly know your shit.. and I'm curious as to how you came to the shit, ja?

You are wonderful! Thank you, thank you! I am just about to go and play a gig, I'll have a read through after and let you know if I have any questions :-)

Great, thanks. I'm currently using Modalert from United Pharmacies... seems to be doing the trick.. You did point me to Longecity but haven't got round to digging in! Ta! I was about to write a topic asking what articles would be good to take to the psychiatrist for that so cheers! I would like to try Sinemet as I think the reason I find it difficult to concentrate/feel spaced out/lethargic is due to low Dopamine levels. Also a benzo with long half life and not so potent like Klonopin. Benzos have been able to lift the fog out of my head and allow me to cognitively function (and once when I had no tolerance and did 2mg of Lorazepam - yes quite a dose, but I was feeling horrific- my visuals went entirely!). There has been a lot of good feedback for those on here as well. Lots of people mention Keppra but I haven't looked into that really. It seems to have more mixed reviews... Anyway particular publications on Sinemet / Klonopin you might be able to point me to? :-)

PS onedayillsailagain... what negative reports have you read of NAC? I remember coming across some things but I dismissed them as uncommon side effects usually listed with anything.

Thanks man. I do take the recommended dose of Vit C every day. Yes I am being cautious about becoming dependent on Modafinil, hence me not trying to use every day. But I have shit loads to do every day... I haven't checked out Sulbutiamine.. thanks for the recommendation, I will look into it. Initially when I had exams I was taking the 200mg Modafinil pill each day. Today I staggered it 100mg then another 100mg later to get my own work done. I know the best thing to do is go in with the smallest dose and work up. So I will try smaller doses and leave as many day gaps in the use as possible.. that's the plan anyway.. and to vary with other potential nootropics to alternate between... if need be. If I wake up not in a fog, I wouldn't pop a Mod for the sake of it. L-theanine was something I was going to look into.. I'll give that a try. Good news - drug clinic got back to me with an appt after ages.. so hopefully can have the help of a psychiatrist specialising in drug use :-)

As of today, NAC doesn't seem to be as miraculous as I thought (last few days did seem a bit too good to be true) with brain fog/spaced out seemingly to be almost unnoticeable (even before I added in Modafinil). Today, because I finished my exams yesterday and didn't need (although there was non-uni related stuff I did sort of need to do) to have anything done for uni, I decided not to take Modafinil when I got up because I don't want to get into forming any sort of dependency on it if poss. Anyway for the first time in quite a while (since I've been not experiencing the fog) I snoozed my alarm (which woke me up 8 hours after I went to bed). My mind was in that crazy haze again where I couldn't bear to get up. But I only got up 30 mins after it went off, as opposed to 2+ hours after as has happened many times sort-of-recently. Anyway, took all normal supps. 2,400mg of NAC I had left. Waited for the crazy haze to leave and it wouldn't after a few hours, despite going out for a walk, shower, etc. So I got some more NAC, took I think another 3,000mg and thought that'd sort the fog. But after a few hours felt so shit, like I had to sleep, so I did for a couple of hours. Anyway, a bit better but at the end of the day but I am still in the spaced out fog, visuals pretty bad. I was hoping NAC alone would clear out the fog, but it doesn't seem to have done the trick today. Maybe to do with the modafinil 'wearing off' (?) Now left in a pickle whether to try again with the NAC alone for a while or to take small doses of Modafinil as well to make sure at least I am up and awake. I do have lots of stuff to do so I might have to ask the help of Modafinil. But like I said I was only hoping to use that now and again.

Yeah modafinil has been helpful on days when I really needed to be up early + focus.. no lethargy.. but sometimes was a bit too scatty and thoughts were moving too quick that I couldn't actually really think about what i was doing clearly.. still more preferabe to the lethargy. Shame about the long half life, only a good idea to take it first thing. I will be trying Piracetam as an alternative soon. NAC does seem to linger indeed... quite remarkable... can't say i'm not noticing anything with the l tyrosine either.. i'll give some vit D a bash.. in what way do you find it helps? apart from the visuals.. everything seems to be going quite well at the moment. yoga and alexander technique seriously clear the grog too. best, S

+ by the way my stomach was alright on all that yday. Mild stitch pain for a bit but really not bad.