Syntheso

You are right, doing coke is a terrible idea.

I realize it, and I'm not denying it.

Going through HPPD has entirely made me away that I'm predispositioned for lasting negative effects from drug use.

I know I am not invincible, and I already have learned the hard way.

Different people have different things that trigger their HPPD up.

 

My point of saying that I've done cocaine was merely to imply that my brain isn't in some fragile state anymore.

I do not advocate using any types of drugs, I even suggest people stay away from nicotine and caffeine, as that used to cause me issues.

 

Bottom line, I was able to recover from serious HPPD issues.

Whether or not I'm a dumb fucking piece of shit is another topic

 

I think you got out lightly.. five months is nothing man! If you really learned the hard way I am sure you would have a different attitude towards hard drugs.

 

If you want to do cocaine, that's your choice. I'm happy you're better. But if that's all you want to take from your experience, I suggest it is a shame. You would think having HPPD, even for only 5 months, would be enough to impart someone with the idea that health and clarity are so much more desirable then quick fixes and more gambling with your already damaged brain. All it takes is one night where you get a bit drunk.. take a bit too much cocaine. I guess you have to take what you want from your experience though. 

 

Saying things like 'cocaine is irrelevant to [my] HPPD' should be brought into question. You have a responsibility in what you write. Someone vulnerable and likely to abuse drugs again might read that and convince themselves it is okay to use cocaine ("if it's okay for him, it will probably be okay for me"!). Even if you don't explicitly advocate doing cocaine again, the fact that you are willing to do cocaine again and imply it in what you write is negative to a recovery board.

 

Wish you all the best. Really hope you don't end up back here, but if you do, I will tell you that I told you so.

Hi I am still figuring out how to meditate, do you have some examples on youtube which i can look?

I am still having all of my symptoms from start, its exhausting me. I want to lay in my bed, but i know if i do that i would get crazy from all thoughts. Also have problems with cognitive part of hppd, my whole day is about hppd and how o resolve it. Thinking about pills i want to test, wheter i should take another docter.

I have no second rest in my body and mind, unless im asleep. Which i do alot.

My hope is what they say "Time is a healer" I eat good enough i think, lots of fruit and veggies, though my hunger feeling is gone..

I haven't had a look on youtube. I was lucky enough to have a holistic careworker who did mindfulness meditation with me whilst I was receiving psychiatric treatment (on the NHS!). Also I am lucky because my mum's partner is a fantastic psychologist, so we have been doing some sessions tailored for HPPD. They use mindfulness meditation in CBT.

If it is available to you, I would recommend practicing mindfulness meditation with a cognitive behavioral therapist who is interested in your case. If not, there are lots of meditation classes around the Western world (presuming you live in the Western world) nowadays. Just google it and see what's around you. You might even be able to find some free classes (often the proper Buddhist ones are free). If not, I am sure you can find stuff online.. just rummage through youtube and see what works for you. Mindfulness meditation is a good start.

Stuff for pain relief would also be useful.

Most people with HPPD find meditation difficult due to CEV's. You are not trying to get rid of them.. not even necessarily make them calm down. You cannot get rid of them because there is an underlying neurological dysfunction. What you can do is change the way you respond to them. 

The idea is to just 'perceive' them, and not judge them. You are just witnessing them. This is difficult because if you tell someone not to think about elephants... you're thinking about them, aren't you?

So there are techniques to help you achieve this. One is thought labeling. When a thought pops into your head label is, past, present or future. Past: 'that dinner was good' or 'I think I upset Anna last night'. Future: 'I have my English exam next week, yikes'. Judgement: 'my visuals are really intense'. When you respond like this, the thoughts seem to just evaporate. After a while it helps them to stop coming in entirely. Although the full induction is really helpful and part of it as well, focus on breathing and relaxation techniques. The idea is to be fully involved in the present, but not making any judgements.

Someone asked the Dalai Lama whether he preferred one or another dish at a restaurant. He responded 'I am Buddhist. It is not in my interest to form a judgement. Each has its own merits' (paraphrase).

 

This is what we need to aim for with the visuals. They are part of our life. The idea is to be at peace with them. In doing so, they will become less noticeable and present. 

I actually find that the deeper I fall into meditative trance, the more and more intense my visuals get. They get really intense actually. But they become less problematic the more intense they get. This is because the further my focus is attuned, the less value that is ascribed to them. This is just 'witnessing' them. And after sessions when you can do that, you do think about them considerably less.

Sitting around thinking about your HPPD all day is a negative thought process. It is negative thought processes that we don't want. We do want to have rational thought processes where we spend a reasonable, rational amount of time considering what might be our next move. But passed a point it becomes obsessive, anxious behaviour.

You do sound like you are in a very difficult stage, brain roaring and all that. Time will heal you though, and cognitive work well help. It is really difficult to do cognitive work when your cognition isn't working that well. But there's absolutely no reason why you can't give it a go and maybe surprise yourself. I am sure if you put a lot of work in you can see some benefits. Perhaps quite quickly also. All it takes is one 'breakthrough' and you realise what can be done.

Are you medicine free syntheso?

At this moment, yeah. Although I do have a supplemental regime. I am not too sure how much this helps, but in theory it should. Practicing cognitive techniques daily helps/is essential for me. Mindfulness/meditation. Stuff designed for chronic pain relief is useful. CBT for chronic pain, hypnosis for chronic pain etc. It is important not to let the visuals themselves cause psychological distress, which in turn can cause depression, anxiety, lethargy, feelings that you can't do it (when you might be able to if you have the psychological facility) etc. Exercise everyday is also essential. I lack motivation if I do not keep it up.

How are you guys doing?

 

Hey Syntheso, I have seen u on here a few times I was a little inquisitive in regards to how long u have had this disorder for?? And what are ur symptoms?? If u don't mind me asking??

 

My experience with HPPD; around the age of 17, four years ago, I began experimenting with various drugs: LSD, mushrooms, MDMA, mephedrone, ketamine, methoxetamine, the 2c's, amphetamines.. more. I was particularly interested in the psychedelics. I only smoked weed a bit when I was younger and it didn't agree with me so was never really part of my life. I did have a few terrifying experiences on it though during this 'phase'. I probably had around 20-30 big acid trips, 10-20 shrooms and a good few of the rest. I did a hell of a lot, basically. I don't remember having one bad trip (except for a couple on weed, which was rare). At this time of my life I also was deeply depressed due to breaking up with my first love. It took me around 1-2 years to get over fully. One day - I noticed things were still moving. My friend told me about HPPD. It went around three weeks later. Did some more stuff. It came back. At the time I wasn't making good decisions.. anyway, one day, it stuck permanently. Came and went a bit. But then it became really bad and more permanent, more towards the age of 18 (three years ago), and I realised how much it was affecting my life. The last two years up until the last few months were horrible. I hardly went into uni, spent days sleeping; painful to be awake.. you know the story. Visually, I have visual snow, pulsing in the dark, floaters, CEV's (sometimes), I have experienced things pulse in size dramatically back at the worse times, also seen things turn into things like a school of fish swimming towards my face (after relapsing due to taking some mephederone). Used to have trails. I am not sure what else might be relevant.. if you have any questions, let me know 

Now I am almost symptom free, and that is how it stays except for after a night drinking. Visuals still there but getting good at not letting them affect my life. Worst symptoms were chronic lethargy, brain fog, cognitive dysfunction.

You?

 

 

If me doing coke is really what everyone wants to take away from my success post then fine.

Oh, trust me, I know it isn't wise.

But I feel like there is more to focus on than just that...

 

Thanks hppd24years for being constructive.

 

I'm still feeling pretty damn good, btw. ^.^

What do you expect? I think there is more for you to focus on than doing cocaine. This is a recovery forum for people who have lasting issues from substance use/abuse. You flippantly talk about taking more hard drugs juxtaposed by a 'success story'. The point being, if you continue hard drug use you will most probably no longer be a success story. It is really positive that you are feeling better, congratulations, but it is completely tainted when you say you are willing to throw it all away. What are your priorities? Is it to get high or to get well? You choose.

Part of resolving issues with drugs is also having a healthy relationship with them (if you are going to have one). Drug seeking behaviour is not desirable. If you are willing to dice with permanent 'fucking hell', as you call it, to get high; if you are compelled enough to chase a very temporary fix for chronic pain, suffering; do you really think you have a healthy relationship with drugs?

I actually find it very contemptible that you suggest I was being non-constructive. Perhaps you do not want to hear someone tell you that you should not take cocaine. But maybe you need to hear it...

 

I'm not trying to take your fun away. I still go out and party, drink heavily sometimes (which I do regret). It does negatively affect my recovery, but cocaine... particularly not a good move as it has a similar action to the responsible inducing drugs.

 

If you don't learn from your mistakes and other people's, what's the point, really? You obviously want to learn the hard way..

Will you at least respond properly? I feel that you didn't address the points made suggest escapism. I will do everything I can to get through to you. I wish I had been wise. Do you want to risk reviewing this post later on in life, in pain, wishing you had followed the words someone tried to get through to you? Being wise sounds better to me..

@China,

Thanks for the kind words! =)

If your HPPD has gotten better in the least I feel as though it will eventually all go away.

Is very slow and gradual, but it does fade.

I've always had floaters, which remained untouched by my HPPD. I've always known they were there, and I only really see them when I'm looking at a bright sky

And my tracers/trails are pretty much gone.

I'm assuming what I have left now is just what a normal blur is.

My tracers used to be very bothersome, when people would talk with their hands or use a lot of hand motion to describe stuff it would really fuck with me.

I don't have tracers that do that anymore.

When people talk with their hands now I don't have that happen anymore.

@hppd33

Coke is irrelevant to my HPPD, I've been okay with stimulants recently.

Weed, Molly, ketamine, or ANY psychedelic I am done with forever.

Anything that causes hallucinations or dissociation is 100% out of my life.

If you are nearly fully recovered, take that as your final warning: you are incredibly lucky. Honestly man, don't touch coke. There are so many of us who have had huge relapses due to coke/other stimulants. Perhaps those choices have caused lifelong illness when it could have been temporary. Since things seem to currently have been temporary for you, why risk permanency? So many people would wish to be in your position and give things a second shot. You are incredibly naive if you think, "Coke is irrelevant to my HPPD, I've been okay with stimulants recently". You sound like the kid that thinks they are invincible. You might subjectively feel that certain stimulants are not harming you, but you cannot be sure that they are not. For some people HPPD symptoms take a while to become apparent after ingesting a substance.

 

We can actually be objective about this; look at the pharmacology of cocaine. Albeit, quite different, it works on the same systems as LSD, MDMA. Seems quite relevant to me. If you are predisposed to HPPD (which you know you are), it will worsen it. That gate to your visual cortex has been opened. Serotonin (and a whole host of other things) will affect your HPPD. Not just affect it, we know that serotonin worsens/induces HPPD. You have the facts, now, what are you going to do with them? You feeling that it is okay to take certain stimulants has not objective basis. It actually suggests to me that you have an addictive personality (which I can relate to - so not trying to shame you).

 

I made the mistake you seem to be willing to make. I considered MDMA and other stimulants fine to use because they aren't 'hallucinogens' (though they can produce hallucinations) and I didn't notice any obvious worsening from their use. I carried on taking them after my HPPD set in; before it got really bad. It was this that made things permanent for me.

 

 

Have a serious think before you throw your fortune away.. you are making a life decision.

 

(sorry to be harsh, but this is why we are here on this forum... everything is said with love and your best intentions considered. I wouldn't want anyone to live with this permanently if it can be stopped)

The Relation Between Migraine, Typical Migraine Aura and "Visual Snow"

 

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To assess the relationship between the phenotype of the "visual snow" syndrome, comorbid migraine, and typical migraine aura on a clinical basis and using functional brain imaging.

BACKGROUND:

Patients with "visual snow" suffer from continuous TV-static-like tiny flickering dots in the entire visual field. Most patients describe a syndrome with additional visual symptoms of the following categories: palinopsia ("afterimages" and "trailing"), entopic phenomena arising from the optic apparatus itself (floaters, blue field entoptic phenomenon, photopsia, self-light of the eye), photophobia, nyctalopia (impaired night vision), as well as the non-visual symptom tinnitus. The high prevalence of migraine and typical migraine aura in this population has led to the assumption that "visual snow" is caused by persistent migraine aura. Due to the lack of objective measures, alternative diagnoses are malingering or a psychogenic disorder.

METHODS:

(1) The prevalence of additional visual symptoms, tinnitus, and comorbid migraine as well as typical migraine aura was assessed in a prospective semi-structured telephone interview of patients with "visual snow." Correlations were calculated using standard statistics with P < .05 being considered statistically significant. (2) Areas with increased brain metabolism in a group of "visual snow" patients in comparison to healthy controls were identified using [18 F]-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography and statistical parametric mapping (SPM8 with whole brain analysis; statistical significance was defined by P < .001 uncorrected for multiple comparisons).

RESULTS:

(1) Of 120 patients with "visual snow," 70 patients also had migraine and 37 had typical migraine aura. Having comorbid migraine was associated with an increased likelihood of having palinopsia (odds ratio [OR] 2.8; P = .04 for "afterimages" and OR 2.6; P = .01 for "trailing"), spontaneous photopsia (OR 2.9; P = .004), photophobia (OR 3.2; P = .005), nyctalopia (OR 2.7; P = .01), and tinnitus (OR 2.9; P = .006). Typical migraine aura was associated with an increased likelihood of spontaneous photopsia (OR 2.4; P = .04). (2) After adjusting for typical migraine aura, comparison of 17 "visual snow" patients with 17 age and gender matched controls showed brain hypermetabolism in the right lingual gyrus (Montreal Neurological Institute coordinates 16-78-5; kE  = 101; ZE  = 3.41; P < .001) and the left cerebellar anterior lobe adjacent to the left lingual gyrus (Montreal Neurological Institute coordinates -12-62-9; kE  = 152; ZE  = 3.28; P = .001).

CONCLUSIONS:

-Comorbid migraine aggravates the clinical phenotype of the "visual snow" syndrome by worsening some of the additional visual symptoms and tinnitus. This might bias studies on "visual snow" by migraineurs offering study participation more likely than non-migraineurs due to a more severe clinical presentation. The independence of entoptic phenomena from comorbid migraine indicates "visual snow" is the main determinant. The hypermetabolic lingual gyrus confirms a brain dysfunction in patients with "visual snow." The metabolic pattern differs from interictal migraine with some similarities to migrainous photophobia. The findings support the view that "visual snow," migraine, and typical migraine aura are distinct syndromes with shared pathophysiological mechanisms that need to be addressed in order to develop rational treatment strategies for this disabling condition.

 

 

 

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24816400

This is the new one; http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/head.12378/abstract

 

The hypermetabolic lingual gyrus confirms a brain dysfunction in patients with “visual snow.”

This is what they say on their website now: "23andMe provides ancestry-related genetic reports and uninterpreted raw genetic data. We no longer offer our health-related genetic reports." Would doing a genetics test with them still be useful?

My interpretation of this is that they probably test the same SNP's (raw genetic data) but just do not have an interface that gives you health-related reports through their website. You would still be able to access such information through promethease. My guess is they probably removed it due to some legal concern, maybe the FDA had something to say. All we need is the raw genetic data; we are interpreting it ourselves. So, yes, it should be as useful. BPC will get his results soon to confirm.

Antiglucocorticoids in psychiatry

 

Abstract

Significant evidence has accrued suggesting that the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis plays a role in some psychiatric disorders. This article reviews the physiology of the HPA axis, evidence of dysfunction in this axis in psychiatric illnesses and the role that this dysfunction might play in pharmacological treatment resistance. Future therapeutic strategies that may potentially arise from these researches are briefly outlined.

 

 

 

 

http://apt.rcpsych.org/content/15/4/242.full

+

 

 

Antiglucocorticoids, neurogenesis and depression.

 

Abstract

Recent evidence suggests that antiglucocorticoids, like conventional antidepressants, may recover depressive symptoms by boosting hippocampal neurogenesis. Here, we explore several possible antiglucocorticoid-based antidepressive therapeutic strategies. Firstly, we review specific glucocorticoid receptor/antagonist interactions. Secondly, we discuss a potential new therapeutic target, doublecortin-like kinase, which regulates glucocorticoid signaling in neuronal progenitor cells.

 

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19200029

Curious.. has anyone given lithium a go?

Any progress with the glasses?

HPPD is very rare amongst psychedelic drug users. Probability suggests you will not get HPPD; unless you happen to be one of the unlucky few, like us. Taking drugs is always a gamble, especially with these very powerful 'mindbending' drugs (I think most of us here strongly feel our minds have been bent).

Everything varies; some people get it off one trip, some, like myself, get it after 40+ trips. Some, don't get it at all (as Visual notes, Ozzy Osbourne). Some get it from antibiotics, some get the same symptoms without taking drugs at all.

You cannot really quantify what constitutes a dose solely in terms of number of tabs/weight of [x] compound because potency varies so much. All you can assume is that more of [x] is going to be more powerful than [x] alone, assuming it does actually have a psychoactive effect. Do not make the assumption that one tab is a low dose. Back in those days, I had some of my hardest trips off 1 tab, little to nothing off four. If you are going to do it, make sure you know what you are buying and stay on the safe side. I cannot recommend that you do or not take drugs. You have to make that decision yourself - you are aware of the risks (part of the fun of life is making those decisions). I did not know about HPPD till after I got it. Would it have changed my mind? It wouldn't have done, to be honest. It is very difficult to imagine the reality of HPPD without having it. It is as unbelievable as the positive experiences you can have with these substances. Simply; If you want to make sure you don't get HPPD, then do not take psychoactive drugs, otherwise, you know it's a gamble: just hope it pays off.

It is quite impressive to see someone asking sufferers of HPPD their opinion before taking substances. You clearly care a lot about your health, which is good.

Wishing you all the best, whatever you do with yourself.

It depends if you want to risk having it for another five more years...

There is no deadline (not now at least). The quicker we move, the quicker we can achieve something. I suppose there is no rush, considering how long some of us have had HPPD. But - the process is going to take some time anyway. The quicker, the better! It would be great to see some people jumping on this

This is an encouragement to have your genes tested. To familiarise yourself with the basics of genetics, you can watch this video playlist: 

The proposal is simple; get a sizeable amount of us to have our DNA tested and compare the results to see if we share any unusual mutations, compared to the population. Hopefully some patterns will emerge. Eventually, we hope this will lead to formal research.

Visual and I have recently had our genes tested by 23andMe. Visual is in the process of creating a simple program that will read a list of SNP's (single-nucleotide polymorphisms) we are interested in (those that are implicated in certain brain disorders, for example) and compare the variations of each participant for these SNPs. We have already tested a basic version of this program which does this in a simple form. There are some more complicated stats things that need to be accounted for before it is useful. Also, it needs to work in correspondence with a survey, as HPPD symptomatology varies vastly between individuals. 

What we need to make this program more useful is more results: more people with HPPD having their genes tested. This is where you come in. If you can afford it, please consider joining us. The cost is only $99 + shipping to have your DNA tested and takes a few minutes of your time (swabbing your mouth). Once done, the data can be useful for centuries. For the sake of continuity, and I think it is the best value for money, please go with 23andMe.

Irregardless of this initiative, it should hopefully be interesting for you to have your genes tested on a personal note.. looking at your ancestry, personality traits etc.

We can obviously not guarantee that this will lead to anything official or produce anything conclusive, but it will certainly give us the ability to compare our genes and it is a step in the right direction of understanding the pathology of this disorder.

Please let us know as soon as possible if you will be taking part. We hope to get at least 32 participants to make this statistically useful. 100 people would be great. Also, relatives/friends with similar/same drug experiences and do not have HPPD are also very useful.

Am sure Visual will chime in to explain things better than I can.

Thank you,

PS: Credit for this initiative goes to Visual. I am helping get the ball rolling and some footwork.

I agree. Hopefully some more people on these boards get some testing done. The only potential problem I can see is how vast HPPD symptoms seem to be, and thus maybe we would all have some different SNPs and what not; though then again, maybe there are some key SNPs/genetic variations/transcription factors that can produce multiple symptoms/phenotypes. That's all pure speculation, though.

 

Going to check the epigenetics thread - I've yet to do that.

Visual and I have been talking about that. A survey will be needed in tandem with the DNA results for this reason.

Have you heard back any more information on what this topic is about? 

If one has the money, I've spoken to some of the people out of the MTHFR group and some other functional medicine guys on facebook and they all recommend organic acid testing to give better context.

 

There's also this more extensive (and expensive) genetic testing source.

 

 

Interesting, there's definitely a lot of research that will be needed to be done then haha. Really eager to get my results. 

I'll look into that. It is important to note that 23andMe does not map your entire personal genome (3 billion genome base pairs). It reveals information about what are arguably the most important 1 million snips of your DNA, which is supposed to be quite telling.

The 23andMe results are exciting.. but the info is not going to be very useful until we have quite a substantial number of us with results to compare. When you put the results into promethease, you'll find loads of SNP's that give you a higher risk of Parkinson's, schizophrenia, OCD.. etc. It won't become apparent which ones (if they are covered by 23andMe) are potentially worth delving into until we have collective data.

Before we branch out to other services that map more of our genome, we should see if 23andMe does the trick, considering the SNP's it covers are considered to be important. This because 23andMe is quite affordable. Let's see what it can tell us first, and to reiterate, that will only be apparent when we have more of us with results.

Do these tests cover OPRK1? Or whatever the hell expresses Dynorphin and KOR? I'd be down for testing that specifically. (not very knowledgeable on genes myself)

I get SNP results when I search for the OPRK1 gene.

There is also Nutrahacker which you can pay for.

I am in the process of cataloging my variants of these SNP's.

http://www.snpedia.com/index.php/Dopamine/all

http://www.snpedia.com/index.php/Serotonin/all

http://www.snpedia.com/index.php/Glutamate/all

http://www.snpedia.com/index.php/GABA/all

Also other ones, such as those of the Arc and krox-20 genes which have been implicated in LSD use (see the epigenetics thread).

There is lots to do..!

Great, thank you.

There must be some more creatives willing to get involved out there. Activism is the way forward. Bringing fellow sufferers together in an event is also important.

X) It's worth a shot! I'm in it for better of for worse.

Yeah, I have a ton of free time since my parents pay for my food and rent...I'm scum, I know, lol. I just really want to cure myself before I go back on the job hunt! Before you fast, make sure you have at least 2 weeks where you can do a whole lot of nothing, and be warned, it's extremely fucking boring lol.

We're all just grains of sand maaaan. And life, life is the beach maaaan. XD haha

Oh, don't be fooled, I'm still mostly supported by my parents! Absolutely. Healing is your priority.. remove as many stressors as you can, whilst you can.

Thanks for the tip. I presume you cannot really live a normal day-to-day life when you are fasting, then?

 

See you on the other side, soul sister.

"All dat hippy shit" XD that made me smile for some reason. Probably my inner hippy rearing his dirty ass head.

That is very interesting! The brain is a perplexing paradox indeed. I would concur on the temporary visual snow treatment as a sort of way to fight excited visuals with excited visuals, if that makes sense. I really don't understand why sensory deprivation is a double edged sword of sorts though, I'll need to read the article posted and do a little more research on the topic, but I feel as if it would benefit people with hppd. Don't quote me not this, but it's been said that our brains are over-excited, and it's also been said that people that deprive one of the senses, finely tunes the others, as a way to know what's going on in the world around them. Back in high school I had this substitute teacher that was blind as a bat, yet would tell people to put away their phones, because he could hear them tapping on the screens (I phones mind you, no noisy buttons). He was like some kind of superhero. Perhaps cutting off sound stimuli would better enhance vision. In contrast, perhaps cutting off visual stimuli would decrease the excitation in the visuals. Idk, it's all very confusing. Honestly, I truly want to electrocute myself, in hopes that it rewrites my brain back to normal lol. Think I've been reading too many comic books. I really want to give sensory deprivation a shot, and will probably do so if my next attempt at fasting doesn't go as smoothly as I want it too. I really like this method of combat against hppd. No pharmaceuticals, just straight up relaxation and mind over matter.

Yeah I really like your approach! Forcing your brain to adapt through its own natural mechanisms by withdrawing certain external influences seems more likely to cure HPPD than adding things.. that or things will get much more worse, hah

I would love to try the sensory deprivation but my schedule doesn't allow me at the moment. I might be able to give fasting a try though.

Yeah, we're all f'ing hippies at heart

Supplementing magnesium would be a good idea for this, I think, it relaxes the nervous system, and in turn muscles.

NaturalStacks' magnesium product is a good one if you can afford it - three types of magnesium, two highly bioavailable and one (MgT) that crosses the blood-brain-barrier readily.

I didn't watch the video, which may answer this question, but do you think that blindfolding yourself for a few days would essentially relax the visual cortex? I don't really have CEV's, just some static I notice if I keep my eyes closed too long. I know your visuals are always processing information, but perhaps keeping blindfolded would give your brain time to recuperate and re-encompass pre-hppd sight?

Actually, the claims you pasted from that Longecity member about fasting got me thinking about what sensory deprivation could do for HPPD - would it allow the brain to rewire itself in the same way that that person claimed fasting causes your brain to rewire itself. I haven't looked into it, but the first thing that came to mind was Charles Bonnet Syndrome, whereby blind people begin to experience visual hallucinations. It is theorized that the brain does this to make up for the lack of visual stimuli. So, potentially, sensory deprivation could worsen things. Maybe it could make things better - the brain is funny.

The thread about temporary visual snow treatment seems to indicate that more excitable visual stimuli, in correspondence with our visual distortions, is more efficient at ameliorating symptoms.

(Edit: lol... http://www.wired.com/2009/10/hallucinations/ )

I generally agree with the OP's theory, and I quite like the analogy. In my vision therapy classes, when I am not able to complete an exercise ('perceiving incorrectly' - my term), my teacher will prompt me to relax, or breathe properly; this often allows for the correct perception. It is something that is reiterated throughout vision therapy training.

How do we relax? Meditation... yoga (studies show it releases up to 30% more GABA), listen to music. I quite like herbal teas to relax. I recommend the Yogi Tea Calming/Relaxed Mind teas (also their super antioxidant tea). They have lots of good ingredients with studies behind them. Baths (with epsom salts/magnesium flakes if you can), candles, incense, all dat hippy shit.

Second edit:

From the article above...

 

“It appears that, when confronted by lack of sensory patterns in our environment, we have a natural tendency to superimpose our own patterns.”

“Sensory deprivation is a naturalistic analogue to drugs like ketamine and cannabis for acting as a psychosis-inducing context,” Mason wrote, “particularly for those prone to psychosis.”

 

 

 

“There are claims that schizophrenic patients paradoxically find that their psychotic symptoms such as hearing voices are improved by sensory deprivation,” Mason wrote, “though the evidence for this is very long in the tooth indeed. What happens to people who already hear voices when in the chamber?”

 

 

Interesting!