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I´ve not smoked any weed for 6 years so I can´t give any answer on that. I still drink alcohol occasionally and I´ve not had any permanent worsening of symptoms. It does affect me a bit different than before though. After the first beer or glass of liquor I can feel very drunk a short while after. Then the drunkeness subsides after roughly an hour and I can drink a lot more after. Alcohol makes me temporarily feel more grounded (not feeling like I´m floating in the air) and it makes me feel a bit more "normal" in my psyche and thoughts. I get a lot of muscle relaxation aswell (my muscles are as tense as stone). I´ve noticed quite similar effects with various Benzos as well. When I sober up I get a HPPD spike and increased tinnitus, which lasts the whole next day. Then it always goes back to baseline. I´ve had long periods (6 months+) of complete soberness but have not noticed any decrease in HPPD at all.

I´ve had Zopiclone for a period of 6 months. I doesn´t affect HPPD in any way really, personally I think it´s crap since I could never fall asleep on Zopiclone alone. Don´t take it every day like I did, space the use some days apart. It´s not very addictive IMO, I tapered it for a week only and got off it with only a few days of mild abstinence and one completely sleepless night. No danger.. But it can make you extremely fatigued and lethargic after some months use. The metallic taste of Zopiclone is god awful too.. Try Zolpidem if it doesn´t work, it´s the only sleep med that has worked for me so far, and gives the least tiredness the following day. Or if you have milder insomnia antihistamines might work too, they´re not addictive at all. Though they can make you feel like a zombie the day after.

I´m male. i had strong, recurring attacks, My sister however has to perform injections to stop the attacks. Half´of her face gets paralyzed. Really intense attacks which comes several times a week.

She´s not alive anymore.. She said that the visual disturbances didn´t bother her, she was very used to it. It was unchanged through her life. From what I know there wasn´t a onset caused by vaccines or antibiotics. Though there is a very large frequency of migraine in my family.. Everyone have had it or has it. Myself included. There was a poll or something in the old forum which seemed to indicate that many HPPD´ers have experienced migraines. The step between them is not far. Actually, coming to think of it, the first time I experienced visual disturbances was when I had my first migraine attack (at the age of 15), though they always subsided after the attack. They consisted of static, photosensitivity and blind fuzzy spots. Stopped having migraines when I used hallucinogens, but they gave me HPPD instead..

She never used any drugs. It developed in her childhood by itself. The visual disturbances were static and pareidolias mainly. Which explains where I got my HPPD predisposition from. My HPPD developed in 2006 (I was 22) from my first oral hasish use, it continued developing for a period of about 4-5 months due to use of various hallucinogens in large doses. HBWR (LSA) caused the most of my current symptoms, and the PTSD and burnout I got after that period did a lot of damage as well.

You mean after the ingestion of hallucinogens? In that case, it broke out overnight. I got sober, went to sleep and woke up with the first stage of HPPD. Wished I would had taken it more seriously back then and ceased all drug use..

Caucasians seems to be more into psychedelics. Which increases the rate of HPPD in that group. There doesn´t seem to be a ethnic-genetic protection from it though. Take me for instance. I´m a mix of Swedish (Germanic), Saami (native), and Traveller (rommani), but I have severe HPPD. Which I inherited from my mother, who had milder (but quite similar) visual disturbances all her life. So it seems that any ethnic group can carry the HPPD genes, it´s more related to a familys hereditary background rather than ethnicity. What causes the genetic predisposition is a mystery though!

I think it may be both the drugs and the stress. Some of what you describe I recognize a lot, since it is how my burnout started. It was a combination of drug use (made me more susceptible), trauma which lead to PTSD, and too heavy workload and much stress at work. Then the burnout broke out. I remember how it was not only feelings of pleasure that were numbed off, but all emotions. Couldn´t laugh, smile, cry, feel sad, or feel any empathy. My world got flat and lifeless. I really think you should seek healthcare immidately since the problems just can get worse if you don´t. I regret that I did not seek care in good time myself (would have saved me a lot of torment). I don´t think your dopamine system is completely ruined, receptors will repair (slow though) and function will return in time with the right prerequisites (no drugs, less stress at work, good sleep and nutrition etc.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnout_%28psychology%29

Hi LarryC. I saved all "symptom description" pictures I could find on the old forum. PM me your email adress and I can send you the entire folder. What you´re searching for might just be in it.. I cannot post any picture here since I hit the upload limit trying to do so in an earlier thread. I would also like the pics posted in the "Gallery" section here in the forum, but I don´t know how to do. I think it is us HPPD´ers common property.. Maybe you can help, LarryC?

I´ve had HPPD for over 6 years now, no matter what I´ve done my visual symptoms have not improved at all. They periodically get worse and go back to the already severe baseline again, without any logic explanation. My acceptance of HPPD has improved considerably though, I really don´t care about the visuals anymore because I´ve had them for so long. It´s my "normal" vision now. I recommend using sunglasses when reading, driving etc. or any other environment which has strong light and contrast, as it will reduce eye strain and therefore reducing headache risk. That´s about the only thing which keeps the HPPD a bit steadier, I guess. HPPD is a disability, but as with most disabilities, you can still enjoy life. Like nuroeone said, don´t obsess to much about it. I know it can be hard in the early years with HPPD, but it´s a learning process and will take time.

I eat almost everything, meat, fruits, vegetables, bread, dairy products etc. I do go for more natural ingredients, such as honey instead of refined sugars and stevia instead of aspartame. I´ve become even more sensitive to food since getting HPPD. Lots of sugar and fat makes me feel dissociated and gives a "dirty" feeling in my body. But it doesn´t hurt to eat an icecream when it´s hot sometime.. Just not too often! And the same with alcohol, go out and have some beers with good company. Doesn´t cost you more than a temporary HPPD flare up the day after, if you drink seldom and don´t drink too large amounts. To feel joy in life is much more important than being to "correct" all the time..

Spinning spirals and flowing kaleidoscopic patterns. They are usually a mix of grey, orange, purple and blue. They can occasionaly be quite vivid, but the colors are washed out. I.e. they're not exactly beautiful.. :-) Most of the time I have an undulating, color-shifting mist.

I began getting sleep paralysis after HPPD, and I also got very intense dreams and nightmares. The most terrifying sleep paralysis I had happened like this: I woke up in my bed, and the daylight coming in through the windows was eclipsed. There was a shadow standing behind the curtains to the entrance of my room, babbling incoherently. After that the curtains opened and in came the most disgusting shape; a child-like, squatting, greyish and slippery eyeless and noseless thing. It jumped on me and uttered the most ear-shattering scream. I could only move my eyes during this time. I awoke for real in a puddle of cold perspiration, my heart and breathing were racing. Took a whole day and some benzos to calm down.. I have noticed a connection between increases in anxiety and probability of getting sleep paralysis. This particular sleep paralysis happened in a most distressful time.

Cannabis is what set off the first symtoms for me, and I´m sure it can cause a relapse if you get "cured". I quit all hallucinogens and cannabis 6 years ago (shortly after developing severe HPPD), and I can honestly say that cannabis was the hardest to quit. It might take a month for the physical dependency to fade away, and 6 months for the psychological dependency. I assume you´re still in that period, LardSpider, and the weed is still tempting you. Weed does not only affect HPPD negatively, but also causes quite strong cognitive impairment, makes your memory a mess, and makes you unmotivated. It also increases paranoia and in fact changes your personality and values. Found this out after almost a year after quitting, looking back on how I was and acted while I was (ab)using it. I would not want to go back, and lose my small steps of general improvement for getting stoned again! A lot of arguments to never do it again! And as Zukov said, you don´t want HPPD version 2.0!

I've used the most sleep medicines, I'm currently on the strong benzo-like Zolpidem. I think it's the closest you can come to triazolam. Zolpidem is also infamous for causing hallucinations. However, I've never had hallucinations from it nor has it worsened my HPPD. It just knocks you out.. There can be some retrograde amnesia with both Zolpidem and Triazolam (not remembering how or when you fell asleep). I say you should give it a shot. Only sleep meds of this strength helps against severe insomnia. Don't use them every night though, as tolerance builds up fast. And be sure to be in bed when the effects kick in!

I got my first symptoms in March 2006, when I discovered that hashish can be dissolved in cooking oil, for a much stronger and longer lasting experience. Mild HPPD came on after the first time I used this method, but I didn't know what it was so I kept on experimenting with even more drugs. The trip that made my HPPD go from mild to severe have to be the 10 high potent seed Hawaiian Baby Woodrose (LSA) trip that I did in April 2006. D**n what a potent trip. Very visual and intense. Long lasting too, 17 hours baseline --> baseline. I remember having a strange thought in the end of the trip that the visuals would be lasting for all my life, and it seems that is was partially correct. Got full blown HPPD. Still I kept using drugs though. Oil dissolved hashish mixed with chocolate pudding, hash smoked from pipes and bongs, Bromo-Dragonfly, Salvia, 5-meo-DIPT and a few other exotic drugs I can barely remember the name of. But it was a very traumatic experience in August 2006 with brought on my current disability. It caused PTSD, burn-out, chronic sleep disorder, panic anxiety, OCD to name a few. But it also made the HPPD go unbearable, especially the related disorders such as DP/DR, head pressure, odd migraines, feelings of unsteadiness etc. I spent a couple of years fearing for a total loss of sanity and hating myself for causing all this crap. Now I'm more accepting and calmer, but still have most of the disorders left. So there were a lot of factors which specifically caused my HPPD.. Sorry if it got a bit too long!

:lol:

I really like the taste of celery and since you mentioned it I read some quick info for it. It is a vitamin & mineral bomb! http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2396/2 Thanks for the tip, I'll add it to my diet! I think it will be great to eat with dinner. I get a lot more fatigue after training than before and I get a temporary HPPD spike. But after the fatigue & spike passes it feels good in the whole body and it is essential for mental well-being as well (anxiety reduction and increased self confidence). Can't give it up!

Use a good two step whey/caseine protein supplement with a complete amino acid profile (there are 20 amino acids). It's completely safe to use and gives noticeable increases in muscle building. Everything else is a waste of money and will likely do little or nothing. Caffeine in higher doses will increase HPPD and DP/DR so go easy on that one at least.

Good that it can help! For me it does absolutely nothing. I've been on Circadin (Melatonin) and Valdoxan (Agomelatine) (a kind of melatonin reuptake inhibitor). Melatonin is completely useless for me - it cannot put me to sleep. Valdoxan makes me sleepy but cannot make me sleep on it´s own. I do get clearer dreams from both though. You should not use melatonin supplements for more than 3 weeks straight, as it can knock out your body's internal production. Keep some space between uses - 2-3 times a week maybe. Valdoxan is more fitting for long term usage, and usually gives more noticable effects. Melatonin is the endogenically produced tryptamine sleep hormone. More endogenically produced tryptamines are serotonin and DMT - all vital for normal functioning.

I'm on 300 mgs of Wellbutrin XR (Voxra from GSK). It was primarily put in against my ADHD, to not conflict with HPPD which Ritalin probably will do. I had a lot of nasty side effects the first month, temporarily monstrous increases of HPPD (33% of an acid trip i.m.o), twitchiness, emotion supression. After that setting-in month, I felt great though. No mood swings, focused, organised, less restlessness, and maybe better depth perception and focus in the visual area. It even killed my nicotine addiction! It lasted for a few months. But all of the positive effects disappeared, so I got a dose increase (300 mg). Sadly Wellbutrin does not seem to effect me at all anymore.. And it was the best med yet for me! I'm back to square one with a scattered ADHD brain. And the nicotine addiction came back with full force. I'll try the max dose of 450 mg, and if it does not work i'll have to go with the HPPD-risky Ritalin. Possibly I'll also get Keppra to level it out a bit.

Wow Keppra sounds almost perfect!! My doctor wants to put me on Lamictal, but it seems to be second to Keppra in positive effects. I'll try to convince her to give me Keppra instead, qouting from what I've heard here if it's ok? I really get some hope back from reading this thread!

I've been training (anaerobic=muscle building) since 2002. I had my peak during 2004-2005 when I weighed 97 kgs all muscles (I'm 188 cm tall). In 2006 I got HPPD with all the problems related to it and my general health plummeted. But I did not surrender and still keep training. Still got muscles but some extra kgs of fat too (108 kgs now) but I'm on a good way of losing them with a better diet. I basically eat normal varied food. I use a whey/ caseine supplement which is generally better for muscle building than straight whey. There is a risk with only whey that it adds fat since the body cannot use all of the dose at once for muscle repair, and will convert the rest for energy reserves (i.e. body fat). A two step protein supplement, usually 25% whey (fast), and 75% (slow) will be active for a much longer time (5+ hours) and will be used for muscle repair and not get converted in the same way. It also gets better consistence and tastes better than straight whey. Go for micellar (milk filtered) two step proteines.http://www.articlesb...its-881365.html Gainer supplements are crap, they don't help much at all and tastes awful. Stick to less than 30 grams of protein per portion, most supplements contain around 25 grams, so it's ok. 30 grams is the general limit of how much the body can process per portion. The rest will clog your colons and possibly add body fat. It's possible to increase the protein dose as the muscle build hits a plateau, but not otherwise. Eat a plain bowl of oat-meal porridge ~2 hours before training. It almost supercharges the body which keeps the fatigue away and stabilizes blood sugars for a maximum time. After training: a shake and a fruit is optimal. But a good method of maintaining muscle mass and reducing body fat is: Quark http://en.wikipedia....rk_%28cheese%29. It tastes like yoghurt with a thicker consistence, and contains a lot of protein (caseine), almost no fat and carbs. A 100-200 gram meal of quark will keep you full for hours. It's an ideal replacer for lunch and evening snacks. Eat a lot of chili too. It increases metabolism, blood circulation and endorphines temporarily and is jam-packed with antioxidants and vitamin C. It "unclogs" the colon and is a super detoxer. And drink plain water, at least 2 litres a day. Follow the movement while training, never tug. Slow pulls with even slower lowering without stops is the best way to train the muscles. 4-10 reps per set, 6-8 sets per muscle and a maximum training pass time of 1 hour. 48 hours of rest for the trained muscle group. Go for a completely separate muscle group the next day. Only use the maximum amount of weight that you can lift correctly. If you only can tug it, lower the weight. Never overextend or overtrain your muscles and joints. All what I just mentioned will maximise muscle growth, keep injuries away, and keep body fat away. Well I guess this counts as natural body building. Hope my info is useful!

It is usually both. You had an predesposition of getting HPPD, and you triggered it with a hallucinogenic drug. Ask your closest relatives if they have visual disturbances. I myself found out that my mom had a milder life long form of HPPD (from birth, not triggered by hallucinogens), with visual snow, pareidolias, illusonary movement etc. My uncle has epilepsy, and has coming and going visual snow and auras around objects. My sister has a severe form of migraine, with all visual disturbances that comes on when the attacks onset. And here I am with a medically diagnosed severe form of HPPD, triggered by heavy doses of various hallucinogens. So yes, it definately seems to be hereditary predispositions for it. But it doesn´t have to imply that your children will develop HPPD or related disorders. Just that they´re more likely to. Especially with hallucinogen use. So keep them off drugs!