Sam93

No worries mate, yeah it's really interesting and thorough. As for the cost goes, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post this but I have an electronic copy that could potentially find it's way to you. Haha it's ok, I feel a bit hazy today too! Getting over the residual effects of that damn migraine with aura. So none of the stuff you took from last night helped at all then? And I can't say I've ever heard of zombie weed haha.

Oh, by the way, I really recommend the book 'The encyclopaedia of psychoactive plants' It's really easy to digest when you're a little fogged out and has a complete A-Z of known Psychoative plants, and goes into great detail about them and lists the title of the plant, then breaks them down into: Family Uses as Medicine Psychoactive Products (Pharmacology) Constituents (Alkaloid contents, what the active chemicals are) The psychoactive part of the plant and how to prepare Ritual use Preperation and dosage Cultivation Etc etc, although for each plant there's usually around 3-5 pages, it's really good, I'm on page 132 of over 4000 haha.

It's gone a way a little bit with 3 more doses of sumatriptan over the last couple of days, it seems to be almost gone by night time and then comes back in the morning for a few hours, it's also made the DP/DR worse but I read those can be symptoms of migraine anyway. Hopefully things die down a bit over the next few days. Thanks for the advice! When I saw those bright zigzags I thought I was finally ready to be thrown in a padded cell haha.

I was looking into this too but the serotonin and dopamine agonism put me off a bit, but hope it works out mate, all the best.

Ah I see, I didn't know it was that! That's a shame, yes it does sound familiar unfortunately haha! I just thought it was quite interesting and I have a tendency to post anything that sparks interest. Ohh I don't know, surely it can't be the fact the Pharmaceutical companies profit on Carbamazepine could it? I'd like to try it though, the fact that we don't really know the pathogenesis of HPPD is quite annoying as you don't really know which neurotransmitters, receptors, ion channels to hit/block/agonise/antagonise etc, aside from research and educated guesses. I'm trying to move away from the GABA A agonists a bit, while they do migitate symptoms HPPD is obviously far more complex than GABA dysfunction. Interestingly I took a 5HT1 agonist earlier and felt a little less spaced out. Ok mate, mine is too today, got struck with a migraine with aura! Fun times.

Just throwing this out there, there is a herb called water hyssop, which was able to almost completely reverse induced epilepsy and status epilepticus in rats. It also has anxiolytic effects and has been shown to improve general cognitive function in Alzheimers patients. I know I tend to put a lot of emphasis on the epilepsy - HPPD similarities, but of course HPPD is indeed similar. This looks quite good actually, it significantly outperformed carbamazepine in Epilepsy treatment too. http://gaia-health.com/gaia-blog/2012-02-28/common-herb-water-hyssop-reverses-epilepsy-treats-and-prevents-other-brain-disorders/

Yeah, the lettuce is nothing special really, I'd take a cup of Chamomile tea over it any day. Indeed I shouldn't think there would be any massive tolerance with Passiflora, and certainly not to the extent of having to double your dose every few weeks to sustain the same effects. Fair enough on the Keppra front. I did notice the study measured Keppra's efficacy of lowering the frequency of flashbacks, I'm not sure what that means at all, but it did seem to me to suggest more HPPD like symptoms than flashbacks, as I've never heard of anyone having brief flashbacks multiple times a day after ingesting psychedelics, it's usually either HPPD in the case of 24/7 persisting distortions, or a flashback every few months / years or so that are commonly reported after LSD ingestion. Furthermore, I have no idea why Keppra would help with the type of flashbacks that are distinct from HPPD anyway. Either way, it's not the best written study in the world by any stretch of the imagination. I just remember reading somebodies thread, copied and pasted from the old forum which gathered everyone's experiences with Keppra and it seems quite a few people got relief from Keppra, especially on the DP/DR front. I'm rambling now anyway, it's something I'd like to try in the future though. Yeah that study was conducted on over 1000 members of some tribe who all had multiple experiences of Mescaline (From Peyote indeed), none of which reported any symptoms of HPPD at all. I have heard of HPPD being caused by mushrooms as I believe there are one or two members on here that have mushroom induced HPPD, one of which cleared up after 6 months naturally I believe, but they do seem to be caused by synthetics. Lysergides and Phenethylamines in particular. What I have noticed is that people with HPPD usually had some element of anxiety during there trip, maybe this caused excitation in an already overloaded brain and, pardon my language, fucked things up even further. Who knows. Ah Kava does sound quite nice, especially with how long it lasts (up to 12 hours I've read). I've ordered 50 grams of Borogu Kava (supposedly with 30% kavalactone (sp?) content, the problem being I have no idea how to prepare it or dosages etc. Looking forward to trying it though which should arrive in a couple of days. They are expensive books I believe, but they're not my books, they're from family members who are herbalists and holistic types (educated hippies I guess you could call them haha!) Might be worth having a talk with them too actually, but I'll fish those books out and get back to you on that Yeah I'm still very devoted to curing this too, I think as time has progressed I have accepted it more and more, in the beginning it was horrendous and I would wake up every morning and think 'Damn, I've got another day of this to deal with?' but now I expect to wake up with it. It's a case of getting used to the altered perception, both visual and mental. The main problem I have is that I am constantly thinking about the symptoms (Am I still DP/DR'ed?, how's my snow today? etc) which stems from my obsessive personality I think. I have that mindset too, it's more counteracting the 'guilt' and 'shame' I feel for basically fucking myself up, I feel that if I'm searching for a cure and trying different thinks it makes me feel better about my HPPD in the first place, if you know what I mean. The worst part for me is I feel I'm missing out on living my 20's, and the longer I have to deal with this the more life I feel I've missed out on. What gives me hope is the long timers on the forum that are living pretty normal lives with families, wives, good jobs etc. I'm also praying for a natural recovery, however long it takes, like some of the lucky ones have been fortunate enough to receive! But yeah, we're definitely on the right track here. That's all we can do at the end of the day, try different things, document our findings and try more things! I agree that the list of recommended supplements is definitely lacking, and I think the herbs/plants routes might be a better way to go, there's only so much vitamins/supplements can do and there aren't all that many out there that would be beneficial to us, and the ones that have are listed anyway. To conclude my paragraphs of cognitively impaired rambling, I took a quick look through one of the books yesterday and found a few more anti-epileptic/sedative herbs and plants, I think there were about 20 or more, which I'll definitely post once I find them again. I recall reading about a particular herb/plant that seems to improve vision in the dark, I can't remember the name but that one looks interesting. At the minute I'm working on a word document with a list of all the herbs/plants/supplements/whatever that are LIKELY to help, with a bit of info on the pharmacology / active ingredients and my experiences with them when I do try them. As for the HPPD toolbox name, how about 'Arsenal of plants for the perceptually challenged' haha!

A couple of us have ordered from here but ran into problems and ended up getting refunds unfortunately, so I wouldn't recommend anyone puts any orders in :/ Thank you for posting though!

Yeah definitely don't smoke Skullcap, it made me very ill for a week and it's not worth the risk, just incase there's any chemical nasties in there that our respiratory system doesn't agree with. Ah that's very interesting regarding the opium lettuce, I've had good experience with Opium lettuce myself and never ran into any problems, in fact I still have some lying around somewhere. I smoke it sometimes mixed with Tobacco and it produces a subtle euphoria after a few rollies. As for the Passiflora, while it may bind to GABA A BZD sites, that needn't neccesarily mean it's not sustainable. I've took Valerian which acts on BZD receptors for months at a time and no withdrawals were manifested at all upon abrupt cessation. It would probably be worth doing a little research on any addictive qualities / tolerance issues to it however, but honestly I can't see it being too much of an unsustainable drug. There's a few herbs that work on GABA that induce reverse tolerance, and the real mechanism of action behind these herbs and plants is not well studied at all with very little literature available on them. I suppose the pharmaceutical companies are the big dogs though with their synthetic rubbish. That's a shame about the Keppra, however, in the study it said that 25% of patients were without clinical manifestations within 1-3 months and 75% after a year, so it could possibly be worth continuing longer if there are no ill side effects, after all, if you get free prescriptions it's only a couple pills to swallow. Yeah I can't see many herbs and plants being powerful enough, or for that matter safe enough in the dosages potentially required, to migitate visual symptoms. I do however think that there are many plants out there that are viable replacements for synthetics. Like you, I am not a fan of Synthetics apart from BZD's. A synthetic drug got me in to this mess in the first place after all so the hatred has grown haha. I think there's a plant out there that could potentially cure or mitigate the symptoms of most of the diseases known to man. There's thousands upon thousands of unresearched species of plant and it's such a shame that the pharmaceutical companies put all their eggs into specific synthetic classes of drugs such as SSRI's, Neuroleptics, Benzos, Opiates. I suppose it's much more cost effective for the pharmaceuticals to just push the drugs that are already selling well out there, than to spend money researching plants and herbs. Who knows, with a little research there may be entirely new structural compounds out there that could do all manner of benefit to mankind. Anyway, I'm rambling on a bit here so I'll leave it at that haha. Ah I'll have a look into those herbs, that's what I'm trying to do at the minute. Researching all I can and just basically guinea pigging myself and going through trial and error. Not that I'm wasting money, I'm researching into things that could have a good chance of relieving symptoms somewhat, whether it be anxiety, DP/DR, brain fog or whatever else, I'm making educated purchases haha. Can I ask what benefits Kava gave you? Did it reduce DP/DR or visuals at all? It seems to be very similar to a cross between alcohol and a mild dose of cannabis from what I've read, which I did enjoy back in the day. Yes I'll have a read up of Yarrow for you, although the index page is about half a book thick so I'll post when I find anything They're a variety of books but yes they're more medical/scholarly in nature, like herb/plant bibles! To be honest, my HPPD mindset has changed a little as of late, before I was in the mindset that I must cure this as soon as possible and I'm not going to stop until I do, but now I'm more of the opinion that I have it, it sucks, and I've gotta find a way to live with it as best as I can, and any treatment or cures that come along or that I happen to try are simply a bonus. I suppose you could call that 'acceptance'? Cheers mate!

Yesterday I experienced my first ever migraine with aura (bright blind spot and flashing coloured zigzags, the aura went away after 15 minutes and I have had the splitting headache since then. Has anyone else experienced this since HPPD onset and are they related? It shit me up quite a bit as at first I thought it was my HPPD gone crazy. I feel very ill and have had to take the day off college, sumatriptan (imigran) tablets aren't working either.

Haha, I may have been skipping parts earlier as I was at my girlfriends and on my phone, I struggle to remember what people have written sometimes, my bad! Yes, both Damiana and Skullcap would be excellent tools to connect to nature, I remember feeling much more connected to my surroundings after that cup of Skullcap tea. I have tried smoking Skullcap, but it burned my throat terribly and I had a cough for about a week afterwards, so not an experience I want to repeat. I'm going to definitely purchase some more though as for some reason I noticed a distinct lessening of DP/DR, particularly DR. As for the opium lettuce, the 'opium' only comes from the fact that it secretes a fluid which is similar looking to what opium poppies secrete, no opiates in there at all, I'm not sure of the pharmacology of opium lettuce but it was pretty relaxing with nothing much else. And yes I do believe the harmala alkaloids are MAOI's, although I believe there's several other compounds in passiflora that give it it's effects. It's interesting that some of the harmala alkaloids are hallucinogenic in high doses though! Here's some info I found on Passiflora: The active constituent is believed to be the flavonoid chrysin (5,7-dihydroxyflavone), which acts as a partial agonist at benzodiazepine receptors with micromolar affinity (34, 35). Animal studies have demonstrated sedative and anxiolytic effects of chrysin (35, 36). However, it has not yet been empirically tested in humans. One study showed antiseizure effects of chrysin on pentylenetetrazol-induced seizures in mic The authors proposed that chrysin does not produce the cognitive impairment usually associated with benzodiazepine medications.[2][1] However, oral bioavailability of chrysin is still very poor. So it's a BZD receptor agonist afterall. Yeah I've been researching herbs that improve vision on a neurological level, and also herbs that may be beneficial for epilepsy (as our condition is quite similar to various acute epilepsies, HPPD can be thought of as acute seizure activity afterall. Now I'm back on my computer I can't seem to find what I was looking at though, so I'll have to do some further research. I'm definitely interested in more natural treatments for HPPD though. I've yet to try Keppra, Sinemet etc but it would be nice to find a herbal remedy that aleviates some of the more problematic symptoms. I'm particularly interested in nootropic herbs and plants, been trying to find something anxiolytic but which also increases focus, memory and attention but I think that would be rather difficult. Kava definitely looks very interesting and I've purchased 100 grams, which I'm eager to try out. It's interesting that one of the main chemicals in Kava is a CB1 agonist so I hope it's not detrimental to visuals. It's great that you've found a herbal remedy that works however, especially something that is more effective than Benzos. I'm not sure of the addictive nature of Passiflora, or if tolerance/addiction would be an issue, withdrawals would be worst case scenario but I can't imagine those setting in without chronic daily use over an extended period of time. I'm gonna order myself some Passiflora tincture off Amazon (I prefer to drink things than smoke things haha). I have various big books on herbs/plants which I'm going to take a read of, I remember various herbs for epilepsy and visual problems being mentioned in there. Doesn't help that the books are as thick as a bible though but anything beats Clonazepam for now! The herbs that are listed as anti Epileptics are: Lobelia Chinese Ginseng Motherwort Mugwort Skullcap (Interesting!) Blue Valerian (Not sure how this differs from Valerian) Black Cohosh Kava was listed as a voltage-gated Ka and Ca channel blocker too. On a side note, has Keppra not worked for you then? Cheers!

Oh dear! Never mind mate, it happens to the best of us haha. It's all trial and error really, at least you know your sweet spot now. May your coherence return swiftly!

Ah that's great, it just goes to show that some herbs and plants really are alternatives to BZD's and such. I'd be interested to see what a passiflora infused tea would do. If smoked effects last upto an hour then orally ingesting it should prolong the effects by a few orders of magnitude I would think. The only reason I find anything sedating quite problematic is the fact that it is hard for me to concentrate or get engaged/interested in anything due to DP/DR, and sedatives seem to increase that effect.

Hey mate, Yeah, both my experiences with Damiana and Skullcap were post hppd. Damiana was a very worthwhile anxiolytic, but by less clear headed I didn't mean foggy headed, it was more like it devoided my mind of thoughts, I'd describe it as more 'peace inducing' than sedating, if you know what I mean by that difference haha. I'd definitely reccomend you look into skullcap, I only get decent results from high dosages though which I boil into a tea in the saucepan, it does seem to help DP, but beware, it tastes absolutely awful haha. I've also tried wild opium lettuce with good results too, smoked aswell as brewed. Your results with Passiflora sound fantastic! Since you said the effects only last 15 minutes though does that mean you're going to have to keep 20 passiflora cigarettes on you throughout the day? Haha. I don't know much about Passiflora's mechanism of action apart from the fact it contains some of the harmala alkaloids and other MAOI's I believe? I have great faith in herbs though, I always used to use herbs and plants medicinally pre-hppd, I was doing some research on herbs that improve vision and found a few, unfortunately I'm on my phone so I can't link to those. Passiflora seems to be living up to it's Oxazepam competitive title in your experience then, do keep us updated with your results On a side note, I can't wait to try some Kava Kava, I've heard very good things! And the fact it upregulates GABA A receptors is even more of a bonus. All the best.

So there's never really been a case of a SSRI improving symptoms to any clinically significant degree, I think I'll leave the St. John's wort then. I'd like to try these different things but there have been too many reports of permanent worsening of symptoms with reputake inhibitors, I know I read a members symptoms have been made permanently worse with Effexor, and Its quite clear Fluoxetine isn't beneficial to us. As for Passiflora its interesting that you found it more effective than Oxazepam, passiflora contains some MAOI's I believe and I don't think I've read any reports on MAOIs being tested in us HPPDers which is something I'd like to see. Yeah I was looking at positive alllosteric modulators, especially since Diclazepam is a PAM of GABA A, and while it is a benzo and not sustainable, it did relieve a lot of my symptoms and so this mechanism of action could only replicate that effect, albeit to a lesser degree, should I find any herbal remedies. I'm sure I read that kava kava upregulates GABA A, I'd love to be able to try it but unfortunately its illegal in the uk. Whether or not I could possibly get hold of some is a different story. Ill have a search and see what gabaergic herbs I can find, I've yet to find one that works on GABA B, the only substance I'm familiar with that works on GABA B is Phenibut (infact I had a dream I took some phenibut last night, crazy), however i have been interested in GABA-Bs role in visual processing, there was a study I was looking at but I'm too tired to understand it as I've just woke up : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1159966/ An, nice find on the L-Dopa, would you not need some carbidopa for it to be effective? Cheers.

Ok mate, have a good one. That's interesting though, if it up regulates GABA A, specifically subtypes a1, a2, a3 that should be quite beneficial.

Ah if you've not tried opiates ill try and explain in more detail. (tramadol is more of a stimulating opiate, and as for salvia, while it does bind to k opioid receptors its a far cry from your codeine, morphine opiates etc.) With Damiana I felt very relaxed, but less clear headed than I'd have liked to be, but no drowsiness or urge to sleep, maybe very slight muscle relaxation although it is a sedative so you will feel a little sedated as to be expected, I generally felt relaxed, calm and in the type of mood where you just want to get under a blanket on the sofa and watch a movie or something, it was very nice. Now, my experience with skullcap was profound, I was relaxed and in a good mood beforehand but I experienced a lovely tranquil state, no anxiety whatsoever, no drowsiness, just very very peaceful yet much more 'present' and more connected, I actually spent a good hour in my garden just lying back and looking at the stars after a cup of skullcap tea, although I did take around 4 grams which is quite a high dosage. I'd like to get some of this again as that experience beats any sedative experience I have ever had, Benzos included. Haha, very cool nonetheless, it appears us HPPDers have some sort of connection! Yeah I've checked that thread out quite a few times and tried some myself, none of which had any effect that I wouldn't call a very good placebo haha.

Hey mate! I still don't understand the stigma associated with SSRI's and HPPD, as I was under the impression there was nothing to suggest there was anything seretogenically going on with us, no overactive 5ht receptors and such, but I've not read much into the reports of SSRI's from our fellow trippers on the board. I was more interested in the dopamine reputake inhibition, and also noticed it inhibited the reputake of choline and to a lesser extent glycine. Passiflora does sound great, especially the study suggesting it was as effective as Oxazepam as an anxiolytic, I've yet to try this but I think this is definitely one for the cupboard. Any reduction of visuals or dpdr with your experience? As for valerian, I have found it to be a good anxiolytic and sleep aid in the past, pre hppd. It definitely works for me although my interest in valerian was mainly due to the search for a more herbal or natural replacement for benzodiazepines, maybe even a more sustainable treatment, but of course, I'm just weary of down regulation of my precious GABA A receptors. Thanks for the info mate, hope all is well.

I've tried skullcap and Damiana in high doses and they are wonderful for anxiolysis, I felt warm, relaxed and content on these, almost like a mild opiate high with no ill effects whatsoever, I'd highly recommend these. Coincidentally I've just spent a few hours looking up some herbs and plants on Erowid as an alternative to benzodiazepine use. I recall us finding the bunk Coluracetam product at the same time too, what a coincidence haha. Anyway, sorry to go off topic, can I ask why the lotus's and Lily's are a priority? I've not researched into those.

The magnesium should help a lot, it makes me feel calm (not sedated, there's a difference) yet more energised for conversation and concentration etc. it is also great for sleep and has reduced my visual snow.

Currently my HPPD 'stack' consists of a b vitamin complex, magnesium citrate, 1000mg omega 3 fish oil, and while these definitely help I've been looking for more. What I was looking at are: St. John's wort Seems to be a mild SSRI with dopamine and norepinephrine reputake qualities as well. A member of the forum reported that it helped with his depersonalization so I thought I'd give it a 2 week trial. Some info on its mechanism of action Hyperforin is believed to be the primary active constituent responsible for the antidepressant and anxiolytic properties of the extracts of St. John's wort.[9] It acts as a reuptake inhibitor of monoamines, including serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, and of GABA and glutamate, with IC50 values of 0.05-0.10 μg/mL for all compounds, with the exception of glutamate, which is in the 0.5 μg/mL range.[10] Hyperforin also inhibits the reuptake of glycine[11] and choline,.[12] It appears to exert these effects by activating the transient receptor potential ion channel TRPC6.[13] Activation of TRPC6 induces the entry of sodium and calcium into the cell which causes inhibition of monoamine reuptake So basically it inhibits the reputake of serotonin. Norepinephrine, dopamine, GABA, glutamate (not much) glycine and choline. Sounds quite good. L-Theanine While structurally related to the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate, theanine only has weak affinity for the glutamate receptor on postsynaptic cells.[19] Rather, its primary effect seems to increase the overall level of the brain inhibitory transmitter GABA.[citation needed] Theanine also increases brain dopamine levels and has a low affinity for AMPA, kainate and NMDA receptors.[20] Its effect on serotonin is still a matter of debate in the scientific community, with studies showing increases and decreases in brain serotonin levels using similar experimental protocols.[5][21] It has also been found that injecting spontaneously hypertensive mice with theanine significantly lowered levels of 5-hydroxyindoles in the brain.[22] Researchers also speculate it may inhibit glutamic acid excitotoxicity.[20] Theanine also promotes alpha wave production in the brain.[10] If you don't want to read all of that, it increases levels of GABA in the brain and increases levels of Dopamine in the brain, it may inhibit glutamic excitotocitiy and promotes alpha wave production in the brain (aren't alpha waves a problem in HPPD? I've took my weekly benzo so my cognition has reached somewhat of a decline.) Passiflora Passiflora as you probably know is a herbal sedative, not entirely sure how it works myself but in a study it was found as effective as Oxazepam with fewer side effects, source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11679026 Valerian root I'm sure everyone knows what valerian root is, a pretty common herbal sedative which contains various chemicals that have affinity for the GABAA receptor, so a similar mechanism of action to Benzos. Basically my HPPD responds exceptionally well to Benzos, and so herbs like these with benzodiazepine like mechanisms of actions may serve as a viable long or longER term treatment than Clonazepam. The study on passiflora being as effective as Oxazepam intrigued me. Any thoughts on these? Thank you and have a pleasant and not too visually distorted day. Sam.

I think mine was at its worst when it first happened, although it was an extremely sudden onset about a week after ingestion. I woke up and everything was fucked up basically, the night before it happened i noticed that something didnt feel right though. since then its got gradually better. Visuals have definitely died down but the static has got worse, DP/DR also happened very suddenly when I was in the shower one day.

Yeah I have no idea how to answer that question! I'm pursuing a career in Psychology, chemistry is only an interest!