SomebodySomewhere

It manifested in terms of bizarre behavior. I started saying and doing things that were not in keeping with my personality, and I started having manic-like episodes. I ended up quitting it completely and refuse to touch it ever again. One thing I forgot to mention, is there was another strange thing that happened which I still don't understand. It was like I'd sometimes temporarily lose control over my own limbs, like they had a mind of their own. It was really freaky and scared the shit out of me.

*Edit* I had originally said why'd you post three times, now I know it's a bug. That site is worth looking into. Thanks.

I used CBD for a while, at first as capsules, then smoked hemp flower. Like @rlopes said, it does have trace amounts of THC in it, and sometimes it would make me feel pretty weird so I stopped using it. Two other things about it that could be problematic: now that researchers have been able to study it, they're finding it interacts with a lot of medications. There was also a CBS News 60 Minutes special in the U.S. some months back about how although CBD is a miracle drug for many people, for many conditions, they found that all of a sudden, out of nowhere, CBD would quit working. Increasing the dose made no difference. I can attest to that, as my mother has Chron's disease, and was successfully managing her symptoms with CBD. Then one day the CBD just stopped working. She tried increasing the dose, in multiple levels, still nothing. I don't know why it does that, but it's another thing to keep in mind.

That's how I feel about it now, however after having had HPPD for years, and having told some people about it, from friends, family, etc. some people simply don't get it and can misinterpret it. I can easily picture a woman freaking out and thinking "You see things! Schizophrenia! Potential axe murderer! Ahhhhhh!" I'm exaggerating of course, but some people do tend to jump to the worst possible conclusions. There's also the factor of being judged harshly for past-psychedelic use (the types of women I like aren't people who use drugs and likely have limited experience with them, so I'm always careful when bringing up past drug use).

Your point about Effexor is a good one, I'll read up on it. I do feel like SSRI's and SNRI's need to be done away with, they need new alternatives for treating depression IMO. I remember reading that they want to use anti-inflammatory's for depression in the future, I'm not sure if any Phamaceutical companies are working on it though. 10 days and having softer visuals is a very good thing. Keeping calm is definitely important, anxiety definitely does make it worse. Keep sober, keep calm, and do what you can to be happy. You might be one of the lucky ones, we'll find out with more time.

@BillR If you don't mind me asking, what are your visual symptoms? I'm just curious because you're the only other person I've encountered that might have HPPD from this rare substance. I know when I tried it, it became available because people on this black-market drug message board I was on were asking if someone would make it, so two dealers started making it, after some Harvard student suggested it might be a safer alternative to shrooms in a research paper (fuck you Harvard student, not as safe as you thought...).

Hi, I'm glad things are going better for you. There are multiple things about your post that I find very interesting, but I'll ask questions later in case they have no impact. This is such a wise statement and it's so true. A term I have heard from the Autistic community is "Neurodiversity", in that, it's fine to have a mind that works different than normal (and what is normal anyway, I've never met a "normal" person). It can even have advantages. One thing I will say: please quit the pot. I haven't mentioned this because I didn't want anyone to get a bad idea, but about four years ago, I got a medical marijuana card and smoked an insane amount of pot for about two years. I quit because I had multiple episodes that I realize now we're drug-induced psychosis, and luckily it wasn't permanent. It's your life, just be careful, especially since I imagine HPPD might make you more susceptible to negative reactions (it took over a year before I experienced the really bad effects).

Fair enough, I wish you success.

Hi, Firstly, welcome. I hope you find any advice you need here. This forum isn't as active as it once was, but luckily we have a search button so any question you have about HPPD has probably been asked in the past. It can prove useful. I'd say the first weeks are worse in the sense of how terrified you are of the symptoms because you were expecting the trip to end, and it hasn't. I'd say wait a month, and then report back what your symptoms are at that time. The idea of an over-excited CNS is really a perfect description, un-medicated that's how I feel. I looked at your other post, and you mentioned photophobia. I notice that fluorescent lights are the absolute worst, is is the same for you? I'm just curious. When I first developed HPPD I'd avoid going to stores because I couldn't deal with the fluorescent lighting. I doubt the Effexor made you pre-disposed to HPPD, but I suppose it's possible. Getting HPPD from a psychedelic is like Russian Roulette, it's random, I haven't seen any hard evidence as to who is per-disposed to develop it. People have tried a variety of things for treatment of HPPD, but I don't want to bring any of them up because you said it's been a week. It might subside if you're lucky and remain drug-free. If it's been a month, then yes, medication/supplements should be discussed so you can cope better. I'm hoping you're one of the lucky ones and that this fades with time. Be kind to yourself, stay healthy, watch things you find funny, anything to improve your mental health is important right now.

I can't speak in regards to HPPD symptoms since I have those under control, but the mechanism of action of NAC could be of benefit. I'm currently taking it, not for HPPD-related reasons, but because I'm a recovering alcoholic and want to undo some of that damage, and because I want to go off of my Klonopin at some point, and it sounds like NAC could help there too. In terms of Piracetam, I took that before I had HPPD, for several months, and I honestly can't report any of the benefits they claim it has.

I understand the point you're making, the point I was making wasn't their safety profile, it had more to do with whether or not it would be safe in terms of HPPD. By your own admission, the subject is confusing, and it is to me too. I'm just saying maybe learn about the mechanism of action more thoroughly. Just because a drug is "safe" for most doesn't mean that's true for not increasing HPPD symptoms. Take SSRI's for example. Their effectiveness is questionable, but they're mostly regarded as safe....unless you have HPPD, in which case it can permenatly make your visual symptoms worse. I'm not trying to be disrespectful, I'm just promoting caution, it would suck if you took something for HPPD thinking it would help and then your symptoms got worse. That's all I'm getting at.

Hi, I actually developed my HPPD from 4-ACO-DMT, about 14 years ago. I wish mine was a "good trip", for me it's a nightmare. I would say that your symptoms won't get worse IF, and only if, you quit using substances. No weed, no psychedelics, not anything. If you do you're going to make things worse, and trust me, you do not want that. There have been suicides due to this disorder. I'm not going to pretend I didn't once find therapeutic value in psychedelics, especially at low doses. Consider yourself lucky that your symptoms are mild and aren't too unpleasant. It's possible your set of symptoms may go away after a while, or they could be permanent, so don't make matters worse by using anything else, including the micro-dose therapy. If you have any questions/need advice, shoot away.

Use caution when using yourself as a guinea pig. I think you should research this more until you have a much better understanding before trying such medications. Just my two cents.

I know, Covid sucks, it makes living life a lot tougher. That tends to be how I become depersonalized too, one second I'm fine, then yep, "bang". I know it well. I've had HPPD since January 2007.

Well, 1 or 2 cans on weekends probably isn't the culprit, but you never know. Coffee can definitely be a culprit, even one cup. Maybe try decaf? It still has caffeine in it, just not as much. I'm guessing it's your screen time, that's the number one thing that causes me problems. Things I've found that help if you don't want to cut down the time you're spending, is simply take a break every half hour or so for a good 5 minutes then return to it. Also, if you have any blue-light filtering or anything like that on your computer or smart-phone, try turning that on, as well as turning down the brightness of the display (I've definitely noticed the brighter the display, the more I have problems). I have depersonalization and HPPD as well, though the depersonalization has been getting better (don't know why, just time I guess). In terms of depersonalization, again, the more I'm focusing on a screen for a prolonged period, especially if I'm doing something like playing a video game with realistic graphics, the more that's likely to happen.

And here I thought it was just U.S. doctors that were useless, looks like it's a worldwide thing. Old joke: you know why they call them General Practitioners? Because they're just practicing. *ba-dum-tshh* Jay1 asked the right questions, I'll expand: any use of alcohol, and herbal supplements, are you staying home more than usual due to Covid (if so, how much time in front of a computer or smart phone screen?), any changes in your relationships? Anything that has changed recently at all, even if it seems very insignificant, is worth thinking about,

I'm just glad to see you came back. This is an HPPD support forum, not an AA forum, so if you don't want to talk about alcohol it's fine. It's your life after-all and HPPD sucks ass to put it mildly, we all have our ways of coping. You're not being judged, and we all get it. If you ever feel the need to vent send me a message. *Edit* To answer the original topic, in terms of limiting post-drinking HPPD symptoms, buy yourself the amino acid NAC and take it about an hour or two BEFORE you drink (don't take it once you've started drinking: it will increase liver damage rather than protect it). There is a lot of anecdotal evidence and some research suggesting NAC can offset hangovers, which would likely cut down on HPPD symptoms. I've relapsed a few times, and the times in which I've used NAC before I boozed up, the hangover was not as bad at all really. There's also research regarding hangovers that shows that Panax Ginseng can help with offsetting hangovers. I'm suggesting hangover cures because let's face it: increased HPPD after drinking is basically due to a hangover, the brain isn't working at it's full capacity, and since we have shit luck and have HPPD, it increases the visuals during that time.

Nice post, I'll investigate this myself (looking to taper off of my Clonazepam at some point). You seem to really know your shit, I was wondering what you think of NAC? From my reading on NAC I wonder if it has potential.

Having vivid/lucid dreams is not the same as HPPD. What symptoms are you having during the time you are awake?

I was wondering, for those of you who have dated post-HPPD, have you ended up telling them what you have? If so, how did they react?

Hi and welcome, People with HPPD do not have delusions and do not hear voices so I'm inclined to say yes, you have Schizophrenia, and you should speak to a Psychiatrist. In an instance like this anti-psychotics are not a bad idea, especially since you've been on them before and they worked. Although you say you have no family history of Schizophrenia, unfortunately with psychedelics, contrary to popular belief, you don't need to have a family history of X disorder in order to develop it from them. I feel the people that people that claim that those who end up with mental disorders from psychedelics have pre-existing conditions are those from the pro-psychedelic community who have no interest in taking such matters seriously...unless it happens to them.

You hit the nail on the head, this, a thousand times this. Everything is "fake news". The whole world is going down the drain, and people are becoming dumber each day. I blame social media. I'm starting to hope that the human race does end, and that a more intelligent species evolves after we're gone. Each day I give up further on the human race and just want to be alone.

I'm not surprised, pro-psychedelic cocksuckers not believing it. You know what? Fuck them, right in the ass. Let them continue their psychedelic use until they get it themselves. It's called karma. *Edit* I went a bit overboard, deleted the worst of it

I know I answered you via your PM, but wanted to put the gist of it here for others to read: I've been feeling panicky ever since. I'm just doing everything I can to relax, I've noticed my ability to handle stress isn't as good as it was. I'm hoping my anxiety will subside within a few days. I hope it didn't make my HPPD worse. So far I'm mostly just noticing some anxiety, and when the anxiety is bad some DP/DR symptoms. I really fucking hate Reddit. I wish there was a way to get that subreddit shut down, but the whole site is run by an idiot, and the people who run that subreddit clearly don't care if they hurt people. People, there is one single drug we know for a fact works:: Clonazepam. That's it. Everything else is anecdotal. The people of Reddit may not like that, but that's because they're retarded. Fuck them.

/\ This. Stop with the damn supplements, learn from my mistake.