StateOfRegret

So am I :-) . As for alprazolam; it has a strange (albeit different) effect on me as well. It leaves me depressed and 'withdrawn' even at low doses. I believe I've mentioned this earlier in the thread. I have a tendency to experience some anxiety during the "come-up" phase with benzodiazepines. Etizolam has been the gentlest in this respect (compared to oxazepam, alprazolam & lorazepam). I agree completely with the productivity aspect! I used some benzodiazepines when studying for an important oral exam a couple of months ago. Often I would be going through mathematical derivations in front of a few peers several hours a day during this period, which meant that it was a fine time to test the effects of benzodiazepines on my performance. I found that I was able to be very productive and clear-thinking with etizolam (more so than in my usual 'sober' HPPD state, I'd say) whereas oxazepam left me feeling somewhat lethargic and unfocused (not too bad, but unmistakable). As I mentioned earlier, etizolam doesn't seem to affect my ability to teach either. Initially I was somewhat worried about the SNRI action, though, since all serotonergics seem like "dangerous territory" to me as a HPPD sufferer. No obvious repercussions as of yet. wrt flubromazepam: I'd be very interested in hearing about your experiences with this compound - and other promising medications, for that matter. Have you done any reading regarding the potential for physical dependency, tolerance etc? Edit: Just to clear things up; it's the other way around. Quoting from Wikipedia: "Etizolam (marketed under the brand name Etilaam, Etizest, Etizola, Sedekopan, Pasaden or Depas)"

Thanks for posting, Sam93 - I always find your writings very informative :-) It's funny that etizolam helps you with the visuals that much. They do not do all that much for me, visually.

Hey, that's not very helpful, Jimmy. Mr. 50's: The best you can do now is probably just to try and stay calm and not let worrying overcome you. There's a good probability that things will level out rather quickly.

Are you sure that is a good idea? Have you benefited from cannabis before (wrt HPPD)? Personally I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole.

I'm still taking these (etizolam) once in a while (perhaps slightly less than once a week on average). I find them mild/moderately effective at 1mg doses. Once or twice I have taken 1mg before teaching (i teach a ''recital class'' at university) and I didn't feel any real cognitive impairment. My personal problem with benzos is that the times when I need anxiolysis/symptom relief the most are usually when I need to perform academically. Benzos and academia don't really mix well, so I keep the dosages low. I took 15mg oxazepam before my last two exams (sorry for going slightly off topic here). At the oral exam it worked well, since I was already quite ''pumped'' and the whole ordeal was over within ~25 minutes, meaning that I had no problem staying focused and sharp. For the written exam (4 hours) it turned out to be less than ideal, since I began feeling quite sluggish and couldn't really keep up the pace like I used to. All in all, however, using benzos is probably preferrable to feeling like I'm floating above my own body in a stressful situation. But it is far from perfect! For the last month I've only used etizolam (not oxazepam, like I used to. I still have some left, though, so it is not out of necessity as such). Overall I find that: Oxazepam is perhaps slightly more effective wrt anxiolysis Etizolam leaves me less ''inebriated'', able to function essentially normally. Etizolam feels less ''relaxing'' (sometimes even slightly ''buzzy'' at first) Oxazepam is somewhat more effective at relieving my worst symptoms: Dizziness and strange head sensations. All in all, it's close to a tie. Both are very much preferrable to (for instance) alprazolam, which leaves me dumb and slightly depressed (though mostly anxiety-free).

Yes, some benzos do a lot to alleviate it! However I do not wish to use benzos constantly, so I take them sparingly (less than once per week). Is your dizziness of constant intensity, or does it spike? I have this underlying dizziness which ebbs and flows, and on top of that, I get short intense spikes of dizziness. I feel that I should mention that the anxiety has gotten much, much better. Most of the other symptoms are pretty much unchanged.

Hey timeframe, welcome to the board As for cannabis causing HPPD; You'll never hear me dispute that My HPPD was mainly caused by different hallucinogenic substances, but it was greatly exacerbated by a synthetic cannabinoid. Your symptoms sound like typical HPPD, not fun at all. How well are you able to function?

So, September came around. I've been back to uni for three days (for the first time since my HPPD became much worse). It's been tough, no question about it. I took a benzo on 1st and 2nd day, while I didn't today. I haven't really been able to gauge my cognitive function before, but now that I'm actually being challenged intellectually, I can definitely say that my cognitive abilities are not back to normal. Today I had to walk out during a class, since I was unable to concentrate on my physics problems. It is quite depressing, but I'm hoping it'll get better sooner rather than later

Yeah, but brendan's post seems to suggest that histamine is not involved in the flushing reaction, meaning that no histamine flush test is possible with niacin I've read the same elsewhere, but haven't actually looked for any primary literature on the subject or anything.

Please stick to English if at all possible. That way we can all benefit from your advice!

odisa: Sorry, I didn't see your reply before :-/ But no, I don't see how you get the idea of peristalsis being involved. What you should imagine is, I believe, fluctuations in the density of the axon material propagating along the nerve fiber. No actual bulk movement of material is necessary for this density "pulse" to propagate. But once again, I haven't really studied the soliton model, and I have no knowledge of biophysics in particular :-) Sam93: Was 1mg your usual dose? I just took a little less than 0.5mg ~90 minutes ago, and I'm not feeling any different as far as I can tell. Less than with 7.5mg of oxazepam for sure.

Don't throw them out man, that's just silly. Just don't take them, give them to someone who would benefit

You're welcome. Modafinil is anxiogenic for you?

Means "wise" in Danish. A good sign, no doubt!

That said, people react very differently to benzos. I found alprazolam to be very ineffective as an anxiolytic, yet highly sedating and hypnotic even at 300µg (most consider this quite a small dose!). Most people seem to find that alprazolam is one of the most anxiolytic benzos.

Don't think so. I took the dose that my GP recommended, and if you search around, I think you'll find that 15mg oxazepam is a pretty standard dose for benzo naive persons (even 20mg is not that unusual, corresponding roughly to 10mg diazepam or 0.5mg alprazolam/clonazepam. Not high doses )

We've talked about this before, but those are unusually small dosages. My GP was doubtful that even 15mg TID would be sufficient for dealing with the anxiety that I was experiencing at the time that it was prescribed. 5mg is equivalent to ~2.5mg diazepam, generally considered a very, very low dose. Are you sure that it is the oxazepam you are reacting to, and not some sort of anxiety or placebo reaction? That being said: sometimes with benzos, I feel more "intoxicated" from a smaller dose, perhaps because larger doses reduce my anxiety about "being on a drug". I obsess less about how I'm feeling at larger doses.

I just ordered a CBD product as well, will update after trying (which could take a while, considering we're talking transatlantic shipping).

Ah, that is highly interesting! I see that there are a few products available, though none of them cheap.

What exactly? Seeds for a CBD rich strain? Personally I find CBD very interesting, but I don't think that I'd be willing to ingest even trace amounts of THC.

WuWei: How come that you don't eat acai berries on a daily basis if they make you feel good?

And besides, the idea that psychedelics are 5-HT2A-antagonists is completely incorrect! They are agonists at these receptors. To be blunt, the theoretical considerations in the original post seem somewhat confused. CBD is super interesting, however

Do you mean that one should always sleep for as long as one feels like? During holidays I can easily sleep 12 hours if nothing awakes me.

Very sorry to hear about your bad day :-/ Sounds awful. It's exactly for situations like that, that I have benzodiazepines handy. They work a hell of a lot better and more reliably than alcohol for social anxiety. For me at least. Did you mention that you've only done 10mg oxazepam? In that case I'd say that you haven't really given it a fair shot Anyway; If you're feeling almost no effect from the coluracetam by now, perhaps a dramatic dose increase would be in order? Perhaps I'm just being impatient, but doubling your daily dose does not seem entirely unreasonable . I know that you're wary of hypercholinergia, but since you're experiencing that little effect, you're probably nowhere near it. As you said yourself, 80mg TID has been used, and some supplement manufacturers seem to suggest a daily dose of up to 300mg. You can always lower it when you encounter your "sweet spot", dose-wise.

must-be-a-way-to-heal: What was your verdict about clonidine in the end?