bryan02

not sure if there is already a thread for this but i just wanted to say (and i'm sure i speak for everyone using this site) THANKYOU. there's so little info out there on HPPD, this site has helped me develop many coping mechanisms and calmed me when things have been getting hard to deal with. been a big big help.

great video fin, cheers

last week i also had drops put into my eyes to dilate my pupils. made visuals awful for hours afterwards but it did settle once my pupils had gone back down to size.

http://www.wikihow.com/Reduce-Glare-when-Driving-at-Night

nah you don't sound negative just unfortunately telling it how it is, but like you say given time you never know - hang on tight man........ i found some tips on this link helpful with dealing with lights whilst driving, tip 5 helps me a fair bit

just wondering if anyone can relate. i've had starbursts since the beginning of the year, they are big and distracting and get right on my tits a few months after starbursts came light senstivity at first only noticeable at night on car headlights but now i can't be outside in sunlight without sunglasses and most lights are annoying - just wondering if anyone has had this symptom improve over time or found anything other than sunglasses that helps? anything that might help with night driving? also colours on computer screens and mobile phones look a lot lighter than they used too

when i first got hppd i didn't want to accept it and continued for the best part of a year going out and partying on mainly alcohol and pills, smoking weed (though nowhere near as frequently as it very rarely now had a positive effect) - eventually i decided to only drink alcohol which at the time seemed like a massive lifetyle change in itself and over the next 7 years or so i drank every weekend socially but nearly always to excess and smoked maybe handful of times when a few drinks had weakened my resolve. i wasn't sure if alcohol was permanently doing any harm and im still not sure as things started getting way worse when weed had been involved too but since my symptoms have got worse i decided to take 3 months off alcohol and caffeine and then drank 2 beers. the day after my starbursts got a lot worse so i can't help but think that that wouldn't have happened if i didn't drink those two beers. in the first 8 n a half years of having this i probably googled for it (after realising it was probably here to stay) about a handful of times. i think there will be a lot of people living with it like this and just getting on with it which i think is good in many ways because being on here and the more you read the more you think which can be a vicious circle but i think if you've caught it early on and treat it with more respect than i did which this site can definately help to do then i reckon with a little effort it can be crontrolled with diet, sleep and exercise, alcohol i only wish i didn't drink as excessively, i think if your condition is stable then a few drinks to keep social would have more positive than negative effects (only my opinion of course). one thing is for definate this is soemthing that has to be controlled as if its not itll control us so whenver i hear myself say 'what if i can't' i go and do it and this nearly always has a positive outcome

hey everyone, at the back end of last year my symptoms started to get worse after almost 9 years of stable hppd, it began after a routinely night of drinking with friends. at the end of the night i shared a joint and the next day everything was amped up more than the usual effects of only alcohol (which always returned to baseline the day after the hangover) my symptoms have gone from static, cell like floaters, trails and occasional afterimages..... to a whole array of visual disturbances that invade my vision and seem to be changing frequently. it's been a hard year so far but i have noticed some great improvements with striving towards minimising stress/anxiety/fatigue as when they are low is when i feel the most in control of this condition to do this i looked at my life as a whole and asked myself where i could make improvements, basically anything that could increase my sense of self and help me regain confidence. everyones case is different but heres a list of some of the things that've helped me; exercise - running, cycling, yoga, pilates, and resistance are my chosen types right now clean diet - wholegrains, fruit, veg, oily fish, nuts etc smaller meal portions - i find this quite difficult avoid simple sugars a lot of the time sleep and rest - i like 6 to 8 hrs on a night and if possible a 30 min snooze at some point during the day work - having a job gives a great sense of self and if you don't like your job strive to find a better one. changing from a job where i worked with a lot of intense ignorant people to a job with warmer smarter people has made a big difference to my morale living - if where you live grates your gears look for somewhere that is more suitable, even a little change like having an approachable coperative landlord helped me travel, see your coutry/the world - i learned to drive with hppd and only just bought a car (6 years later and feel safe and alert benhind the wheel) and spend most weekends in the outdoors meditate i quit smoking to feel healthier and have more energy i have also stopped drinking alcohol and caffeine - these two are without a doubt the hardest for me as i believe staying social is key to remaining functional and pre december it always helped me forget about hppd for a little while. 6 months ago i would've wondered what was the matter with someone who didn't drink beer or tea but since my symptoms have worsened even a couple of beers spikes visuals and anxiety and makes me feel disconnected the followong day and the day after that. i still socialise and enjoy it best after exercise when my anxiety is reduced and mood lifted sorry this is turning into an exhaustive list but i just wanted to put it out there and offer reassurance to anyone struggling with this difficult conditon that you can feel good and live a good life, it just takes time, a little bit of trial and error and a lot of discipline -remain hopeful

sounds like a sensible approach, good luck with it.

cheers for the replies guys - a few days after posting my dry eye eased and with it went the blurred vision and starbursts so im guessing this wasn't a direct symptom of hppd. this has given a great deal of relief, other symptoms are still harder than pre december, especially on a night. i think thats the hardest time to stay calm as even after all this time i still have trouble remembering that by the morning they'll have subsided. any tips? body feels healthier havn't smoked a cigarette since mid jan, on the alcohol front im experimenting with myself because at first i thought if i don't drink when will i see people, socialise etc but have started going out and not drinking and actually feels ok (economical too). gonna try a club this weekend and allow myself 5 beers up until midnight and see how that goes the next day. boogres how long have you had symtoms? do you always avoid alcohol now? love the bukowski quote

my story. i first noticed something wasn't right after taking acid for the first time, furniture was swaying and if i tried to i could see static in the distance. i stopped using drugs, it was mainly pot and ecstacy and a few months later everything seemed ok, so i started again (sound familiar?) almost a year after the time i noticed symptoms they came back after a night of partying with alcohol, pot and cocaine. static was the main visual, thinking this would clear up like it did the time before i carried on partying as normal. bit by bit things started to get worse and eventually i admitted the symptoms seemed to be permanent. i stopped all drugs other than alcohol and nicotine in 2005 and after awhile became settled with the symptoms; static, floaters, trails, after images and tinnitus. i still partied and the symptoms would always be a lot worse when hungover but id realised they'd always settle again the following day. the anxiety dp/dr etc hasn't been easy but id found ways of combatting it a lot of the time. occaisionally at parties i would smoke a spliff and this leads me to where i am today. at the beginning of december i did just this and have since noticed my symptoms to intensify quite dramatically. it hasn't been the first time they've gotton worse but this has definately been the longest and im not expecting them to settle any time soon, if they will at all. its pretty tough but im sure everyone reading this doesn't need to be reminded of that. static, floaters, trails and after images have intensified a great deal and i am now seeing starbursts and have blurred vision in my left eye. although it has been intermittently getting dry and blurry over the last couple of years so not totally certain that this is related to hppd. anyone else know of dry eye, blurred vision as a symptom? hppd seems to be the root of most problems so i suspect it will be. fatigue and anxiety are also a lot harder to control. two main reasons ive wrote this; one is that i am digging pretty deep to hold things together and as you will understand not many people you tell (if you tell any) can actually understand the intensity of it, so knowing this support is here gives strength in itself the other is to give advice to anyone just noticing symptoms, to first of all hang on because it could be so much worse, life is good even if it seems messed up it will get easier but if like me you don't know any other lifestyle other than partying be rest assured so many natural highs are just waiting to be found, think snowboarding, rock climbing, studying, learning instruments etc. i can only speak from personal experience but it has gotton worse over time so if i could back to the beginning of it (preferably just would before even better still) i would stop taking drugs immediately (even it if it seems like a huge lifestyle change), quit smoking cigarettes and drink alcohol to be sociable but to avoid hangovers and symptoms worsening the next day. exercise reguarly and fuel the body with the nutrients it works best on. at first i put my symptoms worsening down to the fact i smoked a spliff, which could be the case but drinking alcohol to the point of passing out can't be any better for you either, maybe it was the straw that broke the camels back perhaps but to be safe look after the body, take control of what you still can control and be strong. bry