Blunderbuss89

Just an update. A month later and it still seems to be progressing. Very annoying. I'm trying Natural Calm magnesium which seems to be helping, along with some meditation and relaxation exercises, but the trails behind moving objects seem much longer now than ever. I just wish this symptom would stabilize.

If it makes you feel any better, my bad trip was mainly characterized by complete numbness in my face and limbs. For months afterwards it would feel like my hands or face were numb and "melted" into whatever I touched. Like if I put my hands in my pockets, it felt like my hands were being bound with my jacket or my face to the pillow etc... This symptom is now 100% gone. It took about six or seven months. Like everything else, the more I worried about it the worse it got, so I just tried not to think about it. Easier said than done, I know, but give it time.

I've been seeing a therapist for about five months now and I have to say it has helped a lot in reducing my anxiety. She's offered some very interesting connections between HPPD and other sources of anxiety in my life that I would not have thought of otherwise and I now have ways of co-existing with my HPPD which has lowered my stress-level, thus, lowering the severity of my symptoms a bit. If you're interested you should google "Low-fee therapy" for your area. I found a place that is non-profit and runs on a sliding-scale fee that is proportionate to the patient's income, so it is reasonably affordable. I wouldn't say "cheap" per say, but manageable and well worth it.

This is an interesting theory. I hope you're right.

I don't know the answer to this question but I find it interesting that video feedback loops can cause a scrambled, snowy picture on cheaper/older displays and audio feedback loops cause high-pitched ringing. Two common HPPD symptoms are snowy vision and ringing ears. Almost like the brain is caught in a feedback loop. Not sure what to make of that information but it's trippy to think about.

This is handy. I wish this was around back when I first got hppd. Thanks for the link!

Is it possible that, similar to other HPPD symptoms, Palinopsia gets worse before it gets better, except for some reason it takes longer for Palinopsia symptoms to fully develop than it takes for other HPPD visuals?

Night vision is good (although there are more lights to deal with which sucks) and color vision is normal. No blurry vision either. Just strong trails even on non-light-sources. Glad to see I'm not the only one with this issue.

I've had HPPD for 16 months now. I've cut out all recreational drugs, caffein and alcohol. I keep a steady sleep schedule, take vitamins/magnesium and exercise regularly. I consider myself lucky because many of my symptoms have improved and/or disappeared. However, my trails and after images continue to get worse and worse, month by month. It started with vague negative after images, then strong negatives, then positive trails on lights/LEDs, now I get strong positive trails on everything. This is the only symptom that really freaks me out. Has anybody else had this big of an issue with ever-increasing trails? Do I need to worry about it continuing to get worse to the point that I can't read or drive? Any suggestions on how to manage this?

This does help a lot, Visual. Makes me feel a bit better about things. Thanks for the response!

It's definitely tunnel vision. When I focus on one word of text on my monitor for a few seconds, I notice my peripherals getting dark and blurry. Is this typical for HPPD?

The outer perimeter of my field of view and only while I was focusing on the persons face for about a minute. Not really sure how to explain it other than it sorta felt/looked like the effect of blood rushing to one's head when standing up too quickly after having been sitting for a long time. Tunnel vision I guess?

I've been seeing a therapist the past few weeks and it's helped reduce the stress that comes with my HPPD visuals. Today, however, I was in therapy and while focusing on my therapist's face for a few minutes my peripherals began to get extremely blurry, then the room seemed to collapse into one flat, blurry space. My therapist's eyes/face were the only thing that remained clear. As soon as I shifted my focus to something else the room returned to normal. This is the first time I've noticed this symptom and I'm not sure if there's a name for it. I was feeling so good about things until this incident. 14 months sober since my trip and I'm still getting brand new symptoms. I just wish my HPPD would level out. Even if it doesn't go away completely, I feel like I could live with this and adjust if it would just stop changing so damn much.

I'm taking Remicade (infliximab). I've been suffering for about 7 years but it hasn't really gotten much worse in the last year. My doctor told me that patients will eventually build a tolerance to the medicine and it can lose its effectiveness in 5-7 years on average. I've been taking it long enough that I'm not even sure if it has much of an effect on me anymore, but I'd like to continue on my current dose just in case. When you say "stuff that feeds/builds the nervous system" do you mean supplements? I'm taking magnesium, valerian root and a multivitamin. Do you have any suggestions? It seems to me that if Remicade were causing my symptoms to worsen I'd most likely see spikes in my symptoms immediately following injection, which I do not. My symptoms have been gradually worsening for 13 months now. I just recently started seeing positive after images. Maybe it's stress. I try not to think about this stuff but it's impossible. How can I get used to something that's constantly changing?

I'm sure there has to be a thread for this somewhere but I couldn't seem to find any info so if a thread already exists please let me know. I understand recreational drugs can make HPPD worse, permanently in some circumstances. And as we all know alcohol and caffeine can affect it as well. My question is, are there any prescription meds known to worsen HPPD, particularly, meds that don't have a strong psychoactive component and aren't typically associated with neurological side effects? The reason I ask is because I take a TNF-inhibitor for severe arthritis, which can make me drowsy for a couple hours but that's the only real side-effect I've experienced. Neurological side effects are rare and mostly include temporary numbness/tingling. I've had HPPD for a little over a year and, despite having cut out all rec drugs including alcohol and caffeine, some of my HPPD visuals (snow/trails/after images) have slowly progressed over the past year and I'm wondering if it is due to this medication, which I have been taking for years. I've never noticed a major spike in symptoms immediately after taking it, just a slow progression. Anybody have any stories relating to this? I know HPPD can take a long time to fully develop but does it typically take over a year? Discontinuing this medication is not a good option for me. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TNF_inhibitor

Welcome to the community! I, too, am interested in your story and what has helped you keep going over the years. There is a "General Advice" thread in the Main/General forum.

After images definitely get worse from time to time. Mine are very similar to etard's and they aren't really a big deal, just an annoyance. Static gets pretty noticeable. Jumpy text, dizziness, CEVs and audio distortions have all gotten a lot better for me since my onset. I can usually keep my mind off of my symptoms as long as I'm well rested and not stressed out etc...

I think sometimes symptoms can appear to get worst for no reason, when in fact it has to do with day-to-day stresses that you might not be consciously aware of. Stress is kinda a bitch like that sometimes. I'm not a doctor, though. Just speculation. Definitely check out magnesium. Don't expect it to make all your visuals go away but I think it does reduce mine a bit. Glad I could help.

Both my Mom and Dad get migraines along with aura/flashes of light.

Have you tried red tea or chai? They're naturally caffeine-free and if you make a routine of drinking them in the morning you might be able to trick your brain into accepting them as coffee-replacements. I try to stick to these and if I do feel like I really need a cup of coffee I try to keep it down to 1/3 of a cup diluted with 2/3 milk. It's probably just a placebo at this point.

I believe this is a pretty common symptom. Immediately after my trip I had a hard time reading computer text. It felt like my eyes kept jumping around and I couldn't keep them on the right path. Ghosting can also be bad since most text is black on white and high-contrast patterns trigger after images. The good news is this particular issue has improved significantly for me over the past year. I hardly have any trouble reading anymore.

After reading more about migraines, it seems unlikely I'm only experiencing migraine aura alone, since migraine auras don't tend to last more than an hour or two. I'm thinking maybe I have mild HPPD that is made worst by my migraines? Or maybe the fluctuations don't have anything to do with my migraines and they're just a result of higher stress levels, etc... Looking back on it, I did experience some visual anomalies (CEVs, OEVs, Floaters) immediately after the trip. I'm kinda just rambling to myself at this point but if anybody has any input it'd be appreciated.

My symptoms seem to fluctuate a lot. I can go days and sometimes even weeks without noticing any symptoms (which I am extremely thankful for). When my symptoms do kick in, they usually coincide with a migraine headache and last anywhere from a couple days to a couple weeks. My symptoms include floaters, occasional flashes of light, mild vibrating heatwave-like patterns, trails/after images, mild jumpy vision, light-headedness and I also just had my first scintillating scotoma recently. Is it possible I'm not experiencing HPPD, but rather Migraine Aura? I've had bad migraines my whole life, but I first noticed these visual symptoms about three months after my bad LSD trip (complete sobriety ever since the trip). Could that be a coincidence? I've talked to my doctor about it and she doesn't believe it's LSD-related. She said 3 months post-drug use was too long for there to be a sudden onset of symptoms. What do you guys think?

I've had HPPD for over a year now. I've found myself worrying about my visuals progressing and wondering how bad it's going to get, but my theory is that, in reality, my visuals fluctuate up and down and usually hover around a consistent average. Sometimes it may seem like they're constantly progressing because I notice new symptoms; however, those symptoms may have already been there and it just took a while for me to notice them or they just hadn't yet been exacerbated by my mood/stress level etc... For example, I get bad negative after images when I look at the tile floor in my kitchen. When I first discovered that, I thought "Oh shit. My after images are getting worse!". The fact is, I had just moved to a new apartment, so it's possible that high-contrast tile floors have always been a bad trigger for me, I just never noticed it because my old apartment didn't have any. I've also slowly learned over time that changes in sleep patterns, diet, stress-level and even weather can cause my symptoms to spike, but they always return to normal after a few days. You'll slowly learn your triggers over time. Once you get used to seeing things through the HPPD filter, you stop noticing/thinking about it so much. I think the first year or two is probably hardest because that's when you keep discovering new shit. BTW: I've found that Magnesium really helps with the ghosting.

That is a badass Hank sketch. Very nice.