BigPapaChakra

Oxiracetam seems like a viable means to modulating glutamatergic and cholinergic functioning; I can see why ScienceGuy found great success with Ox+Coluracetam: "In animal models, oxiracetam has protected against scopolamine-induced amnesia[32][23][21][33] and amnesia induced by NMDA antagonists including MK-801,[24] AP-7,[34] and AP-5[35] while in vitro glutamate (NMDA) antagonism by kynurenic acid is also inhibited.[36] These anti-amnesiac effects occur in the 3-30mg/kg dosage range (intraperitoneal injections) and the higher dosages tend to abolish amnesia (no significant differences between the toxin with oxiracetam and control). Anti-amnesiac effects occur in both naive and well-trained mice.[24]" (...) "These protective effects are similar to Aniracetam and are near absolute against scopolamine, yet require a lower dosage as the rat studies use 3-30mg/kg of oxiracetam as intraperitoneal injections." (...) The increased signalling efficiancy in hippocampal cells[9] is thought to be related to an increased release of glutamate and D-Aspartic Acid from hippocampal cells when activated[5] at a concentration of 0.01-5µM without affecting outflow of glutamate or D-AA when the neurons were not activated,[11] although 100µM causes a slight increase. (...) As mentioned in the memory section, oxiracetam at 3-30mg/kg injections into mice prevents amnesia induced by glutaminergic antagonists MK-801,[24] AP-7,[34] and AP-5.[35] In vitro, the suppression of noradrenaline release caused by NDMA antagonists is prevented with oxiracetam at 1μM (with similar potency to Aniracetam).[45]" (...) "Oxiracetam has been noted to prevent the reduction in acetylcholine concentrations induced by electroshock therapy in rats, which was accompanied by preventing amnesia.[46] Since phygostigmine (an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor like Huperzine-A) is known to prevent amnesia secondary to preserving acetylcholine concentrations[47] it is hypothesized that the anti-amnesia properties of oxiracetam against cholinergic antagonists like scopolamine[23][21][33] are due to preserving acetylcholine concentrations, which has been noted against scopolamine-induced amnesia as well with oxiracetam at 50-100mg/kg (partial preservation in the cortex and hippocampus but not striatum).[14] Aniracetam was noted to be slightly more protective in the hippocampus, but inactive in the cortex.[14] That being said, this is unlikely to solely explain the antiamnesiac effects since depletion of catecholamines (despite preservation of acetylcholine) abolishes the protective effects of oxiracetam against scopolamine.[48] The decline in acetylcholine concentrations seen with cholinergic antagonists or amnesiac stressors appears to be prevented to a large degree with oxiracetam, which is thought to play a role in the anti-amnesiac properties (but is likely not the only explanantory factor) In rats not given anti-cholinergics, both oxiracetam and aniracetam (100mg/kg) fail to significantly modify acetylcholine or choline concentrations in any tested brain region.[14] Independent of increasing acetylcholine concentrations, oxiracetam appears to increase acetylcholine utilization in the cortex and hippocampus at 100-300mg/kg injections.[49] Repeated daily doses of oxiracetam was noted to increase acetylcholine utilization by 31% relative to control, and appears to be more potent and prolonged than Piracetam.[49] Furthermore, despite no apparent changes in basal acetylcholine levels in vivo a concentration of 0.1-1µM oxiracetam in hippocampal slices appears to augment acetylcholine release.[11] Basal outflow of acetylcholine from these neurons when not activated was not modified.[11] It is thought that this enhanced release explains the increase in acetylcholine uptake noted with oxiracetam inherently[49][50] which causes a relative depletion of intracellular acetylcholine levels when choline uptake is blocked[49] (which can be explained by increased release rates)."

No, haha, though I can potentially see some of those benefits with certain stains... although I may never have the ability to smoke weed again Pregnenolone gave me these benefits. I can look in my journal for the exact 'scores' I had on each test, but pregnenolone administration had beneficial acute effects when testing these aspects of cognition, and I'm sure if I stuck with it I could get some benefits. I'm going to have to finish out the rest I have and dose daily, I just never get to it, and my realllyyy disrupted sleep schedule doesn't help. That's good to note - thanks for the links! As I thought earlier, MgT does increase/up-regulate NR2B-containing NMDAr's. "Chronic MgT treatment upregulated NR2B-containing NMDAR and increased activation/expression of downstream signaling molecules in the hippocampus (Figure 4). This was associated with a dramatic increase in short-term synaptic facilitation and long-term potentiation that are critical for learning and memory (Figure 5)." (...) "Increase inNR2B-containing NMDAR via overexpression (Tang et al., 1999), augmentation of its membrane transportation (Wong et al., 2002), or reduction of its degradation (Hawasli et al., 2007) leads to enhancement of synaptic plasticity and learning and memory (for review, see Lee and Silva, 2009). In this study, we show that NR2B-containing NMDAR can be upregulated by increase in [Mg2+]o in vitro and elevating brain Mg2+ in vivo." The key word, though, is chronic. Not the green chronic, either, but chronic as in daily/often/over a long period . This may be another therapeutic modality. Question: If one were to use MgT, would it be wise to stop using other forms of magensium outside of dietary sources? I'm starting Coluracetam in the next day or two; now, if only I could find a pure, bulk source of MgT...

Thanks, I appreciate the kind words. I suppose all the seemingly negative experiences in my life have forged a path to a heightened sense of positivity, as odd as that may sound. Perhaps I was born that way, perhaps it was my environment; perhaps both. That I don't know, but regardless all I want to do is help people, especially us HPPDer's. Once again, thanks fo the kind words

Yeah, blue light blocking glasses are interesting - I have two pairs, one cheap set from amazon, and then an over-priced solid red pair I got from this guy I know who's developing a product line for circadian rhythm restoring/enhancing gear. Everything is completely red when looking through them. I feel as though I should use them for endogenous melatonin production, protection of the retinas, etc. but my visuals actually get really bad when I wear them, yet I have almost every night for the past 6-7 months. The outermost portion of everything - objects and people alike - seem to 'glow' and become 'aura-like' much more significantly than normal; everything warps 10x worse in my peripheral vision, and my OEV's in darkness are increased a lot. I might do a 3 or so day trial where instantly when I wake up I do some cued-attention/reaction time testing and see if I actually get any difference between no glasses vs. orange glasses vs. the "better" red glasses.

I think I'm going to get Ceretropic's sublingual today; I'm not sure if I should post about it here or at my 'journal' thread, but I'll definitely be updating everyone frequently (probably daily, lol).

Hmm... did you go to a Irlene Practitioner? They typically do some examinations on you by having you describe things, read things, do exercises, etc. and then give you different types of glasses, often with different color lenses; this then filters out odd visual stimuli which stresses our eyes and brain. I've been thinking about going to an Irlene practitioner.

Ughh, I'm looking up studies on the PCP-NMDA/glutamatergic relationship and it's giving me some PTSD-like responses; I've been feeling rather well today (not HPPD-free, haha, but just better than I typically do), and right away after reading some abstracts I got extremely anxious and almost flashback-like responses. I was intrigued after I saw Coluracetam antagonized PCP induced cognitive dysfunction. Unfortunately I don't have access to the full-text at the moment, so to what degree it achieved this and with what concentration in the plasma/serum.. I don't know. It's given me further hope for Colu. to help me a bit, so I think I'm about to order some. Interestingly and frighteningly, from the abstracts I just read, if DXM/PCP/embalming fluid are behind my HPPD/associated problems, the foundation of my problems are probably much more extensive than I had every imagined. PCP alone induces epigenetic changes in the brain, decreases NO synthesis, decreases 5-HT2A receptor density, dopamine turnover, and changes "septal ChAT-positive cells"; it may also negatively impact GABAa receptors and increase "ventrostriatal dynorphin A expression." I can't tell from the first abstract if dopamine turnover means that I'd have increased or decreased total levels of dopamine; I feel as though I don't have dopamine problems as I don't typically have motivation problems and have a lot of mental energy; though I do have some ADD/ADHD like tendencies since this whole HPPD fiasco - I often have dozens of tabs open at once, going through each of them and bouncing back and forth, along with starting something (say, a blog), only to then open facebook, gmail, and youtube, then open some clinical studies, get back to the blog, etc. But correct me if I'm wrong, it looks like I may have severely decreased NMDAr's/damaged glutamatergic system functioning; decreased acetylcholine; decreased 5-HT2A receptor density; messed up GABAa subtype receptors; and lastly, increased dynorphin A expression. Eeeek! I'll take a few minutes to look into DXM, now, because the other studies are gettin' to me

Yeah, pregnenolone is a very interesting substance. For awhile I did a blinded experiment with the help of my mom, and every time I was administered preg. my working memory, cued attention, and reaction times all increased, along with a very noticeable increase in mood. In fact, I felt as though I smoked weed, haha. I have some left and will be taking about 70mg/day until I run out. You are correct: 1-3g/day is quite a lot, especially over prolonged periods of time (such as a year). Dr. Ray Sahelian recommends never exceeding 1-5mg/day, yet Dr. Peat maintains that many grams a day is entirely safe. I have been reading Hans Selye's endocrinology books/texts, and I'd have to say that it does seem that as long as you support your preg. supplementation with adequate carbs, total calories, and some other things, it should be used appropriately (by your body) and not mess with other hormones like estradiol and DHT. You should also look into Progesterone and DHEA, if you haven't already. I posted like 5-10 studies in the HPPD stack thread recently about how amazing progesterone looks for brain regeneration and maintenance; it plays a large role in myelination AND actually modulates GABAa subtype receptors. Interestingly, Dr. Peat considers all 3, preg, prog, and DHEA 'youth associated hormones'. I'll look for the studies on PCP and DXM again; I probably have them in my EverNote cloud somewhere (I have wayyyy too many 'notes' and links in that cloud, haha). They can be found on Erowid, though. You are correct again, in that 60ml/day of Cere would be quite expensive. Are you going to be acquiring/using 7,8-DHF? I wanted to get Dihexa, but was adamant on purchasing NSI, and now I think I'm going to cancel that order. I think, based off of my preliminary research on Cere, I/you'd be able to do a 'loading dose' of 60ml/day of Cere followed by 5-10ml/day from there on out; still expensive, yet less so than 60ml/day for weeks-months. After Coluracetam with my increasingly frequent/intense z-health practice, along with about 5-7 NeurOptimal sessions I'll be doing this month, I'll definitely be trying Cere and posting back.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. There are actually religious/mystical sects that believe life is very traumatic/difficult and one must simply endure it, and they spend their whole lives attaining a state in which we all hate very much - a dissociated state; one in which they don't really feel much emotion, whether negative or positive, and are simply viewers of 'reality'. I described this to my z-trainer recently that with my DP/DR I simply feel like a 'viewer', in fact, a 'viewer viewing himself from another perspective', sort of like watching myself in a movie, only in real time. This makes everything feel 'foreign' and 'unfamiliar', and generally just weird and not genuine. I also agree that things shouldn't be taken too seriously. Although I undoubtedly get disheartened (though I also have times of feeling happy due to being in love!), I never take things very seriously. For all we know life/reality is a dream conjured up by each of our interconnected consciousnesses, or hell, perhaps it's all in one individuals minds. Or perhaps any other religion is entirely correct about reality and life. Who knows. But for me, that lack of knowing just induces a very lighthearted mindset towards it all. Secondly: You gotta stay in there man. Believe me, I have it bad too, and not only with my HPPD. For the past some odd years my immediate family has been crumbling before my eyes. My younger brother has been severely ill his entire life, yet for the past 3-4+ years his health has gotten continuously worse; he has endured over a dozen surgeries and at the young age of 15 is on medications that are used for cancers, as well as high dose percocet. They may even switch him to something stronger such as morphine or fentanyl, because he has grown quite tolerant of percocets. This has caused us great financial troubles. I've moved about 8 times in my life, yet stayed in the same town my entire life because my mom wanted us to stay in this school district due to how good it is, as well as staying close to our friends. My parents are going to get separated when we move again in May, which may be a good thing as although I care for my dad, he is not the best dad and is a rather terrible husband. My mom has always been both the one who earns the money around here AND does everything for me and my brother regarding school and sports; since my brothers health has gotten worse, my mom is his nurse 24/7, helping him get dressed, helping him bathe, bringing him to tutors, GI specialists, surgeons, etc. all while figuring out ways to earn us money as my father sits around and does nothing. In fact, in these past three months I've earned more than my father at age 19 while dealing with extremely severe HPPD and being a full-time student and getting engaged (though still currently living at home). This doesn't even touch upon all the things I've went through in my (very happy) relationship with my fiance, getting past addiction and so forth. I don't really have much going for me right now outside of having my fiance, helping my family, and spending much more time than it would generally take someone without HPPD to attain my first degree. I don't have a social life any longer (not friends with any of my old friends, and I don't hang out with the ones I do stay in touch with due to their substance abuse in addition to the fact that I'd rather not go out and have a panic attack and break down and have everyone witness it); if it wasn't for being employed by a blogger/podcaster who enjoyed posts I made on various forums, I'd either (1) have NO income, or (2) struggle to work at WalMart (which hired me previously, though I went for this blogging gig which pays better anyhow, haha) while getting addicted to benzos and alcohol to keep my visuals and panic attacks at bay. Yet, despite all this, I'm not only hopeful that I will cure my HPPD.... I'm certain I will cure my HPPD. I will spend every last dollar, every ounce of energy, and every second of every day laying my symptoms to rest, permanently. After I do this, I'm on to aiding everyone else with HPPD/DP/DR, even if it means buying things for people, applying what I learn at z-health clinics and doing skype sessions; hmmm... like a 'Dallas Buyers Club' for HPPD, haha (that's actually a pretty cool idea, lol). I've said this before and I'll say it again - I'm not trying to make this about me. I just know there are some that go through the same things I go through, perhaps to an even greater extent, and it down right saddens me. I've seen missjess post asking about suicide rates of HPPDer's, also while feeling generally hopeless; Odisa exhausting a great amount of supplements and pharmaceuticals to abate symptoms, and so much more. Unfortunately, I've come to learn (I believe this is true, unless I saw something that was a lie) that most people who have Lyme and die, choose to end their own lives. I don't want that for anyone, and I don't want that for you despite having never met you once. There are literally thousands of treatments to look into; I've tried a lot of different things that haven't helped, yet I know for everything I've tried there is 2-3 things I haven't, along with 2-3 more things I'm potentially unaware of. If you're this desperate and disheartened at this point, I'd look into the Skilling Institute and write them and buy one of their products and/or some rife machines. They both have helped cure people of chronic Lyme. I may even get some of these technologies for HPPD symptoms; at least anxiety and panic attacks. Additionally, you could try the Bob Beck protocol which has literally cured people of HIV and AIDS, among other things, including neurological disorders. It was created by a very renown, extremely experienced and innovative Ph.D. physicist Bob Beck, who started developing very useful forms of 'electromedicine'. If you don't have the cash to buy the technologies, you can make them yourself. I'm friends with someone on Facebook who has created his technologies to increase his well-being and longevity, along with helping his close friends and family; he also teaches people (for free, I believe) how to make the devices. Stick in there man. I promise things will get better.

I would just be entirely open, though if you don't have the time to thoroughly explain, or feel as though the dentist wouldn't be understanding, give a general reason; state that you have (insert problem here) and that you have seen other doctors for it and it is very real, and you have looked at clinical literature with establishes without a doubt that there is some potential anesthetics will exacerbate your problems, and you'd rather avoid an increase in your symptoms at all costs. Although many people, even highly trained physicians, are doubtful of HPPD, they typically respect your wishes and if you go in there speaking logically and coherently they'll undoubtedly listen.

No, unfortunately I have not. I'm really considering it, though. I just have to brush up on how to do the injections, and to be honest, I was really thinking about going the IV route to maximize the effects and supply. I could send you the link to that forum I was speaking about (the one where I got that information on cerebrolysin from), but the consensus there is really to do a lot of intellectually stimulating activities during the trial of cerebrolysin because then there will actually be a necessity for all the neuronal growth, and it will 'stick'. I have the opportunity to do some neurofeedback - I can either purchase the TAG-Sync, OR see a NeurOptimal neurofeedback practitioner down the street from me; I think that this would be an awesome combo. Supposedly the TAG-Sync works a lot better than the NeurOptimal, despite the NeurOptimal being widely promoted as the best Neurofeedback technology around; the thing is, TAG-Sync uses an 'alternative' protocol that produces Theta-Alpha-Gamma broad band synchrony in multiple brain regions; although this is highly similar to what happens when individuals do mindfulness meditation for.... decades.... in prone individuals it can cause increased depression, panic attacks, identity/personality problems, etc. unless working with a qualified practitioner. I haven't really looked into the whole injection method; is it easier than it seems? I hear it's surprisingly less painful than it seems, and that's good, haha. But yeah, I think I may hold off on the NSI. I've been waiting for many weeks, anyhow, to hear back and eventually get it. I may get Ceretropic's sublingual Coluracetam in the meantime.

Awesome man! You're doing some serious digging. If it wasn't for some of these classes I'd be more apt to look up my specific particular issues, which I've come to grow more familiar with (i.e. the whole idea of damaged/hypofunctional NMDARs and perhaps, low acetylcholine). I believe one of those longecity threads you posted (though perhaps it was another one), a person was going to add pregnenolone to the stack your considering (it plays some role with NMDAr modulation). I'd definitely look into that - it's extremely cheap and you can get pure, bulk powders really easily. Also, I know people taking 1g/day for prolonged periods of time, and Dr. Peat took 3g/day for an entire year. Larger doses may be warranted for people in our position. I'm definitely going to look into ALL of these studies soon, and give my input, along with my previous studies on PCP and DXM induced damage, too. I think we can compile something nice. You should read what I posted from this private peptide forum about cerebrolysin and the most efficacious way to use it (i.e. training your brain via enriching experiences and/or new skills to actually facilitate the neural growth that cerebrolysin induces, but does not ensure; also it increases GLUT1 in the brain, so eat dem carbs ) I've also seen doses up to like 60mL/day used, and people in studies who were previously non-responders actually responded to these really large doses.

I'll have to check my sources/notes, but I believe MgT heavily influences NR2B receptors. If so, this can maybe play a large role in my personal HPPD which I believe was heavily influenced by PCP/embalming fluid and DXM. I'm going to give these studies a read through soon. I'd be interested in hearing your more thorough thoughts on the above studies and their relevance to us. Thanks!

Hey bpl, I know in your current state you may look and this and it may not mean a lot due to having heard it, but stick in there. I know exactly what you're going through as overall, in the past couple years my HPPD has gotten a lot worse. Things are looking up for me now, but that's because I'm hopeful for what the future holds for me due to all the things I'm experimenting with; not necessarily because all my symptoms have magically vanished. Your words really resonate with me because up until recently NO ONE even really understood to the slightest what I go through. In fact, they never knew that I felt absolutely insane all the time. My family believes I speak fairly intelligently and since I want to go into premed and have been doing all this research and so forth they look at me at my young age and always say I'm intelligent, yet I try to express that I'm doing everything because of my HPPD, so I can rid myself of this atrocious disorder and then try to help others. Only my mom really gets it as of late, because when I experimented with high dose niacinamide I experienced extreme depression for the first time, along with being completely unfunctional. I mean that my HPPD got so bad I couldn't even feed myself because the DP/DR was too much. I would look at my hands and feel so tripped out I just couldn't even bring the fork to my mouth. I really believe that the high dose of niacinamide caused me some temporary delirium or something, along with my regular HPPD, on top of adding depression. I was so depressed I started crying about things that were completely illogical (though some of it was logical). I've never experienced depression so this was additionally frightening. All I did was cry thinking about what my fiance would think if she saw me. It's been beyond difficult to go to class. I'm working on my associates degree and I've had to drop classes right after they started (so, fortunately getting out of failing a class, though I didn't receive credit); I may even be dropping this speech class this week as it gets extremely difficult to function under any stressor, despite how insignificant it is. Luckily, I've got a lot of tricks up my sleeve to help me, such as CES and z-health, yet that will all take time to make progress and I have things at my plate now. This isn't even including the fact that I'm engaged to my best friend, a girl who has been my neighbor, a classmate, and so forth for years before we dated, yet she doesn't really understand HPPD. I wasn't trying to make this about me in any sense, but give you my experience which may be relative to yours. I felt what I described roughly a month ago, and although my HPPD is much worse than when I first figured I had it, it's much, much better than last month when I didn't leave my bed for about a week. You're hitting a rough patch, but you'll get through it. If I were you, when you have the energy and capabilities, I'd make it a priority to describe your situation in great detail to everyone around you. They have to know otherwise if there is a really bad day and you just can't function, they'll be aware of why and won't expect you to do more. Also, I try to stay positive because I figure there are so many new compounds coming out on almost a monthly basis that eventually I see something coming around that simply eradicates HPPD for most. We're making progress my leaps and bounds in diseases such as Alzheimer's, MS, TBI, etc. so it's just a matter of time that something can directly help HPPD. Anyhow, I feel as though most people overlook a lot of treatments that aren't a medication, I suggest you look into (when you have the time, energy, and if you want to actually do any of it, the money): z-health (I highly recommend this, it's helped me a lot in only 6 days!) neurofeedback HBOT (since you have Lyme you can most definitely get a doctor to recommend HBOT and then seek out a local facility, in fact, it may help with Lyme, too) Lastly, I recommend looking into Dr. Peat; I don't want to become a huge devout Peat advocate but he's by far the most intelligent man I've come across and he has so many simple recommendations that help so many people, for instance, raw carrot salads or cascara sagrada; he answers emails personally, too, and I've had over 40 email conversations with him. His recommendations are sound. I truly wish you the best!

I've gotta say, I'm a bit worried about trying NSI-189. I know this is probably all stemming from my anxiety and, additionally, previous experiences, but I can't help but get past it's partially derived from nicotinamide; I keep getting the feeling that I'm going to take my 'test dose' (just 1mg or so to rule out adverse reactions), then increase the dose a bit and after a week become extremely depressed. It doesn't help that some members of the second group buy have reported increased anxiety, and one asked if NSI can actually cause depression, lol. I'm making a huge investment in neurofeedback, so I'm hoping that goes well. I'm still awaiting to receive an update on my NSI, so we'll see if I even do it - if it can be purchased soon enough I'll get it, but if I can't purchase it within the next week or so I'm just going to save every last dollar for neurofeedback equipment.

So, I'm thinking that rather than experimenting with any meds just yet (even for a temporary time as in the case of Buspirone+melatonin which may have lasting effects after 6wks), I'm going to drop a significant amount of money an a very elaborate neurofeedback unit - the TAG (Theta-Alpha-Gamma) Synchrony. According to someone I speak to on longecity, "It promotes broad-band synchrony by allowing you to control directly the synchrony of you brainwaves. I meditate and am quite into eastern spirituality (maybe you are too, or is Chakra just a coincidence?), and the total state induces some seriously powerful transcendental experiences. It's like meditation on steroids, the gains spill out instantly into your life off-the-cushion. I've never felt so aware, creative and at peace. If you're interested in learning more check out http://www.tagsynchrony.com/, the guy who invented it has a comprehensive and intriguing methodology. If you don't have a neurofeedback device there are some clients dotted around the US, maybe there are some near you. If you can, try out a few sessions of it and see what you think! Honestly I think I've found the panacea of mental enhancement." This was a couple months ago, and we've messaged each other occasionally since then and his language skills and coherence (in thought) has clearly improved by leaps and bounds, and he was intelligent from the get-go (in my experiences conversing with him). Upon researching it, although there is definitely more for me to learn, it induces the structural and brain wave changes that are seen in very experienced/advanced mindfulness meditators, albeit at a much faster rate. I've always thought that neurofeedback, meditation, appropriate breathing, etc. are really foundational, perhaps the most overlooked yet most potent forms of neuroenhancement/modulation/rehabilitation, and I believe I have also overlooked it in the past couple years. Before HPPD I was big on binaural beats, meditation, lucid dreaming, etc; yet I wouldn't dare attempt OBE's and lucid dreaming currently, as I've had sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucinations (more so physical sensations - vibrating, weightlessness, 'heart drop sensation', etc), and with HPPD that'd just trip me out too much. Nevertheless, I think this form of extensive, very guided neurofeedback can completely throw my brain into balance. Pair that with the proprioception, sensory gating, and visual training I'm doing with z-health, and as long as I support the facilitation of these changes with plenty of calories and nutrients, my brain can definitely be changed. I'm contemplating if NSI is even worth me getting if I were to do all of this - especially because it's partially derived from nicotinamide which scares me considering how adverse of a reaction (mentally and emotionally) I had to high doses of that about a month ago (damn does time fly). Yet, I also can justify it because it would definitely have synergy with z-health and neurofeedback; I was also thinking of pushing the boundaries of my emotional control and going on long mindfulness meditation walks in nature with nothing on me to get me back home, thus just using the environment and my memory. This would be a form of exposure therapy, environmental therapy, some enriching experiences as I know cab drivers and the like have denser areas of the brain that deal with spatial memory/directions (which taking walks in unknown environments would probably facilitate), meditation, etc. and then NSI would enhance the synapse formation. Regardless, I'm going to make the dive and purchase the neurofeedback equipment. I'm not even sure how expensive it is yet as I'm not certain what I need just yet, but I'm guessing around $1000+/- about $200. Hopefully it's worth it...

So, I'm looking up these online pharmacies, and hoping there aren't legality issues with acquiring different compounds without a script, lol. I'm thinking about getting things such as Naltrexone to replicate the Naltrexone treatment of HPPD study, as well as Buspirone, which as a standalone medication is rather worthless for most, but when mixed with melatonin, it causes hippocampal neurogenesis (which has been studied by Brain Cells Inc... the creators of Coluracetam). Also thinking about anti-epileptic medications since they've had some efficacy. I don't plan on using them for long, either, but until I had sufficient diagnostic testing, funds for supplements, sources of high quality foods such as organ meats and bones/joints/cartilage, etc. and maybe a way to do neurofeedback. Any meds that have helped you? What symptoms in specific were decreased?

We very likely were speaking about different skeptics, haha. Yeah, look into HRV - I've been occasionally dabbling with it and it's an effective way to get into a meditative state since it gives you real time feedback on your emotional/mental state; definitely nothing as potent as doing to a trained neurofeedback practitioner, though. If you don't mind me asking, what 'kind' of philosophy did you study? I'm only working on my associates degree right now (and soon enough, some certifications in various fields), but I've taken philosophy of critical thinking and I'm eager to take "Philosophy of Logic". Those two courses, along with ethics, I believe should be mandatory, haha.

No, that wasn't my point. My point was that I can use energy medicine practices and quantify it via heart rate variability, meaning, it affects HRV which is a measurement of nervous system activity. So, that is one of many ways which energy medicine can affect a person. Information on HRV is abundant in the literature, so if I do something that affects it, that is significant. Many supplements and foods directly impact my HRV meaning that it directly or indirectly produces or diminishes a stress response in my body. So, for instance, in missjess's case, for all we know she is in a very therapeutic environment with positive people and the reason she is in a better mood, feels a bit better mentally (which is evident in the evolution of her typing, for the most part), etc. is all due to a very significant increase in "coherence"/HRV, which things such as mindfulness and meditation also effect. I'm willing to look at any other 'skeptic' scientists; I was trying to make a point that a lot of the so-called skeptics I see barely abide by the rules of critical thinking and logic (in terms of philosophy) as it is, and thus their arguments aren't really worth spending time on. I used the structured water example for a variety of reasons; of water can be structured by light or intentions or vibrations or magnets or anything, who's to say other things can't be? Additionally, there is this whole revolutionary idea about the role of water in cells, in fact, it can potentially be more important to cells than the so called "cell membrane" (going by the 'fluid mosaic model', at least). If this is true, making the leap that positive intentions, meditation, etc. structures water, it can structure cellular water, too, thus giving explanations for energy medicine (in fact, there are hundreds of studies looking into this, some completed, some currently being completed); though electromedicine already gives an adequate scientific foundation, hence my references to Dr. Robert O. Becker.

By the way, nothing I'm stating is meant to be taken personally! No hard feelings

I don't see how there is nothing to do with it - I provided evidence of a so called skeptic who 'debunked' structured water, then provided evidence for structured water by one of the most renown biologists in the world. I also posted two other studies on intention and then a video by a renown physicist who discusses the scientific basis for shamanic practices. I have yet to see any evidence to the contrary besides a portion of a wikipedia article that just says there is placebo at play and so forth. Also, I can experience and quantify energy medicine in real time by tracking my heart rate variability. All I have to do is simply look at something, say a picture, and there is a distinct and lasting effect. I can think of something, then the same thing occurs.

I highly recommend watching the ThinkingAllowedTV videos on youtube, or purchasing their DVD's. They're all very reputable scientists, such as Oliver Sacks, who discuss a lot of things that if buying into various 'skeptic' sites, would be complete quackery.

Yes, for instance, this person who just spews a bunch of quotes arguing against structured water despite about 100yrs of evidence against everything he says, and no, I'm not talking about the Japanese researcher who took photos of water after it was subjected to positive intentions; I'm talking about 250+ clinical studies done at/through the University of Washington with Gerald Pollack, let alone amazing scientists such as Albert Szent-Gyorgi, Gilbert Ling, and Michael Polyani. Light structures water, and probably played a significant role in the origin of life. All of the 'skeptics' I've seen make bold claims and rarely provide ample evidence, mainly just quotes from people with huge financial incentives and blatant biases. For instance, Science Based Medicine. Lol, one of the most ridiculous sites I've seen. "3. Claims for efficacy are often based upon a bait-and-switch deception The most common example of the “bait-and-switch” for acupuncture are studies that examined the effects on pain of electrical stimulation through acupuncture needles. This is not acupuncture – it is transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TENS), which is an accepted treatment for chronic pain, masquerading as acupuncture. This is not a quibble. Science requires unambiguous definition of terms and concepts. If acupuncture is said to be something scientifically then it must have some specific and unique characteristics. In medicine that means it should have a specific mechanism of action – and it is that mechanism that we would call acupuncture. Electrical stimulation is no more acupuncture than if morphine were injected through a hollow acupuncture needle and then claimed that any resulting pain relief was due to “acupuncture.”" I'm not even going to get into how Dr. Robert O. Becker, who, again, was a Nobel Laureate, Navy researcher, surgeon who cured diabetic ulcers with a 100% success rate over a period of a decade, regenerated finger tips, regenerated salamander hearts, etc. proved the basis of acupuncture.

Haha, I wasn't the only grammar nazi; anyhow, I'm not from the UK, and when I type sceptic, it comes up with an error, perhaps that's due to being in the U.S. Nonetheless, it's not very 'critical' to not seek out evidence for both sides of an argument. Chris clearly doesn't believe in energy medicine, so it is up to him to analyze evidence promoting energy medicine. I'm more than willing to analyze any evidence from a 'skeptic', yet there is already a plethora of information 'debunking' these skeptics.

Effects of Intentionally Enhanced Chocolate on Mood These are some simple studies, ones that are definitely not the best at displaying the potential in energy medicine. Of course, some 'skeptic' sites 'debunked the studies. Watch this: