Jay1

Your (US) healthcare system is absolutely insane... You should be out in the streets protesting at every opportunity. Healthcare is a human right pretty much everywhere else in the world. Hope things get better for you, Macro.

I seem to be fine with it... Several cups of decaf tea a day, in true British style!

Yea, i've thought about this a lot too... I can get my anxiety down to a very low level if I am at home, alone, watching a film or playing music... My visuals and DPDR stay the same though, so I don't think anxiety directly affects the visuals. Likewise, with alcohol, I can get both my anxiety and dpdr down quite a lot, but my visuals stay the same.

ah yea!... i did think that was a big leap from 0.5mg to 4mg , haha

btw - If you smash back 3-4mg, you will just sleep all day and not remember anything much when you were awake! I would try 1mg and go up by 0.25mg each time until you find your sweet spot (even 1mg does bring me some reduction in visual symptoms).

I rarely take 1.5mg any more,as i've come to realise the visuals don't overly bother me if I deal with the anxiety/dpdr, which I can get relief from with 0.75mg or 1mg for more stressful events. I do occasionally take 1.5mg if I am going to, say, a wedding. I generally take 0.75mg on friday/saturday/sunday, then 4 days off.. rinse and repeat. I then have occasional 2 week breaks to make sure my body is not becoming tolerant. This isn't a strict regime, sometimes I have more, sometimes less... But always a 4 day break and, if I do take more (eg, every day on a week long vacation) I then have my 2 week detox. This has worked now for 15 years or so with no sign of tolerance or withdrawals. Having a little weekend break where I can socialise and have a bit of fun has really changed the quality of my life.

Your clonazepam dose was likely too low to see visual improvements. I get very obvious, very real visual improvements from 1.5mg onwards. It is the only thing that works for my HPPD and thankfully helps the anxiety and dpdr as well as the visuals. It's a magic bullet, for me. Of course, you have to understand the risks of any benzo, especially at higher doses.

Hi, the main meds people seem to get relief with are 1) Benzos (be careful, they are addictive). 2) Keppra 3) Lamictal Also, it is good to eat healthy food, exercise, remove stimulants like caffeine and try to remove stress from your life. Good luck, Jay

That's great. I think the two conditions are so clearly interlinked, that any research done from their side will be a benefit to us, and vice versa. Not being linked with drug use makes life easier for them in terms of funding, endorsements etc. If VSS feels the same as HPPD, then I have huge sympathy for the sufferers, at least we know why we got HPPD. To just basically start tripping for no reason must feel especially cruel. Let's hope we all get some good news, in the future.

Try not to panic... 3 days is way too soon to think about anything as long term... Just see where you are in a week or two. It might even be psychosomatic... or the thought of ingesting any psychedelic has triggered stress/anxiety that caused a spike, not the psychedelic itself. Usual rules apply... stay sober, eat healthy, exercise, de-stress, avoid stimulants like caffeine. Good luck, please keep us updated on progress.

I've never been diagnosed with anything, but I do wonder if I am on the spectrum somewhere... I really struggle with eye contact and sometimes struggle with social cues... That might just be from HPPD though. Back when I was a teen, in the 90s, you were either clearly autistic or not... The idea of being mildly autistic wasn't really a thing.

Good luck with the meds... Yes, please keep us updated, it's very helpful for the community.

I know it is hard, but try to let go of the frustration and anger, it's doing you no good. The emotion of regret is only there to teach you a lesson, once you've learnt that lesson, it's time to let go of the regret and try to move on with your life. Have you discussed this with a doctor yet? Are any meds working for you? I wonder if there is something more than HPPD going on here... while I get brain fog, my brain is on 24/7, I dream of having a blank mind and that description doesn't sound common with the 100s of people I have chatted to about their symptoms.

I still think the same advice applies... Just try to sit it out for a few week... You did some strong drugs and that can take a while to get over. Exercise, eat healthy, avoid stimulants like caffeine and see how you feel as the days pass. Try to distract yourself and avoid obsessing over symptoms. It does sound unlikely that you have hppd, but you may have the first warning signs that you have the potential to develop it with more drug use.

I think occasional use for anxiety is probably fine at this point. Just be very aware that it will feel like a cure and you will want to do it more and more! Re: thinking about it all the time... The first thing to keep in mind is that most people recover. Especially when their visuals are mild. Anecdotally, from the hundreds of people I have DM me, I would say you have above 90% chance of recovering fully within the next few months, probably quite a bit sooner, so hopefully just that knowledge alone can put your mind at ease a bit. Other than that, distractions are your friend... as I said, tv, films, gaming, gym, sports... whatever it takes! If you work or are at school/college, can you take some time off? Anything that will limit stress and allow for time to distract could be helpful (though maybe you find work/school/college a distraction, in which case, carry on).