Jay1

There's a lot to be said for living simply and as stress free as possible... I learnt how to cope with hppd when all i really did was surf and had a little business that mainly ran itself... No big ambitions or needs, just peaceful living.

My tDCS was targeted at general anxiety, iirc. I didn't do a EEG/qEEG beforehand.

I tried tDCS, which is like the poor man's TMS! It didn't really do anything for me, though I only tried it a few times. Keep us up to date on the TMS.

Welcome to the forum. I'm sure it is awful to see your daughter going through this, but it is also very positive that she has such a caring parent/s that she can reach out to. A mushroom trip is both a psychological and neurological overload of the senses and can last with you for a long, long time (though the actual drug is out of your system after 24 hours or so). The fact that she recovered from the initial trip gives hope that she will also recover from this spike in symptoms. You are right to encourage sleep, rest and reduce stress... Advise her to do anything she can to distract herself. If she needs to come home, then make that an option... I'm sure the college will understand. It's a big decision, but protecting her mental health is all that counts, right now. While she might not have any signs of hppd, I imagine similar "rules" apply... So advise her to reduce/remove caffeine from her day to day life. Alcohol can also cause spikes in symptoms. If you or you daughter want to reach out, just DM me. All the best, Jay

I have done various drugs (inc LSD) post hppd and they have all made my condition worse, either short term or long term. It's clearly a bad, bad idea for most people with hppd, every time i've thought I hit a wall with hppd, i've found new levels... But you will always find a few people on the likes of Reddit who say it made them better.

There are only two things that take the edge off my DR... Benzos or alcohol. Two powerful, addictive drugs.

Welcome Cedric! It sounds like you are doing every right in giving yourself the very best chance at recovery. One tip I have is to distract yourself as much as possible.. For me, that can be going for walks outdoors, watching films, taking part in sports like surfing or football (soccer). Anything that stops me obsessing about my symptoms too much and lets me live in the moment. It really helps with the de-stress.

Haha... I must have read Cell[phone] masts instead of mast cells... my bad.

If you DM them, it will go through to the email they signed up with... That's the only info we have on users.

I wonder if you could get a small test shot first, to see if it causes any issues? I am sure they do something like that to test for allergic reaction anyway? Btw - there is a lot to be said about feeling good about your appearance, we have to deal with a lot of shit, so having a few little wins in life is a nice distraction.

Melatonin works ok for me... Makes me a little bit groggy the next morning, but not too bad. I just use it for a week or so to get me back into a sleep pattern

I went up to 45mg... determined it did nothing really, for me and have since tapered back off.

haha, i think that was when i was about 38. hppd must be keeping me young!

My symptoms haven't changed really since 1995, where I imagine mast cells were hardly anywhere.

This does not sound like HPPD to me and i'm very surprised a doctor said that (most have never heard of it). It sounds like panic attacks with some anxiety and dpdr I think the usual rules apply though... go sober, try to distract yourself, minimise stress and also be honest and open with your girl. 1 week in, though i'm sure it seems like forever, is a short time to be making any kind of diagnosis. If you feel you can cope for another few weeks, then do that and see how you are feeling after 1 month. If you are really suffering, I would chat to your doctor about going on a benzo for a few weeks, then tapering off it and seeing where you're at. Good luck

Monitoring the content you consume is a really interesting topic. I'm a big horror film fan, but have to cut it out of my life unless I know it will be more psychological, rather than gory. Seeing those gory images seem to stay with me in my CEVs. Similar thing with porn, which i've cut out completely. Not sure if that is what you meant in your comment, but it got me thinking about the visual input that can mess with me.

grasshjohns, can you explain the nature of the hallucinations you were getting? This will help determine if it is hppd or not

Great to hear something is working for you. Anti-psychs have always made me feel worse, so would be scared to try this, but please keep us up to date on your progress.

My opinion is that the human eye has many flaws and oddities. The normal person's entire visual system does an amazing job of filtering out such flaws and is only noticeable in extreme situations, like staring at a light or some kind of pattern that creates an optical illusion. It seems that the use of hallucinogens breaks down these filters and shows us those flaws in all their glory (and further enhances them). Most people seem to recover from this as the drug leaves the system, but it seems for us unfortunate %, those filters no longer work as they should.

the other symptoms seem to be resolving themselves, so it sounds like you have a good chance of recovery, including the tinnitus. I just distract myself from my tinnitus, listen to music almost non stop. When i am trying to sleep, i try to use the tinnitus as part of my meditation, trying to hum (in my mind) at similar frequencies. As i'm sure you have read, staying sober in these initial months is very important. Avoid stress is the next most important imho. Try to distract yourself as much as possible,

Yes, they probably co-exist rather than either being a side effect of the other. Sadly SSRIs tend to make HPPD worse for most sufferers, so trying to treat them individually is sometimes not that straight forward.

Sorry, but this is just nonsense. I've had severe hppd for 26 years and beat depression after the first 3 years. HPPD is 100% not a side effect of depression.

I imagine it is just that most people starting to really experiment with drugs are in their teens or early twenties, so that is why the statistics show HPPD mostly coming from that age range. There might be a lessened chance of getting it once you brain is fully developed, but I am sure there is still a chance. Not enough research has been done to say anything with any certainty.

I'd be interested to try it, getting new prescriptions is a big pain now I am living back in UK though!

Hi, what dose of clonazepam did you try? It's unusual for that not to have any affect on visuals. If you are staying sober but seem to be getting worse, the problem is usually either stress or a medication. Can you pinpoint anything stressful in your life (aside from having hppd)? Maybe covid or just the lockdowns in general... Change of job?