Shadowplay

I'm sorry, Done. I didn't mean to offend you or to act harsh. I just thought that it's pretty clear to keep yourself away from psychadelic drugs including weed when they are the cause in the first place. There are tons of people that get their DP/DR induced by simply smoking cannabis. So if you did some improvements on this which is great, I strongly advise you to stay away from it. You might get back on sqaure one again, or even worse. I don't think smoking a little bit of cannabis will do any serious harm to be honest. But you know the drill, it's easy to get addicted to it again if you have been previously.

Thanks, mate. That's hard to tell. It seems like you are getting better, so maybe you don't need any medical treatment for now. I wouldn't go for any dangerous drugs such as bensodiazepines because they're heavily addictive and might stop the brain from its natural recovery. Anti-depressants can create visual snow syndrome in the first place and isn't recomended for our visual symptoms. You can always try out anticonvulsant as they seem to be able to slow down some parts of the brain that is causing the visuals to some succes without addiction and few side-effects (Keppra, Lamotrigine for example). What I've read is that a lot of people tend to recover within the year mark when refraining from drug use. So if you can try that first, before involving any medications that would be great. I was too desperate and couldn't wait it out and didn't see any remarkable improvement for 3 months so I chosed to turn to the medical options. You can always do a sleep EEG test at your local hospital with a neurologist to see if something seems abnormal but it does rarely show for HPPD. It did for me though, not sure why. Good luck!

No worries, unfortunately I got a lot of spare time. I don't know if I have improved or if I'm just getting more used to it. I've had some success with Keppra to reduce the DP and the brainfog. I had a few beers and a shot or two during christmas and new years, but that's it. While under the influence of alcohol DP/DR completly lifted and I felt like 100% myself again, which means that there's nothing wrong with our brains when it comes to the psychological parts. It's just a side-effect of a bunch of anxiety and overthinking. I know some here blame the DP/DR and anxiety directly on their HPPD, but even Dr. Abraham himself insists that the psychological issues are treatable and secondary to the illness itself. I know man. Exercising is hard during the winter. Blame it on the cold hehe.

You can get temporarily brain fog and the sense of depression from all different kind of drug use. Smoking cannabis and psychadelics especially, alcohol too. These effects usually sits in your body for a few months after quitting. You'll eventually piss out these metabolites and things gets clearer. It could also be related to that your brain is catching up on it's serotonin base levels again, and that your brain has been succesfully rewired. I'm so happy for you! Keep clean.

Man, do you even suffer from HPPD? If you would, you wouldn't even think about smoking weed again. If your HPPD is that mild, I'd rather call it visual distortions. Can you smoke weed with visual distortions? I'm sure a lot of people do and it doesn't make it worse. But you know the deal, if you are smoking weed for a while and then you best mates are going to eat some shrooms and you can't say no because you're high as fuck so you'll go for it. And then you might get fucked for life. It's your life, your call. Have a few beers instead and be honest with your mates. Just tell them that your vision is fucked and that you'll have to restrain from cannabis use or it could get worse. They'll understand.

Tinnitus is usually a beeping high pitch sound. I mean, it's not suppose to be totally quiet all the time either. Sufferers of tough tinnitus sleeps with music on and and can't stand high volumes at all. Sometimes though my ear gets locked and i hear this high pitch beep, it last for a minute and then fades. Before Keppra when I was sleeping and tripping balls with CEV:s and stuff, everytime I moved my eyes, my ear would get locked. Both of em. Isn't that crazy? Even when my eyes were shut, every time I moved them, my ears got locked. Like on an airplane. Exact same feeling. Is HPPD rewiring our eyes to our ears in some weird way? No idea what could cause it but it was frightening. I don't mind this anymore though. I hope it fades for you. And remember to stop over-thinking and over-analyzing because it seperates the body from the mind. And you get more DP.

If it's hard enough to found this website to keep it online, then I unfortunately doubt that the foundation exist. Who's in charge of it? Is it David Klozin? However, this is far more interesting right now: http://www.gofundme.com/visual-snow

Happy new year! Mine's probably gonna suck but things are getting a bit better. I've been on Keppra for roughly 5 weeks now, started at 250 mg a day, and I'm now at 2x 500 mg day and night. I can't describe this in the percentages as this disorder comes in waves for me. For example on some days I still question who I am, where on some days I almost feel completely like myself. Visuals seems to be quite stable though. Improvements: - DP/DR reduced - Brain fog reduced (cognition improved). - Trails slightly reduced - Starbursting slightly reduced - Stopped losing a lot of hair (can be related to something else). - Visual snow reduced - Floaters slightly reduced - After-images (but I barely had them in the first place). - Emotions improved. (I can laugh more often and I can cry which helps with the anxiety). Not sure if I'd prefer the comfortably numb feelings though, but I guess not. - Memory: I can relate to memories better. - Neck pain is improved. - Eye strain improved (fuck yeah!) I hated this so much, and now I barely get it anymore. - High feelings gone. (kind of suck but I guess I won't miss it that much because it felt really wierd). Worsening/Side effects: - Anxiety, I was completely anxiety free when my HPPD started which lasted for 3 months but now it's rough. Maybe it has something to do with depersonalization lifting. That I'm actually dealing with more feelings now. - Depression. (could also be caused by different reasons, as I was heavily depressed prior to Keppra but I know there is a general 6% chance in Keppra patients to experience this) - Extreme tiredness randomly occured twice. Don't get it anymore. I don't do much during the days though, it might be different in an active life. - Easily irritated first weeks. Things coming up: I will talk to my neurologist this Thursday to get some more Keppra and will probably increase the dose to 1500 mg a day. I will stick to this dose for a while. I might ask the doctor for Naltrexone for the dissocation. A lot of positive vibes here regarding that: http://hppdonline.com/index.php?/topic/68-success-with-naltrexone-read-this/page-2 There's also another study with some great success: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15876908 Life in general is still a living hell, but if these improvements keep on coming I might get out of it alive. I got a new goal in life too: To study biochemical medicine to cure us and our children. Hopefully I'll be able to get my feet back on track to be able to do this as soon as possible. Take care everyone,

Yes, I am more positive now since I started Keppra, 250 mg twice a day. I talked to my neurologist today which is great. She will refer me to other specialist for a possible QEEG and upcoming PET-scans. I will double the dose starting in January as it seems quite effective. I had anomalies in the left temporal lobe and probably at the lingual gyrus too but that wasn't shown in the EEG.

I did a sleep deprived EEG. Maybe that's why they found anomalies just because of that. Since there were signal disturbances found, does that mean I'm one of the 30% according to your doctor? Is an abnormal EEG permanent? I wonder..

There's a major problem with even testing supplements or diets or medication. You don't even know if it works because HPPD comes in these waves. I'm always afraid to wake up feeling shitty the next day even if I had a good day the day before. Maybe it did helped you, but your HPPD turned down on you at the same time, worsening the symptoms. And if you'd try it another time maybe it would give you a better effect. There's a huge thick cloud that's covering the private research of HPPD and that's mainly because we are not dealing with the negative values of HPPD itself and what it can do. It's not consistent, we all know that. Therefore no research is valid unless it has been done for a very long time. Also every case is unique I would say which makes it even more difficult.

Wow, interesting, I'm so happy for you! It's very strange though, because Sulpiride is like many other anti-psychotics a dopamine antagonist which reduces the flow on dopamine. Many other had succes with Sinemet for example, which is the direct opposite if I'm not mistaken. So maybe you dont got HPPD, you might just have the real deal with hallucinatory palinopsia which is more easily treated. This is the differences between the two: "Hallucinatory palinopsia, usually due to seizures or posterior cortical lesions, describes afterimages that are formed, long-lasting, and high resolution. Illusory palinopsia, usually due to migraines, head trauma, prescription drugs, or hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD)". I got illusory palinopsia for sure and I doubt that a dopamine antagonist would help me. Have you experienced any symptoms of schizofrenia? I hope not to offend you by asking this question. I don't judge anyone anymore. Like our own psychadelic rock interventor Roky Erickson got schizofrenia due to heavy LSD use. I think he had roughly 300 acid trips in a year, something like that. He was completely delusional with a lot of visuals too. But when on medication he can actually pull something off like this: Love this song man. I used to play it a lot when I first got struck of HPPD.

Good stuff mate! I hate that cycle, and that it comes in waves like you say. I just wrote a thread about it. I agree completly with you. Good to see that someone can relate to it already. Congrats on getting your trails reduced! Mine are pretty severe, but they have been reduced with a 5-10% or something. What dose are you on right now? My brainfog and DP/DR as been reduced a lot. I almost feel like myself sometimes which is the best feeling ever. I guess we all react differently to them drugs. But yes I am happy that both of us got our EEG:s anomalies down on paper because further scans would take months and now we are getting treated and medicated with the best so far out of many aspects and that'll do it for me. I will eat Keppra probably atleast for a year until I take a decision of continueing or not. I also want to higher the dosage soon. i will meet my neurologist in a few weeks to discuss the little success so far. I can taste water again, I can feel my teeth when I brush them. I can smile without feeling like an alien. And that's everything to me. Good luck!

I haven't seen this anywhere so far and I've probably read most of the threads on this forum by now.. Seekers of the world. What I would like to discuss is a pattern of mood swings that I have noticed and it's usually a span of 15 days with three phases. Lets start with the high days (3-4 days): During this phase I feel high kind of all the time for no reason at all. I got a nervous tingly feeling in my stomach and a bit of a bodyhigh as well. I feel pretty damn good but it feels so strange because it feels so unjustified. Something in my brain is probably releasing tons of serotonin or dopamin. This usually starts off easy with a better mood and peaks on the 3rd or 4th day where I can walk around laughing for myself, feeling high as a kite. This happend once when I was at my psychologist and I told her I got this feeling right now and described it for her. It kind of felt like love. I obviously didn't tell her that though because it would probably make her more nervous. (I told her I sometimes find peoples faces weird and strange). She asked me if I thought she looked strange. I had to try really hard not to leave the room with a giant smile on my face and an akward derealisation which I usually don't experience. I also tend to get very positive during this time. The second phase, feeling OK. (around 7 days) Feeling OK is a pretty numb state where things work out at an average level. I can do minor things without giving up and I do have some kind of hope. It's like that the high feeling just disapeared and I'm on a shitty afterglow where nothing is fun. Not too interesting. The 3rd phase: Doomsday. (3-4 days): I feel so empty inside that it seriously feels like satan himself is dragging me down into a void of nothing. I hate this lonely feeling of total emptiness. I even feel empty in the arms of my girl. At this point I give up everything and I hate myself; I hate the people around me. I despise everything and I feel like dying. This feeling usually strikes me early in the morning or really late at night. I usually just fall back asleep or go to bed because I really have bad thoughts when I'm in this phase, Then suddenly I wake up, I got a little tingle in my stomach and got some great energy. I want to do stuff again. Starting to like things again. But I know it's just this mad cycle that keeps repeating. At first I just didn't analyse it too much but now after 4 months of HPPD this is a clear pattern for me. Keppra has helped with it, I feel a lot more balanced now so it's not as bad anymore but I find it quite interesting. Can anyone relate to this, and what do you guys think is affecting me to feel super high and then totally dead? Something in my brain is being released a lot at the same time, and then it fades and fades and then there's no joy left at all. I know it's not about bad or good days, because I basicly to the same stuff. I relax and think, sometimes meet my girl. Sits behind a screen. Nothing worth mentioning here. I know we got serotonin and dopamin right, but could there be something else? Oh well, discuss it if you can relate to anything. I'm on 500 mg Keppra a day now and things are getting better. Slight improve in visuals.(5-10%). DP/DR has been improved a lot. Or maybe I'm just starting to hit the high phase right now. Because I haven't felt this good and as much as myself as I have tonight for months. On the other hand I'm always scared to slip back into the phase of darkness. I almost cried yesterday night. I can't cry but if I could I would probably done that yesterday. I also get speeded up during the high phases. So much energy that's coming back. Alright merry christmas guys,

Damn that video makes me trip out. You see the patterns so easy after a while it's scary. That's the only symptom that isn't severe for me though, the visual snow doesn't interfere with me. Just at nights, when it turns into strong CEV:s. It has been lessened with Keppra though. The CEV:s that is.

It's related to HPPD in many studies but it has no real explaination why it's happening. I had slight tinnitus before HPPD and it doesn't bother me. If it's a big problem for you, there's therapy for tinnitus that can make it go away but I believe it's quite expensive. It's about you listening to a faked hertz of that high pitch you are hearing kind of all day using headphones intill your brain gets used and then just filters it out. First weeks of HPPD my ears was super-sensitive and I could hear anything. It was enhanced like a damn acid trip. I could hear raindrops falling on the street outside my house. And the wind kept me awake a lot of nights as it sounded like a typhoon.

Yes, you have ruined your life. So have I. But you got plenty of time now to build it right back up, it just takes a lot of work and probably a lot of time. Nothing stays the same, everything keeps changing. Accept that life won't be pleasant for a few months or years, you'll probably still have some good times time to time, but mostly it will be hard. If you can accept that, the fear will be relieved from your chest. You got nothing to worry about except getting better. Atleast try it. It's worth every shot. And if you won't succeed you can always help others with their lives as you will atleast grow some great strengths through all this. And yeah stay away from pot and other fun stuff.. We all had enough of that right

-MG is that you in the video? Nice one. Looks delicious.

Fuck keppra rage, barely can deal with my girlfriend at the momemt. She is so irritating and arrogant. Turns me into some douche. Had some sick stomach issues today too. Hopefully this will pass soon. Otherwise than that I had a great day, watched a movie (don't pick 3D when you got trails) and met some old friends, that I actually could recognize, have a few laughs and I didn't feel weird at all. So the DP/DR is most definitely lifting and my mood is a lot better except when someone annoys me. Oh well it's worth it. I rather have bad nerves and a shitty stomach than not being able to recognize my own sister. Sometimes I get a happy rush as well, prob the GABA that gets effected from Keppra. Always nice. Hopefully the bieffects will pass though. On 250 mg morning and night atm.

My neurologist couldn't find the results in the database due to some update on the software, but I'll get a copy in a couple of weeks. She mentioned abnormalities in the left temporal lobe. Why does that sounds familiar to me? I'll have a PET-scan made in a few months too. The queue is quite long but according to the latest research this type of scan is very sufficient so I'm being patient. 250 mg Keppra at night has reduced my DP/DR with 50-70% I would say. I've got a lot of feelings back which feels great! No side-effects. Slightly improvemed starbursting. No other visually changes. I will up the dose to 250 mg twice a day in 1,5 week. Hopefully a dose during the day will reduce my visuals too. I really would like to skip a floaters only vitrectomy. Well atleast I don't want to die anymore and I feel more or less like myself again. I'll have to wait a few days and see of these effects are lasting due to HPPD having its up and downs but if they are then I'm sure I can live a relative normal life after all.

Faster heart beat pounding can be related to a panic attack. I had something similar last week when I was checking out some pictures from this year prior to HPPD. It was too overwhelming and anxiety loaded I suppose. Didn't feel any anxiety though, I'm still quite calm. I used to feel scared too but acceptance has helped me a lot. The visuals can't hurt you. Try to like them. Don't fight it. Good luck!

There are different levels of HPPD, if you got a little bit of anxiety and a few trails of doing some acid but still can manage to go to school or do daily work I wouldn't say you got HPPD straight away. There's a difference between visual distortions gathered rom hallucinogenic use or HPPD. The second is a disorder where there's a criteria atleast inofficially where you need to show atleast 3-4 symptoms of the illness itself and they have to be that severe that they interfere with your every-day life. Do you have anything else than anxiety and trails? I wouldn't advise you to read up too much about it either but don't worry mate, just stay clean further on and it will eventually subside.

Yeah man depression sucks! I get spikes though. High days of 2-3 lasting days. I got this feeling in my stomach, tingling nervousity and I feel pretty good. Quite positive as well. However, when it finishes I usually have 3-5 heavy depressive days where I sometimes wish my life to an end. So I think I got some issues with neural spike activities and my EEG turned out abnormal to kind of prove it. Hopefully my mood can stableize with Keppra as well. I got HPPD roughly 3 months ago so we seem to be on the same track here you and I. For some reason it seems that the medical support has been increased or eveloped because both of us got help quite quickly, if you compare to some other members that has fought to even try out Keppra for years before succeded. Or maybe we're just lucky that any abnormalities were found, if that is lucky at all, but yeah. Good luck with the trial and keep it posted!

What dose are you at? I started Keppra yesterday and didn't really notice any difference except that my mood is great today. And I think more clear. No brainfog etc. What I've heard it can take up to a year for it's full effect. And it depends on what dose you are at. I'm just stabalizing on 250 mg for 2 weeks, where I don't except much. But then going higher, hopefully some symptoms will subside.

And I who thought HPPD and psychosis is the same thing? No but seriously, my mother asked me. "Hmm, so you don't think you may got some kind of psychosis?" Such a great question for someone in a slightly depersonalized state. Well you can't control what you don't understand.