Bugger

That's interesting, sorry to hear that since Phenibut is working s treat for me.

Having been on lexapro + Phenibut I recently my anxiety is being managed sososo well, with all my visual little things barely even there anymore.

Are you sure they were withdrawals?! I am so very certain phenibut (if u were taking a gram) does not have a half life that long to do so... What did you experience?

Yea it blew my tinnitus up for the next few days, also was one of those people where I could fall asleep on it after 5 hrs... Didn't work for me.

HPPD wise I think the snow got slightly worst for a few days, not permanently.

Overrated study drug imo

damn bummer to hear. I've spoken to various neurologists about drug induced visual snow and all have had different responses / spoken about different groups of people who've had it. They all think perception/anxiety plays a significant factor in it. More common than people think.

Yeah after a year I started settling in back into MDMA every now and then after I gave in to my groups fanatics, no increase etc... moved to the UK and did it a few times and began noticing increased symptoms last for a few days or so. Will try to restrain - since rent prices here are fucked up I don't think it'll be hard.

^^^^^ jay is your visual snow in daylight as well? I only get it in the dark with occasional swirls and streaks - can confirm mdma use has worsened it, recently since dabbling in a bit a few times in 10 months.

The more I think about it the worse it gets as well - learning to phase it out accept it and ignore it (when its possible) is when I start to notice after a few months that it has *so very slowly* reduced

its been a while so hey everyone!

Just wondering if anyone's had any experiences with Phenibut? Ive been dabbling in it every now and then, and it's worked quite nicely in regards to anxiety. I take it once every two weeks before work and sometimes before social events. Hasn't improved nor worsened my symptoms but I can recommend this as an occasional supplement to those who's symptoms worsen with alcohol during such events. And great for sleep.

PS - update on recovery - I am nearly two years in with very minor improvements, however mine is so mild that my visuals (static and swirls) only occur at night. I question how much my HPPD is pre HPPD as I can ignore it.

^^^^ agreed. I've been on an SNRI for more than a year now, and it has helped my anxiety significantly. So much so that I believe these visual "abnormalities" we have are something that can be filtered out if our anxiety is treated correctly.

Can everyone here stop self-medicating themselves and stop giving medical advice (to stop or to keep continuing medication) when you have no qualifications in medicine? I don't get it - you should only be informing people of your experiences with different medication, not asking or giving advice on these things...

That should only be between the patient and the doctor(s).

Gman, sorry to hear you had a rough few days on keppra.

I've taken both dexamphetamines and modafinil without any increase of my symptoms, apart from when I've taken 15mg of dex in a day - all it made me was my visual symptoms more noticeable for 4-6 hours

Hey guys,

I've been on here for nearly a year now and I'm starting to question whether or not I had "HPPD" or just drug-induced visual anomalities (being occasional after images, persistent visual snow and shocking night vision). I had awful substance abuse anxiety after an 8 month abuse of XTC, which subsided after 6 months of CBT and antidepressant treatment. As my anxiety was reduced, so did the intensity/noticAbility of my visual symptoms. Not once have I ever felt like I've been "tripping".

I know this is a sensitive topic for some, but recently I have been getting back into XTC/dextroampjetamines, having 6-9 weeks break and doing half a point twice throughout the night, never getting the proper roll. It doesn't affect my visual symptoms at all, unless I haven't slept. In which case my snow and after images become stronger. My visual symptoms haven't affected me in my day to day things.

I'm quite wary what I'm doing is offensive to everyone suffering here... would my symptoms be pre-HPPD? My sibling has the same "snowy/staticy" sky but just on a less intense scale - and never touched drugs in his life.

I've been reading several threads on reddit about HPPD who seem to have similar symptoms but downplay it/seem to manage it light heartedly

sorry mate but that is regarded as self-medication. Drinking to alleviate symptoms can lead to a road of dependence and addiction, drinking should be something to enjoy without needing a solution to remove negative symptoms.

Do not replace meds with alcohol. drinking in small quantities infrequently is obviously encouraged, but theres a reason why people with drug abuse issues (many people on this HPPD a forum for example, me being one of them) are told by doctors to avoid alcohol. Because they can't be trusted.

drinking alone is the stupidest thing to tell an adolescent to do

^^^^^ jay, i don't believe caffeine plays as big a role as people thinks it does unless your anxiety is ALREADY an issue - and when it affects your sleep. i couldn't drink coffee for 3 months whenthinking about HPPD played a huge role in my anxiety - stirred up visuals and everything. the moment i learnt CBT and to manage my anxiety, so did the HPPD. unless it is blown way out of proportion (as i believe many people on this site think it is), it is largely psychosomatic.

I now have two strong cups of coffee every day after learning to manage my anxiety, i look forward to them every day whilst still seeing minor improvements with my visual symptoms monthly.

Lack of sleep, however, is known to harm your brain. Mr. 50s, i don't understand the purpose of you or why you have to stay up two days straight? it's not a race playing that game...

Yeah chiggs I'm exactly the same, I got the after images of my lecturers last year that were noticeable but not concerning... My neurologist said that it's a natural phenomenon and anxiety/stress brings it up. The moment I stopped looking for them, the better they got.

What's your after imaging like chiggs?

I've had halos of carlights since I was born... But very small ones/unnoticeable. Why bother fretting about halos starbursts and such? They are all natural phenomena and thinfs are only made worse by stressing over it

Awake more than 3 days? Do you smoke crystal? I can't imagine that being good for HPPD at all...

Alcohol is known to affect dp/dr. I've had no issues with the visuals getting worse, apart from the hangover the next day (and occasional anxiety).

Congratulations man! Your situation is similar to mine, I got over the mild visuals with same mentality and I'm better than ever. Visuals should hopefully show some kind of diminishment - my neurologist said ignoring them helps these 'migraine-like visuals' go away. Shows what spending less time on the forum can do. Well done again!

trip into hell... You have every chance of overcoming your panic disorder, it's never permanent! Keep on kickin because suicidal depression is something that is so easily treatable.

Stop trying to validate doing drugs - if your HPPD is as bad as you think it is Brandon, surely all you need to do is take a step back and realise that it's not worth the risk?

Since my mild onset I've done mdma, ket and ghb all few times at least whilst on my SNRI medication - luckily it hasn't affected me but every single time I've done, it's just not been worth it? The whole time you're high you will feel some kind of regret. You will be unsatisfied and guilty that you may have prolonged your recovery from this disorder, and you're going to look back in 10/20 years time thinking what a waste of time it was.

If nothing is going to convince to stop taking drugs, ask a doctor to take you through the psych ward. It will completely change your perspective.

I drink quite a bit once a week or fortnight without any effects on my HPPD, apart from perhaps the next day.

Hi guys,

So it's nearly been a year now since I've developed mild HPPD, I haven't really posted much information on this forum but I thought I'd put my say in it now?

After 8 months of what was fortnightly MDMA use, I ended up with pretty bad anxiety and depression. Big anxiety attack on pills over my fear of "flashbacks", which I never had, and since then I've had a range of mild symptoms. They only happen in the dark frequently, occassionally in dim light but never outside.

I was put on an SNRI known as Pristiq 7 months ago, after being reluctant reading up all this stuff on HPPD. I thought I was a goner and had proper fried myself from what I thought was only going to be a harmless period of drugs. Several student GPs, two neurologists and a psychiatrist both recommended it to me, despite not really knowing what HPPD was.

My "spirals" in the dark got more noticable, but as time went on I've beginning to think my symptoms become less in intensity more often. Still there, but not worse at all.

I can safely say this medication has saved my mental health, my final year grades at university and effectively my life. I highly recommend it to anyone who's chronic anxiety towards HPPD or other things is leading them into a bad depression. Unfortunately I have prevented my recovery along the way by infrequent drug use, but thankfully (I do need to learn very soon) it hasn't hindered my mental health or visual symptoms.

Has anyone else had experience with various SNRIs? I've read a few scientific articles discussing how HPPD symptoms had resolved on someone being on Prozac (SSRI), but that's about it.

Cheers Jay for the heads up though. My biggest scare of HPPD was how I got it without doing hallucinogens (unknowingly at least)

Hm. Funnily enough my HPPD came hands down to only MDMA abuse, although who knows what were in the pills. MDA is common where I'm from. Never done lsd or anything though.

The bad trip on what was unknowingly mephedrone also gave me slight bending lines when I looked at objects for a few weeks.