Bugger

Haha man how do you make the assumption that she had HPPD and wasn't schizophrenic?

Hey man, I'm on an SNRI called pristiq, have been for 8 months now and yeah no increase in symptoms, in fact probably decreased. So yeah I've been one of the lucky ones with ADs, they're not all bad

hey man, your symptoms are very much similar to mine apart that I get very mild after images occasionally (in certain lighting) and spirals/more intense static in the dark. Although my symptoms are not in the slightest debilitating, I got mine from only 8 months of mdma use... And I can tell you that when I first got static, 4 weeks later I took a high strength MDA pill and ever since my static in the dark has been really intense. So yeah, maybe try lay off for a while if you know you are gonna take MD again to let your brain recover... 2 weeks isn't enough. Also jay, I noticed you keep saying MDMA was one of your personal worse drugs in inducing HPPD - how often/much did you take for it to make it noticeably worse? I've stupidly done a few bumps of ket since signing up to this forum - thankfully no increase in symptoms apart from shimmering (which I've had after 0 sleep/hangovers). My uni friends plow through drugs like no end and have yet to experience any HPPD shit, funny how different a brains work differently

Yeah certain visuals went away while on the SNRI, like intensity of colours and after images. That could have been related to time though. Visual snow has remained the same/varying every day but it's nothing to do with snri I think.

hey mate, I say best bet is to stick on the ssri and see how your depression/anxiety may improve. I've been on pristiq (SNRI) for 7 months now and it's been the best decision I've ever made. Certain visuals initially worsened very temporarily than went back to baseline, more importantly it's the anxiety that is now virtually gone after a depressive stage from shitty e abuse. Will be tapering off in 3 months after uni finishes, so you won't be on it forever.

I swear the majority of the people on the forum gained HPPD when they went to sleep while the visuals still happened.... It happened to me too

Ah I'm sure you've been managed it well - my anxiety has just recently been resurfacing again after the semester finished a few weeks ago. I'm currently studying architecture in my undergraduate, final semester in a month's time! A lot of work, coffee and many late nights... Not the most ideal lifestyle for HPPD but nonetheless it keeps me interested and motivated.

If you could provide any links to people having permanent damage from ssris/snris that would be great, I am curious as to how far of an extent my SNRI could damage me. Not all doctors - my neurologist has treated people before with similar symptoms after drug abuse and found that the symptoms tended to go away on its on by time. My anxiety however was something that was separately treated and thus was placed on an AD that has so far done me well. I should be off it in half a year's time and I hope I should no longer need it to treat my depression/anxiety.

Sorry Mr. 50s, I don't mean to be rude but I feel the need to clarify a few things here. 1. I was not feeling okay before pristiq, and had very dehibilitating/crippling anxiety from merely using ectasy over an 8 month period, on top of other external factors. With the advice of many doctors, despite being reluctant to take an antidepressant after the negative things I have read about it for HPPD, Pristiq has really picked me up - my HPPD does not bother me at all anymore, I can drink coffee and alcohol without any increase to symptoms, and has generally improved my mood and confidence altogether. 2. It is not well known that ssri's/snri's increase visual snow OR hppd, in fact there is no reported scientific/proven evidence at all, apart from other people's experience. It seems like many people quit after only being on antidepressant medication for a week or two - this is a common time for side effects to still occur and increase visual symptoms. These side effect/increases in visuals tend to reside after 4-12 weeks, which has happened to me. There have even been scientific articles that have spoken about HPPD/Visual Snow symptoms to reside after a couple of patients being prescribed the SSRI Prozac. Despite saying this, it is true that certain people on this forum have suggested SSRI/SNRI medication to have made the HPPD symptoms dramatically worse. 3. Speaking to a neurologist and psychiatrist with 30-40 years of experience about my concerns of visual symptoms initially increasing + prolonging/making symptoms permanent, they told me this will not be the case. Although they would like to believe my ecstasy abuse (I have not taken hallucinogens before) induced my visual symptoms, they emphasize that such medication is most definitely not to permanently increase my symptoms. They have seen symptoms in other previous such as after images and visual snow (drug-induced or not), and they believe that these symptoms tend to subside over time, provided abstinence of drugs. Whilst I appreciate your opinion on SSRIs/SSNRIs, I am a mild HPPDer who would rather stand with the advice of medically trained professionals rather than ones who haven't. Have you tried any antidepressant medication during HPPD? If so, what ones and how did they affect you?

Hey everyone, I'd just like to ask has anyone had some experience on the SNRI known as Pristiq? From my understanding, it's similar to Effexor but without as many side effects. I got put on it after my drug-induced anxiety disorder, hoping it clear up my visuals. my symptoms only occur in a dim-lit rooms and the dark, it's been 6 months now and there's not really been any improvement. In terms of anxiety however, it has worked an absolute treat. Not sure if I can attribute it to the drug or not, but a few weeks after I started taking it, I began to get a colourful spiral blocking my vision in the dark. this now comes and goes, varying in intensity every now and then. My visual snow, I believe, has increased in intensity. My girlfriends face is so pixelated/morphs/unrecognisable because of this - this is probably my worse symptom and seems to be getting worse I've seen both my neurologist, GP and psychiatrist about this but they believe SNRI can't make this worse, and if it does, it's not permanent. True or not true What's everyone else's symptoms on SNRIs?

Hey StateOfRegret, Just wondering how you're recovering atm? Do you still have any anxiety related to HPPD//have your visuals lessened since? I'm studying at university too, although not quite as intense of course as physics.

Cheers Shadow, I'll take a peek at it now. I do understand the consequences of taking it too much, hence I always only take less than a certain amount of mls. I either feel it or I dont. After only receiving visual issues from moderate/heavy ecstasy abuse from 8 months, GHB seems like a drug (like alcohol) that seems to produce less long term harm in moderation. It's addiction is the only issue - I've got a good bunch of mates who only take it (if they do) at the end of uni semesters or every blue moon. Sorry it feels stupid trying to validate a drug, so I'm sorry if it's insulting to you or others on this forum who have been struggling with this disorder.

Hey man, To be honest the visual static is something that may have been triggered from tripping... But what you're talking about tracers/afterimages I think you're just overlooking it. If you follow an object and you don't receive tracers, than that's fine. Your symptoms sound similar to mine... Coming on this website made me feel more anxious about them/notice them more but it's just random visual phenomena that can come and go, and I reck if you take a break from drugs for awhile youd see a difference. Few of mine have really gone awAy/less noticeable and it's been less than a year. Sometimes I think it's just migraine aura anyways.

Mmmm shadowplay I've done a bit of research into GHB and in my opinion it seems similar to the effects of alcohol, just somewhat more euphoric. My symptoms are very mild/sometimes I don't believe it's hppd (symptoms only are really pronounced in the dark) with no dp/dr. So I feel loike I'm not risking a lot.

Interesting, It's the opposite for me... I feel somewhat stimulated at low doses of ghb/tend to get more anxious on alcohol

Without*, sorry

After reading into reports of ghb being okay for HPPD, I've recently tried it a few times on nights with any increase in visuals during or after. Never taken too much and I have felt so refreshed the next morning. The drug itself though is short lived and tbh no where near as good as pills. That being said I don't to try and promote it... Has anyone else here done G with HPPD?

Halos/auras = persistent aura without migraine Trails - do they happen if you follow the object with your eye, or if they move past you without focus? Shifts in hue/colour - common visual disturbance from anxiety Snow - occurs in people without drug use Distortion in perception of perceived object - can happen from being tired/Alice in Wonderland Syndrome Heightened awareness of floaters - anxiety Honestly, it is so hard to classify HPPD unless you know you really have it. The fact that doctors however have labelled you all those neurological disorders though... I don't know te story obvs but that amount of disorders being diagnosed on you is just obscene on the doctors behalf.

after images are the worse for me too... you just got to tell yourself they don't actually hurt you. They'll only will make you suffer if you worry about them :/ this is typical of migraine aura so it may not necessarily even be HPPD (even after smoking)

hey jay, I've always your contributions to the forum and just want to say you've got my up most respect to how you are managing your HPPD and how you help out so many HPPDers on the forum. I've seen several psychiatrists and neurologists about these symptoms, some of who have seen HPPD stuff before, and most of them have all said that this isn't a progressive disorder, and that getting anxious over the future with it is just gonna make it worse...

Hey all, I've been stalking this forum for a while now, haven't had the chance to sign up properly since issues validating my account but here I am. I'm 20 and I live on the eastern coast of Australia. I've had what I think is HPPD pushing onto 7 months now. I got mine from 6-7 months of moderate ecstasy use, 3 first months were every four weeks. There was a month between during university holidays where I'd have 4-6 pills in a night (but would never take two at once); it was more of a keep me going where I'd often stay in the club until 8/9am. After that period I realised how dumb that was of me, and only stuck to 1-3 pills every fortnight/three weeks, which in hindsight was still incredibly dumb. Anyways, I had my first major scare when I took an e and a capsule of mephedrone (bath salts, which I didn't know at the time//first time taking it), which I had bad hallucinations on for a bit. The next few weeks were horrible/anxiety-ridden, as I've always been against hallucinogens due to their potential of flashbacks - particularly cos it was bathsalts, I was worried of going psychotic. I had occasional random static on people's faces in the dark which gave me a fright but it slowly went away. I also had this weird static around plain objects, but slowly diminished in time/thought it was always there. 4 weeks later my anxiety improved a lot (after exams), and I went out again and took two halves of an ecstasy pill (MDA) throughout the night. Had a few anxious episodes but was all good. A week later was when I realised I had this faint static on the plain walls, which is when my anxiety shot through the roof - I thought I had done permanent damage. It was only after countless searching up symptoms to when I realised I had just more than static: - colourful static/flickering vision in dim light rooms, carpets, plain walls, occasionally around objects - negative palinopsia which sometimes looks like halos depending on light conditions - colours sometimes got more intense (which now has gone away) - only trails in peripheral vison/when i blur my eyes... which is normal I think - colourful spirals in centre of my vision in the dark which come and go - the feeling of shadows/blotches moving around my room in dark (this is what scared me the most) - intensity varies, read its common from ecstasy abuse... Anywho, reading up on all these symptoms (questioning myself if I got DP/DR, which I don't) got me severly depressed/chronically anxious so I saw many doctors and told my parents. After being on an SNRI for approximately 5 months now, safe to say I've never felt better. My visual disturbances (sometimes I think the SNRI made it worse) are still persistent but only inside or in the dark. I stupidly have done half a bump of ket and GHB a few times, both of which I didn't find interesting/fun at all, without any increases of visual symptoms. I still drink 1-2 times a week without any issues, and play sport twice a week. My ability to focus on things in sport/static in the sky after intense exercise annoys me a little bit but what can you do. Sometimes I'm hopeful that these symptoms will go away, but it seems like 90% of the time they don't so I try not to worry about them. So yeah, HPPDer through ecstasy use Wishing the best of luck within all your recoveries (y)