Hi everyone,
My name is Steve and I’ll share more of my story in the coming weeks. I’ve suffered with HPPD for 47 years. It started after the last time I took LSD in my sophomore year in high school, and has continued 24/7 until today. I’ll be 63 in June. It got much worse when I was 45. It was stress related (public speaking) and my symptoms (all the visual stuff we all experience) got so unbearable I finally saw a good doctor at Stanford. We’ve tried pretty much every med in the book, but the only one that gave me relief was Klonopin. It was a life saver for me. I function pretty well, but anxiety is present most of the time. I really try to avoid the things that make the visuals worse, like stress and fatigue. My doctor has been a huge help, and we have looked at some of the underlying issues I have that have gotten worse as a result of HPPD. It sucks!
The good news is you learn to live with it and I can say that I’ve had a good life. For over 25 years, I thought I was the only person on the planet with this condition! I knew they weren’t flashbacks, because it was with me all day every day. It’s weirdly comforting to know I’m not alone, but I hurt for everyone that has this condition.
I haven’t taken drugs since the last time I dropped acid (it sounds weird to say it now) except for smoking some pretty potent pot one time. I was full on hallucinating when I smoked, so I guess you could say I was scared straight.
Please find a good doctor, avoid stress, anything that might produce anxiety, and find some meds that work.
Blessings,
steve