Many people are shy to talk about it, because they are afraid that their symptoms are due to mental illness.

Open up and ask your family, parents, brothers, grand parents if they ever had the following visual snow syndrome symptoms : 

- seeing snow-like dots all over the visual field. 

- continuing to see an image after it is no longer in the field of vision

- impaired night vision  and seeing images from within the eye itself

-  seeing small floating objects or flashes of light.

- migraines,

- ringing in the ears (tinnitus),

- tremors, `- balance problems , vertigo and fatigue.

- feeling of detached from themselves or from the world around them (depersonalization).

- anxiety and depression.

- All began in young adulthood or after drug intake.

These are all common symptoms in HPPD and Visual Snow Syndrome.

Please, take some time to ask and report it here. 

I really wonder how hereditary are HPPD and Visual snow syndrome.....

What if hppd was just a dorment triggered  Visual Snow Syndrome

I know my own father had a very thought crisis when he was a teenager...sadly, he found his "cure" in a deep dive into extreme religion, back in the 60's...

Mmmm.... What if actually he had just a strong visual snow syndrome ? 

It's a bit strange, but i remember back in 1998 when i had my first hppd symptoms, my brother (who was smoking weed occasionally with me at night) told me in another context he had for a whole week felt like he was stuck  "in a dream" , so depersonalisation episode. I always wondered if it was just a coïncidence or if we have been exposed to something , back in the days.

1 minute ago, yosoydiego said:

Plenty. 

You can read experiences on reddit, probably facebook (i hate it), and they have a quite popular forum too: tapatalk.com/groups/thosewithvisualsnow/

Many get extremely surprised when someday they find out that this exists, and that the rest of the world actually sees the world DIFFERENTLY! Sounds mind blowing... but it happens.

It's probably as "popular" as HPPD... the only difference being (imo), they haven't used psychedelics.

Ok, interesting. Ever heard of a mother / son transmission,  then,  in those cases ? 

Question  about the bacteria / fungal infection theory : 

 Do we know any case of person born with "hppd/visual snow syndrome " ? 

If the condition is acquired (by drugs or specific physiological conditions for VS) , there is a big chance the cause is a crazy mix of environnemental triggers.

It could be a conjunction of something + something + something 

Any known case to this day regarding people born with visual snow syndrome ? 

"probiotic drink called kefir " he made a home made cocktail...mmmmm

Any news from that guy ? 

I tried keto diet 6 days ..very very hard to keep.

Anyone went longer with results/no results experienced ?

On 9/27/2019 at 2:23 PM, yosoydiego said:

Salvia (Sage): A Review of its Potential Cognitive-Enhancing and Protective Effects

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5318325/

Hallucinations - acetylcholine

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2996210/

Acetylcholine and hallucinations: disease-related compared to drug-induced alterations in human consciousness.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8546852

Currently experimenting , just to thick that box.

Sage food supplement 3x450mg / 2 times a day

Will leave comments

it's very funny because i remember long time ago i saw on a french channel a tv documentary about shamens , and he was called to cure a girl that was "stuck in the spirit world", ...seemed like hppd to me how they described it. 

The shamen came and used Sage to cure her, but i remember he burned it and she has to breath the fumes.

What a coïncidence.

Why wouldn't you be able to get permission ? 

That's what i'm preaching . VISUAL SNOW SYNDROME is identical to HPPD, except one is triggered by drugs, the other one has unknown physiological causes.

You have Visual Snow Syndrome : 

Did you try CBD oil at low dosage ? 

I'm in the same situation and get sometimes still anxiety peeks.

I did 8 month of lamictal last year, tremendously helped.

Now, using CBD oil low mg at night and melatonine to get a good sleep.

Overall, that's what does it for me. 

Wow, that's very interesting. 

Can we reproduce it on hppd reddit ? 

Thanks much for your answer,

Still, any good energy is welcome, you're right.

On my point of view, this is how hppd / VS evolves in time , and how it ressemble a lot to Visual snow, and why this similitude should be researched in priority : 

- Brutal outburst, Day 0 to year 1 : generates a lot of panic, anxiety and can worsen any pre existant mental condition - For HPPD in fact, versus VS, the difference is the sudden outburst,  more brutal and that can come with trip "flashbacks" - This is the main difference between VS and HPPD.

Most people will recover from that episode spontaneously, and consider it as a mental breakdown, or mild teenage psychosis 

If at that point, it does not go away during the next 6 month : 

- settling Year +1 to +5 - the symptoms shared by both HPPD and visual snow settle, and start do look identical - how people react to that psychologically may vary a lot depending on individual. I believe many VS patient go into depression and suicidal tendencies too.  This phase is crucial. Any wrong diagnostic or wrong medical orientation at that point can totally compromise phase 3 and literally freeze all chances of recovering a normal social life.

It  might seem very naive, to say so,  but at that point,  all is needed is :  love, support, understanding, confort and a very very healthy lifestyle. I would not recommend any form of psychiatric medication at all,  or any kind of psychiatric diagnostic.

- acceptance : year 5 to ...99:  Once accepted, only the cognition disorder will remain,  and fluctuate,  until the old days. Once the symptoms are fully accepted, most of individuals will have normal lifes and no further need of psychological support. This period, to me, match at 100% to what patients with visual snow experience from day 0 to 99.

in fact i really believe the cure sits in the same place as the one for visual snow, same as Lamictal works on both pathologies in the very exact same way.

Once Visual snow is cured, and there is a lot of attention on it,  these days, we will probably make a lot of progress too.

I'm sorry about my epidermic reaction , I know you have good willing intention , it's also deeply anchored in my own beliefs that psychiatry can provide precious help, but can also focus unproductive attention on the wrong patterns and consequences of this neurological disorder.

I have to disagree profoundly on the  "mental disorder" qualification and also ranking HPPD in the field of "addiction disorders"

 Visual Snow Syndrome is not a "mental disorder" also up to this day.

HPPD can be acquired on one single substance intake, means it does not relate specifically to the world of drug "addictions"

The cognition disorder in fact can have a serious and negative effect on individuals, and therefore, create mood and mental disorders as a consequence.

I strongly believe the cause behind HPPD and Visual Snow Syndrome is more of a functional neurological dysfunction to start with.

Still, i'm not scientist, and proof has to be made.

I understand that many good willing psychologists and psychiatrists have to be involved in the research, but i believe precious time and misleading info will spread if we try to solve the problem by only observing the various and very real "mental" consequences. 

I have to agree with K.B.Fante that researchers should in all cases team up with the Visual Snow Syndrome community (some recent studies already are like,  the one conducted currently at the University of Sussex, UK)

On 5/31/2019 at 3:33 AM, sami said:

My symptoms check of both VSS and HPPD symptom lists, but I am today convinced I do have HPPD after remembering some minor cases of "flashbacks" and hallucinations before developing VS, palinopsia, ghosting, halos, tinnitus, dp/dr, etc.

Yes, i check that too, but in the end, after that hellish triggering phase ( last not more than a few months ), the condition is totally similar as VS it seems.

Also, i believe Visual Snowers who wake up with this shit suddenly must go into the same psychic trauma, horrible anxiety, depersonalisation , depression phase.

Once it's all gone , what's left is just the same syndrome.

Kind of the same story for me, i lived 20 years thinking I had some kind of breakdown or psychotic episode that left me this symptoms, except, i've always been very sound and healthy since that time (had a massive shroom dosage when i was 18) , and actually very grounded and successfull in my adult life..So something did not match the puzzle. After i did 10 years of psychotherapy with not results, I just stopped looking, and did not care any more...until I heard of HPPD on youtube, it all made sense and I finally knew that was IT ! And by then i could search for a relief, finally, after all those years.

I tried almost all the supplements around (the usual and the non usual) - no results, only placebo.

Finally I decieded to try Lamictal first, because Keppra "rage" and mood did scare me a little.

Results at 50mg/day, yet : Much better ! Brain fog/dream like feeling (i was so use to , that i forgot I had it) gone

- Social interactions improved drastically : I'm not always over forcing my attention to focus on the situation / pay attention or get interest in what people are saying

- Visual : slight improvement (my computer screen really less messed up, when i work) - less sparkle and glitters  (i guess this might improve much more at higher dosage)

So i will keep rising the dosage.

I had 0 side effects only benefits.

I believe a PTSD therapy like EMDR or other may give good results, but the practicians here in my city know nothing about HPPD or are not willing to help/try experiment on it...So the chemical way is still good to take for now.

how long ago did you do that " mdma and lsd and 40mg 2cb," ?

12 hours ago, Bottleofwater said:

I think a lot of what you're saying seems logical to some extent. This was my thought process at first too, but over time I really can't say that it would be a plausible cause, for me atleast.  I did 1P-LSD 2 times, both were "amazing"(Never wanna use that word w/ a psychedelic ever a_fucking_gain), No bad trip, No anxiety on the comedown.

 

However......... Just because we, emotionally don't experience trauma during the trips, that doesn't mean our brains don't. So there could very well still be something to this. And thank you and everybody else who is still actively researching, coming up with ideas, etc. I personally find myself too depressed & uneducated to be able to do anything that would contribute scientifically, so I love each and everyone of you who do.

I think , like dreams, the traumatic moment of the trip can be washed out of your memories on the morning, and you will just think it was all amazing. 

That would also justify the traumatic resurgence of hppd symptoms at any moment coming in the next days or months following the experience.

Your unconscious self will URGE you , doing so, to pay attention to that condition. I think most of us, who had a strong hppd burst at first, had a complete phobia of hallucinogenic drugs after. That was my case. That's why POT , when you smoke it, bring back the fear of loosing your mind/dying , and will bring you back to that mindset, making it impossible to enjoy it anymore.

After all, we experienced "DEATH" in some ways , with hallucinogens, isn'it ? How can that, not be considered, as traumatic as a real death threat by your brain IRL ? 

Or in fact, the "experience" whatever it will be, might have a chance on some individuals, to start a very similar process in the brain as a traumatic disorder

We are not equal facing traumas. During war time, some soldiers will have their brain all messed up, some will have nothing at all.

yes, agree, anyone who has hppd should try Lamictal or Keppra, they both work. Me i had good results since now with Lamictal. My HPPD is 20 years old almost.

Forget about nutropics, i bought and experimented most of them, nothing works. Just take a step to real medication. There is hope , really.

Again, i stand by my analysis that HPPD has a very similar brain chemistry process as PTSD and both belongs to the same family. Drugs can trigger in the brain the creation of the same alternative neural pathways as PTSD does. Can be definitive for some people, we are not all equal ; Makes you 24/24 hyper-vigilant/active and create more or less visual distortions (more in cas of drug use).

 But brain can be trained to reverse most of this effects. 

Try Lamotrigine already to 100mg daily. It's working for me, and for many other people.

Don't waste your time.

I tried to lower the dose for a few days, to test it , and the so said "withdrawal" is really really mild. I would not listen anymore to people comments.

Even if there is a whidrawal, the positive effects are MAJOR ! So it worth it

The good thing with this little interruption, is that a could have a better measure on the positive effects of Lamictal on me, as on lower dosage, i felt back right away to my old self, bit spaced out, living in a dream feeling,  flashy visuals, drifiting lights and all that shit that make you feel in weirdo land 24/24 ----the classic hppd things i'm enduring since 20 years from now) .

So , this med has a fantastic effect so far. I feel great, my anxiety is really gone, i feel good in the crowd, and i'm able to really connect with people.

My mind is so clear that i want for the first time ever, to really interact with people to enjoy it.

I will by then increase slowly the dosage to see if i can improve even more.

I think they are different degrees of experience and many ways to endure it, as we all have our own psychology and approach to the symptoms and how we perceived the whole drug experience, including with MDMA that can also be very intense at high dosage.

Like I said, I think HPPD is first of all, an anxiety disorder, and that's why benzos, alchool, drugs, can reduce it, because they distract you from the symptoms and the permanent state of awareness/anxiety you are in.

And PTSD does show an abnormal ECG too : 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21960258

The bain chemistry change is also linked to the condition, but not at the source of it.

Still, it's my position, i'm not pretending i own the truth, but that's the theory that makes more sense to me.

I would ad the following as clues : 

-PTSD has visual snow and palinopsia actually in the symptomatology.

-Lamictal and Keppra are used also to cure refractory PTSD.