cosmiccharlie

Welcome back! You were and still are big part of my journey which started a few years ago.  I am happy to report that I am loving life again with two healthy daughters! 

I've had a spinal tap since having HPPD, it didn't have any meaningful affect on my condition.  I wish you the best! My wife and I recently had our second child.  Children are a joy. ,

I personally think we should limit our advice on this forum to our own experience not about what we've read.  None of us ( I assume) are doctors. 

1 hour ago, Hall89 said:

The last thing you should do is to take any drug with hallucinogetic properties. That clinic is a bunch of voodoo doctors that will mess you up even more. If you want any hope of this getting better stay away from cannabis, psychedelics, antidepresants and other psychoactive drugs. But to answer your question, yes, with abstinence many gets better and from what i've read it's usually the visual hallucinations that subside for some, same with the anxiety and dpdr. What seems to be permanent though is the typical VSS symptoms, i.e. the static, halos, starbursts, light sensitivity, ghosting etc, probably because we've fried our brains ability to filter out unnecessary visual stimuli.  

Please don't tell people to stay away from antidepressants.  They have been a huge help for me and could help someone else.  

Hello, 

I'm sorry you're struggling so much.  From your story it seems like you have a tendency to impulsively take drugs.  I had similar behavior when I was your age (I am now 32).  This led me to eat 15 hits of good LSD in one night when I was 18.  For me, recovery came in stages.  I first had to realize that if I continued with the way I was my life wouldn't amount to much plus my sanity would likely be demolished.  I had some warning signs that my mind wasn't tolerating psychedelics well anymore such as panic attacks, visual distortions and DR/DP.  These scared me enough to take a long break from tripping.  I advise you to consider stopping hard drugs for a while.  Weed as you said can make things worse but like I said, recovery can come in stages.  I continued to smoke weed after I stopped and after a few months most of the HPPD symptoms dramatically subsided.  You are young and have a chance to recover but don't wait until things get worse!  Try not to focus on any mistakes just remember that stopping drugs is probably the best thing you can do right now.  Keep reaching out to us and stay positive.  If I can get better then so can you.  

Have you tried antidepressants?  I have had a great deal of success on SSRIs.  In general, there is no one size fits all remedy for improving mental health.  Yes, psychedelics can be useful in the right setting, right dose, right person but there are risks. HPPD being one of them.  I have to echo Jay's sentiments and add that for me, being honest with the doctor, staying sober and living the most healthy existence I can has lead to stability. I tell everyone the same thing which worked for me 

1. Exercise as much as you can, even if your symptoms get worse. 

2. Eat healthy and balanced meals. 

3. Sleep as much as possible.

4. Limit caffeine intake. 

5. Stop all drugs including alcohol and especially weed (at least until things get better) 

6. Try not worry, stay busy to distract your mind with things such as work/school, hobbies and exercise. 

7. Learn to meditate and if you are open to it, ask God to help you.  You don't even have to believe in anything, I did not and it helped me. 

With the addition of SSRIs, this combo has enabled me to weather some difficult storms in my life.  Psychedelics have helped in the past (for me) but once HPPD set in they tended to only make matters worse.  The fact that you developed DR/DP from weed is a red flag that you may be sensitive to psychedelics.  

Hang in there, we're here for you.  

Take Care,

Nick 

Hello, 

I'm sorry to hear about your struggles.  For me, meditation and maintaining a physically and mentally active lifestyle helped in my recovery.  Time is usually the best antidote for HPPD and doing everything you can to minimize anxiety.  For me there were dark days but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  I will tell you the feeling of getting back to an acceptable level of normal is truly wonderful, you will experience this.  I tell everyone who is struggling with this disorder the same thing: Maximize your chances of recovery by placing your body in the best condition to do so.  

1. Exercise as much as you can, even if your symptoms get worse. 

2. Eat healthy and balanced meals. 

3. Sleep as much as possible.

4. Limit caffeine intake. 

5. Stop all drugs including alcohol and especially weed (at least until things get better) 

6. Try not worry, stay busy to distract your mind with things such as work/school or hobbies. 

7. Learn to meditate and if you are open to it, ask God to help you.  You don't even have to believe in anything, I did not and it helped me. 

You will be okay, hang in there. 

Below you will find a meditation app that I like. 

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/headspace-meditation-sleep/id493145008

Take Care,

Nick 

3 hours ago, Ioannis said:

Is there still hope? Please
I'm in hell for almost a month now. I took more than 5 grams of shrooms 20 days after quitting my antipsychotic med solian, which was also the biggest dose of shrooms I've ever done. I dosed at 10pm at night which was also a mistake. Also smoked weed at around 2am when I THOUGHT it was over.
Anyways, life has changed since. A lot. I now get very easily scared, I get scared by my own shadow. I became very sensitive to sounds, smells, and light, they have a meaningful but frightening vibe to them. I have multiple paranoid thoughts they are racing thoughts allll the time. I have now a lot of anxiety, fear and depression, and anger with my parents. Yesterday was the first day I had lack of emotions, even if I tried to purposely show emotion. I can't even keep my eyes closed because it's like I'm staring into a deep dark void.
It's like my life is ruined. Is there still any hope?
I've made an appointment in a vip clinic in Serbia to go do iboga, a mind cleansing drug that is supposedly many times stronger than LSD, but they say that after it's over, your state of mind goes back to it's original processing before you ever took any drug... I hope it helps and doesn't make my condition worse.
I took Niacin today for the first time ever and had a religious experience the moment it entered my brain and fixed a nerve wound. I felt it. It was good. I find hope in it.
IS THERE ANY HOPE??
God bless!!

Hello, 

I am sorry to hear how much you are struggling.  I have a few thoughts. 

• First, where there is life there is always hope.  I firmly believe this and also empathize with the fact that in the pit of despair, this might be difficult to believe.  

• Next, I would highly discourage you from taking any additional psychedelic drugs.  At least until you have a handle on your mental state and some stability is achieved. I know the wishful thinking of what one experience created can be extinguished by another such experience.  This may be true but it has its risks.  I am a firm believer in the healing power of psychedelics however, there is a population of people who have suffered very negative consequences as a result of them.  You may be sensitive and susceptible to their dark side. 

• Did you coordinate with your doctor to stop taking Solian? Did you taper properly etc... These types of drugs can strongly affect the mind and emotional stability especially if ended abruptly.  I highly encourage you to discuss this with your doctor. 

• Your best allies in the coming months will be time and learning to cope with anxiety.  I tell everyone who is struggling with this disorder the same thing: Maximize your chances of recovery by placing your body in the best condition to do so.  

1. Exercise as much as you can, even if your symptoms get worse. 

2. Eat healthy and balanced meals. 

3. Sleep as much as possible.

4. Limit caffeine intake. 

5. Stop all drugs including alcohol and especially weed (at least until things get better) 

6. Try not worry, stay busy to distract your mind with things such as work/school or hobbies. 

7. Learn to meditate and if you are open to it, ask God to help you.  You don't even have to believe in anything, I did not and it helped me. 

You will be okay, hang in there. 

Below you will find a meditation app that I like. 

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/headspace-meditation-sleep/id493145008

Take Care,

Nick 

l

I'm not sure what to call it, however it may be useful for you to talk to a doctor about this.  It could be some kind of panic attack.  Unfortunately there is really no direct treatment for HPPD, however there are treatments to help with anxiety which directly affects HPPD. 

On the subject of meditation, I think it's important to maintain consistency to really see results.  Start out small (1-5 minutes) but keep it up daily and in a few weeks you'll start seeing subtle changes in your thinking which can become major if you stick with it.  

Hang in there, you'll be fine.  

Hello, 

I'm sorry to hear about what you're going through.  The best advice I can give is to keep doing what you're doing.  You've made it through with this disorder before and it can manifest itself in very strange ways indeed.  For me, staying physically and mentally  active and sober were key to the progress I have made.  Meditation is something that has been a big help in my recovery as well as spiritual and intellectual growth.  I will attach a recommendation for an App that I have found useful.  Hang in there, day by day you will get better.  

Take Care,

Nick 

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/headspace-meditation-sleep/id493145008

On 10/13/2021 at 3:46 AM, Jay1 said:

I can't see smoking being anything but bad for you if you had a bad reaction to edibles. If you do go ahead, my only suggestion is to go for a strain that is very high in CBD and low in THC.

I have smoked weed a few times post-hppd and it's always been a horrible experience. I get the allure though!

Thanks Jay. As always I value your opinion and advice.  I will keep you guys posted about this, although if it's successful I hesitate to share that information for fear of it backfiring for someone else.  I have smoked weed many times post HPPD with some drawbacks but for me, it never produced lasting crazy results.  I have found sometimes regressing back to being a pot head for a few weeks can actually be beneficial for my mental health.  However, it has been a number of years since such an experience.  Who knows, I'm just trying to get by and be reasonably happy.  I wish you the best. 

Hello Everyone, 

I hope you are all doing well.  About 7 months ago I was going through some difficult emotional times and got prescribed medical marijuana for a condition that I have.  I tried 4 edible attempts over 1 month and did notice an uptick in my visual disturbances and some anxiety.  After the last attempt I decided to leave the gummies be and I have since been sober from everything and am again going through some difficult stressful things.  All positive but very exhausting; my wife and I just had our second daughter and I am on my 4th year of mathematics PhD studies.  The idea of smoking cannabis is now very appealing and I was wondering if anyone had experience with positive responses from smoking but negative from edibles.  I don't think the steps back that I took with the edibles were very significant, however the possibility of making things far worse scares me. Also, I am a member of Alcoholics Anonymous and most of the feedback I get from them makes it seem like I am putting a gun to my head if I even think about smoking weed.  I love AA but they can be a bit much sometimes.  Anyway, thanks as always for your your input. 

Take Care,

Nick 

For me, I have been on an SSRI for over 3 years and classify it as a success. Other people report that it exacerbates their symptoms but I have not found this to be true.  I would follow the advice of your doctor especially with something like this.  Be honest with them, mention your apprehension about the need for an SSRI and why.   

11 hours ago, jacie__ said:

Im currently 17 years old, did acid once 200ug, the trip was almost 2 months ago and im not doin any other drugs. Im really frustrated, done, and suicidal i'd say. I feel so weird too.. 

I can relate to the suicidal ideas myself, thankfully I have gotten through those rough times.  Please DM me if you'd like to talk in a less public setting.  You're young and have only done acid once which will work in your favor.  Also, I know that it might not seem like it but 2 months isn't very long for a recovery.  For me 6 months seemed to bring about real change.  It's subtle, but overtime you'll see improvement.  Try not to worry and believe that you will get better. 

Hang in there 

1 hour ago, jacie__ said:

Hello guys, 

im Jacub and im literally feeling like I'm losing my mind. My symptoms of what I think is HPPD got worse after a long alcohol night. I basically feel like I'm peaking on a low dose of acid when it comes to the visuals and it got worse. 

DP/DR hits me hard, everything looks more "acidish" than real and I'm not sure if my brain is developing psychosis or just hard HPPD. 

Faces also look more symmetric, like on acid and I dont feel like myself if you know what I mean. 

Colors are much brighter, got that bad visual snow, "tunnel vision", mikropsia and makropsia, these trails when something moves but not actually hard. Also sometimes I do see halos around things and it fucks me up bad. Im isolating myself since then, goin to therapy but I feel like I'm goin crazy, like all this is just a bad nightmare. My thoughts are sometimes also weird and not "mine". 

I don't know if I sometimes just tell myself and make it bad myself, but sometimes I feel like I'm tripping somehow or I've just forgotten what normality is 

Guys, can someone help me please? Im also doin vitamins, trying to sleep and chill a lot. 

Thank u for helping and sorry for kinda fucked english

 

I understand your frustration and I'm sorry to hear how difficult things are for you. 

I have a few basic questions:

• How old are you?
• How often and how much did you dose?
• When was your last trip?
• Do you smoke weed?

These factors will affect your recovery time as well as your chances of making a full recovery.   The weed can keep you in the same headspace for extended periods and also bring it back. Try not to focus on the condition, it will get better you just need to let your mind heal.  I like to use the analogy of letting your body get over a cold or another ailment: do you obsess over your recovery, your cough, the way you feel?  No, you just do what you can to get better and let your body do the work.  You will heal it just takes time and the right conditions.  

I tell everyone to try a simple regiment: 

• Stop all drugs (especially weed, even alcohol for a bit if you can) 
• Get as much sleep as you can 
• Exercise regularly even if it makes your symptoms worse
• Eat well 
• Stay busy with work/ school/ hobby etc
• Try not to worry 
• Learn to meditate if you can (this was really helpful for me) 
• If you're open to it, start praying to God (it doesn't have to be any particular religion just ask for help on your knees everyday you don't even have to believe in anything.  For me, eventually I was willing to try anything.  I really believe strength to carry on will come if we reach out)

Think about how good it's going to feel when you recover, I cannot tell you how much you appreciate the simple things in life. 

Hang in there!

Nick 

11 hours ago, mccabers.babers said:

Hello. I’ll start with saying that I am 16 years old. A lot of people would say that obviously vary young to be doing as much psychedelics as I did and I completely agree now haha. My experience with what HPPD has done to me is possibly the worst possible thing I can think of to occur from drugs other than death itself or maybe psychosis. It started out as a very small type of HPPD for a while but with the constant use of psychedelic drugs over the course of 6 months I have learned that lsd is most definitely the biggest cause of HPPD in my personal subjective mind. Mushrooms rarely if not never bumped up the symptoms for me. Also an interesting thing I’ve thought of is the time of day you take it. It seems a little out there but I think taking it at night and staying up through the night on it can most likely make it more extreme if not be the biggest cause. My logic to this is to do with sleep as sleep is the main key to getting rid of HPPD I believe, I’ve done everything I can to research the hell out of it because of how must stress and anxiety it has caused me. Also obviously taking more than a normal dose of lsd is going to make it more intense for you. When I first started the worst of the HPPD I saw what I believe to be everything you can see on lsd. I still don’t know how this happened as I’m smart and do have a test kit and have tested the tabs I have and they came back to be lsd. I took one tab of 150 ug but all the sudden on the come down everything changed and it turned into what I could equate to being around 10 or more of those tabs taken. I still don’t have any idea how it happened and it still boggles, this happened only days ago. There’s a lot more I can say but I want to say this first as talking about it for a long period of time kinda stresses me out so I’ll need a bit to think more and come back but i hope this reply helps serve some help for you. And please, if you learn any information that could help me in any way I urge you to reply. 

Welcome to the forum! I wish we could meet under more pleasant circumstances but here we are.  You are indeed very young and I think that will work in your favor.  For me, I also contracted HPPD about 14 years ago from excessive and frequent  LSD use.  It does get better! But your recovery depends upon you.  More drugs will almost always make the condition worse.  For me, sobriety, time and a healthy lifestyle got me back on my feet. What do I mean by sobriety?  Well, weed always exacerbates my symptoms as well as drinking so I stay away from those things.  Even years later, I tried a small amount of weed a few time to take the edge off and it brought my symptoms back. But they receded over time.  The best advice I can give you is find a hobby, something that challenges you and is satisfying and throw yourself into it.  If you are in school, focus on your studies too.  Exercise always helps me with anxiety and mental funk plus plenty of sleep and a good diet.  You'll be fine just stay away from drugs for at least a while to let your mind recover.  Life is not over, I myself have accomplished a lot after contracting this HPPD business: I served on a nuclear submarine, I am a PhD student in math and I have a healthy marriage with one amazing daughter and another on the way.  Stay positive and put one foot in front of the other and before you know it you'll feel like yourself again.  This is a great forum for when you feel hopeless or have questions but try not to obsess over the condition; this typically makes it worse.  Let your mind heal and you'll get your life back. 

Hello, 

You sound like you're in a tough place, I'm sorry to hear that.  This is a difficult disorder and everyones experience is a little different.  I tell everyone the same thing:

• Stop all drugs (even alcohol for a bit if you can) 
• Get as much sleep as you can 
• Exercise regularly even if it makes your symptoms worse
• Eat well 
• Stay busy with work/ school/ hobby etc
• Try not to worry 
• Learn to meditate if you can (this was really helpful for me) 
• If you're open to it, start praying to God (it doesn't have to be any particular religion and you don't even have to believe in anything just ask for help on your knees everyday.  I really believe help will come if we reach out)

I take it a day at a time, sometimes an hour at a time.  The emotional turmoil can be disturbing and debilitating.  However, you are on a good path.  Stay off drugs and your mind will have a chance to recover.   My advice to you is put your body and mind in the best possible conditions by living a healthy, mindful lifestyle.  Stay strong and stay positive. 

Take Care,

Nick 

8 hours ago, Fawkinchit said:

Had no idea you were 32

 

lol, how old did you think I was? how old are you?

Hi, 

I have made the mistake of tripping on mushrooms and smoking DMT plus periods of heavy weed use after developing HPPD.  For me, the weed always brings it back and when I get off of it, the symptoms usually recede within a few months.  Everyone's different, mine is primarily from heavy LSD use when I was 18-20.  I am now 32 and still have fairly strong visuals. My advice is to really evaluate why you want to still use drugs and also appreciate that if you contracted HPPD from one time acid use, you are probably sensitive to this condition.  I contracted it from heavy doses upwards of 10 hits of good acid on multiple occasions.  The disorder can be debilitating so it really is best not to tempt fate.  For me, I had to get burned enough times until I learned how to be happy without drugs or alcohol.  It's not to say that I don't sometimes miss being high or drunk but it's become a matter of overall gain.  My life is better this way so I choose to live this way.  I hope this helps. 

Take Care,

Nick 

Response to weed was probably my first; I started noticing that when I would smoke I would get fairly intense visuals.  Also, when I would feel anxious sometimes while sober they would come.  

Hey man,  Hang in there, things will get better.  I do not have any direct experience with what you're talking about but I do know sobriety and it can be hard.  For me, it's what enabled my brain to heal and it takes time.  Try not to focus on the day to day just let your body do the work and then you can reap the result!  

Hello,

Unfortunately I don't think we will have a definitive answer to the question you are asking for some time.  From my perspective, I personally would wait until more can be said about the potential risks.  Any understanding of HPPD and the interaction of psychedelics and humans is really in its infant stage (if you can even call it that).  For me, my HPPD is from closely spaced high dose LSD trips so I can't really offer much advise on microdosing other than I have done it with mushrooms but at the time I was also tripping pretty frequently.  In order to deal with my OCD, depression and GAD I use SSRIs combined with cognitive behavioral therapy, regular exercise, meditation and complete sobriety.  This combination has worked for several years with the exception of a brief period of marijuana use a few months ago.  I have found stability, productivity and genuine happiness on average with the above.  For me, pot always causes the visuals and other issues to flare up.  Knowing you have HPPD when symptoms are subtle is a tricky business.  Maybe they'll never change and you can smoke and microdose until you feel better, but maybe you can't.  I will say this though, for me I wish I had used more caution than I had, however my use was during a self destructive period.  Now I have to resign to the fact that the distortions will probably never go away.  But hey, I'm currently getting my PhD in math, I have a child and another on the way and am happily married.  Life is not over, we can always adapt.  For me I had to choose between getting 'high and finding the solution' and what brings me the most joy.  It's a simple choice but it's difficult to make, especially for an addict.   I wish you the best, let us know how things go. 

Take Care,

Nick 

1 hour ago, Fawkinchit said:

Just posting this for further reading

Ion channels have key functions in the nervous system, including the generation, repression and propagation of action potentials. The opening of Na⁺ channels depolarizes neurons, while the opening of K⁺ channels will lead to hyperpolarization. The situation is more complex with Cl⁻ channels, because the cytoplasmic chloride concentration depends upon the cell type, and changes during development. Thus, an opening of Cl⁻ channels may lead to a hyperpolarization (as in most neurons of the adult CNS) or to a depolarization (as in early development). Given the very large transmembrane gradient of Ca²⁺, Ca²⁺ currents will always be depolarizing. However, the role of Ca²⁺ as a second messenger is more important under most circumstances.

Taking these considerations into account, loss-of-function mutations in neuronal K⁺ or Cl⁻ channels, or gain-of-function mutations in neuronal Na⁺ channels, should give rise to hyperexcitability and perhaps epilepsy. While this indeed turns out to be true in some cases, it should be borne in mind that the systemic effect depends on the particular neuronal circuitry that is affected. For instance, ion channel mutations leading to a selective hyperexcitability of inhibitory interneurons are expected to rather decrease CNS excitability.

Although K⁺ channel defects were long suspected to underlie some forms of epilepsy, this was proven only in 1998, when it was shown that mutations in KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 underlie benign familial neonatal convulsions, a generalized epilepsy of the newborn (21,22,51). KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 are neuron-specific K⁺ channels that are broadly expressed in the CNS, where they assemble to heteromeric channels (11,52). KCNQ2/KCNQ3 heteromers are a molecular correlate of the M current (53). This current was first described in sympathetic neurons as a non-inactivating K⁺ current that could be inhibited by muscarinic stimulation (hence its name ‘M current’) (54). M currents are involved in regulating the subthreshold excitability of neurons and their responsiveness to synaptic inputs. This physiological, extremely sensitive regulation of neuronal excitability probably explains why a small loss of M currents suffices to cause epilepsy (55). From in vitro studies, it was concluded that mutations found in BFNC reduce current amplitudes by merely 25% (11). Interestingly, the homozygous knockout of KCNQ2 in mice is lethal, and heterozygous animals have a reduced seizure threshold (56). Recently, a particular mutation in the voltage sensor of KCNQ2 was shown to lead to neonatal epilepsy with myokymia (involuntarily contractions of skeletal muscles), pointing to a role of M currents in motor neuron control (57). A dominant form of episodic ataxia that is accompanied by myokymia was previously shown to be caused by mutations in the Kv1.1 K⁺ channel (encoded by KCNA1) (58). This K⁺ channel is strongly expressed in myelinated peripheral nerves and cerebellar interneurons, where it contributes to the repolarization of action potentials.

Mutations in pore-forming α and accessory β subunits of voltage-gated Na⁺ channels of the CNS were found to underlie other forms of epilepsy (59–61). Mutations in the SCN1A α subunit (59) and in the SCN1B β subunit (60) cause generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures (GEFS+), while mutations in another α-subunit isoform (SCN2A) (61) yield a somewhat different clinical picture (generalized epilepsy with febrile and afebrile seizures). Similar to previous findings with skeletal muscle Na⁺ channel mutations, for example in periodic paralysis (12), the mutant channels do not inactivate properly (15). Mutations in the Ca²⁺ channel gene CACNA1A (encoding Ca_v2.1) can cause ataxia and migraine (62,63), and this gene may also be associated with epilepsy (64). Mutations in another channel type whose opening leads to depolarization, namely two different subunits of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, have also been shown to be associated with epilepsy (65,66). Although the mutants have been studied in heterologous expression systems, the mechanism by which they lead to autosomal dominant nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy (ADNFLE) is incompletely understood (67).

Rather surprisingly, no unambiguous association with human genetic disease has been established so far for the major class of CNS excitatory neurotransmitter receptors, the glutamate receptors. The main inhibitory neurotransmitters, GABA and glycine, exert their fast inhibitory effect through ligand-gated Cl⁻ channels: the GABA_A and glycine receptors. Because intracellular Cl⁻ is usually below its electrochemical equilibrium in adult neurons, opening of these receptors leads to a hyperpolarizing Cl⁻ influx. The sedative and anxiolytic effects of benzodiazepines depend on a modulatory upregulation of GABA_A receptor activity. Only recently, two GABA_A receptor subunit genes were found to be affected in epilepsy. Mutations in the γ₂ subunit of the GABA_A receptor (GABRG2) were identified in childhood absence epilepsy and febrile seizures (68), as well as in generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures (GEFS+) (69). A mutation of GABRA1, which encodes the α₁ subunit of the GABA_A receptor, was recently associated with an autosomal dominant form of juvenile myoclonus epilepsy (70).

Mutations of the α₁ glycine receptor cause autosomal dominant hyperekplexia (startle disease) (71), which is characterized by marked muscular hypertonia in infancy and a grossly exaggerated response to unexpected stimuli. As the electrophysiological effect of GABA and glycine depends on the intracellular Cl⁻ concentration, one may speculate that mutations in transporters involved in intracellular Cl⁻ concentration regulation may also affect neuronal excitability. In fact, a locus for rolandic and idiopathic generalized epilepsy maps close to KCC3, a K–Cl co-transporter that is expressed in the CNS. Like other KCCs, it is expected to contribute to postsynaptic inhibition by lowering [Cl⁻]_i. However, no mutations were found in SLC12A6, the gene encoding KCC3, in the linked families (72). In contrast, the disruption in mice of the neuronal-specific isoform KCC2 caused severe motor deficits due to defective GABA- and glycine-mediated synaptic inhibition, and led to early postnatal death (73). Mice with an incomplete gene disruption survived for a couple of weeks and displayed severe seizures (74).

really interesting, I enjoyed reading this. 

Hello,

For me staying sober and meditation have been the biggest contributors to my recovery.  It takes time and patience.  I am not sure about the ritalin but I have been on Sertraline for 3 years with good success.  Some people say it affects their symptoms but I only found this to be true in the beginning.  I tell everyone the same thing because it worked for me 

• Stop all drugs (including weed for a while but not prescribed medication) (even alcohol for a bit if you can) 
• Get as much sleep as you can 
• Exercise regularly even if it makes your symptoms worse
• Eat well 
• Stay busy with work/ school/ hobby etc
• Try not to worry 
• Learn to meditate if you can (this was really helpful for me) 
• If you're open to it, start praying to God (it doesn't have to be any particular religion just ask for help on your knees everyday you don't even have to believe in anything.  For me, eventually I was willing to try anything.  I really believe strength to carry on will come if we reach out)

Also, are the drugs you are trying coming from a doctor?  If not I would recommend working with one and being honest with them.  

Eventually I realized that if I didn't get serious about cutting drugs out of my life I would never reach my potential and probably wouldn't find long term happiness.  In sobriety I have found happiness and am working towards my potential.  Tripping provided me with insight into myself, the world and the spiritual side of us.  However, eventually I was just abusing it and it the magic went away and the HPPD set in.  You sound like you have some soul searching to do.  Being honest with yourself and your situation is important to to get past this bump in the road.  I wish you the best, keep reaching out 

Nick 

I've tried it, I felt a slight positive effect on my cognition and sleep quality (very vivid dreams).  However, I have also read that one builds a tolerance and you can actually undergo withdrawal symptoms when you discontinue so I stopped after about one week.  Everyone's different though.  I also didn't notice any impact on HPPD