mandrake

This med was getting a buzz for awhile amongst HPPDers and migraine aura sufferers...anyone tried it with any success?

I'd love to have that as I have tried (and currently) try many medical techniques...often to no avail and usually with some worsening of symptoms...but I will continue to make attempts-

I am on both forums though this one is more appropriate as my case was caused by psychadelics is worsened by SSRIs....it is a good forum to visit and has far more members. Many people there speak of initial symptoms occuring from SSRIs. I am sorry to hear this happened to you but both these forums are evidence that you are certainly not alone. Good luck and keep posting.

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Thanks Larry. The dosage is somewhat up in the air. I am fortunate to have a doctor who admittedly does not understand HPPD or visual static but believes that I have done a good deal of research and that I am not a "prescription seeker". So he has prescribed me Keppra, Klonopin (though I have told him I do not want to go down the benzo road again), Celexa (which, again, worked on my mood but totally amped my visuals) and now Neurontin. I have started taking 100mg around noon and 100mg at 10pm or so. So far it is completely exhausting (as was the case with Keppra). I have a script for 100mg capsules and 800mg tablets. I will keep everyone posted on this thread as to what it does. Several people on the visual snow forum have said this has helped. HPPD differs in some respects but the static may indeed come from the same neurological source whether it be 5ht-receptor site damage via head trauma, migraine etc...I will post weekly follow-ups.

I just got a script for this....help anyone? At what doses? I really would have liked to stay on Celexa but it was making static and after images far worse while seemingly improving my mood. What a sick irony....

Well put 1998 and Dukkha....cognitive techniques are a good avenue. Meditation too. My fog is lower after several months of being off all narcotics (including benzos)...anxiety and depression increase but concentration has improved...I think that many things are joyless activities for me. Clearly a low-lying, pervasive depression was present before all this so I am likely different than many on this board. My attention span is poor compared to many but Dukkha said it well: you may have to work harder than others, but no harder than my quadrapalaegic friend who is attending school. I know, I don't respond to the "someone always has it worse" argument either but there is some truth to find in it. Find a person you admire who faced winless odds and put that picture on your wall (I have a picture of Martin King on mine)...maybe will help. Clearly talking about it is also completely key so post away...

What city is central to everyone...maybe drop in where you are roughly...

I could never get beyond 500mg as the lethargy and anger were noticeable and heavy side-effects (Google "keppra rage"...its real but probably goes away with some time)...it did not improve visuals for me but again my threshold was too low...it certainly did not make things worse and is not at all addictive (except perhaps psychologically)...I still take 250mg a couple times a week and it seems to mellow me out but its probably placebo. It seems to be a great medication for many. I find that the only medications that have worsened my conditions are ssris but even that does not happen to everyone. Its worth a try for sure. What is most irritating is the anger it can induce. I would get it really bad in the morning...waking up pissed is bad enough for anyone let alone people who then must endure a day hallucinating. At higher doses it can cause depression too. Sadly, the most effective meds are benzos but they show little evidence of helping in the long run and in the long run they are terrible for you. I am six month clean from klonopin. This is a withdrawal that can last years. Its totally unfair. The whole deal is pretty unfair indeed. Good luck with it. Leave updates. Don't at all worry that it will worsen things for you because worry itself worsens things as well. Good luck Boogres.

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Unrelated to the ones that you mentioned but if you want to get your mind off of the utter ch-aos your eyes induce the Dr. Phil sound board is pretty fun and fully worth the dollar it costs...that's a fat man selling diet books...'nuff said...

I am up for it any time...I live in Northern Arizona...I met a girl from the old board and we remain close and supportive of each other....it makes a considerable difference to interface in person...contact me anytime.

If we are truly facing an (currently) incurable disorder than support amongst ourselves is vital. I think this forum provides that as is but perhaps bumping it up a level would assist us all. I know I need it.

Joe, Could you message me with some more details? How long you took it? Did you return to baseline symptom level? What did you do as an alternative? Any info would be awesome....thanks for your time.

I certainly could benefit from medical help with chronic depression but have heard that after-imaging and visual snow are sometimes worsened by this med.....caught between a rock and hard place here in that I can't really progress in this state (depression) but could not at all tolerate an increase in my visual symptoms.....I know no one person can offer me a definitive, conclusive answer but I'd love to know if anyone has taken this...I don't drink, I eat well, socialize, go to school, take mass doses of vitamins, meditate etc...so have taken most natural paths imagineable with no improvement....any takers?

Would you guys please let me know both positive and negative experiences with SSRIs? I know they tend to make visual symptoms worse but how much worse? At this point my vision is such shit that I could probably handle an increase if it helped my overall psychology....thoughts or advice?

I met a girl from the old forum....she lives in a town about 120 miles from me and we meet now and again for Indian food....sitting across from someone who is experiencing some degree of the symptoms you are is incredible....I would be into a skype session too and I suggested it on the old forum...I even suggest people start mentioning their neck of the woods (Northern Arizona here) so that personal meetings can be arranged....it is amazing helpful to see other people and get a picture of their life....something about attaching a real human face to this is very beneficial....I am scared shitless much of the time too...I believe the visual problems are not going anywhere so I focus on my response to them (fear, panic, frustration)....support is the absolute key if you ask me.

No sir....I am currently finding reality to be as psychadelic as anything....its pure absurdity at its finest.....though the DMT realm is always alluring, my head needs a certain break from everything.

my psychadelic of choice was DMT. This is said to be the world's most potent tryptamine. And its very common. But the most common tryptamine in humans is seretonin (5-hydroxy-tryptamine)...which is molecularly similar and competes for the same receptor sites....so none of this is real....or rather, its all as real as any psychadelic experience...rather its all simply agreed upon....I know, splitting hairs, mincing words etc...just an interesting notion that sometimes helps me along since I live my life one DMT pull into the aspired to three-toke-death-launch-through-infinity.... And yes, I would probably try to smoke seretonin if this were doable...

I understand completely friend. I have spent some time wrestling addiction and very much understand that succeeding alone is incredibly rare and quite difficult. Support groups work because of the group itself. Forums can work in the same fashion no matter how rare the disorder is. Moreso than gaggles of people parroting recycled cliches and telling you the multitude of reasons you SHOULD be happy to be alive, it is other sufferers that help the most. Just my humble opinion. I will email you tomorrow and would gladly be available to talk. Therapists and loved ones try, as is the case with substance abuse, but unless you are living it you will never get it and therefore never be able to provide the support a "fellow traveller" can (my best friend is a nueroscientist but has no idea how to help me with substance abuse or HPPD other than to advise that I involve myself with others that grapple with it daily, which I have)....keep your head up and know that (although a bit cliche) you are not at all alone. Somehow I have endured seventeen years in such a state. I only now find some life worth in assisting others....

I mentioned it awhile back on a different forum what seems like multiple lives ago but.... I am further convinced that the way people survive (and possibly even progress) is via the network they are part of....we don't need to mingle but I am pretty sick of treading water these days.... So I'd like to organize an event of some sort....somewhere....sometime....that we all can meet face to face or something....or maybe just a mass SKYPE session? Thoughts?