extremist

Yeah, developing something like this has really shown me how primitive modern medicine is. I always held a doctor visit in my pocket as a last resort in case I couldn't figure it out myself. After I hit the breaking point I went to the doctor and realized he was even more clueless than I am. It's a very confining and scary feeling to know that you don't have any idea what's wrong with you and neither does anybody else.

I think most cases of HPPD are temporary. Some more temporary than others.

Yeah, I'm very worried that it might make my problem worse. But I've heard that people have taken it and noticed immediate improvements. It won't arrive for about a month anyway, so I'll give it a while to see how things improve first. Thanks a lot for the post!

I'm going to start taking piracetam because I've heard of other people with DXM-induced problems having success with it. Has anybody tried taking it before?

Yeah, they weren't alarming to me like the visual snow is. Just something I'd never realized before, so I thought it was interesting. Really, the visuals aren't as distressing to me as the derealization/dissociation, but I'm not sure if that's an HPPD thing or a comorbidity, or if it means it's something else entirely.

I was just outside in the dark, looking at streetlights. Wow, crazy halos. I never noticed them before but I'm guessing they've been there the whole time.

That's definitely what I've been hoping.

I just spoke to the psychiatrist, and, sort of like anticipated, they told me the doctor made a mistake and there's no way I have psychosis and no way they can help me. I'm meant to see a neurologist, but that can take up to 15 months.

This is purely conjecture, but I think different drugs cause different sorts of HPPD. Some of them are related to up or downregulation of neurotransmitters. It's also hypothetically possible that it's from direct damage to the brain. If it's the former, recovery comes when neurotransmitter levels revert over time, and you should be able to go back to whatever you were doing before. Other more insidious causes may mean a longer recovery (or no recovery) and regression when drugs are used in the future. Even if my reasoning is wrong (and it may be - please correct me if it is) the bottom line is generally the same: maybe. You won't know until you try and you need to consider the risk of regression when you're contemplating smoking again. It may help a lot if you tell us about how how your HPPD started and such. There may be somebody who acquired it under similar circumstances and recovered that can shed some light.

Is low dopamine the main cause of DP/DR, or could it also be high dopamine?

Yeah, it doesn't help that most docs don't know a lot about HPPD. I hope the psychiatrist is able to help me more.

For what it's worth, I have floaters and have become a lot more aware of them, but I don't have any starbursting.

I'm sorry, I'm not arguing at all about what the best course of action is with regards to HPPD. Rather, I'm wondering if his assessment of psychosis can agree with my assessment of HPPD.

As far as I know, psychosis simply means an abnormal sense of reality. HPPD, with its comorbid DP/DR considered, seems to fit that to me. But I'm not an expert. I'm curious about their opinion and want to know what you think.

I saw a doctor and they told me it was psychosis, but they also told me that cannabis is more dangerous than cough syrup and kept mixing it up with codeine. I'm not really sure how much I should believe them, but I'm going to see a psychiatrist for help with the anxiety if anything. I suppose it could also be argued that HPPD is a form of psychosis.

People here will tell you that HPPD is a very long-term thing, but there's variance. You'll want to wait for a more experienced person to help you, and I welcome and encourage their correcting me, but most HPPD cases are solved within months or (more rarely) a couple years. The best advice that can be given is eating well, sleeping lots and keeping your mind off of it. Abstain from anything psychoactive. Being in a very similar boat, I know how scarce information is, and how scary it is to be afflicted with something like this. But, whether you get better sooner or later, your focus should be on your own happiness and not your symptoms.

If you don't mind my asking, how long have you been experiencing HPPD, and what do you think caused it? I'm no expert, but I'm fairly certain these things can come and go; and how rapidly they do so is dependent on how it began.

Hoping that it'll be gone in a few weeks, but I've been feeling it for seven and I've thought that every week...

Could you tell me a bit more about DP/DR or direct me to where I could find more info? I thought that was secondary to HPPD; and HPPD also explains the visuals I had for a while. To be more specific, I'm not sure if I have HPPD or something more DXM-specific, like neurotransmitter depletion/damage/etc or Olney's lesions.

Yeah, you don't need to tell me to stay away from DXM, I'm adequately terrified as it is. I just want to know what's wrong and when I'll be better.

Sure wish I read this thread earlier. I found that weed made my symptoms, which I think are HPPD, worse for a day or two after, but then I was at my "normal" level of DR and visuals. I figured it didn't hurt if it was temporary and it dramatically helped with my depression, so I smoked a lot. Now I'm hoping that didn't make this last longer!

So, just about seven weeks ago, I had 165mg of DXM (from lozenges - no other active ingredients) without issue. A week later I had 450mg (from syrup - no other active ingredients) with a lot of caffeine. Since the second dose, I've had some shadowy visual disturbances, but, more importantly, a persistent feeling of dissociation. It gets better and worse, but is never totally gone. It's been more than a month since I had the DXM, so I'm not sure if it's HPPD, something neurochemical, or what. What should I do? Thanks a lot for reading, and more for your opinion.