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Posted

Hi all, I am 29 and live in the UK. I am not sure if I have HPPD but came across this site when searching out symptoms I have been suffering from for about 6 months now.

I have slight double vision (worse when looking at light sources or back lit (e.g TV's etc)), visual snow, slight afterimages that burn away very quickly, halo's around light sources and some trails. I also have some floaters (crystal worms). My colour perception is fine and the only I anxiety I have is caused by me worrying about the symptoms.

I used to to take ecstasy when I used to go clubbing about 5/6 years ago but was never a heavy user but took it quite regularly for about 18 months. I now only take it on very rare occasions (maybe 1 or 2 twice a year if that) and I have never done LSD/shrooms and only real hallucinogen I have taken is Salvia.

I smoke cannabis 3 or 4 times a week, sometimes this makes my symptoms worse, other times I don't notice a difference.

I started getting the symptoms I described above in February this year, starting with double vision and visual snow. As these progressed and other symptoms become prevalent I visited my GP and optician. The optician was worried I had optical neuritis (a symptom of MS) so I was referred to the eye hospital. I have been tested for everything possible to do with my eyes and neuro-opthalmology including an MRI scan of my orbits and brain and everything has come back as healthy.

My GP made me have a full suite of blood tests to rule out things like thyroid diseases or diabetes and again these all came back normal. My blood pressure is fine as well.

I have taken ecstacy since the symptoms occurred and they don't seem to have got any worse.

My question is, do you think this could be HPPD? Is MDMA known to cause it if I have never taken other hallucinogens?

The symptoms I have are driving me insane and have started to affect me mentally as I feel constantly down and worried that I am going to have to live with these for the rest of my life.

Any help or advice from the community is greatly received as I feel at the end of my tether!

Posted

MDMA use can cause hppd. It sounds like you got hppd too.

If you don't want the symptoms to progress then you'll definitally need to sober up...or at the very least stop using ecstasy and cut back on the pot. It sounds like you have mild symptoms now which is a good thing compared to people who didn't stop drug use after they first started noticing symptoms.

Posted

I think you have HPPD. Stop smoking pot if you want to recover. If you stay sober for a wwhile I think you will get better because it seems like you caught it early but make sure not to smoke anymore.

Posted

It sounds like you have a weak case of dissociation/anxiety/HPPD (one, 2, or all of the 3).......Do you smoke cigarettes? Make sure you are sleeping well and do not have sleep apnea too. I think ecstasy is notorious for that dissociative stuff, esp. the not-so-pure stuff. Just stop everything, all drug use. See if it goes away.

  • 2 months later...
Posted

Yip, E's can deffo give you hppd. I took acid about twenty times, and Es probably a fair bit more and I'm not sure which one fucked me up the most. Probably the Es. So sit down, read a lot, exercise a lot, and tell your pals to fuck off. They won't understand if they still do all that. How can you till it happens to you?

Posted

Around 1997, the E quality was good i believe. Then somehow it got popular, and from about 1999-on, i seems real shady. I was never big on that stuff (i have done it twice and it was quality). But it was the type of experience that was like near-impossible to recreate sober. You could be friends with your worst enemy......lol

  • 3 months later...
Posted

So 6 months on since I posted this and my symptoms have got slightly worse.

I have totally stopped taking MDMA's/Pills but I admit I have slipped and smoked weed a couple of times as it seems to help with the depression I have from suffering these visual issues.

I know get persistent after images and the visual snow is a lot worse and I have real problems seeing at night. I have since been referred to a neurologists as I was experiencing tremors in my arms and legs so was tested (another MR scan of brain/neck) for MS and other possible neurological problems. all came back clear.

I am trying to stay positive but I feel like I am reaching the end of my tether and sometimes feel like doing myself in rather than living with this constant torture. If my symptoms are mild I hate to think what it must be like for people with worse symptoms.

Not sure how much more I can take of this, eye hospital are discharging me soon and all my GP will say is that if they do discharge me all she can do is refer me back again! My neuroloigist has since discharged me stating the tremor is caused by an "Essential Tremor" but offered no explanation to why I have these visual problems.

Some times it gets to much to take and I really struggle to cope. My family try to support me but as some of you will know it is never enough and unless these people experience this to they will never know what it is like to live with this hell.

Posted

Shit man I just see HPPD more as having your vision held back from its full potential. My visual snow is so bad that from about 10 feet away everything is just drenched in it and I can hardly make out what people's faces look like. If they are even farther their face is just so encumbered by the visual snow I can't even tell they have facial features such as eyes, mouth or a nose. I really want to know if maybe getting some prescription glasses would help out the static but I just hate the idea of having to rely on some exterior object to enhance your vision. I had blurry vision before HPPD so I bet glasses would just simply make my vision less blurry but the static and other visual distortions would stay. Shit I'ma see whats up.

Posted

Man don't go back to using any drugs if you really want your HPPD better. Exercise, eat fruits/vegetables, and keep yourself occupied. I found those three simple things to help my depression out. Fuck psychiatrists and the pharmaceutical companies who push out barely-tested chemicals to the public.

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