HPPD for 20 years - thoughts on cannabis?

[KeepFighting]

Hi folks.

I'm pretty new on here. Had HPPD 20 years after taking strong LSD four times as a 14-year-old.

I've somehow battled through, but it's still with me and I'm trying to learn as much as I can from the forum.

One thing I never thought much about is cannabis. I've smoked it quite a lot over the years, and loads in my teenage years. Could this have made things worse?

I always blamed the HPPD on the LSD because it started straight after the trips. But recently I've been wondering if cannabis might have aggravated things without me realising.

In recent years I've hardly smoked it - and stopped for good last year. So I'm wondering if I might now see a bit more recovery? (doubt it though).

By the way, I can say cocaine certainly makes things worse. I stupidly took coke three times this year it seems to have aggravated things. Gutted - but I'm soldiering on.

I've always managed to hold down a decent job and have a good family and friends - those have been the best "treatments" for me over the years.

[K.B.Fante]

Yeah, from the sounds of it cocaine is pretty bad for HPPD. I'd probably stay away from that. I don't think marijuana is too good either. There's a lot of people on this forum who still smoke weed, I just don't know how many still have HPPD or what they can say about how it's hurt their symptoms. You're probably best to stop doing drugs unless you think you can't cope without any. And I don't think it's ever too late to improve as long as you're dedicated enough. 

[mgrade]

Cannabis is basically a low level hallucinogen.   

There are so many strains of the stuff with different ratios of the chemicals that it seems like a bad idea to take/smoke (completely in an uncontrolled environment and often bought as a street drug or these supposed expert growers).

Also i have contacted a marijuana specialist who is actually a biologist and i believe he still smokes.   But he has told me that there are very little medicinal qualities as compared to what people are saying who whole-heartedly advise its use.   He even said that about CBD!  And obviously THC. 

 

My opinion would be to avoid it.

[Jay1]

I can't even have 1 toke on a joint without having something of a nervous breakdown, extreme anxiety, seeing things and hearing voices... Scares me to death (yet I still end up trying again, if i am drunk and it is a nice summer evening!).

 

Best avoided, no doubt... I am interested in very high CBD/ultra low THC strains though.... It could potentially be a very good anti anxiety med.

[KeepFighting]

Interesting stuff, cheers folks.

I can live without cannabis, it never agreed with me anyway. Just wondering if the years I spent smoking loads could've made my HPPD permanently worse.

I suppose like so many questions surrounding HPPD, I'll probably never know ????

[umit]

I think yea weed make hppd worse for me 10 times more just i tryed one hit and i was in hell never again

I am smoking siggarets after i quited for 4 months now its very enjoyable i am happy with it even when i didnt had hppd i geth pannic attacks from weed after i quited for a while so its wil never work for me again i have just my ciggarets only thing thats left

They say weed is not harmfull buth its not true like nobody never died from it

[K.B.Fante]

Honestly, I can't imagine weed helped. Like mg says, it's a low-level hallucinogen. Smoke enough and you'll get minor HPPD symptoms even temporarily. I remember when I smoked weed a lot I'd get DP/DR and see patterns. So my guess is that if you've smoked a lot of weed since getting HPPD it probably contributed somewhat to your symptoms, however that's just a guess and there's no telling how much. The fact is, drugs and HPPD is one cocktail that doesn't mix well. I've heard plenty of people talk about their HPPD getting terribly worse after doing drugs; I've heard nobody say their HPPD has improved after doing drugs. Pretty easy to see a pattern there.