Hereditary

[Lily]

I recently had a daughter in May and while unplanned am expecting another baby in July. I'm just wondering if anyone believes this condition could be hereditary, or has any experience with this? I've unfortunately had hppd a little over half my life and wouldn't want my kids to suffer the same way.

[K.B.Fante]

I've never heard of anybody with HPPD giving it to offspring. It sounds like people who get HPPD might be genetically exposed but you still need to do the drugs to get it. Doesn't seem logical that your children would be born with this without having done the drugs themselves. 

[Lily]

I did mean from drugs, not that I would ever want my kids doing that nor condone it but my parents didn't want me trying things either and really it didn't stop me. I know mental illness can be hereditary and through seeing different docs and multiple mri they have concluded it's a mental condition so I'm just wondering if kids with parents who have hppd are predisposed with drug use.

[KeepFighting]

I would say there's a very good chance, Lily. I don't know of any cases where it has happened, but as you say it stands to reason being predisposed to HPPD could be hereditary - given that most mental illnesses are.

I've been wondering the same actuslly. I'm now 35 and have had HPPD since I was 14. As a fellow long-timer, have you found anything that helps in terms of treatment?

I've managed without medication all these years and lead a normal, fairly happy life, so I'm reluctant to start taking potentially addictive medications with possible side effects. But HPPD still gets me down quite a lot.

I'm new to the forum so trying to absorb any advice I can find.

[K.B.Fante]

Oh I see. Well then my answer would be yes. There are people who are probably way more qualified to talk about this than I, but from everything I gather it sounds like HPPD is somewhat hereditary. This is why people get it after only a few times on drugs while other people can do drugs their entire lifetime and have bad trips galore and never get HPPD. 

 

The crazy thing is, I've done lots of different types of drugs, smoke tons of weed, went through a brief stage of alcoholism and yet it was acid that did the trick for me. There were times in my life where I was tripping my ass off on mushrooms, where I did cocaine all night long, where I took so much molly I was hallucinating and didn't know where I was, and yet all it took for me to get HPPD was one single hit of acid after I'd only done acid a few times before. For me, I just think acid was the magic recipe. For other people, I'm sure their HPPD drug was different. 

 

My point is, you should raise your kids to value education and stay away from drugs. Every parent should. But you also have to be realistic. Your kids are gonna do whatever they want eventually. Your best to be honest with them, explain how they might be genetically exposed to HPPD, and tell them to absolutely stay away from whatever drugs you got your HPPD from. I know if I have kids I'm making it crystal clear they can't do acid. That's the one thing I just don't trust. 

 

That's my best advice. If you raise your kids right, make them aware and tell them how bad it is, they'll probably stay away. 

[Lily]

The only thing that's ever helped me was completely cutting out drugs/alcohol, even quitting smoking I think helped a bit. The drugs and alcohol made the visuals worse but even more towards the end gave me anxiety about how I was living my life and the anxiety sent my visuals haywire. I actually liked hppd for many years and continued to use drugs pretty heavily for most that time with on and off thinking that I was seeing something really special, I'd almost convinced myself I was some chosen person who had a special vision. I got it when I was 12 so my young brain obviously was trying to make sense of what had happened, I had to grow up and mature and sort out some serious demons now I can look at it for what it is and that helps, my world will always be different and I just have to accept it, you know? Let it go.

[KeepFighting]

Did you notice a big difference when you cut out alcohol? I only drink at weekends, but sometimes binge have quite few and notice visuals are much worse when I'm hungover. But didn't think alcohol had any long term effect?

I stopped smoking and taking drugs for years but recently did cocaine a few times - and can confirm that certainly wasn't a good idea. Made things worse - but hoping it's only temporary.

Agree, acceptance is a big part of recovery. The best thing anyone with HPPD can do is try to let go.

[Lily]

I noticed a massive difference when I cut out alcohol but I can honestly say I would drink myself into an oblivion everytime I touched alcohol, which was a lot from the time I started drinking to the time I had to quit so I might not be the norm of hppd and alcohol. I was extremely erratic when I would drink and would frequently mix it with large amounts of coke and do things that weren't me so the hangover/sketch plus anxiety made everyday like some sort of really intense acid trip. I think any amount of alcohol will probably have a temporary effect but it's up to the person if they can shake it off and look at hppd in a healthy way or if they spend their whole hangover staring at things that terrify them, like I did. There's a baseline of symptoms for me that are livable and anything that alters my mind make life feel not worth it so I'm better off completely sober.

[WuWei]

My uncle had it for 10 years and my father has had it since he was 14 or so from LSD use.  Yeah, I believe it's hereditary.

[Jay1]

Yep, my dad had issues with LSD, though not hppd ... but dp/dr.

 

My brother did alot of lsd too and didn't get it, so it is probably genetic, to an extend.. But not something gaurunteed. Not worth worrying about for a while yet, just enjoy parenthood for a while!

[Lily]

My parents have both had separate issues with substances and neither have any long term visual effects, same with my brothers so I wasn't sure how it would work.

I am enjoying parenthood eventually like k.b fante says I'll have a discussion about the possible outcome of doing drugs and while I surely won't tell them everything I'll let them know it might be hereditary.

[KeepFighting]

Cheers Lily, it sounds like you have a really mature approach to it all. I guess that's the key - keeping things in perspective, and accepting life will always be different with HPPD. Good luck with your parenthood mission!

[WuWei]

I've thought about this in my own situation should I ever have kids... I think talking to them when they are old enough to understand about the potential risks is key. 

 

I wish my dad would have told me about it when I was a kid... in his defense though he got it when he was really young and just attributed it to "too much acid" and just adapted to it.  I believe he has mild visual symptoms he's just used to now with no cognitive deficits.  I'd give anything for that to be the only thing I have to deal with.

 

Good luck with everything... teach them to be kind to people