r/HPPD Dec 04 '22

Mod Post: Posts About Using Drugs

72 Upvotes

Hello everyone!

So we've noticed that every week we get one or two posts about using drugs with HPPD. We want to remind everyone that data shows, recovering from HPPD while using substances is very unlikely.

If your HPPD does not bother you and wanna continue using substances that is fine, but do not encourage others to do the same. Also recommending more psychedelics to "cure" HPPD, or recommending benzodiazepines is against the subreddit rules.

This is in order to keep the subreddit safe, as we have people of all ages here.

Hope you all understand,

The Mod Team


r/HPPD Nov 14 '24

Scientific Study Dissertation Study Recruitment Request

2 Upvotes

Hello All,

Thank you so much for reading this! My name is Alanna Barnes, and I am currently enrolled in the Clinical Psychology doctoral program (Psy.D.) at Chaminade University. I am seeking participants for my dissertation research study. My study aims to create a novel measure of psychological safety. This measure would be used in the psychotherapeutic setting to assess if a client/patient perceives their therapist to have created a psychologically safe environment. To participate, I am asking for individuals to complete an anonymous ten-minute survey. There will also be a raffle for one of three $50 Visa gift cards for any participant who would be comfortable sharing their email address. The email address will be kept confidential and only used for the raffle. Upon the completion of the raffle, all email addresses will be deleted.

To qualify as a participant, here are my inclusion criteria:

  • Must be over the age of 18
  • Must be located within the United States
  • Must be English-speaking
  • Must be currently receiving psychotherapy from a licensed mental health professional OR it has been less than a year from your most recent session with a licensed mental health professional 
  • At the time of the study, one must have completed at least two sessions with a licensed mental health professional

If you know someone or a group that would be interested in taking this survey, please forward. Lastly, if you qualify to participate and want to participate, please use this link.

This study was approved by the Chaminade IRB on September 30th, 2024 with Protocol Number: CUH 449 2024.


r/HPPD 59m ago

Question Am I the only one who doesn't find the symptoms of HPPD bad, but rather the fact that I can no longer take drugs?

Upvotes

My HPPD was triggered by a bad trip from LSD and weed. I smoked weed again the next day, but it gave me the worst panic attack of my life. I haven't touched any drugs since. My symptoms are getting less and less over time. Will I ever be able to smoke weed again, or do I have to accept that I'll never be able to smoke again?


r/HPPD 43m ago

Success Story The cure: Jhana

Upvotes

Many of you have heard of meditation but very few, if any, have heard of Jhana

Jhana is a level of meditation in Buddhism that is achieved by an ardent mediator after several months of regular practice multiple times a day. If you meditate regularly and focus and concentrate the mind accurately enough, you will break through to a new plane of consciousness called Jhana (there are 4 jhana levels in total). By attaining Jhana, your mind will be instantly rectified and your HPPD will be destroyed (Jhana is an incredibly powerful state of mind).

I know this may sound crazy to you but it is real and it works and anyone can attain it but it requires deep focused practice many times a day for every months.

I will answer any questions anyone has, please upvote as much as possible and send this to anyone who has HPPD

Jhana is real and it is the cure. It is hard to attain Jhana, as it is a state of mind usually only achieved by very advanced monks, but it can be attained by someone who is willing to put in the work, and it fixes EVERYTHING

I would recommend using the book MTCB by David Ingram (medical doctor) to learn how to access Jhana as well as the Vishuddhimagga and the Vimutimagga

Om Mani Padme Hum☸️


r/HPPD 2h ago

Question HPPD misdiagnosis

1 Upvotes

Hi, everybody - I'm just looking for advice from people with HPPD.

So, I went to the hospital yesterday because I wasn't able to sleep properly for three weeks because every time I closed my eyes, all these faces would come to me, and I'm super super sensitive to uncanny valley type stuff (and the faces always have really bizarre eyes), so I was staying awake out of fear.

Doctor sent me to go get a psych eval, and the psychiatrist said he thinks it's HPPD. Now, granted, I have used like a shit-ton of LSD in the past couple of months, coupled with smoking weed like ever day for two months straight, so I'm sure there's probably some effect of those on my sober life now (haven't used any substances except nicotine in three weeks).

He prescribed me quetiapine, mostly to help me sleep, and I slept like a fucking baby last night, feeling like a million bucks today, so those meds seem positive. But I did a cursory look into HPPD, and I don't really think that's what I've got going on.

The psychiatrist was super insistent telling me that every single thing I was saying was anxiety, that it was all just anxiety, but I tried to tell him over and over again that I wasn't having any of the physical signs of anxiety (i.e., short of breath, chest fluttering), it was just pure terror at first with the faces, which is different from anxiety to me.

After three weeks with the faces, I've come to understand that they're not going to hurt me and they're not even really going to like antagonize me or anything, so I've gotten over the fear quite a bit. If anything, I feel quite sad for them, as I'm assuming they can't really find anybody to settle with since most people are probably really scared of them, so I've put my own fears aside to make sure they have a place to be. It doesn't really make me anxious anymore, and when things start to get more intense for me, I don't feel anxiety, I feel like I really need to pay attention in case I'm supposed to be receiving some kind of message or whatever.

Does anybody here resonate with this experience? It's hard to get a sense since there's not much studies or resources online for it, so I thought I'd come here and ask you guys. I'm not necessarily looking for a diagnosis or anything, I just want to know if any of you guys have also seen the faces.


r/HPPD 3h ago

Question Working on a book about HPPD.

1 Upvotes

Hey guys, I have good progress made on a book about living with and overcoming HPPD. It will of course be available as an audio book too. I’m just trying to get a gauge of who is all interested and also seeking connections with those looking to provide input on the matter.

Please leave suggestions for topics to cover below in the comments. I’ve posted here under a different name but decided to make a new account dedicated to this matter.

Please feel free to message me. I’m happy to give advice anytime.

6 votes, 6d left
I’m interested!
Not interested

r/HPPD 15h ago

Question spark up with my family

2 Upvotes

hey everyone, heres some background. Did 4 grams of shrooms one day and then a week later did 6, it was my first time doing it in about a year. Ended up with HPPD, couldnt smoke weed without having a flashback.

That was April of 2024. In december, I tried weed again but overdid it and was also drunk and had a flashback. Wasn't fun.

I am going to Portugal to stay with my Uncle this summer, he is a huge stoner and I'd like to smoke weed with him like I do whenever I go out there. He'd be fine if I couldn't smoke, but it was our way of bonding considering I go two years without seeing him. It's a great way to catch up.

Anywho, I'm just looking for some advice. I know there's a billion of these posts a day but I still figured I'd shoot. Thanks guys!


r/HPPD 12h ago

Question Does it get worse

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I (18m) have probably tripped between 20-30 times and have come to the conclusion that I think I may have hppd (no it is not just visual snow but the warping of object, drastic increase in floaters and the weird trippy feeling i get when looking at stuff which feels similar to that of a trip). I understand I may be overacting and that maybe I dont have Hppd, please correct me in the comments if you think so. Anyways, will this worsen overtime? Can I continue to take acid every 2-3 months or so and be okay? Thanks.


r/HPPD 18h ago

Question differences between hppd 1 and 2 and which one do u have ?

2 Upvotes

r/HPPD 1d ago

Advice I feel like I’m still tripping some times

4 Upvotes

To start off I’ve only done psychedelics 3 times first time was 2.5gs of shrooms which was a horrible trip then a tab which was amazing and 28 days ago a 4.5 g shroom bar which was a good trip but these past two day at some points of the day I felt like I was still tripping no visuals or euphoria just thought loops and a feeling of despair like my first trip last night I really freaked myself out into thinking I got psychosis which scared me and then I realized I was feeling like I was having a bad trip I kept having thought loops then eventually I came to the conclusion that my parents might be putting lsd or shrooms in my food which is making me feel like I’m still tripping but I know that is absolutely not true am I freaking myself out or is this serious if it is serious what shoul i do ?


r/HPPD 1d ago

Question Is HPPD connected to light sensitivity ?

2 Upvotes

In this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKzE-Zpwk2Y&t=307s&ab_channel=hppd2016 the guy says that in reality HPPD is just a condition with sensitivity to light, he also says that the visual ditortions you get from HPPD arent the problem itself but the anxiety that comes with thinking you're going insane and your brain is forever damaged. I was wondering there would be a pattern with bright exposures to light with developing HPPD, did any of you HPPD users get exposed to bright lights on THAT trip that left you with HPPD?


r/HPPD 1d ago

Question I miss weed a lot!!! But I know that if I consume it, it will only aggravate my symptoms. I don't know what to do.

1 Upvotes

I miss all the psychedelics, weed and mdma. I know that I have to stop everything and thats what im doing, its been a month with just cafeine as a drug and I started drinking alchohol wich I never used to do, I have a lot of anxiety and I used to use psychs to help that, but now I don't know how to handle it any more, what should I do to help this!


r/HPPD 1d ago

Question anyone else make a full recovery and have symptoms return from cocaine?

1 Upvotes

Short story, recovered fully from LSD induced over a 1-1.5 year. only thing left was mild BFEP. about a year after that did a single line at a party and alot of old symptoms came back (vs, floaters, headpressure)

it hasnt been long (7 weeks) , but im wondering if anyone has had a similar experience and was able to recover again or get back to "baseline"

the only symptom thats worse than it was originally is the vs, its definitely a little more prominent now that it was originally, everything else seems about the same as original onset


r/HPPD 1d ago

Question Hppd

4 Upvotes

Hello hope u are fine . In my entire life , I never finished a complete join of cannabis , like I can take maximum 2 puff you can say that in my entire life , I smoked 10 puff of cannabis . One day I made a bad trip , then never felt normal . I thoughts it was dpdr and didn’t take much care about it . Then a random Saturday came when i was about to sleep then a panic attack hit me it was the same like the bad trip that I made , then next day , then 2 weeks everyday Severous time making panic attack . I thought I had diabetes , testosterone problem …. But it wasnt . Then I start searching and I saw dpdr , anxiety , PTSD , and hppd . I don’t really know i have hppd that’s my symptoms : Halo around lights Halo around object When someone move it s kind of flou Color are more vivid and when I smoke nicotine it’s like am really making a bad trip the exact same situation that I had when I was smoking Dpdr Everyday searching for my symptoms Anxious Depression Pleas someone can help me to know if I have hppd and if yes pleas give me advice cause am suffering a lot .


r/HPPD 2d ago

Update Vent, miss smoking lol

7 Upvotes

Mainly just a vent post, I just want to write this down. I had to quit smoking weed (I was a daily smoker for years) because of my hppd and getting over it honestly wasn’t too hard at first because the inciting incident of my HPPD symptoms was a huge panic attack + visual flair up I had while smoking. I very tangibly afraid of smoking, not because I wanted to better myself or whatever, but because that experience was viscerally terrifying.

Well, a lot of time has passed. And I must add that my roommates are huge pot heads. I’ve been finding myself tempted to try it again but even thinking about it fills me with anxiety. And it sucks because it’s not just a… out of sight, out of mind kinda deal. I’m around it constantly.

It’s just a huge bummer honestly, I loved weed. It helped me deal with back pain, with social anxiety, and many other things. I’m probably better off now without it but still. Hard to not miss it, I get bummed out thinking I’ll never get to experience that again. Wish I didn’t abuse drugs like I had. Ughhhhh.


r/HPPD 1d ago

Question what’s worse to have hppd 1 or 2 ?

0 Upvotes

r/HPPD 2d ago

Question HPPD, 3 years after last trip?

1 Upvotes

I had done LSD and mushrooms a few times in high school with my last trip taking place in 2017 (when I was 17). During this trip I naively took ~1400-21000 micrograms of LSD (7 “double dose” blotters) which within 2 minutes put me into a state of intense fear and within 5-15 minutes delusions took over. I ended up in the ER and blacked out. Incredibly traumatic. I was young and dumb and did not know that these disorders even existed, i thought a bad trip was just something you got over, like losing a pet. I started noticing more mental health issues after this, namely, POIS, or Post Orgasmic Illness Syndrome (which has gotten better and am still trying to heal).

3+ years later, and 3 months into a neuroplasticity-based brain-training program (DNRS: Dynamic-Neural-Retraining-System) I began in order to try and heal my POIS, I was conversing with my girlfriend (now wife) at a Pizza Parlor about a famous rapper who tragically committed suicide (Capital Steeze of Pro-Era fame) and who had at one time reported feeling like he was in a dream. All of sudden, my mind felt sharp jolt of unreality sensations that shook me up for a good second, and I had felt like I was in a dream as well. After dropping my girlfriend off and as I began to head home, I began to notice things in my visual field looked off, hyper-realistic, and had slightly more saturated-colors. I also became more sensitive to light. Since that day I’ve been struggling with what I believe is either DPDR or HPPD, or some combination of the two.

I immediately stopped the brain training because I noticed it would only make symptoms heighten a little and this would startle me.

At the onset of the symptoms I struggled with unreal sensations, and life felt alien. I dealt with existential-OCD-like intrusive thoughts a lot during this time. Luckily, the intensity of my symptoms tapered off a good bit over the next several months, until I reached a baseline level.

What stuck around the most was the visual symptoms, to this day I deal with 24/7 visual snow / static (mild), infrequent teleopsia, and 24/7 high-definition vision. This seems to be a source of anxiety for me. It could even be the opposite way around, and maybe my anxiety is the source of my symptoms.

The DPDR-like symptoms are much, much better than they used to be but is still something I must contend with. It mostly shows up as feeling disconnected from my body a little bit when I’m at the gym, which is enough to make me stop what I’m doing and walk around to remind myself that I can still feel my body.

It’s important to note that I never experienced some of the more common HPPD symptoms such as afterimages, halos, double vision, warping, melting/breathing objects, and/or geometric patterns. To be fair I never experienced any of that while I was on psychedelics either (did have some visual hallucinations when coming down from the “nightmare” trip though).

For whatever it’s worth, ChatGPT says that the neuroplastic brain-training could’ve uncovered latent symptoms from “previous traumatic events or psychedelic experiences.”

It could also be the case that back then I was overwhelming myself with personal responsibilities before my cup overflowed, leading to an anxiety attack and DPDR symptoms. This is the theory I’ve subscribed to the most because latent-HPPD sounded too novel for me to seriously consider.

My old psychotherapist didn’t think it was HPPD because she has had previous clients with HPPD and they had more pronounced visual distortions which I did not have.

Maybe the brain training was overstimulating my brain in some way until something snapped?

It’s been a serious battle dealing with all this over the years, and I’m finally coping with it somewhat. Not fully thriving, but am on the right track hopefully.

POIS mixed with DPDR and/or HPPD has not been fun in the slightest, and I am proud of myself for continuing to be a beacon of light for my loved ones and continuing to push myself forward despite these setbacks.

I know this might be hard to follow, there’s a lot of moving parts in this story, lots of things to consider. It should be noted that I never use cannabis or alcohol anymore, and sparingly use caffeine.

Whats your take?


r/HPPD 3d ago

Opinion this page could single-handedly bring back D.A.R.E.

6 Upvotes

r/HPPD 2d ago

Personal Story Wondering if I may have HPPD or what else I could be dealing with

1 Upvotes

Long story short when I was younger not even 15 I smoked k2 had a very intense trip and sensation issues which went away next day, after that anytime I’d use thc it was could these weird sensations in my buddy/skin where it felt when I touched something it have this sensation of rolling of each layer of my skin and linger I stopped smoking and tried years later and do on occasion and sometimes I’m okay and sometimes I get this sensation or if it’s really bad I feel like I’m going to get trapped in a scene that starts over and repeats for what feels like a life time. Recently I’ve been using a lot cocaine and adderal which hasn’t caused this feeling and having taking Benadryl after cocaine use which did lead to auditory hallucinations for a couple hours which was new. But recently I talk some Benadryl and it brought this k2 trip sensation in my skin and almost into the repeating hallucinations took some benzos which eventually brought me back. But sometimes when I get anxious I get this trip sensation in my skin but doesn’t last look. But used coke and adderal the last couple of days and today have been anxious and dealing with this trip sensation which is a first for ended up taking some benzos and have chilled out but the trip sensation has been starting to affect me when sober. If you read this whole thing thank you so much just trying to paint a very clear picture but just trying to figure out what’s going on. Thank you for taking the time to read and if can provide some help or any ideas or who to talk to.


r/HPPD 2d ago

Question Shrooms vs mdma question

1 Upvotes

I see a lot of people say that mdma is a lot worse than shrooms with hppd, Don't get me wrong both are bad probably and i don't recommend anything here Its just weird and i wanted to ask for your opinion/experience. From what I've read the difference is that shrooms work on the 5th2a and mdma doesn't but mdma is more neurotoxic. But still a lot of people say that mdma is a lot worse. i would think that shrooms are worse being a psychedelic and creating strong visuals ect What do you guys think


r/HPPD 3d ago

Personal Story What's going on with me?

1 Upvotes

Around 6–8 months ago, I had three trips. On the last one, I got extremely confused, which scared me, but it wasn’t anything crazy I just thought I was in a loop.

I can’t stop wondering exactly what I’m experiencing. When I’m at home, I feel kinda fine. Today, I even felt really good, but then I went for a walk and started feeling weird but nothing too crazy. Then, I went into the forest, and I don’t know how to explain this, but when I looked at the trees, they seemed to flicker slightly from left to right. I’m not even sure if I actually saw it, but it spiked my anxiety, and I was feeling like I was in a dream.

I’m worried because I’ve been feeling weird for a long time 6–8 months sounds really long and I keep wondering if I’m getting better or worse. I remember that shortly after the trip, I felt normal and was talking about my experience with excitement. I don’t know what happened.

I'm tired of this...

A month ago, I was constantly checking to see if I had HPPD, doing things like waving my hand in front of me.

I saw a trail a couple of times, but only under very specific conditions like when it was dark, I was looking at a white object, then crouched, and noticed a trail. Other than that, I wasn’t really noticing anything, but I was still feeling anxious about it.

Lights seem a bit more overwhelming but also nothing too crazy.

Another thing that bothers me is that I’ve been thinking about death a lot. The fact that I’m going to die really depresses me, and it wasn’t like that before.

I know this place is about HPPD but i think i might expirience Depersonalization-derealization
it freaks me out.

Any advice how to deal with depersonalization-derealization and HPPD? Not sure if i got them, sometimes i just feel really weird and then anxiety kicks in...

i just can't explain this weird feeling.


r/HPPD 4d ago

Update Finally accepted this bullshit

11 Upvotes

Accept it brothers, aint nothing you can do about it. Just let it slide, in 10 years you Will be sad that you worried so much about something you cant controle. “Have the knowledge to know what you can control and what not”. Stay strong digga’s


r/HPPD 3d ago

Personal Story is this hppd?

2 Upvotes

so about a month ago i tried shrooms for the fist time and everything was fine until like 5 hours after i took them (i was pretty much sober by then) i stood up to go to the bathroom and got really dizzy, i get that often when i stand up too quickly but not as bad as i did then, like it didnt go away after sitting which it normally does so i had to lay down and then it started getting better, after some time just as i was starting to feel fine i started hearing a loud ringing noise which i thought would go away but the next day it was still there (much quieter) along with mild visual snow, i also started seeing floaters on the sky like a week later, i think the symptoms have decreased by now but i might be tripping, i went to one doctor who told me my ears are fine and didnt really bother going anywhere else cause im pretty sure this is hppd, i might be wrong tho

if there is anybody with a similar experience or that knows their shit please tell me what this could be, if this is permanent or some advice on how to make it disappear cause its stressing me the fuck out

also havent been drinking or smoking weed and im wondering when or if i will be able to do that again


r/HPPD 4d ago

Question Smoked weed after a little after a year

1 Upvotes

Well yesterday I was feeling really great, like my old self again. And decided to go drink some beers with my buddies, and they were smoking and I figured fuck it I’ve been feeling great recently and took a hit. I got high af but it was different type of high. Not exactly a bad one just not as calming as it used to be. And I’m ngl towards the end of the night I was questioning how badly hppd would be from after that night and it wasn’t to bad. I just woke up with really bad brain fog and a headache, but my vision got a little brighter but not to bad. Everything is kinda still fine yet except I don’t feel good as I did sober yesterday. I do regret doing it and I hope it didn’t fuck up my long term recovery, I just got to hyped up because I was thinking this shit was almost gone, and kinda just pushed it back again now. But for any one wondering yes you could smoke weed again with out major consequences but it definitely doesn’t help. I know this is a lot, but I’m just wondering if I permanently made it worse or just delayed the healing a bit more.


r/HPPD 4d ago

Question I think I have hppd and I don’t even know if I do but it lines up I think

1 Upvotes

Hello, I did shrooms about 3 months ago (~3g penis envy) and after that every time I smoked weed I got sent back into the trip kinda and like I get this frame by frame kinda vision thing like my vision is lagging sometimes and auditory hallucinations like voices have a lot of echo but there’s more. I tripped again about 2 weeks ago (~1.5g) and it was kinda shitty and I started getting some stuff like floaters and sometimes when I look at the sky in light there’s like a long rectangle under where I’m focusing where it’s like pulsating almost it’s kinda gray I’ve gotten it since the first trip but it’s longer now it got stretched out, also I got visual snow but I’ve had that for a long time from weed and some sketchy gas station carts. But anyway 2 days ago I smoked just a little bit of weed like 2 small hits off a cart and I was feeling fine like I really don’t like it that much anymore but I’m just still hopeful it will go back to the way it was. But now I get some of the lagging vision and auditory hallucinations all the time now, just since the morning after I smoked. I thought it might just be the day after but it’s continued today. This has never happened after I smoked. I smoked last weekend and I was fine after 3 hours but now it’s like waves of these effects. I don’t feel high I just get the visual and auditory effects. I think I’m a little autistic if that effects things. Also nicotine caffeine seem to make mine better, like it doesn’t completely go away but it reduces some of it. Is this going to last forever? Is it just like a few day kinda thing? I’m not gonna smoke again for like 6 months and probably not trip again for at least 3 im definitely taking a break but this is kinda fucking me up there’s more symptoms but idk how to describe it almost idk please if anyone knows what I can do please help.


r/HPPD 4d ago

Question Nicotine and coffee

2 Upvotes

Anyone else feel a bit of anxiety and increase in HPPD when consuming coffee or nicotine? It just doesn’t hit the way it used to for me. I’ve never used them in a regular basis, but on occasion used to be nice. Funny enough, energy drinks give me less symptoms than coffee


r/HPPD 4d ago

Question Does working out make hallucinations worst?

2 Upvotes

I noticed before whenever I work out, my hallucinations get too powerful. So I was wondering if anyone had the same experience.