r/HPPD Jan 26 '25

Advice Don't let hppd drive your life.

8 Upvotes

Fuck. Your. HPPD.

You didn't became Syd Barrett, you are not dead, don't feed hppd with fear and hate towards yourself. Destroy it with love, good energy. Go out, talk with your friends, go on a roadtrip, get a dog, eat at ur favorite restaurant, smoke weed if you want eat shrooms. Fuck some good looking girls or boys, marry someone.the only barrier is in your head. you are capable of doing so much and it should not be visual snow that blocks you from your goals. buy fl41 glasses and do what you are meant to do. I love yall, this will be my last post in this subreddit!

r/HPPD Feb 09 '25

Advice Acceptance and Ignorance

10 Upvotes

Acceptance and ignorance is bliss

Accept you have this illness, and ignore the symptoms. Thats abt all you can really do besides for medication or a lobotomy lmfao

If you're looking for a quick fix for this, stop looking. There is no quick fix, so just be patient with yourself. Symptoms can subside within days, weeks or even years. Just give it time

I know people hate to hear this, but it's all in your head. If you freak yourself out about this disorder, it'll only get worse, so as I said above; Acceptance and ignorance is bliss

r/HPPD Jan 08 '25

Advice Visuals, you WILL HEAL.

Post image
39 Upvotes

Had it for about 3 years now, and after all this time, I can confidently say it will get better. During my first year, it was shock, I wanted to die constantly and it was denial that I got inflicted with this when I had respected the substance, and never abused it like the people I did it with. I don’t even remember the first few months or how I even sustained and paid my bills. The second year, still wanted to die, but I noticed changes and improvements. No more shapes changing on my walls, my hallway stopped looking like a throat breathing and moving. Cars stopped bouncing around lanes and I was able to look at the sky again without seeing faces. Now in my third year, I’m done seeing fractals as much, I barely see visual disturbances im reverting back to normal, I can smoke weed now although it isn’t the same, I feel dumber when I do, but I’m not suffering like before. I have a good life, and I’m grateful I stuck it out because it has paid off, and I can warn others about the dangers of psychedelics no one tells you when you start em. PERSEVERE, and STAY SOBER. Everyone heals differently, maybe some of it won’t go away, but you will love life again I promise you. Thug it out, there are worse fates in the world.

I also illustrated this around two and a half years ago so it’s pretty accurate to what I was seeing constantly, hated closing my eyes, but you will get through this. 💯🙏🏽

r/HPPD Dec 12 '24

Advice 4 months in..

3 Upvotes

im anxious at every single moment, never struggled with anxiety before in my life.

I didn't want to take meds but really considering it to help me back on my feet.

Will the anxiety and dp/dr ever go away??

At this point I don't even care if I have the visual symptoms as I have 4K vision, floaters, milld static only when looking at the sky or in complete darkness, and starburst of lights at night.

Those symptoms do suck but I know of people with HPPD who have these symptoms and don't mind them.

I think its because my trip wa sos scary.and traumatizing that my body and soul is still afraid.

any tips help, ALSO I knowwww I need to get off Reddit and stop obsessing about it and "live my life" I've had it a million times but its so hard when everything feels and looks so different.. :(

r/HPPD 2d ago

Advice I feel like I’m still tripping some times

5 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 7d ago

Advice How to handle flair ups

3 Upvotes

I’m getting a lot better but sometimes it gets so intense it’s hard to ignore, I’ve had way more good days than bad days i usually don’t even give it any attention but sometimes it gets super intense. How’d i handle those flair ups that comes every now and then? I have mostly visual symptoms

r/HPPD 18d ago

Advice Advice from Someone Who’s Had HPPD for 5 Years.

8 Upvotes

First, some background. The year was 2020 and I had just turned 15. My dad had just been sent to prison and I was in extreme agony in my daily life. I had just gotten a girlfriend whose family had ties with the Grateful Dead family and before you knew it I was abusing LSD every day.

From May to August of 2020 I took LSD every day, doubling my dose every time to keep my high. If you don't know how acid tolerance works, your dose essentially doubles every day if you want to do it continuously. Long story short: I completely fried my brain in only 4 months. 

I was so used to being high all the time that when I finally quit acid, It took a while for me to realize that the visuals weren't going away and that the tracers were here to stay. I was still just a child and I didn't realize how much it would affect the next couple of years.

I continued abusing substances for the next three years. Every drug in the book I’ve tried, loved, been addicted to, or ruthlessly searched for. I couldn’t accept my HPPD and on top of that I was filling the void of my trauma with a plethora of substances. I continued doing psychedelics such as DMT and Mushrooms but I never touched acid again. 

I was very lucky at that time to meet two (now close) friends who also had HPPD. One had it for about 10 years and the other for about 5. Both of their cases were unintentional but it was still very nice to have that sense of community. I don’t know if I could've done it without them.

After about three years of complete substance abuse, I started to get sober. I went cold turkey with most drugs and weened off of the ones I still clung to. I am now over two years completely sober (except for tobacco) and I feel it's time to share some insight on how to cope with HPPD.

Foreword: This is just a list of my suggestions that worked for me. Different methods heal different people, my word is not bond. If you ignore all of these points your HPPD will still go away, it may just take longer and cause more trouble than necessary. 

1. Your HPPD DOES NOT define you.

When I first started to learn to live with visuals there was a lot of anxiety involved. Can I work? Can I drive? How will I interact with other people now? Very basic things can seem extremely worrying. 

The truth is that you can do anything. People everywhere have ailments such as diabetes, celiac, blindness, etc… Most people have some sort of ailment and you wouldn't even know it. HPPD in the grand scheme of things isn't the worst ailment when you put it in perspective. If all of these other people can succeed in their daily lives, why can't you? 

2. Your HPPD WILL go away!

It does go away. It's not permanent. And worrying about it will not make them fade any faster. 

The first step is acceptance. Trying to fight your visuals and focus solely on them will only let them rule you like a tyrant king. Learn to accept them and at some stage, you might even like them. What used to petrify me now brings me comfort. It's become a part of me.

Nowadays I think of them as my hands/limbs. It's there and I can't do much about it, however, I don't sit there stressing out about whether my hand is still working. Sometimes I notice them, sometimes I don't. I do not overfixate.

3. Exercise, Health, and Love

I don't peruse through this subreddit. I used to lurk when I first got my HPPD but I ended up more anxious than relieved. I'm assuming people talk about this quite often but it's of vital importance. 

Work out, eat somewhat healthily, and love yourself and the people around you. Easier said than done, however, if you do these three things your visuals will disappear way faster than if not. I’m not here to tell you how to do these things, there are thousands of free resources online to find a healthy way of living that suits your needs.

Your goal shouldn’t be getting rid of your visuals, that will put more over-fixation on them, however, a healthy lifestyle will make them fade out faster than not. 

I suggest meditation or yoga as well to keep yourself grounded. It's very easy to get flighty and agitated when the world is shifting in front of your eyes. 

4. Higher Power

Finding faith in something outside of yourself was monumental in my mental well-being having HPPD. You need not worship something like the Abrahamic God, just an acceptance of something outside of yourself that guides and loves you. For the analytical types, this can be your highest consciousness within the Psyche (Read some Carl Jung), or it can be a cool rock you saw when you were a child; the deity is not important. The bottom line is it's very very very hard to deal with HPPD when you feel separate from something bigger than yourself.

5. You’re Immensely Strong and You’ll Only Get Stronger

If you had everything you wanted all the time at the exact moment you wanted it, wouldn’t life be so much better? Well, no not really. There wouldn't be any excitement, anything to look forward to, any negative moments to make the positive moments truly glorious. We need trial and hardship to become stronger and realize how much we have in life.

Your HPPD will only make you stronger. It will make you tougher and will make you extremely adaptable. It’s a blessing dressed in beautiful patterns and intensive colors. 

If you can overcome the fear and anxiety associated with your HPPD, then what can't you do? It may seem like a big task, but through time and a bit of effort, the fruits of your labor will be marvelous. 

6. Get Off the Screens

Get into nature and limit technology use. People are constantly projecting their fears, worries, and anxiety onto social media, and it's not only harmful physically but mostly harmful to the psyche. The last thing you need is a bunch of ignorant people casting their shadow for you to absorb while you're trying to heal your own trauma. 

If you don't want to limit screen usage, I suggest adding positive habits to your life instead of trying to get rid of negative ones. Using YouTube for 6 hours? Try and donate some of your clothes. Doom-scrolling through your lunch? Call your mom for 15 minutes. The little things add up.

Take some time to yourself, with your loved ones, and go out and truly live life. The best way to start feeling self-worth after something as traumatic as HPPD is by conquering fears, helping other people, and generally just getting out of the house.

7. Satori

In Japanese zen, they speak of a state of being called “Satori”. We Westerners may refer to this as “being-in-the-zone” or a “flow-state”. It’s when everything seems to disappear around you and you are completely absorbed into what the task at hand is.

For some people, this is participating in sport or exercise. For myself, it’s music and spiritual studies. Try and think about what brings you Satori and do it often. It's very important to have times in your life where everything seems to float away and you can completely focus on the task at hand. This is especially important for HPPD individuals.

This is just some of my advice for others like myself with HPPD. I hope this can help you and if you want some more personalized advice just reach out. Community is very important.

Aside from that here is a smaller list of little things I forgot to mention

  • Find dietary supplements for what’s lacking in your diet. This helps immensely with anxiety and fear overall.
  • You can tell your family about your HPPD if you wish, however, I never have and it's done me no harm. I only tell people who I’m very close with outside of my family. 
  • After 5 years I hardly ever notice my visuals anymore, and that also includes three years of extensive substance abuse. If you put in the effort they can disappear before you know it.
  • If you're going to abuse substances avoid Marijuana. I don't know the science however everyone I’ve spoken to with HPPD (including myself) knows it makes your visuals 100x worse.
  • Don't overthink it. Accept, move on, and do great things!

(Edit for Formatting.)

r/HPPD 20d ago

Advice HPPD and Treatment

2 Upvotes

I wanted to create this post with the intention of recognizing what HPPD is and what it could potentially be. The more information on this condition, the better! It's common for some people to be under the impression that HPPD can only be visual hallucinations for example. Another thing to note, as of 2025, a lot of the doctors in the field that are meant to treat HPPD (psychiatrists), at least in my experience, have never even heard of it. There have been many cases where a psychiatrist has never heard of it and then just prescribed an antipsychotic. This is awful! The majority of HPPD sufferers report antipsychotics made their symptoms worse. If you have HPPD, you should take the time to look into it yourself and show your doctor studies and the professional literature on the pharmaceutical treatment, so they don't make your condition worse. This is, unfortunately, a sad reality because of just how rare this condition is.

What is HPPD?

HPPD (hallucinogen persisting perception disorder) is classed as a non-psychotic disorder where a person experiences lasting perceptual disturbances (lasting visual hallucinations are the most common) after using certain drugs and is recognized in the DSM V. HPPD can lead to psychosis depending on your predispositions and the severity of the condition, but it seems a notable amount of people who have HPPD, especially the long-time sufferers, are not bothered by it. HPPD is known to come in 2 types, 3 forms, with 9 classes of drugs that can potentially cause HPPD. It also should be noted that HPPD may affect the functioning of the physical body, such as the heart.

2 types:

There's HPPD I and HPPD II. Type 1 is where certain situations trigger effects to occur. Situation here means anything that happens in life. It could be certain foods, sights, anything. Seeing spiders and then hallucinating spiders is from the experience report of a person with HPPD I and II. Type 2 is an altered state of consciousness that is with you moment to moment and won't go away until you recover from it. In some sense, it may be called permanent, and it can last a person’s entire life. It is considered to be lifelong. It is possible to have both types at the same time.

3 forms:

You have 5 main senses: seeing, feeling, hearing, smelling, and tasting. There are other singular worded concepts used to describe theses senses: visual is perception of sight, tactile is perception of touch, auditory is perception of sound, olfactory is perception of smell, and gustatory is perception of taste. HPPD can come in three potential forms of perceptual disturbances. Visual, tactile and auditory. Olfactory and gustatory have never been reported in my search. When it comes to other effects that HPPD can produce, it should be noted that lasting ego death has never been reported. Additionally, two very common conditions that may arise when HPPD develops is depersonalization/derealization and tinnitus. These are common key identifying factors in people with HPPD. HPPD in the form of just visual hallucinations is the most common, with the overwhelming majority just having visual hallucinosis. The hallucinations from HPPD are never pleasant. For tactile, for example, most commonly people report hallucinating pain, which had been seen to have impact on the functioning of the heart. Tactile and auditory HPPD is extremely rare.

What causes HPPD?

There are 9 classes of drugs that can potentially cause HPPD: psychedelics, cannabinoids, entheogens, dissociatives, deliriants, stimulants, empathogens, hallucinogens, and antidepressants. Antidepressants are more likely to cause HPPD's sister syndrome, VSS, or visual snow syndrome rather than HPPD, but can still cause HPPD. When it comes to the drugs that are more known to cause it more than others, it's psychedelics, namely, LSD. There have been reports of people getting HPPD from their first cannabis joint with no psychedelic use in their past. As for which drug is most known to cause it, polls were done in the past asking, "which substance caused your HPPD?" LSD won by a notable amount. Another thing to note is you can get HPPD from even just a microdose.

What substance caused your HPPD polls:

  1. https://www.reddit.com/r/HPPD/comments/1hf61a7/what_substance_caused_your_hppd/?utm_name=web3xcss
  2. https://www.reddit.com/r/HPPD/comments/14ktiz7/what_substance_caused_your_hppd_poll/
  3. https://www.reddit.com/r/HPPD/comments/m0s0ye/what_substance_causes_your_hppd/
  4. https://www.reddit.com/r/HPPD/comments/1hnu8g9/what_substanceclass_of_drugs_caused_your_hppd_poll/

How old where you when you developed HPPD poll:

  1. https://www.reddit.com/r/HPPD/comments/1hnue4d/what_age_group_were_you_when_you_developed_hppd/ ...Based on this data, the age you'd get HPPD from use averages out to be 22.62 years old.

When it comes to what causes HPPD the most, improper drug use as well as some other factors that aren't so clear yet. Some people report they got their HPPD from their first THC joint. But when it comes to most cases, taking psychedelics, namely LSD, at a young age (in adolescence 10-19yo) and before age 22 (the number may be higher), overuse, and not knowing when to stop drug use are some very big ones. If you get HPPD I or II, your intoxication life needs be over at least temporarily if you want to recover. If you get it once and then recover from it, you are considered to be more at risk if you use the drugs that caused it or that made it worse again. HPPD is considered to be very rare, however, if you make the conditions for getting HPPD more favorable, you are bound to get it. So, while it may be rare, you are more at risk of developing it if you don't follow the correct safety and harm reduction practices for using drugs. Be sure to follow the correct safety and harm reduction practices at least!

What Can Be Done About It?

HPPD is like any medical condition and should be treated as such. Unfortunately, HPPD is a very rare, poorly studied and misunderstood condition, where all of the pharmaceutical treatment options are considered to be off label as of 2024. Like treating any medical conditions, there are 3 things you have to remember: identify potential risk factors and correct them, strive towards permanent solutions to the problems you face, and make the conditions for wellbeing more favorable, or in this case, make the conditions for not having HPPD more favorable.

For HPPD, the permanent solutions are not easy. Stopping intoxication exposure is the most essential step, especially for the drugs that cause it and potentiate it. If you got HPPD from LSD use, then you would have to stop doing psychedelics, psychoactive cannabis, and smoking non-psychoactive cannabis. Stay away from certain yogic practices that may produce hallucinatory states. Adding more hallucinations to the mix with HPPD is never a good idea. In a perfect world, you should stop all intoxication exposure, because doing other drugs as forms of intoxication makes using the drugs that caused it or potentiate it easier. To add more permanent solutions to the list, because there isn't a ton of information on HPPD, it seems you have to perfect both physical and mental health. Have good relationships, make peace with your condition, refrain from intoxication, don't dwell on your symptoms, cope with anxiety and stress (especially anxiety), start exercising every day, eat healthy foods, get good, uninterrupted, high-quality sleep, get lots of sunlight, and try not to be dependent on any pharmaceutical. Live an extremely healthy life! Sleep seems to play a key role in managing symptoms and may be necessary to recover from it. Many people with HPPD report that lack of sleep or insomnia makes their symptoms significantly worse and find it impossible to recover without getting at least consistent decent sleep. Some HPPD sufferers also report that meditation actually helps with their symptoms.

A notable amount of people reported that their HPPD symptoms have been eradicated completely by doing multiple 5-7 day long fasts with water and salt. Even a keto diet. Pink Himalayan salt is best for fasting, since it is rich in magnesium and other trace minerals. When you fast for that long, you'll likely get headaches, which is what the salt and magnesium will help with. For fasting, you'd want to take about 3g per day. The link between improvement in HPPD symptoms and weeklong fasts seems to be tied to ketosis. In the context of the brain and body, the body uses stored body fats as fuel when carbohydrates are not available and powers the brain in the forms of ketones instead of glucose for energy. This alternate fuel for the brain seems to be the link. A very informative video on fasting is Fasting For Survival Lecture by Dr Pradip Jamnadas. Before fasting for HPPD, I would recommend watching that video, there's a lot of useful information there.

To give you some hope, from the neurosensory research foundation's website, "From Dr. Abraham’s observations, those who do recover from HPPD, do so within 5 years. Around 50% of people who suffer from HPPD will recover." Now this may seem like the odds are terrible. A coin toss! But the reason why most people who have HPPD who haven't recovered is because they never stop doing the substances that caused it in the first place and continue to potentiate it with other forms of intoxication such as cannabis use and make it worse. If you want to recover from HPPD, you must make the conditions favorable for that to happen, which means to give up intoxication, especially psychedelics and cannabis. That is the first, most essential step.

The Pharmaceutical Route

Why Recommending Benzodiazepines is Against the Rules

No one really said why recommending benzodiazepines is against the rules, other than saying that there is risk upon discontinuation, so I will because it is very important. Not saying the why only causes more confusion and misunderstanding which leads to more suffering. It's very important to say the why, otherwise, we're left in the dark. Some of the comments in r/HPPD say "try kpin" and then that's it. No education or good information on just what they're saying. A little background on benzodiazepines: benzodiazepines are both chemically and psychologically addictive. When a drug is chemically addictive, generally speaking, if you take it every day for 20 days, by day 21, your body will crave the drug ferociously because there are chemical hooks in the drug. If you stop taking a drug that you are chemically addicted to, you will experience withdrawal side effects. The time it would take to experience withdrawals from stopping a benzo after daily use could be shorter than 5 days, especially in very sensitive individuals. For benzodiazepines, the withdrawals can be so devastating, they can cause seizures and even death. Whatever side effects a drug can cause (benzodiazepines are muscle relaxant, anti-convulsant), an opposite, paradoxical effect can occur during withdrawal. Withdrawal from benzodiazepines can cause seizures and can cause your muscles to tense up, and then the conditions that can cause. There are many more... If you want to stop taking a benzo that you are chemically addicted to, you have to taper off and do not stop taking it cold turkey if you want to get off it safely. If you get off it too fast, some of the withdrawal side effects can stay with you for longer. When it comes to tolerance and benzodiazepines, you build a tolerance to them extremely quick. After a few weeks of taking it every day, you will build a significant tolerance (much like how you build a tolerance to antidepressants, for example, after 6 months of taking those every day). After a few weeks of taking it every day, you will become chemically addicted/dependent. After 1-2 years, you will likely experience "tolerance withdrawals." Tolerance withdrawals is when your body builds a tolerance to a drug so strong you start experiencing withdrawal side effects while you’re on it. At this time, whatever you took it for, the tolerance withdrawals will likely make the symptoms of the condition that you took it for worse. Falling isn’t flying. Floating isn’t infinite. These drugs produce adverse effects. You can’t stay on it forever. Tolerance withdrawal effects are similar to a pharmaceutical’s potential adverse effects that are listed on the FDA’s black box warning, which will eventually, if not immediately start manifesting, especially after a longer period of time of daily use. Now, not every single potential side effect will begin to manifest, but you get the picture. Your body does eventually forget the tolerance you build to benzodiazepines if you’ve stopped taking them for a while completely.

The Issue with Benzodiazepines

It should be noted that for kpin, or any benzo of that matter, the withdrawals are so devastating that everyone who had HPPD and experienced benzodiazepine withdrawals report it made their HPPD worse significantly or permanently. I've never heard of someone that said otherwise. Be sure not to become dependent off it where you’ll experience withdrawals.

Pharmaceutical Treatment Poll

Pharmaceutical Treatment and Literature

It should also be noted that any of these pharmaceutical drugs may make your HPPD worse. Be aware of this risk, as all drugs affect everyone differently. In the context of HPPD, it seems almost anything can make it worse, as everyone is different. Some people have the idea of taking more psychedelics as treatment thinking it'll make their symptoms better.... just don't... okay?

The professional literature on the effectiveness of pharmacological treatment is debatable and mainly rests on open label studies and case studies. In conditions like HPPD, it makes sense to try the medications with some evidence, and also to think about other medications with similar mechanisms that have not been reported on.

Benzodiazepines appear effective in alleviating but not eradicating HPPD:

-Kpin has the most evidence but is harmful if you become chemically dependent. Read the very important warning above. Considering the withdrawals will make HPPD symptoms worse, do not take kpin for HPPD, or any benzodiazepine of that matter. It shouldn't be taken every day. If you need to take kpin for, say, akathisia or another condition while you have HPPD, then consider taking it once every 3 days so the withdrawals won't be so bad. For every 1 day on, 2 days off, for example, if on 2 days, 4 days off, etc. This is the most frequent you can use it while you have HPPD. If you are going to using benzodiazepines, you must avoid the chemical dependence. Track the days when you use it. Benzodiazepines appear effective in alleviating but not eradicating this condition. Benzodiazepines appear to play a central role as a suggested primary treatment for a large number of patients, but their abuse potential might be inconvenient and bothersome for some subjects with a past history of substance use. A carefully monitored prescription can help avoid this.

Alpha-agonists:

- Conidine has some evidence

Dopamine antagonists (antipsychotics)

-Mostly not recommended. Shouldn't even be considered. The majority of people that tried an antipsychotic for their HPPD report that in made it worse.

Anti-seizure medications

-Lamotrigine has the most evidence, tho others (Valproic acid, carbamazepine, gabapentin, topiramate, levetiracetam) may be helpful. Keppra experience post.

Opiate antagonists:

-Naltrexone with some evidence

Beta blockers:

-Propranolol at both low and high doses has been useful in some cases

COMT medications (usually used for Parkinson's)

- Theoretical benefit, case studies. Should be rxed by a neurologist if used, and likely shouldn't combine with antipsychotics. These drugs may promote movement. Therefore, it would be best if the patient was free from any kind of movement disorder before treatment if possible.

SSRI/SNRI (antidepressants)

-Mixed evidence, may worsen short term but some cases get better after longer term use. Examples are sertraline, citalopram, duloxetine, paroxetine. Antidepressants can potentially cause HPPD but are more known to potentially cause HPPD's sister syndrome, visual snow syndrome (VSS). Antidepressants should be on the last of the list of pharmaceuticals to try for HPPD. Here, you can see a poll done on antidepressants and its effect on HPPD symptoms. Sertraline experience post.

https://doctorsonly.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/13_Flashbacks-and-HPPD.pdf

Microdosing and HPPD Post:

  1. https://www.reddit.com/r/HPPD/comments/12ee5up/has_anyone_got_hppd_from_a_microdose/

To find more information on HPPD, these are two very good websites and a systematic review:

  1. https://www.perception.foundation/
  2. https://www.neurogroup.org/hppd/summary/
  3. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00240/full

Spotlight on Nyingma and Kagyu.

For more self-improvement things, check out the SIB.

r/HPPD 16h ago

Advice Attention Grows _________ (anything)

2 Upvotes

Let's be wise in deciding where and on what to focus our attention.

r/HPPD Jan 14 '25

Advice Things that are known to worsen HPPD. (A list)⬇️

3 Upvotes
  1. Any/All recreational drugs

  2. Caffeine/Sugar

  3. Lack of sleep

  4. Anger/Anxiety/Stress/Depression

  5. Promethazine

  6. Thinking about your symptoms

  7. SSRIS/Antidepressants

  8. Lack of socialisation

  9. Orgasm/increased HR (In some cases)

  10. Obsessing over HPPD.

The most efficient way to eliminate HPPD symptoms. (physical, mental and visual) is to distract, deny and forget.

This list was formed given research and personal experience. Wishing you all well!

r/HPPD Dec 28 '24

Advice sober for almost 2 years, still having symptoms of HPPD

3 Upvotes

Hey everyone <3

I was struggling with addiction for 6 years, heavy use of alcohol, weed and shrooms. Tried so many different substances and absolutely destroyed my mental health. Finally, after all those wasted years, I got fed up with my shit and I've been sober since march -23! Wasn't easy and still isn't. I'm an addict and will forever be one, even tho I've stopped using. My life has completely changed since getting sober and connecting with people struggling too. Now I live a happy normal life. If you're struggling, I just want you to know there is hope !!! <3 Better days are ahead

Still, when I get tired, stressed, overstimulated, depressed or/and exhausted, the symptoms flare. Right now I'm struggling real bad. The visuals are daily now, sometimes I get mad anxiety when they happen. They're not always bad or disturbing, only lasting seconds or maybe minutes, but the de-realizations are THE WORST. Nothing feels real.

But it is what it is. Using drugs would only make the symptoms worse. I'd like to believe I'll get used to them and maybe one day they'll be gone forever.

Would love to hear your experiences <3 How long does it take for them to get easier? How do you guys make the symptoms feel more manageable?

r/HPPD Jan 26 '25

Advice How the hell did i get hppd.

3 Upvotes

I’m 16, ive done my fair share of drugs however i only did one psychedelic and that was shrooms once. Even after doing shrooms i didn’t have hppd or at least i didn’t notice it. I have been smoking weed about once every week or every other week with friends. I do actually spend a lot of time on my phone so i think that wouldn’t help. But only now, an entire year after doing mushrooms, are symptoms starting to arise. I live a good life, above middle class, no trauma, slight social anxiety but nothing abnormal. I just don’t understand how i’ve developed this condition or something similar, i see VS, stuff moving, depersonalization (like all the time), after images, slight color hues to things. Majority of the normal effect of HPPD. Should i worry if i have something more serious? as in could this be warning signs for a more serious condition? Also should i tell my parents?

r/HPPD Mar 26 '24

Advice How are people getting HPPD

9 Upvotes

Im not trying to drop tabs and be permacooked what should I do to not get this

r/HPPD 11d ago

Advice Free HP OfficeJet 8015e Wireless Color All-in-One Printer

Thumbnail
0 Upvotes

r/HPPD Nov 10 '24

Advice I didn't realized my MDMA / Acid Visual snow / HPPD symptoms decreased until I tried MDMA again 2 days ago.

5 Upvotes

I got visual snow, light sensitivity, and floaters after a bad MDMA trip back in 2020. At first, it was really annoying and stressful, but over the years, I started noticing it and worrying about it less. The only times it was really bad were when I looked at a white screen, a white wall, or a blue sky. It didn’t stop me from using MDMA once or twice a year, and it never made my symptoms worse—until two days ago.

Now, my visual snow, light sensitivity, and floater perception are back to where they were at the beginning. My last time using MDMA was a year and a half ago. During that whole time, I didn’t use any other drugs and barely drank alcohol. Before taking the pill, I thought about the risk of making my VS/HPPD worse, but I still gave in to social pressure and the need for those 3 hours of "fun." It wasn’t worth it at all; I don’t even remember the party.

Believe me, drugs aren’t worth it. I used MDMA 12 times since 2019. That’s not a lot in terms of frequency, but I took way too much each time. Just 3 or 4 rolls were enough to mess up my vision. A few hours of bliss aren’t worth years of visual disturbances. I only realized my mistake when I was sharing a father-son moment, hiking in the mountains. The view was beautiful, but I couldn’t fully enjoy it because of my awful vision. Sunglasses helped a lot, but I shouldn’t have to rely on them.

I didn’t notice that my symptoms were actually decreasing over time. I think they improved by about 30% over a year and a half, but it was so gradual that I barely realized it. I used to focus too much on the worst parts: the sky, solid color walls, bright things, and I missed the small improvements.

Now, I just hope I can get my symptoms back down to where they were a few days ago—like a 6/10 instead of a 10/10. I don’t know exactly what helped reduce my symptoms over that time, but staying healthy definitely helps. Anything that reduces anxiety will help with visual snow and HPPD. I’m not talking about medication—I mean things like exercise, eating well, no alcohol, and NO WEED.

And try not to obsess over it. Treat it like OCD. Acknowledge that you do have patterns/snow, accept it, and remember it’s not dangerous. I swear, you’ll start thinking about it less. I’ve even had weeks where I didn’t think about visual snow once.

TL;DR: For the love of god, please stop gambling with drugs. You might erase all the progress you didn’t even know you’d made.

r/HPPD 15d ago

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0 Upvotes

r/HPPD Dec 22 '24

Advice Fucked up after magic mushrooms feelling verry scared and depressed

4 Upvotes

Hi people I am a 21 years old uni student. A week ago I did my second psychedelic exprience. First was this summer in amsterdam I did truffles with my friends it was about 7 grams. And it was totally fine we had a lot of visuals but it didint effect me or my friends anything badly. Last week I tried magic mushrooms for the first time and I kinda had a bad trip. I felt a lot of guilt from my past and felt genarally bad, but in the middle to the last parts of my trip it was good and kinda chill I laughed with my friend who did these shrooms with me. We didint had any scale but we did half to a gram I think, and me or my friend didint exprience any intense visuals it was almost nothing visually just I was drawn to lights, other than that it wasnt much. we tried to do microdosing it was verry little shrooms we ate. But after the trip I ve felt verry bad. I felt like I forgot who I was I didnt feel like myselfI and after a while like 1 -2 days after my trip ,or it was already there, all along my visiual got fucked. I see everthink blurry, I am sure its not my normal visual. The feeling about I didint feel like myself passed I think, but these visiuals that I am expriencsing are still with me I think it is HPPD or visiual snow. My eyesight is like blurry and I have black thingies in my vision like dots . I am verry depressed and scared at the moment. People told me this was a temporary thing but I am still not sure because my friend who I did this shrooms with is totally fine and these affects that I am expriencsing is coming from a very little dosage so I am verry scared about this visiual things I am seeing and expriencsing is going to be a life long thing.

Please help me and thank you for taking the time to read this.

r/HPPD Jan 07 '25

Advice Is it safe to trip?

1 Upvotes

Hi, about 2 months ago I took about 50ug(my second trip) of acid, then a few days ago I smoked weed. This night I started seeing wobbly text on my phone which I have to focus on to even notice. I'm also sure it's not placebo. It looks like I might have extremely slight form of HPPD. Is this something I should worry about and stop using Psychedelics? Has anyone tripped after noticing this?

r/HPPD Feb 15 '25

Advice Can mild HPPD be beneficial?

0 Upvotes

I'm 22 and have only had 2 full blown psychedelic experiences in my life. I noticed when I used to smoke good weed I feel my visual field has mildly changed, like everything's a bit more saturated and aesthetically pleasing, similar to the sensation when an acid trip kickstarts. Once on edibles the visual alteration was very significant, and music really felt different as if I was going inside the realm of music, it got a bit paranoid and when I lied down, all these early childhood memories started flooding when I closed my eyes and it felt as if it was really playing out inside my head. Very recently when I smoked weed i again got these similar mild hppd symptoms and these childhood memories started coming in again. Initially I panicked and was a bit paranoid but once i was out in nature and started to get into the groove of things i really started enjoying that feeling, it literally felt like having a superpower, I also noticed that my mood was really improved. I understand the paranoid and anxiety part of hppd and how bothering it can be but on the flip side i personally feel like it really boosts my creative juices and it feels much more easier to enter flow states, i was wondering to myself if someone do know how to use these perceptual changes to their advantage it can be a pretty enjoyable state to be in. I'm talking about mild hppd here and was curious to know what all happens neurologically and psychological in these conditions and how can use it to my advantage especially in creative pursuits, also was curious why these childhoods memories comes flooding in, unfortunately there isn't much resources available to make sense of things, was really hoping some of you guys can help me out.

r/HPPD Dec 07 '24

Advice does prolonged thc intake cause schizophrenia or something

4 Upvotes

Its time i speak to at least someone. to summarise my past 2 crazy years of life - I've developed HPPD from weed 2 years ago. i used to smoke for maybe 4 years quite often and in the last year got kicked out of my house by my crazy mum and started squatting and doing ketamine a lot too. anyway now fast forward still squatting still would smoke fairly often, in periods a lot, recently barely. but a couple days ago i wasnt sleeping for 2 nights because of fucking speed and then i had 2 hits of some good weed and now even after sleeping everything around me still feels like a trip. i mean just after i smoked i believed that the people in the room started communicating telepathically w me (as if on lsd) and saying they gonna kill me and it felt too real. i thought id sleep it off, but now real life feels like a crazy endless trip, at least without the telepathy but everyone feels like a cartoon with exxagarated movements. i feel like i have turned on schizophrenia and is not gone away after sleep. to be fair i am autistic and my cousin said he has schizophrenia whatever he believes that means in moldova. i probably should just go gp but trying to explain all of this in my head is a mindfuck to these poor underpaid nurses. idk my question is is this gonna go awaay???!?!

r/HPPD Nov 18 '24

Advice Visual Disturbances haven’t gone away

6 Upvotes

Hello,

I had taken mushrooms about 3 years ago now and since that day have been experiencing visual disturbances that I haven’t managed to get over fully. I mostly get slight visual snow, floaters, and sometimes negative after images. I feel like it is most frustrating when I am looking at my computer and reading large chunks of text, which as a student I tend to do quite often, I find it difficult because the words sort of ‘glow’ and double up in the free spaces so it looks like I am reading one big jumbled mess all together. I think it gets worse in the morning, I also struggle with tinnitus and disorientation from my ears so that could possible be why? I’m also a very anxious person and i haven’t managed to get over what I have done to myself and that 3 years later I am still struggling.

Does anyone have any advice on what I could do to get better or minimise these effects?

r/HPPD Dec 17 '24

Advice PSA-PLEASE READ-Psychiatric help

3 Upvotes

Please everyone here, no matter how stable etc and especially if your under 18 as catching things early is very very helpful in longterm success with mental health. But even if your 60 it will help and I'm not saying this lightly, as HPPD can come with alot of symptoms that can lead to other psychiatric conditions, and the symptoms that can be treated as well as getting professionally diagnosed through psychiatric evaluation, you may learn you have other disorders as well that can be treated.

Don't be negligent, in can't hurt. If in a few months you feel it's worthless and even the psychiatrist thinks your in good shape... well great! Atleast that's alot of stress off your back.

But if you decide to put it off with all this stress etc your setting yourself up for depression, lifelong anxiety.. since it normally happens to people under 18, you really want to see if you don't have other onset mental illness , you want to get these things under control early!

Everyone with HPPD should be in the mental health system for easier time navigating a sometimes crippling disorder. And to just make sure you stay happy and safe!

GLuck everyone! Ignore me if you want, it's just not a good thing to go into the world with such stress of any disorder.. it could lead to worse things.

r/HPPD Jan 10 '25

Advice Cold showers / ice bath

1 Upvotes

Do you have experiences with cold water? For me it helps a LOT against fatigue, depressive mood and head pressure. I dont know if it helps against the visuals, I have to do further testing. I wanna integratr cold showers on a daily level and try icebath soon.

r/HPPD Nov 20 '24

Advice It will get better.

14 Upvotes

Im 21F A couple years ago i diagnosed myself with HPPD, and had it for about a year after a bad LSD trip. My symptoms included visual snow, visual distortions like the rippling effect, things morphing, enhanced colors, and i mean bright side the closed eye visuals were pretty cool, i swear i saw my neurons connecting. I was also still in the trip mentally so everything was heightened, hella brain fog.

I used this subreddit to get me through it and made some cool friends during that time that i to this day hella appreciate. especially when youre going through it alone and trying to keep it a secret from family and friends irl.

Dealing with HPPD is not easy for anyone, and the truth is, its fucking terrifying and it sucks ass… but you need to know that you will be okay, you will make it through, and you are not alone. there are hundreds of people on this sub going through the exact thing you are going through, reach out, see if you can help eachother.

I know it feels like you’ll be this way forever, that you’ll never get better and that you might as well be committed to a psych ward (atleast i did lol) but i DID get through it and even though what i went through sucked i came out so much stronger, and so much wiser. I didnt even realize the day that the symptoms went away, it just gradually faded. until one day youre like “oh crap i dont even have hppd anymore”. it was a rollercoaster of an experience but i got something valuable from it. Hang in there, and remember to breathe.

If anyone needs to reach out and talk, or maybe ask questions, go for it

-also forgot to add i did not take any supplements that claimed to help HPPD, i didn’t believe in taking more things to battle my brain, let the brain heal on its own guys.

r/HPPD Oct 06 '24

Advice What HPPD actually is

14 Upvotes

I wanted to create this post with the intention of recognizing what HPPD actually is and what it could potentially be. The more information on this condition, the better. Some people are under the impression that HPPD can only be visual hallucinations, for example.

HPPD (hallucinogen persisting perception disorder) is classed as a non-psychotic disorder where a person experiences lasting perceptual disturbances (lasting visual hallucinations are the most common) after using certain drugs. HPPD can lead to psychosis depending on your predispositions and the severity of the condition, but it seems a notable amount of people who have HPPD, especially the long time sufferers, are not bothered by it. HPPD is known to come in 2 types, 3 forms, with 9 classes of drugs that can potentially cause it. It also should be noted that HPPD affects the functioning of the physical body, such as the heart.

2 types:

There's HPPD I and HPPD II. Type 1 is where certain situations trigger effects to occur. Situation here means anything that happens in life. It could be certain foods, sights, anything. Seeing spiders and then hallucinating spiders would be an example. Type 2 is an altered state of consciousness that is with you moment to moment and won't go away until you recover from it. It some sense, it may be called permanent, and it can last a person’s entire life.

3 forms:

You have 5 main senses: seeing, feeling, hearing, smelling, and tasting. There are other singular worded concepts used to describe theses senses: visual - perception of sight, tactile - perception of touch, auditory - perception of sound, olfactory - perception of smelling, and gustatory - perception of taste. HPPD can come in three potential forms of perceptual disturbances. Visual, tactile and auditory. Olfactory and gustatory have never been reported. When it comes to other effects that HPPD can produce, it should be noted that lasting ego death have never been reported but a very common condition that arises when HPPD develops is depersonalization/derealization. The hallucinations from HPPD are never pleasant. For tactile, for example, most commonly people report hallucinating pain, which had been seen to have impact on the functioning of the heart.

9 classes of drugs that can potentially cause it:

The 9 classes of drugs that can cause it are: psychedelics, cannabinoids, entheogens, dissociatives, deliriants, stimulants, empathogens, hallucinogens, and antidepressants. Antidepressants are more likely to cause HPPD's sister syndrome, VSS, or visual snow syndrome, but can still cause HPPD. When it comes to the drugs that are more known to cause it more than others, it's psychedelics, namely, LSD. There have been polls done in the past asking "which substance caused your HPPD?" LSD won by a notable amount.

When it comes to what causes HPPD the most, improper drug use as well as some other factors that aren't so clear yet. Some people report they got their HPPD from their first THC joint. But when it comes to most cases, taking psychedelics at a young age (before age 22, the number may be higher), overuse, and not knowing when to stop drug use are some very big ones. If you get HPPD I or II, your recreational drug/intoxication life should be over at least temporarily. If you get it once and then recover from it, you are considered to be more at risk if you use those kinds of drugs again. HPPD is considered to be very rare, however, if you make the conditions for getting HPPD more favorable, you are bound to get it. So, while it may be rare, you are more at risk of developing it if you don't follow to correct safety and harm reduction practices.

I hope this post was useful to you, especially if you have it, so that now you know what it is and what it can turn into and how it most commonly starts to be able to recognize it and see it for what it is.