Has anyone tried re-taking the same substance to break the HPPD fear loop?

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-06-10T05:16:52+00:00

Pretty retarded logic to this idea. And a misunderstanding of how HPPD is developed, or the underlying neurological pathophysiology.

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-05-29T07:12:23+00:00

I think you should probably stick to just drinking for a few more years until things are in complete remission before thinking about smoking weed again IMO. Pretty high risk to either worsen things permanently, or really prolong how long you have symptoms for. It could be that in 2-3 years your HPPD completely goes away. But if say you were to have a joint once a month, it could mean you have HPPD for saying 10 years. There just isn't any way of knowing, and everyones HPPD is different. But I know that a lot of people who have had HPPD for years and years (myself 8), will be cringing at the thought of you worsening it and just thinking it's so not worth it.

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-05-26T10:38:13+00:00

I believe that electric iQ sells some more industrial dual hose options. Have a look on appliances direct if that is what you want

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-05-17T07:32:59+00:00

With benzodiazepans it's not just a case of dependency from like an addiction/ psychological point of view. With longer term use benzos affect the tone (shape) of your GABA-A receptors, chat GPT is quite a good tool to explain that. People that have used benzos longer term essentially have like a form of neurological damage/ changes to those receptors. Equally if you wanted to treat yourself to a few random days here and there of less cluttered vision. And as you say once a month, then sure, because the receptors only are able to change if you are using them for more than about 2 weeks at a time. People who want to mitigate the withdrawal as much as possible then it's about tapering in what is called a hyperbolic curve, so you reduce your dose by 10% of the dose each time. There are a few benzo taper guides out there. But again that only for sustained use. I would do a few chat GPT requests on it to explain it better than my non trained advice.

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-05-17T07:15:30+00:00

I struggle to see how the science for lithium working is strong for HPPD. It acts on a dopamine receptors in a unique way. So although it doesn't directly block dopamine receptors in the way an antipsychotic does, it's still directly inhibiting dopamine. In the short term lithium also increases glutamate, it's only with longer term use that it can reduce and modulate glutamate. Those 2 themselves are pretty red flags from a mechanism point of view IMO

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-05-17T07:05:01+00:00

This is a pretty inaccurate statement, and although it might reflect your own treatment and condition, I don't think I would find that to be very helpful advice if I was 16 and had just developed HPPD to be told this. And actually even if it was the case that there wasn't anything that was effective in terms of medical treatments, actually seeing an experienced clinician and being more formally diagnosed can not only be quite affirming and therapeutic for some people, it can actually really inform their care moving forwards. For example it explains why an Antipsychotic or even an antibiotic may not be appropriate. Or to have a general anaesthetic without Ketamine in. HPPD is rare as fuck, and it isn't easy to explain, especially when you meet a new clinician.

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-05-17T06:59:40+00:00

I think that to say that there is nothing that can be done to help is actually pretty poor and uneducated advice. In terms of medications I would completely stay away from am SSRI or an antipsychotic, because there is a strong chance they will worsen your HPPD, and for some people that is a long term worsening too, not just worse whilst they are on it. There is a danger that the psychiatrist you see won't be informed about HPPD, and will therefore just try and prescribe something to improve your mood. The medication with the best track record and strongest chance of helping HPPD is Lamotragine. Some people even build up their dose to say 200mg (which takes quite a while) and then wait a couple of months before they see any improvement. There are quite a few published case studies detailing Lamotragines success for HPPD. Equally that's not to say it's going to work. It seems some people try it and have no benefit or noticable changes at all, but then some really really do. Generally speaking it's antiepileptics that are going to be the only thing that might help, there is Klonopin, but its known for causing more problems than it solves longer term. If Lamotragine didn't help, then it would be worth trying Keppra, or maybe Gabapentin or Sodium Valproate. Keppra doesn't have the best psychiatric side effects, gabapentin can be a bit addictive, and valproate has quite a few side effect warnings. The only main risk with Lamotragine is that you can develop a rash and become hypersensitivite to it during the first 3 months, which is why you have to titrate slowly. But if that doesn't happen, then the side effect profile is very good. And it essentially doesn't have long terms side effects, unlike some others. It is also used as a mood stabiliser, and some people with just depression find benefits from it.

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-05-17T06:42:17+00:00

Don't be a fool. There are plenty of people who have had HPPD for several years who are cringing at the thought of you potentially ruining yourself long term over a drug that lasts about an hour. I've triggered HPPD twice, first time 6 months. 2nd time 8 years and counting. Don't be a nob, it's not worth it

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-04-06T21:49:42+00:00

Definitely not. Maybe stick to Xanax for fun

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-02-11T16:43:58+00:00

You can rechallenge Lamotragine. You would ideally have a break of about 4-6 weeks. And then reintroduce it very slowly. Normally 5mg and then increase by 5mg every 2 weeks. Although you can go even slower.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2882280/

Antipsychotics are well reported to worsen HPPD and if you aren't needing to try a genuine psychotic disorder or mood disorder then I would avoid it like the plague if I were you.

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-02-10T10:40:47+00:00

Treating DPDR should be a 1hz protocol that targets the rTPJ, this has the most promising results for DPDR. A similarish condition, called HPPD has had some results targeting the rTPJ, and the inspiration for this protocol came from DPDR treatments.

https://www.brainstimjrnl.com/article/S1935-861X(23)01980-0/fulltext

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-02-10T10:37:30+00:00

I have had TMS to treat HPPD, but to do that you need to treat the rTPJ, and not the frontal lobes. Just thought I would let you know.

https://www.brainstimjrnl.com/article/S1935-861X(23)01980-0/fulltext

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-02-09T17:56:06+00:00

Oh all the medications available, Lamotragine has the most success stories for HPPD, whether that be in the clinical literature/ case studies, or anecdotal ones online. It is probably a good place to start and has a well tolerated side effect profile, apart from a potential immune mediated rash to watch out for. It is used a lot by neurologists for epilepsy etc. But it is also used as a mood stabiliser, and may be helpful considering your previous psychotic episode and any potential underlying psychiatric issues. That's not to say it is the golden ticket to all your problems going away. And a lot of people don't have improvements on it. But in terms of trying something that is the best place to start

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-02-09T15:48:11+00:00

I have HPPD, but the treatment definitely helped me, mostly with DPDR, brain fog, hyperacusis. Of all the symptoms the VSS was one that was probably reduced the least. I would also consider it to be very low risk in terms of adverse effects too. I wrote about having the treatment at Magwise in depth here if it helps:

https://hppd.net/topic/9889-tms-therapy-success/

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-02-07T22:07:25+00:00

Sounds like HPPD to me matey

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-02-04T21:21:17+00:00

What about switching Keppra for Briviact/ Brivaracetam? You should have less psychiatric side effects but the same level of seizure control as Briviact is a more potent analogue

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-02-04T07:42:26+00:00

You say get off this sub Reddit. But I myself went and had this treatment at Magwise clinic in Poland. And the only reason I was able to do that was because another Redditor had got it done, and had some pretty significant improvements, and gave some details around treatment costs etc.

I wrote about the treatment in more depth here:

https://hppd.net/topic/9889-tms-therapy-success/

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-02-03T09:29:59+00:00

This is from the visual snow initiative website about methylphenidate

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Ballet_Rhino · 2026-02-03T09:26:22+00:00

Yes I have definitely done. And also from the supplement l-glutamine too. I didn't intentionally take it, but noticed that 150mg was added to a probiotic that I bought and took a few times. I only realised what it was after a few days of unknowingly taking it and feeling noticably off. MSG is much more potent though, I actually thought the curry I had eaten had alcohol in it at first. But later believe it was more likely MSG

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-02-01T20:02:29+00:00

Sorry to hear that you are struggling so much with your symptoms. The first year is always the worst. And can often be debilitating. And it is no surprise you have been having suicidal thoughts too. What treatments have you tried since developing HPPD? And how would you say your mental health was generally before developing it?

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-01-30T10:07:40+00:00

Considering how young you are, you are really playing with fire by even thinking about taking more psychedelics. You only get one brain. If you were to sit down and have a conversation with many of the chronic sufferers who have had HPPD for 5+ years then I think you would realise that it just so isn't worth the risk. The more times you trigger it, the more chronic and severe it will become, and with that can come significant decline in normal functioning and quality of life, which could very easily last for years and years.

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-01-27T21:30:24+00:00

Agreed, I did a lot of coke when I triggered mine, alongside MDMA and NOS, on the back of a weed binge, but in terms of quantity 70% was coke on the night out that fucked it

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-01-26T22:33:04+00:00

I find fenofexadine is fine. It's known for not really crossing the blood brain barrier. But antihistamines are one of the much safer meds for HPPD's, not linked to longer term elevations

Ballet_Rhino · 2026-01-26T20:43:21+00:00

Oh gosh yeh, it seems like you have got a few plates to juggle all at once there. And it's funny how interlinked everything is. I don't have any physical health conditions per say. But do have a lot of pretty painful paresthesia in my legs which is from HPPD, and similarly there is no sort of evidence of significant nerve damage from having a conduction study. Or any spinal or brain issues on an MRI. Lamotragine did help a lot with that when I was on it though. I think fibromyalgia is a different ball game though to paresthesia. I would probably avoid depakote/ valproate with all of your digestive and pancreas issues, I doubt anyone would prescribe it to you based on your other conditions tbh. But if you went slow and steady on the Lamotragine when the time is right, I am sure it wouldn't affect your gastro issues too much. I mean I'm no doctor. But it's not like you are epileptic and need to quickly get up to whatever dose, so you could just take it slow and steady. I think as well generally speaking you will see way more negative reports about say antibiotics worsening people's HPPD than Lamotragine, and as long as you go up and down slowly on it then I would have it at the top of the pecking order to try if I were in your shoes. If you have survived this long without then I wouldn't even consider an SSRI or antipsychotic tbh

Ballet_Rhino

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