LSD, HPPD, VS, some more acronyms and fire in my eyes. Attempt 2

[J-Walker]

Just posted this under focus/psychoactives, but got advised that the guys over this side of the forum might be able to offer me a bit more assistance....

Iv had Visual Snow (VS) for as long as I can remember. I never thought anything of it untill I found out today that it is one of the main symptoms of HPPD (Im sure you all know what that is... be afraid!).

Anyway, im fairly sure I dont have HPPD. However, I have been using drugs for a while now, so it is possible that the VS has slowly been developing as I have been using.

Either that or I'v had visual snow all my life. Either way, iv never really noticed it. Its just there, a little bit irritating, and worse when I look at the sky.

I dont have any other symptoms related to HPPD.

The interesting bit is that when i took LSD, it made the VS go away. The intense burning colours I saw felt to me like they where using up the VS to fuel them. The day after, as well as feeling refreshed about life, I had no VS.

I have only taken acid once, it was about 6 months ago, and the VS has built back up to a previously normal level now.

I was wondering if any of you with more experience in the chemistry of psychoactives might be able to tell me why LSD decreased a HPPD related symptom?

 

[DragonFly31]

That's an interesting story. I don't have such medical knowledge, hence I cannot help you.

I can, however, offer this advice: I think you should arrange an appointment with a psychologist specialized in that area. Tell him the whole story; doctors have no qualms with talking to people who take drugs and their impact.

 

[J-Walker]

Thanks, I decided that it was a good idea to see a doc after I read about how bad HPPD can affect people.

 

[Hammilton]

So because HPPD could horribly effect someone, you're going to waste your money?

Are you being effected by it badly? No.

Do you have HPPD? No.

Visual Snow is a phenomenon experienced by everyone, especially when looking at large monochromatic blocks of color.

Don't be such a hypochondriac. The suggestion is to see a doctor when you have a problem. You don't have a problem besides being a hypochondriac. For fucks sake, as you say it could be something that's been there forever. It has. You're noticing it now because you recently learned what the symptoms of HPPD were and decided to find them.

Grow up and don't waste your money or some overstressed doctor's time. This is easily one of the stupidest things I have ever read here, and that's saying something. I'd suggest looking up the symptoms for so-called "Cyberchondria" and deciding that this is what you suffer from.



When you are self diagnosing, I assume you have the brains to look at Wikipedia. Why then do you decide to ignore the obvious:

Visual aberrations can occur periodically in healthy individuals – e.g. afterimages after staring at a light, noticing floaters inside the eye, or seeing specks of light in a darkened room. However, in people with HPPD, symptoms are typically so severe that the individual cannot ignore them and HPPD is associated with new visual disturbances. It does not appear to merely increase those already in existence.

 

[J-Walker]

I didn't go hunting for a illness, the reason this whole thing started is because I googled VS because I was bored and wanted to know a bit more about my sparkely vision.

I was aware of my sparkley vision before I was aware that HPPD even existed.

Then pretty much everything that I came across was along the lines of "if you have obvious VS and have been using drugs then there is probably nothing wrong with you but you might as well go and see a doctor anyway". Doctor would probably just have told me to go home , but thats fine.

Yep, I read the wiki article, but that is the only peice of literature that gives you some idea that VS is reletively common. Its not like theres web pages up saying "we've all got it". Or atleast, none that I could find.

The reason I came on here was for advice, I'd heard that Bluelight was the place to come to for drugs info. It was more the clearance of the VS after my LSD experience that I was interested in.

Its not like im going to go around killing people to have a MRI, and since I'm english I wouldnt be paying for anything.

Sorry to offend.

Thanks For Flaming

 

[Hammilton]

I'm english I wouldnt be paying for anything.

You may not be aware of how these things are funded, but yes, you would- the only difference, is that you'd be having thousands of other people supporting your hypochondria.

Yes, everyone experiences some degree of visual snow when looking at large monochromatic chunks. If you don't have any impairment because of this, you don't have a disorder.

That's the problem with more and more of the world, they think that if they have a symptom, they have the disorder. How many people have symptoms of depression? How many are missing work or impaired to any degree because of it? Then how many people are on antidepressants? The number far exceeds the number who are impaired, unfortunately.

 

[J-Walker]

Fair point about how my medical bills would be paid, although im sure that the Great British public wouldnt mind me using 20 mins of my GP's time.

I dont just experience VS when looking at large monochromatic chunks. I experience it all the time, no matter what I look at. I dont think it would have interested me enough to delve unless it was that significant.

I also agree with your general point about the over perscription of anti-depressants. However, hypocondria is only a contributing factor to this problem, and there are many other causes of over prescription (such as profiteering or wanting to label simply abberant behaviour as a certain condition).

I feel that you do me an injustice in calling me a hypocondriact. I was interested in a symptom I had, found that it might have come from a condition which I could have easily developed, and then went and asked some questions about it.

By my own admission

im fairly sure I dont have HPPD

I really am more interested in why my LSD experience took it away for a bit. Do you have any thoughts about that?

 

[negrogesic]

Unfortunately, the bottom line is that I don't think anyone here can tell you why LSD made your "VS" go away...

 

[Black]

i have had visual snow for my whole life (noticed it as a child before i even tried any drugs) and drugs have not affected it.

I was wondering if any of you with more experience in the chemistry of psychoactives might be able to tell me why LSD decreased a HPPD related symptom?

i have no idea, but an experience that fits pretty much. i've once tripped on a quite a low dose at home and had one of my plants look exactly like it looked when i was tripping for months (super-3D and kind of transparent). then i tripped again and the day after that it looked completely normal again and it has thankfully stayed that way.

 

[J-Walker]

Thats pretty interesting. Was part of your trip centered around the plant or is it otherwise mentally significant?

Also, with your VS, do you find that you have a sort of perminant closed eye hallucination? I get a pretty interesting light show whenever I close my eyes, although it is very faint. That went away when I took LSD aswell. In fact, the first thing I said on the day after my trip was "The lights arn't there anymore".

 

[Black]

Thats pretty interesting. Was part of your trip centered around the plant or is it otherwise mentally significant?

no, not at all. i looked at it for a while, but mentally it wasn't significant. it was a pretty mild trip +1.5 at most.

Also, with your VS, do you find that you have a sort of perminant closed eye hallucination? I get a pretty interesting light show whenever I close my eyes, although it is very faint. That went away when I took LSD aswell. In fact, the first thing I said on the day after my trip was "The lights arn't there anymore".

i guess you snow is a bit more prominent than more. i only see patterns if i'm tired and consciously look at my closed eyelids.

 

[Al_S_Dee]

I got HPPD the first time I took LSD and it has stayed since. I barely notice it now - and even enjoy it.

 

[AnonAbuser]

LSD broke my ability to sleep well. Then after not using it for a year and deciding to try it again, it fixed my ability to sleep, for about 6months, now its back to shitty sleep all the time. LSD really just fucks with your body a lot in the long run. I mean it really fucks with every cell in your body during the time of the trip but its after effects last a realllllllllllly long time. If there was one drug I could take back ever doing, it would be LSD.

I don't have time to go into details, but after tripping on LSD a friend of mine went crazy for a couple months, and even after all the therapy and all the prescriptions of drugs she still doesn't seem to be nearly the same person many years later.

 

[J-Walker]

but after tripping on LSD a friend of mine went crazy for a couple months, and even after all the therapy and all the prescriptions of drugs she still doesn't seem to be nearly the same person many years later.

I'm sure that we are all aware of similar cases from our own lives, and this sort of thing is tragic. I know a guy who, after taking acid for the first time, became convinced that he was the root of all evil in the world (even after the trip finished). He killed himself a year and a half later, after trying all the mental health practicioners he could get his hands on. I wish that LSD was controlled and somebody developed an effective way to screen for underlying personality disorders before allowing a person to consume the drug. However this is a bit off topic.

deciding to try it again, it fixed my ability to sleep, for about 6months

Similarly, it has been six months now since I tripped, and my VS has returned to its peak. It really felt to me like the LSD was consuming whatever was in me that was causing the VS. Does anyone know if LSD burns up anything while its active that could be linked to sleep and/or visual perception?

I barely notice it now - and even enjoy it

Its great that people have developed a way of living with it, and can even enjoy it. When I went over to look at the HPPD forum alot of the guys where basically saying that there condition was so bad that nobody should ever take LSD incase they ended up like them. Has your HPPD meant that you have had to limit your self? can you still drive etc? sorry if this seems a little personal, I'm just very interested in what living with the condition is like.

Also, if you have tripped since the inciting incident, did the other trips change your HPPD?

it was a pretty mild trip +1.5 at most

Im not sure how much of a difference it would make, but my trip was very strong. I'ld label it as a 3.5+, possibly teetering towards a 4, but I would need much more experience with trips to confidently say it was a 4. Certainly, time stopped and I felt like I found some sort of inner divinity within myself. Later I thought that we had all gone to heaven.

 

[emerald07]

J-Walker I found your experience fascinating. You come across as articulate and genuine, with believable claims, so I can't help but think there must be something to this idea of actually taking more of a psychoactive substance to relieve the symptoms of visual snow and/or hppd.

It's completely contradictory to everything common sense tells you to do, but I've now come across this phenomenon in several forums etc. And by the way, I'm sorry you were treated to such an unwelcoming and atypical response from Bluelight in the posts by Hammond and I couldn't understand his hostility tbh.

I suffered really badly after building up to hppd by taking very high doses of lsd, shrooms and also so called legal highs, like the LU doves which are now banned. What finally did it was about 10 days of non stop tripping on high doses, and what followed was one of the most unpleasant times of my life. For weeks I was stuck in this hell, trapped inside a nightmare and smothered by something I couldn't break free from. It was so much more than a few flashback type visuals - I went completely insane!

Eventually it did subside, and the relief was immeasurable. I just wonder for other sufferers or if I had an episode like this again, whether it would be worth trying some pure mdma or pure lsd/shrooms. From what I've read, the likelihood of hppd increases by mixing research chemicals together, with weed, E and other stuff and it seems like more problems are caused by the 2C's than any other type of RC.

I've yet to try an RC because when I can get the real thing, a known and well researched chemical like lsd, researched and tested and used for years, with time to have observed any long term effects, then why would I want to be taking RC's? However, recently my curiosity has become more and more aroused, and I also think it would be good to try a couple so I could help spot fake lsd etc by having a lot of experience in this area and therefore taking something like 4-ho-met and 2C-I (not together!) it will fill a "hole" in my psychedelic experiences. The other thing is, how cheap they are! And soon to be illegal to sell anywhere, I need to grab some while I can if I want to try this stuff at all.

I didn't notice any visual snow, in fact the paranoia and schizo behaviour were by far the worst symptoms for me.

 

[swilow]

So because HPPD could horribly effect someone, you're going to waste your money?

Are you being effected by it badly? No.

Do you have HPPD? No.

Visual Snow is a phenomenon experienced by everyone, especially when looking at large monochromatic blocks of color.

Don't be such a hypochondriac. The suggestion is to see a doctor when you have a problem. You don't have a problem besides being a hypochondriac. For fucks sake, as you say it could be something that's been there forever. It has. You're noticing it now because you recently learned what the symptoms of HPPD were and decided to find them.

Grow up and don't waste your money or some overstressed doctor's time. This is easily one of the stupidest things I have ever read here, and that's saying something. I'd suggest looking up the symptoms for so-called "Cyberchondria" and deciding that this is what you suffer from.



When you are self diagnosing, I assume you have the brains to look at Wikipedia. Why then do you decide to ignore the obvious:

Man, why be such an asshole? The guys new, and asking a valid question- no need to just attack him