I have Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder

[LunaLovegood]

Heavy indulgence in psychedelics has left me with a neurological disorder called hallucinogen persisting perception disorder(HPPD). I see visual snow(looks like static) everywhere. Everything that moves across my field of vision has a very noticeable trail/tracer. And I see those familiar colorful geometric patterns. I have these visual effects not episodically(which would be called “flashbacks”), but chronically, from the second I open my eyes in the morning to the moment I fall asleep at night. They are always with me. I also seem to be permanently in a slightly trippy headspace, as if on a small dose. I mention this because I think it’s pretty interesting. Does anyone else around here have effects anything like this?

 

[LunaLovegood]

I’ve had it for about two months now.

 

[Scilenny420]

What compounds were you working with?

 

[DoomKitty]

I don’t have this, but a friend developed this after some heavy psych binges.  She thought it was cool the first couple months and continued somewhat frequent psych and w33d usage.  After the fourth month the hallucinations became rather debilitating for her.  She couldn’t drive cuz there was static and tracers everywhere and it was hard for her not to be preoccupied by all the visual noise.  So she quit all drugs (including coffee!) for around 8 months i think and it eventually resolved itself thankfully.  I’ve read accounts of people quitting  all drugs and it never resolving and of course accounts of people continuing usage and the HPPD getting worse and worse.  She doesn’t do psychs or wEed anymore but does enjoy other chems.  Anyways i hope it works out for you however you decide to approach it! 

 

[LunaLovegood]

@Scilenny420

I read the classics. ‘Cid mostly. Mushies. Dimitri. I’ve only recently become interested in the newer works in the same genre. 

 

[LunaLovegood]

@DoomKitty Your friend sounds a lot like me. Hopefully it doesn’t get to be too much for me to handle. 

Anyway, I really enjoy the visual effects. I am almost never bored anymore lol. I can easily understand how it gets traumatizing for people as well. Heck, it’s hard for me at times. As I said, it’s rather like I am tripping slightly all the time. You can imagine how great this can be. But also the challenges. Social anxiety like I’ve never had before. And sometimes I have days where I’m having a bad trip. It’s not as intense as actually tripping, and there’s no time dilation so i don’t feel as out of control. But a bad trip nonetheless. At the same time, I feel so much more creative and open than I used to be. 

It’s very much a blessing/burden thing. However, I love tripping so much that I would actually be sad if it went away. 

 

[Sgrbr420]

How long have u gone with out tripping or thc? 

How strong is the static? Does it obscure background or is it translucent? Is it there in bright daylight conditions?

Sometimes I think that psychedelics can make natural artifacts of low light vision as we switch from rods to cones and the persistence of motion more noticed than before. 

Our sight is not perfect and takes many short cuts to be efficient, having seen the seams in the matrix so to speak it can he hard to unsee them

 

[LunaLovegood]

@Sgrbr420 not long at all. The symptoms first presented about two months ago, and the last time I tripped was two weeks ago. Thc is a constant companion. I know where you’re probably going with this: how do I know these symptoms wouldn’t fade in a month or two if I went completely clean/sober? The answer is that I don’t.

If they did fade rapidly after discontinueing drug use, would it still count as HPPD? I guess not to the medical profession. But the fact remains I still have these very noticeable psychedelic effects that have lasted months. They are strong enough that it makes day-to-day life a bit more difficult. Obviously, this is not a normal outcome from using psychs. If it isn’t HPPD, it should get its own name.

 

[LunaLovegood]

@Sgrbr420 The static is translucent. It is visible in all light conditions including bright sunlight, although it is most visible  in the dark.  My visual snow has moving geometric patterns in it, usually colorful. I also see geometric and/or botanical patterns on various and sundry surfaces  

I don’t have a lot of time now, but tomorrow I will post a more detailed description of the visual effects. Perhaps I can find a picture that shows how the world looks to me, as well. 

 

[LunaLovegood]

@Sgrbr420

“ Sometimes I think that psychedelics can make natural artifacts of low light vision as we switch from rods to cones and the persistence of motion more noticed than before.“

Yes, I have seen many reports of people feeling their vision has changed subtly after tripping. The common theory is that after tripping for the first time, people become more aware of normal visual phenomena such as floaters or blue field entoptic phenomenon. Those floaters were there all along, the person just didn’t notice them until the drug experience made them more visually sensitive. 

However, that isn’t what happened to me. I have been a psychedelic user for ten years now. I have binged heavily on multiple occasions. I have combined different psychedelics together. I have take really high doses. I have had periods lasting anywhere from several months to a couple years where I have periodic “flashbacks”(brief episodes where the psychedelic effects return for just a few seconds or minutes). So believe me when I say this is different. 

 

[LunaLovegood]

As someone with an abiding intellectual interest in/curiosity about psychedelics and their effects, I find this situation I am in really fascinating. I figured others here might find it interesting too. 

 

[Sgrbr420]

@LunaLovegood  wasn't trying to go somewhere with line of questioning just trying to understand extend of the hppd you are experiencing.

FWIW I eat a lot of thc (in the form of distillate) for pain management and find that high doses of thc can be rather psychedelic 

 

[LunaLovegood]

@LunaLovegood  wasn't trying to go somewhere with line of questioning just trying to understand extend of the hppd you are experiencing.

FWIW I eat a lot of thc (in the form of distillate) for pain management and find that high doses of thc can be rather psychedelic 

Funnily enough, I have never had thc in any sort of oral form! Not even brownies. It’s on my short list of things I want to try. 

But I definitely agree in considering thc to be psychedelic. It probably produces some degree of hallucination(or pseudo-hallucination) in at least some users, esp. on high doses as you suggested. It certainly intensifies my visual effects. But the(for me) even more important criteria thc fullfills is that I find it to be consciousness-expanding. It’s good for creative inspiration, meditation, etc. 

 

[LunaLovegood]

To me, the most important criteria for a drug being what I consider “psychedelic” is the consciousness-expanding effects. 

Interestingly(trying to keep this post from being completely off-topic), I feel like my consciousness has expanded slightly in a permanent way since I developed HPPD. Who knows if that’s true though. I certainly hope it isn’t just ego on my part, deluding myself. In any case, it has led to me making some big changes in my life, and so far those changes seem to be positive. 

 

[veggieragz]

I don’t think I can equate my experience with yours, but I too find the idea fascinating and wanted to share my own experiences with the way psychs have affected me long term. 

I have a similar but lower caliber history with psychs, mainly cid and less so shrooms. I’ve gone through periods of months of taking everyday (usually less than 50 mcg but sometimes between 50 and 100) towards the end of the end of the binge, if I decide to raise dosage to accommodate tolerance, I’m often left with 2-3 weeks of noticeably psychedelic thought patterns and strong, very real sounding auditory hallucinations. These fade in a couple of weeks though rarely disappear completely  before I begin to take psychs again (maybe a month break before I almost feel like my disinterested pre-psych self again). 
 

 these long lasting effects on me  have never had the visual specificity you described but I too feel  a long afterglow of expanded consciousness (or ego inflation ) and it does interfere slightly with daily work life (mostly just me coming off as a spacey goof) and it’s constant presence does  aid in creative thinking tremendously. For example, I like to make music, and during these periods my mind is usually perpetually humming/creating endless melodies for days that build off of each other and are totally retrievable when I remember to record them on my hand recorder, no effort necessary - just free art from the universe I can’t  claim to have intentionally composed, 

I wonder if taking macro dosages are absolutely necessary to induce the level of hppd you experience. Despite hundred of days spent mildly tripping, I very rarely take over 50-75 mcg 
And don’t believe  I’ve  ever experienced more than (guesstimating on the high side) 200-300 mcg  of l. 

One last note, I’m  not a visually oriented person, I generally am listening to music in my head or deep in thought and I have to really try to see what’s in front of me.  I was like this as a child pre drugs as well. Unsurprisingly I seldom experience anything beyond slight waviness and color enhancement even on a full trip after a tolerance break.

thank you so much for sharing I find this kind of thing so  fascinating and wish you the best of luck and health. My hope is that you’re simply  chipping away at the illusional borders of the linear time trap dimension we all seem to inhabit  

love to you and welcome! Would love to hear updates on this thread 

 

[Roxyanne]

I never knew HPPD was even a thing.  I tripped probably 100 times (shroom, LSD) in my teens/20s and never had anything of the sort (except some residuals maybe for a day or two with acid...nothing with shrooms. )