u/yoyoswag05

What were your first symptoms of HPPD? Visual? Headache? Dizzyness?

Is it normal for someone to notice symptoms of HPPD months after you took the drugs? Like all of a suddon it just appears ?

To the people that also suffer from dizzyness caused by HPPD, did your dizzyness ever get better with time? What helps? Do you experience any other symptoms than dizzyness aswell?

Do you guys ever see tracers of objects? I can see them on my hand like many other people also can, but i can also see them if i walk past a chair, i’ll see tracers of the chair in the air, has anyone else experienced this?

honestly don’t know how to explain where I am in life right now. I’m writing this because I need advice from people who have experienced severe anxiety, isolation, addiction, trauma, depression, or who have had to rebuild themselves after feeling like they lost years of their life. The hardest part is that I still struggle to understand how my life became like this. Looking back at who I was before everything happened feels almost unreal compared to where I am now. I carry a huge amount of shame. Sometimes it feels impossible to accept that my life went from having so much potential to being dominated by fear, anxiety, depression and survival. The last 3 years of my life have been extremely difficult. I became severely isolated. I stopped having normal routines, I had no job, barely any social contact, and I spent long periods almost completely alone. I haven’t celebrated Christmas or my birthday with another person now for 3 years. I also struggled with substance use, suicidal thoughts, fear because of threats from a dangerous person, a severe phobia, and a completely broken sleep schedule.
It feels like my nervous system completely collapsed under the amount of stress it was exposed to. For years I’ve lived in constant fear, isolation and survival mode. I had almost no normal stimulation for my brain, no structure, no social contact and no sense of safety. The isolation has been insane, i have gone years with an average of 15 minutes of fresh air in my lungs a month, its like im living in a grave. My body and mind feels like they are constantly fighting an emergency.
After around a year of living like this, on March 3rd 2024, I experienced my first severe panic attack. I couldn’t breathe properly, my arms and face became numb, and I ended up in acute psychiatric care. During that time my anxiety became so extreme that my body almost stopped accepting food. I barely ate for several days, experienced intense fear and dissociation, and became terrified of strong emotions because I was afraid of ever feeling that way again.
Later I was admitted to a longer-term psychiatric treatment facility for around 5 months. Surprisingly, I improved a lot there. I had routines, people around me, activities and structure, and my anxiety almost disappeared. It was one of the first times in years where my nervous system felt like it was calming down. However, I was still struggling with substance use.
After being discharged from that facility on September 2nd 2024, I was in an extremely unstable mental state. That same night, I attempted to take my own life. I survived the attempt.
After this, my substance use became much worse for a period. I used cocaine, ketamine, cannabis and other substances. I also started using psychedelics heavily for a short period. After a period of cocaine use and almost no sleep for several days, I experienced my first psychosis. Thankfully, it resolved after I slept and ate properly.
In March 2025, I overdosed for the first time in my life. It wasn’t fatal, but I was sent to the emergency room and monitored. The experience was terrifying. The next day I had another severe panic attack and ended up back in psychiatric care. Around this time I was also dealing with extremely intense suicidal thoughts and plans.
After that I went into addiction treatment, but the experience was very difficult. My anxiety and phobia were triggered multiple times, and I struggled with the expectations and demands because my nervous system already felt completely overwhelmed. Eventually I was discharged and returned home.
Since then I have been sober from drugs.
However, 2025 was still one of the hardest years of my life. I was isolated again, had frequent panic attacks, severe anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and almost no normal life. I barely remember much of that year because every day felt almost identical. The only positive moments were online gaming sessions with friends where, for short periods, I felt like myself again.
Then I started developing physical symptoms.
In the summer of 2025 I developed headaches, dizziness, tingling sensations and a feeling that my nervous system was completely overwhelmed. The dizzyenss lasted for almost 6 months straight, not one single break for 6 whole months. I also developed significant visual symptoms. The visual symptoms are very similar to what people describe with Visual Snow Syndrome or HPPD.
I saw doctors multiple times and had blood tests and an eye examination. Nothing alarming was found. Interestingly, the headaches and dizziness eventually disappeared completely toward the end of 2025. The visual symptoms remained.
Now in 2026, some symptoms have returned after I started becoming more active again. The dizziness came back after longer walks, but it is milder than before. The visual symptoms have remained relatively stable.
The physical symptoms have caused me a huge amount of health anxiety. One of the hardest parts is that I am terrified that the visual symptoms might be permanent. The thought that I may have to live with them forever has caused me a lot of depression and hopelessness. Sometimes the fear of not getting my old life back becomes overwhelming.
At the same time, another part of me wonders if my body and brain are simply recovering from years of extreme circumstances. Maybe my nervous system has been pushed far beyond what it could handle, and maybe recovery is possible.
I am currently admitted to a psychiatric ward again for anxiety treatment. This time I am trying to do things differently. I participate in activities, eat meals with other patients and staff, go on walks, play board games, watch sports, and attend treatment meetings. For the first time in years I feel like I am slowly reconnecting with life and with other people.
But I still struggle deeply with shame. I struggle to accept that this happened to me. I struggle with comparing myself to other people my age who are building careers, relationships and their futures while I feel like I am trying to rebuild the foundation of my entire life.
I don’t want to die. I actually want to live more than anything. I want relationships, work, hobbies, independence and a future. I want to become the person I thought I would become before everything fell apart.

I want to live a good life so bad, and im really trying this time, but what if my psychedelic drug use is what has caused my visual disturbances, from the research ive done that is something that can last a lifetime for some, how can i live with that? How can i accept that after everything ive gone through and still going through? And its literally all my fault, the only person to blame for all my problems is me. I literally caused all this shit

I honestly don’t know how to explain where I am in life right now. I’m writing this because I need advice from people who have experienced severe anxiety, isolation, addiction, trauma, depression, or who have had to rebuild themselves after feeling like they lost years of their life. The hardest part is that I still struggle to understand how my life became like this. Looking back at who I was before everything happened feels almost unreal compared to where I am now. I carry a huge amount of shame. Sometimes it feels impossible to accept that my life went from having so much potential to being dominated by fear, anxiety, depression and survival. The last 3 years of my life have been extremely difficult. I became severely isolated. I stopped having normal routines, I had no job, barely any social contact, and I spent long periods almost completely alone. I haven’t celebrated Christmas or my birthday with another person now for 3 years. I also struggled with substance use, suicidal thoughts, fear because of threats from a dangerous person, a severe phobia, and a completely broken sleep schedule.
It feels like my nervous system completely collapsed under the amount of stress it was exposed to. For years I’ve lived in constant fear, isolation and survival mode. I had almost no normal stimulation for my brain, no structure, no social contact and no sense of safety. The isolation has been insane, i have gone years with an average of 15 minutes of fresh air in my lungs a month, its like im living in a grave. My body and mind feels like they are constantly fighting an emergency.
After around a year of living like this, on March 3rd 2024, I experienced my first severe panic attack. I couldn’t breathe properly, my arms and face became numb, and I ended up in acute psychiatric care. During that time my anxiety became so extreme that my body almost stopped accepting food. I barely ate for several days, experienced intense fear and dissociation, and became terrified of strong emotions because I was afraid of ever feeling that way again.
Later I was admitted to a longer-term psychiatric treatment facility for around 5 months. Surprisingly, I improved a lot there. I had routines, people around me, activities and structure, and my anxiety almost disappeared. It was one of the first times in years where my nervous system felt like it was calming down. However, I was still struggling with substance use.
After being discharged from that facility on September 2nd 2024, I was in an extremely unstable mental state. That same night, I attempted to take my own life. I survived the attempt.
After this, my substance use became much worse for a period. I used cocaine, ketamine, cannabis and other substances. I also started using psychedelics heavily for a short period. After a period of cocaine use and almost no sleep for several days, I experienced my first psychosis. Thankfully, it resolved after I slept and ate properly.
In March 2025, I overdosed for the first time in my life. It wasn’t fatal, but I was sent to the emergency room and monitored. The experience was terrifying. The next day I had another severe panic attack and ended up back in psychiatric care. Around this time I was also dealing with extremely intense suicidal thoughts and plans.
After that I went into addiction treatment, but the experience was very difficult. My anxiety and phobia were triggered multiple times, and I struggled with the expectations and demands because my nervous system already felt completely overwhelmed. Eventually I was discharged and returned home.
Since then I have been sober from drugs.
However, 2025 was still one of the hardest years of my life. I was isolated again, had frequent panic attacks, severe anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and almost no normal life. I barely remember much of that year because every day felt almost identical. The only positive moments were online gaming sessions with friends where, for short periods, I felt like myself again.
Then I started developing physical symptoms.
In the summer of 2025 I developed headaches, dizziness, tingling sensations and a feeling that my nervous system was completely overwhelmed. The dizzyenss lasted for almost 6 months straight, not one single break for 6 whole months. I also developed significant visual symptoms. The visual symptoms are very similar to what people describe with Visual Snow Syndrome or HPPD.
I saw doctors multiple times and had blood tests and an eye examination. Nothing alarming was found. Interestingly, the headaches and dizziness eventually disappeared completely toward the end of 2025. The visual symptoms remained.
Now in 2026, some symptoms have returned after I started becoming more active again. The dizziness came back after longer walks, but it is milder than before. The visual symptoms have remained relatively stable.
The physical symptoms have caused me a huge amount of health anxiety. One of the hardest parts is that I am terrified that the visual symptoms might be permanent. The thought that I may have to live with them forever has caused me a lot of depression and hopelessness. Sometimes the fear of not getting my old life back becomes overwhelming.
At the same time, another part of me wonders if my body and brain are simply recovering from years of extreme circumstances. Maybe my nervous system has been pushed far beyond what it could handle, and maybe recovery is possible.
I am currently admitted to a psychiatric ward again for anxiety treatment. This time I am trying to do things differently. I participate in activities, eat meals with other patients and staff, go on walks, play board games, watch sports, and attend treatment meetings. For the first time in years I feel like I am slowly reconnecting with life and with other people.
But I still struggle deeply with shame. I struggle to accept that this happened to me. I struggle with comparing myself to other people my age who are building careers, relationships and their futures while I feel like I am trying to rebuild the foundation of my entire life.
I don’t want to die. I actually want to live more than anything. I want relationships, work, hobbies, independence and a future. I want to become the person I thought I would become before everything fell apart.

I want to live a good life so bad, and im really trying this time, but what if my psychedelic drug use is what has caused my visual disturbances, from the research ive done that is something that can last a lifetime for some, how can i live with that? How can i accept that after everything ive gone through and still going through? And its literally all my fault, the only person to blame for all my problems is me. I literally caused all this shit

Are you completely fucked for life if you have type 2 HPPD? Like have i genuenly fucked up my vision for life at the age of 20?

Do any of you suffer from dizzyness with this HPPD thing? Like the type of dizzyness where it lasts for months?

Anyone Else experience fog like visual disturbance?

Do any of you also see black dots? It almost looks like a fly, flying across the room, but there is no fly haha. Im not talking about floaters

Do you guys experience any other symptoms with VSS other than the visual stuff? Like dizziness or other wierd things ?

Important context first: before my symptoms started, I was living in a crisis for about 3 years with severe isolation due to anxiety. I experienced a lot of shame, panic attacks, constant worrying, and I had one suicide attempt in 2024. I was under extreme stress, and I also went through a drug-induced psychosis. I was very physically inactive and would only see another person maybe twice a week for those 3 years. This all sterted at age 17, i am 20 today. This context may be important because it could potentially be related to why my symptoms started.

Symptoms (starting May/June 2025)
In May/June 2025, I woke up one day with a headache and muscle twitching on one side of my head. This headache lasted for several weeks, possibly over a month, along with frequent muscle twitching in my face and on the side of my head.
The headache kept changing location — temples, back of the head, or behind the eyes. It was mild to moderate. Over time it gradually became weaker, and then dizziness started. The dizziness came on very slowly over several days, gradually increasing until it became very debilitating and lasted for several months. It was clearly worsened by screens and visual stimuli.
I would never wake up dizzy in the morning, but every day it would start about 15–45 minutes after waking up. I also experienced being very short of breath even after short walks.
I had tingling sensations in my skin, often in my scalp or left hand.
I also developed visual disturbances during this period: static “snow” across my entire visual field, afterimages, flashing lights when blinking, spark-like visual effects, a large number of floaters, and more.
I went to an eye doctor, and they found nothing wrong with my eyes. I also saw my general doctor several times, and she did not see any cause for concern. I trust my doctor a lot; she is a very experienced and skilled physician who has been my doctor for 17 years, and she has consistently seen many reassuring signs. I remember that just hearing my doctor say she was not very concerned actually reduced my symptoms for a few days without any treatment.
The dizziness would also improve somewhat if I lay down in bed and avoided moving my head.
Eventually, the dizziness completely disappeared, but the visual disturbances remained. I have had them constantly since June 2025.

Later development
After about 9 months without dizziness or headache, I developed tinnitus.
A few weeks ago, I started experiencing headaches again. This time it was a very mild, very localized pain in my temple, which gradually became worse over the days. The dizziness then returned as well, though it is much milder than in 2025. I am also again experiencing tingling sensations and significant tinnitus.
I have been to the doctor again, and she still does not see major reasons for concern, as she believes there are several reassuring signs.

Current cognitive symptoms
I am also experiencing significant cognitive issues. I struggle a lot with short-term memory, I have difficulty understanding concepts, I often struggle to find the words I want to use, I struggle with reading, and I have severe brain fog. It genuinely feels like I have some kind of brain injury.
I have always assumed that these cognitive symptoms were due to low stimulation to the brain and long-term isolation, since this is something that is well documented in research — that isolation can cause brain fog and slower cognitive processing. However, I also sometimes get thoughts like “what if this is actually caused by illness,” which creates a lot of stress and anxiety for me.
The reason I am writing all of this is because, as you can probably understand from the beginning of this text, I am not in a good place in life right now. I struggle a lot with my mental health, and the last thing I need right now is a physical illness. I simply cannot cope with physical symptoms on top of everything else. I already have enough to deal with psychologically. I also struggle significantly with health anxiety after severe psychological experiences I went through in psychiatric care in 2024, which makes everything much worse.
I have started seeing a psychologist and have begun taking steps to improve my situation and reduce isolation, as i understand its my responsabilty to fix my life, but it is extremely demotivating to try to rebuild my life when I can barely walk more than 10 meters without feeling dizzy or experiencing visual disturbances + pluss the constant worry of a serious illness

Jeg er jente 19 år, og jeg har vært veldig urolig for noe jeg gjorde for omtrent 10 måneder siden på en liten AI-chat-app. Jeg brukte appen en periode og delte noen svært private meldinger og noen intime bilder (uten ansikt). Jeg endte opp med å slette kontoen min, og også Google-kontoen jeg brukte for å registrere meg.

Nylig har jeg begynt å bekymre meg mye for hva som kan ha skjedd med disse dataene. Appen er ganske ukjent og har ikke tydelig informasjon om sletting av data. Jeg har også lest litt forskjellig om hvordan slike apper håndterer innhold og sikkerhetskopier. Appen jeg brukte virker sinnsykt shady og de sier så si ingenting om hva de gjør med data etter at du sletter kontoen din. Jeg har prøvd å kontakte dem på e-post for å be om sletting av data, men har ikke fått svar. Jeg skammer meg veldig over dette, da jeg forstår at det er 100% min egen feil.

Det som gjør meg ekstra stresset, er at Google-kontoen jeg brukte til å registrere meg var knyttet til navnet mitt, men etternavnet hadde én bokstav feil, så det var ikke helt identisk med mitt ekte navn.

Jeg har hatt veldig ubehagelige og stressende tanker som følge av dette, inkludert tanker om selvmord. Jeg vet ikke om jeg overreagerer og bare er stresset, eller om dette faktisk er noe jeg må leve med konsekvensene av. Jeg forstår at dette var en feil fra min side, og det gjør skammen enda sterkere. Kan jeg legge dette bak meg eller har jeg potensielt ødelagt for meg selv?