r/HPPD

So I took a heroic dose (14g) of blue meanies aka the most potent shrooms on the planet (I've got to be the smartest person alive), trip was good lots of shapes and colours but now like anywhere i look i see these small or big (idk it depends where im looking) blue little dots. I just ignore them lowkey but its the same shapes I saw during my come up before shit hit the fan and i saw super crazy geometric patterns. On some surfaces they are less noticeable but typically I can see them. They are like probably more obvious or noticeable when i look at a blank wall or like my phone or its dark and all the visual snow comes up but yeah doesnt really bother me too much but I'm thinking its probably a minor case of hppd? Someone plz enlighten me

Did shrooms last October, and in December the symptoms started. Anxiety, after images, and i got way more sensitive to bright lights. For months after, car lights just killed my eyes. Even in the day sitting at a stoplight, I couldn't look at the signal or the brake lights in front of me.

Well just a week ago, I noticed that suddenly bright lights didn't hurt anymore. It's getting better and better. The blurriness of bright lights has decreased a lot too. Haven't had anxiety in awhile either. I might always have longer afterimages, but that's the least troublesome.

Our brains are resilient and want to heal. Live clean, and best of luck to you too!

Over a year ago, I accidentally blacked out on zopiclone and woke up to an empty blister pack. After that I hallucinated for a week. To this day, I still have slight visual distortions like breathing, morphing, and warping in the dark. When I take off my glasses, it seems to amplify that. I have a myopia of -6 diopters.

Can anyone relate to that? Have you continued taking zopiclone after acquiring HPPD from it? I’m having terrible insomnia, and I could really use some.

I know it's already been talked about a lot in here but, for those who haven't already, please try magnesium. Get a bottle of magnesium glycinate(can be a little pricey but not any more than your average medication.) and take 150-200 mgs twice daily with meals. Make sure these steps are followed to optimize bioavailability. This regimen has decreased my symptoms so much. The difference is genuinely night and day.

I’ve had HPPD for probably about 6 years now. Havent been really active on this subreddit since i first got it because ive realized that for me personally not thinking / talking about it helps me deal with it.

Now my question / rant is relatively unserious, but something ive genuinely wondered. How do you guys deal with telling people or informing them about your HPPD?

Honestly, after 6 years of dealing with it i’ve realized theres really no point in trying to explain it to people, for me personally. I feel like i always get downplayed. I either get the response of “oh that happens to me sometimes”, or “no you’re just overthinking it” (for context im referring to when people ask if i want to smoke weed, ive stopped since getting HPPD because of the flashbacks i had when i tried smoking and havent smoked since).

It seems like some people take offense, or think of it as some sort of badass contest to see whos had a worse experience, when obviously that isnt my intention.

At the end of the day, I really do understand how little is known about HPPD, and i dont expect people to know or care about it. Just after 6 years of trying to explain to people about HPPD and being met with schizophrenia allegations ive decided to just say my job drug tests or something like that.

Anyway, more of a lighthearted rant, also curious about your guys’ experience with this.

I’m someone whose HPPD was triggered by MDMA. Even though I don’t spend as much time on this subreddit anymore, I still see what people are experiencing. I took about 1 gram of MDMA in one night and it triggered my HPPD. (Yeah I know)

I can use weed and some stimulants without any problems (thankfully), and I also know other people who don’t have issues with them. However, I see that in people whose HPPD was triggered by psychedelics, these substances cause very bad effects.

Even though we don’t fully know what this condition is, I believe that in this disorder which shows similar symptoms, different substances trigger the HPPD experience through different pathways.

(Also, if anyone here has experience with ketamine, please update me lol)

This post is not for encouragement of any drug usage. ^^

Having issues at work, getting to the point where I am going to have to address my ADHD.

What meds work for yall/increase your HPPD the least?

Please help I’m boutta get firedddd😭😭😭

Hey i took a high dose of 4 ho met and smoked a ton of pot and now sometimes randomly my heart will race pressure builds on the back of my head almost reminds me of that past trip it was a very bad one XD but i wanna know is it hppd or just my ocd getting the better of me cause i like tripping but im not risking it if it could make it worst cause weed is ok and isnt that suppossed to make hppd worse so idk if i have it or just hypocondriac XD

Hey guys, I don't have HPPD, but I was wondering if it has affected the way any of you hear music, do you still listen to it normally, or does it sound psychedelic or different?

Since taking acid a few times, I've started to notice various mild visual hallucinations. I also noticed that after taking mdma for the first time, the visual snow (tv static on a blank wall kinda shit) got a lot worse, though it is still relatively rather mild. I don't wanna permafuck my shit, so I can't help but ask: what other substances will/won't make HPPD worse?

Hey all,

I’ve been living with HPPD since I was 17, I’m 31 now. I smoked a laced bong bowl with K2 and it essentially felt like I was full blown tripping on K2 and that it never went away. After 6 months or so, I got to functional recovery.

I’m an addict - after years of drinking, abusing vyvanse (been off the stimulants for about 5 years) and taking other drugs/drinking immense amounts of coffee daily I still pretty much stayed at functional recovery where the symptoms were minor and almost unnoticeable the entire time. I’ve had a few intense flare ups from SSRIS/Zoloft that went away within a month or so.

I haven’t been able to really kick the alcohol addiction, and about 3 months ago, after a bad bender, I couldn’t sleep so was taking a cocktail of Cyclobenzaprine for my MS (taken this before with no issues), trazodone (been taking this for years with no issues), and mirtazipine. My HPPD has came back in full force and it feels different this time. I feel truly stuck like this won’t change, seeing as it’s been 3 months. And since the visuals are scary, I’ve been drinking a lot to cope. Even after two weeks sober it feels like nothing has improved.

Will I eventually return to my old baseline if I stay sober? It seems like the alcohol benders have made this recent flare significantly worse.

Has anyone tried Clon@zepam + Agmatine Sulfate?

I know this sub is generally cautious about benzos, and I completely understand why. That said, the limited literature available does suggest that Clon@zepam is one of the more consistently reported pharmacological options for HPPD.

My concern is tolerance/dependence. From what I understand, neuroadaptation can begin within as low as 2-4 weeks of regular benzodiazepine use, and anecdotal reports from this subreddit suggest that symptoms can sometimes return or even rebound worse once tolerance or withdrawal becomes an issue.

That led me to look into whether anything could potentially be taken alongside Clon@zepam to slow the development of dependence, reduce withdrawal severity, or support GABA/glutamate balance, ideally without reducing Clon@zepam's effectiveness while taking it.

I discovered Agmatine Sulfate.

The evidence is obviously thin, but a few things caught my attention:

- One mouse study showed agmatine at doses of 50 and 100 mg/kg (ip) had no significant impact on the anticonvulsant action of Clon@zepam in mice. This indicates that potentially it does not reduce the efficacy of the Clon@zepam whilst on it

- This study shows that agmatine may help regulate GABA/glutamate balance during benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome.

- Anecdotally, some people in r/benzorecovery report that agmatine sulfate helped them significantly during benzo withdrawal or recovery.

I’m not claiming this is proven, and I know animal studies and anecdotes only go so far. But given the mechanism and the available reports, I’m considering trying Clon@zepam alongside agmatine sulfate and tracking how it affects tolerance, symptom control, and withdrawal/rebound.

Has anyone here tried this combination before? Did agmatine help, hurt, or make no difference?

Everything is so bright and visual snow is everywhere it’s unbearable, I feel like I can only go out at night and even then sometimes it’s too bright in some areas.

I have long suffered from severe social anxiety since my teenage years this is what led me to try LSD and Ecstasy, which in turn resulted in hppd I would like to know did your social anxiety remain the same, or did it decrease with this condition? I wish you all recovery🕊🙏

About 3 months ago, I took MDMA for the first time. I had very little prior experience with drugs and had never taken MDMA before.

I took it 3 consecutive days in a row, alongside alcohol and very little sleep.

Immediately afterwards, I experienced:

• Waves of anxiety and panic attacks
• Insomnia — I couldn’t sleep more than 4–6 hours per night
• Intense sound sensitivity
• Visual changes — colours looked more vibrant and my visual field felt “wrong”
• What I now believe were HPPD-type flashbacks
• A very poor attention span — I couldn’t concentrate like I used to

Then, around 2–3 weeks later, I developed constant tinnitus: ringing/static in my ears that still hasn’t gone away.

About 6 weeks after the MDMA, I took one single 15 mg tablet of mirtazapine. The next morning, I woke up terrified I was going blind. After that, all the classic HPPD-type symptoms became obvious: light sensitivity, positive and negative afterimages, visual snow, and ongoing visual disturbances.

Since then, I’ve tried a number of pharmaceuticals. The only medication that has clearly helped so far has been benzodiazepines, especially c-lonazepam. It has made me feel maybe 40% of my former self and has reduced some of the panic, insomnia, and nervous-system symptoms, though the HPPD itself remains.

I’m posting this as a warning:

1. Do not take MDMA multiple days in a row, especially with alcohol and little sleep. It can seriously mess you up.
2. Be very careful with prescribed medications in a scenario like this. In my case, one dose of mirtazapine appeared to trigger or unmask a much worse phase of symptoms.
3. If you develop HPPD-like symptoms, severe anxiety, insomnia, tinnitus, visual snow, afterimages, or light sensitivity after MDMA or other drugs, take it seriously and seek medical advice from someone familiar with HPPD and visual snow.

This experience has completely changed my life.

Finally, if anyone here has advice as to a more stable version of Benzos that can be taken (because they are extremely addictive I'm aware of that) please let me know. Lamotrogine seems to be top of the line there.

I’m a 38 year old single female, no kids, currently in the Philadelphia PA area, will be in Asheville, NC for the fall. I’m a full time mental health therapist who had begun psychedelic work about a year ago, starting with Ketamine. I’ve been in recovery from complex trauma from my childhood home - nice combo 😂 of fundamentalist Christian upbringing, traumatized parents who didn’t seek help, abuse, and a lot of sheltering us kids on top of homeschooling. I decided to be open to psychedelics after engaging with somatic trauma therapies for a number of years and felt I was ready to address my root relationship issues: essentially my struggles with trusting people and dating patterns. I just felt so stuck.

It went well the first few trips until it didn’t. I’m currently 3 months into recovery from HPPD (mine is the depth perception kind) and PTSD symptoms after my last journey in March. My guide left me towards the end of my journey and it went dark quick and I was alone. It’s been a lot to recover from at once. He gave me a very potent form of mushrooms and it was nothing like my other mushroom experiences. The earlier ones were gentle and this was intense the whole way through.

I started Lamictal recently and I’m doing a lil better on it for mood and with managing my eye responses. I think lately I’m sitting with the grief, the attachment wound that this opened, and so much fear that I’m learning to live with - hard to integrate the intense fear I felt during the journey. I’m continuing to live my life, see clients, go camping, do mini road trips, plan a move, hang with friends, etc… but I’m a vastly different version of myself and I’m pushing myself to be hopeful about what this is. It can be hard to imagine a recovered future.

I’m curious if anyone is in a similar place in life to me and can relate to my experience. Would love to chat and have some community support. I’ve met a few people with varying experiences but people often brag about how great psychedelics are or it seems to get scary pretty quick on Reddit and I don’t want to fear loop with others, just support. I know all of our recoveries will look different, but I have yet to talk to a person whose had HPPD in real life or remotely been through what I’ve gone through with the PTSD and so I’d just love some connection. 🤗🙏
Thanks for reading. Reach out if you relate.

Hello! Today i’m going to tell you my story.
Five years ago, i tried LSA (morning glory seeds) for the first time. It took three attempts before i got HPPD.

It was a nightmare. I was only 15 and had no one to talk to except some online friends who couldn’t truly understand what I was going through.

I couldn’t tell my parents because they’re completely against drugs. So i was there, trying not to lose my mind while still occasionally taking drugs.
The symptoms appeared gradually after my last trip.

One day I had some afterimages, the next day i also had visual snow and so on. As they kept intensifying over time, i started to panic. Eventually i started doing my research and felt like the unluckiest person in the world.

I kept wondering how i could have HPPD after only taking LSA three times, while other people use MDMA, LSD, DXM, Ketamine and all kinds of other drugs in a very short period of time and end up with no problems.

I kept smoking weed occasionally, drinking alcohol and sometimes i took tramadol and diazepam, but I was freaking out because I noticed my symptoms even more when i used weed and tramadol. Weed gave me DPDR for 2 weeks because it made me extremely anxious sometimes.

I was already frustrated that I couldn’t use drugs anymore, and I thought I would have to stay sober for the rest of my life. I felt like i was too young to be sober forever.

The first year was the hardest. I would wake up every morning with intense anxiety, and from the moment I opened my eyes, all i could see was visual snow.

I believe the human brain is incredible. Even though my symptoms never disappeared and never actually got better ( i also did absolutely nothing to improve my condition ) i simply stopped noticing them.

I still have them, but it feels like my brain automatically filters them out. I only remember that i have HPPD if i consciously focus on the symptoms.

Today, i’m 20 years old and i have a job, i got my driver’s license a year ago, and i can drive.
I can smoke weed without panicking now, but i’ve completely quit substances since getting my license, except for alcohol and nicotine. :D

Edit: Feel free to ask me anything, i will do my best to answer your questions.