Migraine

Florescent lights are usually a stackable trigger for me, as well as flashing lights (I'd put a lightbulb here, but it's flashes ) .

I'd like to use the compact florescent lightbulbs (CFLs) in our home to save energy. They sound great, but I'm concerned that they may be a trigger.

The only way I'll really know if they bother me is to give it a try, but I have to ask: Does anyone have experience using CFLs? How did it effect your migraines?

Thanks!
Liz

Hi Liz -
Nancy Bonk just put up a sharepost about this last week - apparently incandescents are scheduled to be (voluntarily) off the shelves by 2012. I find flourescents a stackable trigger as well, including cfls. I have overhead floods in my home office and my husband just replaced 2 with cfls - my first reaction was that I just don't like the light (cold rather than warm, too bright), but once I started getting a migraine (which I think was triggered from weather and lack of sleep), I couldn't stand them at all. I find if there are one or two cfls mixed in with 4 or so incandescents, I'm okay (such as in our kitchen where there are 6 hi-hat floods - I can take 2 of them being cfls, but not more). i will try to be green in all the other ways I can, but going over to all cfls isn't going to happen for me.

- Megan

Hi Liz,

There is some concern about CFL's being a Migraine trigger for some people. Even talk that it may trigger seizures and lupus flares.

As Megan said, I did write a SharePost about it you can read HERE

CFLs are definitely a trigger for me. And they're not as "green" as you would think - every fluorescent lamp has mercury in it, which is a hazardous substance. Technically broken bulbs are supposed to be disposed of as hazardous waste, not just tossed in your household trash.

So, yes, they save energy, but it's a tradeoff either way. I'm sticking with incandescents for now.

I should also note that using dimmers on standard incandescent bulbs saves as much energy as using CFLs. So that may be a better option for you, though there is a little more upfront cost.

I find it annoying that when I have spoke to various environmental agencies and environmentalists that they have NO CLUE that flourescent lights can trigger symptoms, especially in people who aren't neurotypical. I'd like them to get migraines, seizures or a sleep disorder. :-(

When i worked on a brain injury unit, we kept the lights off as much as possible & when I worked in a special ed school, they had alternative lighting and sunlight.

Talk to any child over the age of seven if they would rather have no lights in their classroom or flourescents and I can guarantee, most of them would want NO LIGHTs as a choice (not neurotypical or otherwise).

Softer lighting is the reason why I am able to be in libraries, most bookstores and cafes. And why I am ok at home.

We bought one flourescent light in the kitchen, and while not as bad as the old ones, I will have eye pain & headache if in the kitchen fro a while. Personally, while I like to be green & I was recycling & carrying a thermos around way before it became "popular" (yes, I was conscious of this in 1980s and early 90s), I will not be buying flourescent lights if I can help it.

If flourescent lights are the only things are available by 2012, well, either I will become totally homebound and a vampire, move to a country that doesn't have this regulation or my suicide risk will increase.

If we are so concerned about the environment, there are many other educational or regulation things we can do that we aren't doing currently.

quote:

Originally posted by Alexandra "Morpheus":
If flourescent lights are the only things are available by 2012, well, either I will become totally homebound and a vampire, move to a country that doesn't have this regulation or my suicide risk will increase.

If we are so concerned about the environment, there are many other educational or regulation things we can do that we aren't doing currently.

I completely agree with you, Alexandra. I cannot tolerate CFLs. They're not as bad as typical tube fluorescents, but they're not good either. If incandescents are really off the market in 2012, I'm buying as many as I can find in 2011.

I don't like the color of CFLs. The light is too blue and cold. I understand that they've come out with ones that are more like natural light, but I'm so used to incandescents. I've got full-spectrum fluorescents in my sewing/quilting space, as much for the reduction in heat as for the light quality.

One objection I have to the CFLs is that they don't burn out. They just dim gradually until they're useless. But you don't notice while they're dimming.

There are several letters to the editor about CFLs in the Wall Street Journal today (a Saturday morning treat). One of the letters says that CFLs have a 60-cycle flicker, a common seizure and migraine trigger. Isn't it nice when they print stuff from smart people?

I've heard that advances in LED technology may make all lightbulbs obsolete in the next 10 or 15 years. The problem is making the white light warm enough. They've yet to come up with a truly white LED. They've gotten close, but there's still a blue cast to them.

Gretchen in Mississippi
Sunny and 62 today. Drat on it, today is a migraine day, and I really don't feel like getting out in it. What I feel like is a nap!

hi,

Old type CFLs that use a magnetic balast (large chunky bulbs) have a mains frequency flicker, at 60hz or 50hz in the UK. Most CFLs now have an electronic balast which operates at frequencies over 30 khz (30,000 cycles per second), this helps to reduce the size of the inductors (coils) needed to start the bulb. They then self-oscillate at 30 khz. This shouldn't be quite as bad as flicker from old fluoro strip lights, as at that frequency the flicker should be well beyond our persistence of vision. But that doesn't really mean 'flicker free' (as sometimes mentioned in sales literature) or that they can't be a migraine trigger for some.
(try googling for 'CFL flicker free')

I did read somewhere that the colour rendering may be a contributor to poor health, with white (3500k) or cool white (4000K) being worst, warm white (2700k) not so bad, but the better ones being the so called 'daylight' (6400k) tubes.
It's thought that the worst (3500 and 4000s) cause far more eyestrain because of the poor colour rendering.

BTW I'm new here, from the UK, a retired elec tech, had migraines since childhood.

jon

Welcome to our forum, Jon!

Welcome to the forum, Jon. Glad you found us. If you have questions, ask away. Let us know how we can be of help.

Welcome to the forum, Jon.

Thank you all for your comments.

Nancy, thanks for the link to your sharepost.

Since I know florescent lights in schools and stores are an issue for me, it stands to reason that CFLs are not a switch I'm going to make in my home. There are so many ways to contribute to the health of our environment. This one will have to be a compromise.

I liked the dimmer suggestion. We actually have two dimmers installed downstairs. It's easier on me to have the lights dim when I have a migraine and everyone else in the family actually needs the lights. I never really considered this as a method of saving energy.

I suppose the challenge is going to the homes of friends and family who have made the choice to switch to CFLs. It's not just in the schools and stores anymore I suppose.

Liz

DH and I just bought a couple of CFLs to try bc we're trying to be more environmental conscious. I put one in my bedside lamp yesterday. I liked it because it was actually a softer white than the soft white in my DH's bedside lamp. Today while I was on the phone with DH. It started to flicker! Ah! I had to take it out right away and change it to a "normal" bulb. Flickering lights aren't a trigger for me, but it sure does bother me. I don't see how people without migraines could stand it!

One of the ways I contribute to the environment is helpful to migraines as well. When I am home during the day, I don't turn on the lights! The lighting from the shaded windows is enough & doesn't trigger migraines or eye strain. In the evening, we have been more careful to use as little lighting as possible, to conserve energy & decrease light input, as I have major sleep disorder issues.

There are ways that are migraine/seizure friendly that can be environmentally friendly. For example, the renovated Natick Mall (largest in Northwest) has recessed incandescent lights, offset by huge skylights so they don't have to use as many. I'm still triggered by the sensory overload at the mall, but at least its not as bad.

Skylights, solar power, and conservative light use & less reliance on fossilised fuel can make a much bigger impact... methinks somebody who makes the decision making (the person in the US environmental commission is a complete joke!) is terribly uncreative.

I have them in my home and they don't bother me, but the full flourescents in my work office do. I've only had one with a noticeable flicker and it seems that it was just a bad bulb from the get-go. We replaced it right away with a new one. I buy full-spectrum bulbs because the color is better and they claim to be good for your moods. We originally bought them hoping to improve my seasonal affective disorder. I don't think it works, but I don't have $$$ for a real light box. They say you can save about $100 per year on your electric bill if you change all your bulbs over to the compact flourescents.