Migraine

I'm going to bump this one up to see if there is any new information that anyone has found on this one. One of my biggest triggers is florescent lighting at work. Are there any type of tinted glasses I can wear? It is to the point where I get a migraine triggered almost every day because of the lighting. It's making me miserable.

I don't have any useful information on tinted glasses, but I plan to ask my specialist when I see her in two weeks. I did manage to get the two fluorescent fixtures above my cube at work turned off and that's made a difference for me. If only people would stop insisting on having *all* the fluorescents turned on in our conference rooms for meetings - instead of the nice, indirect, incandescent lighting. *sigh*

Dana, I'm not sure what your work environment is like, but if getting any fixtures turned off is a possibility, maybe that will help?

Fluorescent lights are a huge trigger for me. Somehow it hasn't been quite as bad for me since I started taking Neurontin, but they still bother me.

I have some tinted glasses that help a little, but I'm thinking of trying out some tinted sports contacts instead (the glasses just don't block everything coming from above). I've been waiting for a substantial enough break in my migraines to go back to the eye doctor, so I'll let you know how the contacts work out when I try them.

I'm planning to ask my specialist about tinted contacts when I see her in a couple weeks. I'll be sure to post about my visit afterward, so if she has anything useful about that I'll include that in my post.

Check out Irlen.com Some of your symptoms could even be from Irlen Syndrome which is a visual perception problem. My daughter has Irlen along with her migraines and I have noticed the flourescent lights that already gave her difficulty now make things three times as bad.

Just a thought and I say go for the sunglasses. If I meet you I will definitely understand.

lovemykids411.
Melanie

My HA specialist mentioned that magnesium has been shown to reduce photophobia/light sensitivity in some cases. I will say it's reduced my general light sensitivity but not my fluorescent light issues. That is still a rather large unresolved problem.

My ranking manager tried to put up new fluorescents at work a few weeks ago. I've never seen anything so awful. The light was cold and blue, and the lamps just didn't seem to work right. he had the second set up when I started to complain about it. I probably didn't approach the problem correctly, but as he was already on the ladder I would have hated to drag him into the office to talk about it.

In any case, they flashed horribly--incredibly visible. I've never seen such bad fluorescents. Usually if the lighting is well maintained I can escape a migraine....But poor fluorescents will do me in quickly. We have a local Office Max that I can't go into at all without becoming disoriented and gathering pain.

I also suspect that I have photosensitive seizures (I really need to be checked out)--strobing lights make me disorientated and into a trance state. I really complained about those lights. There was no way I'd be able to work with them. So he took them down and said he'd find some better ones. Sweet.

So then, another week later, our other manager puts those very same lights up! I was horrified when I walked in the door. I refused to help people at our counter until he took them down, but he didn't. So I did not put my 100% into my job that night, or the next.

So, the next night I made an employee take them down. He accidentally broke a bulb on another fixture when doing it. So the next day, the manager hollers at me about breaking the bulb, but never mind the fluorescents are a health hazard for me and I can't do my job with them up. I was kind of like, whatever. Sorry. Don't know what to tell you, you know I have this problem with them, so I'm not sure what you expected me to do with the lights up? In another week, the fixture that we broke the bulb on was gone as they were taking the installation out anyway for some new architecture.

We still haven't put up new lights. I'm OK with that, but I'm sure our district manager will get wind of it soon if he doesn't already know. And then what?

Pam: I couldn't LIVE without my sunglasses. I even have the wrap around ones that my mom used to wear.

Liz: May I ask where you got those sunglasses? They sound incredibly cool. May I also ask you what foods trigger your photophobia? I have a lot of problems with that, but never knew that foods could actually contribute to it.

I've recently been getting very proactive in my migraine prevention/treatment, so I am very eager to hear about any and everything.

Thanks so much,

Sandi

Melanie: Thanks for mentioning Irlen Syndrome. I have many of the symptoms (I took the test). I've emailed someone who practices this method and hope that maybe I can see them at some point.

I really appreciate the adversity this site brings to my "tool box" of knowledge. Thanks to all of you!

Blessings,

Sandi