Get dizzy and overstimulated watching TV
 

Was just wondering if anyone else has dealt with this where they can't watch TV or sometimes even look at screens much without getting dizzy and feeling overstimulated?

I'm trying to investigate this and wasn't sure if this was due to a visual issue, a vestibular issue, or a brain issue, or multiple so would be curious as to anyone's thoughts on who I should seek out.

Also of course would love to know if anyone found a solution. I have light sensitivity and head pressure headaches that come on with exercise as well.

Thanks!

There are past posts on light sensitivity and exercise intolerance that can be found with our search tool..
Also scroll to bottom of the page, there are some related threads linked.

snappydad,

Welcome to NeuroTalk.

Many struggle with various screens.

You don't give us any background. Are you personally struggling with screens or are you researching for somebody else?

If it is you, can you explain the situations that cause a problem?

There are many issues to consider. Refresh rate, color temp (blue light, etc) rate of movement on the screen, intensity of images, and more can contribute to struggles.

It can be a visual issue. Vision does impact vestibular issues. Visual processing in the brain can also be an issue.

Some use color modifying software. F-lux is one.

So, gives us some background and maybe we can help.

That's called neurofatigue and it's a sign of inflammation. Inflammation is what causes the symptoms.

A lot of the foods we eat cause inflammation which inhibits the healing, so avoid processed foods, fried foods, fast food, sugary drinks, refined carbs, and processed vegetable/seed oils. Eat a high-fat, low-carb diet.

Lower your activity to a comfortable level to avoid the overstimulation, then gradually increase your activity level.

Hi Mark. It is for me. I had a concussion back in 2016 but got over that one within a couple months. This past February I had a lot of those symptoms come back. I think I attribute it to extremely long iPad game sessions as I got hooked on some over the pandemic. The day before this all came on I was staring at my iPad for probably 8 hours straight. Next day I started to get a dizzy/headache feeling I hadn't had since my concussion.

I've had brain CT, brain MRI, flexion/extension cervical MRI, blood work, EKG, cardiac stress test all come back normal. Seems like blood may be pooling in my legs a little and having less to go around elsewhere so wearing compression socks for that but otherwise tests check out.

I've had visual and vestibular therapy at times but nothing has helped. I did syntonics 6 months ago and it made things waaaaaaaaaay worse. Before I did that I was still able to watch TV and was not at all light sensitive. After that though it took things from bad to horrible.

I've mostly been able to get away with watching some sports by trying to trick my brain that I'm there so I'll watch the play in football where it's just one camera angle and then after the play I'll look away while they cut to the coach and crowd etc and then once the next play is ready I'll look again for a few seconds and watch. It's starting to feel like even that though is an issue. A few months ago I tried to just watch parts of the Dr Strange Multiverse movie and that set me off for days. Mostly just using audio description now on movies and shows.

I've tried Avulux migraine glasses for the light sensitivity but that made things worse somehow. Haven't had much luck in finding solutions for my symptoms or getting on the right path it feels like. Thanks for any thoughts you may have!

You were doing fine after your 2016 concussion, until the long sessions of gaming in recent years?
Your issues might stem from the head ,neck and arm positions during ipad, computer or phone use and not related to the 2016 concussion after all this time.
Concussions also often involve some sort of neck impact or strain/whiplash that can show up later

Consider getting a comprehensive evaluation from a skilled PT or quality chiropractor.
Upper body postures, trigger points or old injuries can be a factor.

Any new medications in this recent timeframe?

Thank you for your response and for a few months I did a lot of investigating into craniocervical instability to see if that was the cause. I had a flexion/extension MRI done as well as other imaging and hired spineandbrainadvocate.com to review it all as most people aren't well trained to look for it. They did all kinds of measurements of the imaging that the top neurosurgeons would do and determined I don't have it.

I also have a good NUCCA chiropractor a couple of minutes from my house. He thinks there has been some minor instability but that some posture and strength exercises I've been doing and his adjustments have me on the right track and I'm starting to have to go less often.

I've been working to improve my posture just in case the neck is in play.

No new medications in this timeframe. I did have a campylobacter intestinal infection a few months prior to all of this and after some antibiotics it showed I had a mild candida infection that took over. Did some antifungals for that and took VSL3 and Mutaflor to repopulate the gut a little and think things are probably fine there but otherwise not a lot of new meds or anything to discuss.

Thanks for your response and any additional thoughts you might have.

Thanks for your response Drew. I've had a lot of depression and anxiety dealing with all of this so my psychiatrist has recommended potentially doing ketamine treatments. That's I think anti-inflammatory so wondering if there's any potential it would help reduce the inflammation and make a difference on my physical symptoms?

snappydad,

1st, It sounds like you have tried to push through and continue to live your active life by tricking your brain, etc.

You don't mention anything about your quality of sleep....

What meds are you on now and what meds were you taking when this started?

Have you had Covid or received the Covid vaccines and boosters. When?
There are some who experience some extreme neuro complications from a Covid infection and from the vaccines/boosters. It is called Covid brain, like chemo brain.

Years ago, we had a man here on NT who had a horrible and lasting struggle after a marathon of gaming.

You sound tightly wound. Maybe a perfectionist. Maybe with a "Find what is wrong and just fix it" attitude. With PCS symptoms, often we must surrender to how our brain is working, give it a rest, then slowly start returning to past activities.

You mentioned a psychiatrist and depression and anxiety. Do you have a history of struggling in these areas? Hard driving perfectionists often do. They often self-medicate with activity.

Do you consume energy drinks, Red Bull, 24 Hour, Monster, etc? even just coffee or other sources of caffeine? What about alcohol or other recreational substances?

A stressed brain can become very sensitive to many things that were never a problem before. You might benefit from an elimination diet and start carefully consuming only foods and supplements that are known to be low inflammation, low allergic, with minimal sugars/carbs and high protein and fats. No soy, at all.

I don't recommend Ketamine. It seems logical to take an anti-inflammatory drug for the inflammation, but unfortunately those drugs don't seem to work.

Someone mentioned that when they were on ketamine, they felt good, but then they were a wreck without it. So the benefits are questionable.

Fish oil and curcumin would be a better anti-inflammatory option.

You can search our site for ketamine info from members.
Most info might be on our RSD/CRPS forum.

Hi Mark. My quality of sleep has actually been pretty good. I'm probably sleeping on average around 9 hours or so.

I'm currently taking Olanzapine. Also doing a lot of supplements. DHA and EPA fish oil, Vitamins B, C and D, Quercetin, Coq 10, and Magnesium. Wasn't taking much prior to all of this.

I had the Covid booster last November in 2021 and these symptoms all came on in February so a number of months later. The only time I know I've gotten Covid was this past August and it didn't seem to affect things one way or the other.

I think it's fair to say I'm pretty tightly wound and a perfectionist. I have given in a lot to these symptoms. Have accepted that I may just need to listen to movies through audio description and haven't really tried to watch one fully in months. Doing sports this way I figure I actually watch maybe 15 minutes of a football game during it's 3 and a half hour broadcast so I'm trying to make many sacrifices to help things but still a work in progress.

I've had some on and off struggles with anxiety and depression but was in great shape for probably 5 years prior to this coming on this year. I don't tolerate caffeine well so no on energy drinks. I used to enjoy drinking alcohol prior to all of this but now I can't as when I do it seems to confuse my brain and my knees feel like they start giving out. Very weird but again that's another thing I've just tried to accept and have only tried once in the past 6 months to drink alcohol. I've had to sacrifice a lot.

The man who had the struggles after gaming, did he find anything that eventually helped to at least manage the symptoms or get things back to normal? I kind of figure it may not be realistic for me to fully go back to the way things were before all of this but would love to at least get something back or to be able to better manage.

Thank you for any additional thoughts you have Mark!

Dizziness and headache are side effects of Olanzapine. I would avoid it unless it is absolutely necessary. If you look at other people with sensitivities like yours, antidepressants or antipsychotics are often involved. Any drug that affects the neurotransmitters in the brain is bad for the brain.

You may have to taper the dose down if the withdrawal effects are bad.

Take a look at this book. It talks about anxiety and depression. The chemicals from medications accumulate in your body, so a detox plan would be good and can be used in conjunction with medications. It Takes Guts To Be Happy: A 21-Day Cleansing Plan to Heal Your Belly & Recharge Your Life

I didn’t start taking Olanzapine until recently and I take a very small dose only at night. I haven’t noticed it affect my symptoms.

I have tried many antidepressants and think they had an adverse effect so I stopped them. Have also tried 5-htp and l tyrosine and I love the effect of both of them but they definitely made me dizzy so I had to stop.

Olanzapine hasn’t had any of those negative effects when I take it so for some reason I guess my body can tolerate it.

L-Tyrosine is not tolerated by many, especially the high stressed types.

Have you tried L-Theanine? It helps the brain settle. I take L-Theanine and 5-HTP. They are a life saver. I was on an SSRI for 13 years... Yuck.

What is the goal with Olanzapine? That is a harsh psychotropic drug. I took it for 6 weeks a decade ago to stop dangerous stress induced weight loss.

I just watched a YouTube that talked about how video games can retrain the brain to a new function. Good ol'e neuroplasticity at work.

What part of the country do you live in?

If you have $10,000 to spend, CogFX in Utah or Amen Clinics might be a consideration.

If I remember, Chris learned how to settle his brain over time. He had a lot of other life issues, too.

Dr Walker's neurology clinic in Houston has done some great work with neurofeedback.

Hi Mark. I have tried L-Theanine and it does work well. GABA too. I've taken a slight break from them as I kind of just did a reset back in August. Unfortunately at that time I needed to check myself into a hospital for a week as I was not good mentally. Still struggling but having a better mindset since then. I actually visited AMEN over the Summer and they had recommended GABA and Tyrosine based on my scans.

AMEN also recommended Plasticity Centers (I live in the Atlanta area) so I visited them earlier in the year as well. Would Cog FX be all that different from them? I've already spent a lot of money and have done exercises from Plasticity, from vestibular therapy, and vision therapy, but haven't gotten anywhere from any of them unfortunately. I'm still trying and doing vestibular therapy right now and have another comprehensive vision exam coming up soon where we may explore more vision therapy. I had to stop that with my last group as the syntonics they gave me really made things much much worse.

Olanzapine was originally part of a plan with my psychiatrist to take alongside an SSRI but I didn't tolerate the SSRI very well so came off of that but noticed that the Olanzapine seemed to help me sleep and my mood so I've just stayed on it. Have been on for probably like 2 months now.

Was the YouTube talking about how video games can ruin your brain by retraining your brain or was there any science there about how someone has developed some type of video game to help retrain it back or something? I know I've seen some stuff at some point about some VR vestibular therapy helping people so wasn't sure if this was something that could help or not. Anyway, if you have the link I'd be interested in taking a look.

I guess let me know your thoughts on Plasticity Centers vs Cog Fx if you're familiar at all with the Plasticity group. I've kind of spent a lot of money already so my family is losing patience with that and would prefer me to stay within insurance realm if at all possible but would be curious as to your thoughts.

I'll take a look at the Houston place and also if you know any words I should search for on this site to learn more about Chris's journey I'd probably want to look at that as well.

Thanks Mark!

What's the website for the neurology clinic in Houston? I'm getting a lot of search results on that.

Dr Walker is in Dallas. Home | Neurotherapy Center of Dallas | 972-991-1153

CognitiveFX uses fMRI to direct therapy. About Us | Cognitive FX

Your mental health struggles complicate matters.

Many therapies and protocols takes weeks or even months to see consistent change/improvement. It sounds like you keep a short calendar when looking at results.

The YouTube comment was about the bad changes marathon video gaming can cause.

I've noticed a regression effect from pushing therapy too hard. Many have just tried too hard to recover. Unfortunately, many therapists believe if X is good 2X is better and 3X is even better. Not the case with the brain.

You are not dealing with a short term issue. You need to consider this period a part of your life/health that needs a long term solution.

You did not define your QUALITY of sleep. You mentioned quantity of sleep. Do you fall asleep quickly or do you lay in bed trying to go to sleep before finally falling asleep?

Hi Mark. Thanks as always for your comments. The quality of sleep is good as I fall asleep quickly after getting our kids to sleep. Most of the time I sleep fully through the night as well with an occasional wake up to use the bathroom.

I would be fine with any solution short-term or long-term but just not sure what solution I need. Back when I had my concussion back in 2016 I found out within a couple of weeks that if I run I could get my brain to calm down for maybe an hour or two and it would make a big difference but then revert back later in the day. It gave me a glimpse that I knew running would make a big difference and that if I just continued to do that then things would slowly improve over time. I'm just looking for that glimpse right now and can't seem to come across any. I'll be dedicated to vision or vestibular therapy for a couple of months and just not see much of the slightest of glimpses.

I do think I've noticed maybe a few times that when doing some eye tracking exercises with my thumb going across my right eye that it may have lessened symptoms slightly for a very short stretch. Also, the vision group that did the syntonics did a vision therapy session with prism and it was very multisensory where I'd walk one foot in front of the other while reading letters and while they swung a pendulum around in my field of vision. I was very dizzy and falling over without the prism as well as the first time they put prism on me. Then they adjusted the prism to a different setting and I was actually able to do it ok. Those are some glimpses I've had but this group kept pushing syntonics and eventually wanted me to just do that so I didn't really get much of a chance to pursue the prism as an option and I had to stop going there as the syntonics were just killing me. I'm going to a different place within the coming weeks for vision to see if we can explore that further.

I've just tried a lot of different things so far and don't have much to report on that I feel confident to where if I just keep doing it like I did with running and my concussion then eventually things will get worked out. I do still keep doing my vestibular exercises right now but just don't notice any benefit from them at this time. Will continue for a while longer but would love to just feel like I'm getting closer.

How much time do you spend in a day doing vestibular and/or vision exercises?

Do they cause you to sense any fatigue?

Others have reported mixed results from Syntonics. I have reservations about these systems that claim to input frequencies into the brain to retrain the brain. Light frequencies, sound frequencies, RM frequencies, microshocks, etc.

Your marathon on the video game inputted light frequencies into your brain.....

Do you have moments when you sense fatigue? How do you recognize fatigue? What do you do when you sense fatigue coming on? Do you push through?

Many think pushing through fatigue strengthens the brain. Is that what your therapists have promoted?

When I was doing vision therapy exercises I was probably doing them for 15 minutes per day. Vestibular currently I do about the same.

I feel like I'm in this cycle where I wake up and things are semi okay but once I start getting on screens then I get a lot of strain with my eye muscles and tightness on my forehead and it's a dizzy like feeling. I try to back off for a bit and then come back to screens and eventually that feeling fades but is replaced by what feels like burning in my eyes, eye strain, fatigue, more sensitivity to light. Just makes me wonder if my eyes have some sort of a slight misalignment and so initially when I look at things I get dizzy but then my brain and eyes work super hard to make it work, which they do, but then I'm left with strain and burning and fatigue.

I just commented on the other thread about Mind Eye. I'd love to go there but want to explore local options first simply due to cost. I know Mind Eye would explore things like syntonics, prism, and they have some other things they do that are pretty unique. I feel like I know syntonics are probably not right for me but do want to explore prism to see if a) they would help or b) at least if I know that they make a difference then even if I choose to not wear them then I'd at least know that a good portion of my issues is due to my eyes and that I'm on the right track if I try vision therapy.

As far as pushing through, I'm just doing the best I can right now as I'm trying to keep my job and continue to support my family while also resting as often as possible and restricting certain things that are triggers. For example, I have sensitivity to light and the first 2 hours of sunrise and last 2 hours of sunset are where it's the worst so if I need to drive somewhere I'm either able to do it first thing where there's enough light that headlights don't bother me but the sun isn't up or I drive during the middle of the day when the sun is highest. I also look at the weekly forecast and try to load things up on days that are rainy or overcast. Obviously I mentioned the sports stuff as well where instead of just staring at the tv straight for 3.5 hours of football I'll just glance for seconds at a time during a play and then look away and that has allowed me to mostly keep my sanity while not overstraining my systems. Audio description has been a godsend too on shows so I may do a quick glance at the screen when the show changes setting so I can picture everything and then I just look away and listen to the description and dialogue.

It sucks making these adjustments of course but just trying to find the best balance I can of reducing my exposure to things that are bothering me while continuing to search for things that I can enjoy or do. Prior to all of this I could run, watch tv, go wherever without worry of how bright it is, and could drink any alcoholic beverage I wanted. Can't really do any of those things now and I suppose most on here are in the same boat with what they're dealing with. Just hope we can find some relief at some point and while I'm not sure if things will ever get back to the way they used to be I have hope I can at least get a couple things back at some point if I keep fighting the fight.

Since you still have not explained how you recognize fatigue but rather how you appear to try to trick you mind to not experience fatigue, I'll explain some of my tricks.

First, I cannot read a paragraph with more than 5 or 6 lines before a paragraph break. I can't find the start of the next line and there is just too much text to try to grasp. Long line lengths are also a struggle. Besides convergence insufficiency, I also have anisiekonia. The right eye sees an image that is wider that it is tall so my eyes have even more struggle working together. I've lived with convergence insufficiency since I was 10 so I just deal with it. The anisiekonia is the result of cataract surgery.

On top of that, I have PVD in both eyes. Posterior Vitreous Detachment is when the vitreous humor, the gelatin like substance in the eye, develops folds in it. It is like looking through a spiderweb. Think of looking through a bowl of jello that has been shaken and is full of cracks.

I have learned to change activities, especially what I am looking at if: I find I need to reread a line of text. I struggle to scan and find things. I have even more struggle than usual to find the start of the next line.

When this happens, I don't push through. I switch to a different task on a different screen. I would change from a computer screen with text and such to a TV screen with no or limited text and watch a show, usually informative like Discovery Channel. I might be able to go back to the computer screen in 10 to 20 minutes. That was my life for about 2 years as I figured this out.

Now, If I must continue to read the screen when I know I have fatigued, I will change the image size, larger text/font, make the window narrower so the line lengths are shorter.

Learning how to moderate the various stimulation and to accept that I could not push through made my life much better.

I still have things I just cannot endure but most things I can handle by moderating my exposure.

I could not watch TV unless I had headphones on for the sound track. Otherwise, the processing load of the sound reflecting in the room was too much, especially with sports. I also would DVR record sports so I could fast forward through the over-stimulating parts.

I also learned that some media are just not possible due to too much stimulation.

Things got much better after learning how to not strain and fatigue my brain.

I did a lot of task switching. I still do but can stay with a task for much longer before fatiguing.

Hi Mark. I fatigue almost instantly some days when looking at a screen. I've definitely reduced my exposure over the weekends and trying to be efficient with work and take breaks. I know when I've fatigued when I'm feeling the pressure towards my forehead. Some mornings that happens almost immediately while others it may take a little while. Overall I seem to be better at nights than mornings.

That's awesome you were able to find the balance that works for you and I hope to find mine as well so I can manage my symptoms better while also finding some joy in things.

I have a pretty loaded week this week. Have a follow up with vestibular therapy doctor, another with a neurologist, and another with a cardiologist who specializes in autonomic issues. Don't have a ton of hope with any of them but trying to see if I can at least get something out of each of the visits like what kind of progression should I expect from the vestibular therapy and does she feel like this system is contributing to all of my symptoms or what should I expect once we get this system resolved? Is there anywhere local the neurologist would recommend that would help work with concussion like symptoms without being super expensive, what's his thoughts on if Ketamine could help relieve some of my symptoms, and could he maybe prescribe Gamma Core? For the last one I'm just wondering if the compression socks and supplements are helping things at all as we don't think I have POTS but I'm still doing some of their protocol for that.

Will also likely be scheduling a comprehensive/developmental vision exam with a local group as I do want to see if prism helps at all. Should be interesting but usually I just end up feeling let down. Hopefully something positive comes from this round of visits.

Have you ever had a spinal tap to check your CSF pressure?

I don't know if what you are describing could be fatigue. Sounds more like a response to a trigger. The brain can be trained to respond negatively to a trigger.

Has anybody ever suggested EMDR? Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy may have a use to resolve the triggering.

Have not done a spinal tap. One of my neurologists was potentially thinking that as a next step but is concerned about potentially causing low pressure headaches.

Nobody has suggested EMDR and I'm not overly familiar with it. Would that help some of the physical symptoms or more just to help better cope with everything?

My vestibular therapist doctor yesterday is convinced that it's vestibular migraine that I'm dealing with. I've had neurologists think migraine as well but I really just don't think that as it's not episodic at all, the headaches I've had I had for 3 months before any light sensitivity issues appeared, the light sensitivity doesn't go hand in hand with the headaches so they don't seem connected, and overall it just doesn't feel like that's the case. Still, I've tried drugs, injections, and supplements for it but obviously nothing has helped that at all.

She does see my eyes do some slight jumps with certain movements so I believe her when she says there are some vestibular issues but just don't get the whole migraine thing. I'll see one of my neurologists in about 4 hours and will discuss with them but I guess they'll want to probably try Botox or an infusion or maybe I can talk him into Gamma Core.

Anyway, have you heard of migraine being something like this where people can't watch tv due to them or have the different symptoms I'm dealing with? I get that there's light sensitivity that goes along with that but feel like it's usually present during a migraine attack but then is gone in between.

Those who have had a spinal tap who had high CSF pressure had instant relief as the pressure was released. You just need to stay prone for a period after the tap to avoid the headaches.

Anesthesiologists are often the best at spinal taps because they do far more spinal anesthesia than neuros do spinal taps.

EMDR can retrain the brain if it is being triggered into the negative responses.

Somataform disorder could be involved. The symptoms are real but they can be triggered by a trigger that is psychological rather than physiological.

As I said before, The brain can memorize responses and manifest those responses without a physical trigger.

I get sick to my stomach, similar to concussion nausea, when I see somebody suffer a head impact. I have no control over the sensation except to recognize it as passing and not caused by a physical event.

Thanks Mark. I may end up exploring the somatic stuff. Also wanted to see if you could help me locate the thread that had the guy you referenced who messed things up by playing too many video games. Just wanted to see if there were any helpful things on there that helped them.