photophobia
 

Please share your experiences with photophobia and how it's improved in your case. Thank you so much.

Photophobia
 

I first realized I had photophobia about a week and a half after I fell, but I think I just hadn't registered it before then? It was painfully obvious at that point however because I had just taken doctor ordered 4 days off from work and life and sat in a dark room - the entire time...literally. So I walked into work the next day and the flourescent lights hit me like someone was stabbing nails into my eyes!

I also became extremely dizzy and nauseated and probably came close to passing out. Anyway, since then, I've been wearing sunglasses almost 24/7. I do not wear them at home and I try to go without them as much as possible on days I am not working to try and figure out how sensitive I still am. (This is 4 months later).

I am happy to say it is slooooowly getting better. I no longer immediately get nauseated and dizzy, nor do I get the sharp pains. I still have a very low tolerance though...on a good day, I can maybe handle an hour or two without the sunglasses. This is my experience so far and I know a lot of other's on this forum have expressed a lot of problems with eyes, so they will probably chime in as well!

Good luck! Hang in there!

Word of warning
 

I've had photophobia since my first concussion 2+ years ago, which is when I started having to wear sunglasses at work to combat the glare of the computer and the fluorescent lighting. I also had my coworkers unscrew the fluorescent lights over my desk and I brought my own lamp from home. It did not get better before my second concussion, and after my second and then my third it only got worse. After my third, I was finally diagnosed with PCS, and I stopped working, which was good because I could only stand to be on the computer for an hour at a time. I stopped driving, so I had to walk to nearby appointments. I had to wear a hat and glasses while walking to avoid headaches.

By end of January, I was up to 4 hours a day on the computer, plus maybe 2 hours on my iPhone. My photophobia had improved, and I felt so confident I was getting better that I started pushing boundaries. I started staying up late on the computer and wouldn't realize how strained my eyes were until I was in serious pain. One day, I woke up and my photophobia and eye strain were so bad that I couldn't even go on a computer at all, and it's been at least three months and haven't really gotten much better. I gave up being on the computer at all about a month ago, and it will probably be another month at least before I try it again. My iPhone bothers me less because it's a smaller light source, so I'm probably on it about two hours today at the most.

That said, I've been making some great leaps in my vision therapy, so even though my photophobia is still pretty bad, I am seeing progress! That gives me hope for the future!

Anyway, don't follow my example! Be nice to your eyes and don't push yourself too hard! I never expected to have this much of a setback.

Thanks for the warning!
 

Thank you for sharing this experience...I am apparently type 'A' and like to push my boundaries, so it is good for me to know that I need to proceed slowly and with care!!

I've had photophobia since August 2011. My experience has been similar to DFayes Mom's, though I was not diagnosed with as many visual problems. I also did 6 months of vision therapy, which apparently corrected my visual problems (my test scores were coming out right), but didn't help at all with my eye strain or photophobia.

I wear FL-41 tint lenses, which really helps. I have two different pairs--one with a heavy tint and one with a light tint. I have to really limit computer time, and have mad a lot of modifications to reduce the light from my computer. For the eye strain and headaches, I started taking a muscle relaxer (Flexeril) a few months ago, and it is helping quite a bit.

Download and install f.lux on your computer. It filters out the blue light and is much easier on the eyes. After you download it, click the icon in the lower right-hand portion of the screen and change the settings so that it's always on the "after sunset" setting.

Download and install it here. It's free and it only takes seconds:

http://justgetflux.com/

If you have a PC, right-click on your desktop and go to 'personalize'. From here, go to visual display (depending on which version of windows you're using, the wording varies). You can change your monitor display from windows basic to "high contrast black." The latter setting greatly reduces the light reaching your eyes, though it can also make it difficult to see text of some colors while you're online.

I'm too tired and foggy right now to think of more, but I may check back in to this thread later and see if I forgot anything.

Peace.

Please help me
 

Ive had photophobia in the left eye that fluctuates at times. Ive seen a neuroopthamologist and an optimetrist and both said my eyes are fine. Do i really need to see a functional optometrist? Its so expensive! And would I really benefit from vision therapy or should I just let this resolve on its own.


Thank you so much!!


QUOTE=xanadu00;989935]I've had photophobia since August 2011. My experience has been similar to DFayes Mom's, though I was not diagnosed with as many visual problems. I also did 6 months of vision therapy, which apparently corrected my visual problems (my test scores were coming out right), but didn't help at all with my eye strain or photophobia.

I wear FL-41 tint lenses, which really helps. I have two different pairs--one with a heavy tint and one with a light tint. I have to really limit computer time, and have mad a lot of modifications to reduce the light from my computer. For the eye strain and headaches, I started taking a muscle relaxer (Flexeril) a few months ago, and it is helping quite a bit.

Download and install f.lux on your computer. It filters out the blue light and is much easier on the eyes. After you download it, click the icon in the lower right-hand portion of the screen and change the settings so that it's always on the "after sunset" setting.

Download and install it here. It's free and it only takes seconds:

http://justgetflux.com/

If you have a PC, right-click on your desktop and go to 'personalize'. From here, go to visual display (depending on which version of windows you're using, the wording varies). You can change your monitor display from windows basic to "high contrast black." The latter setting greatly reduces the light reaching your eyes, though it can also make it difficult to see text of some colors while you're online.

I'm too tired and foggy right now to think of more, but I may check back in to this thread later and see if I forgot anything.

Peace.[/QUOTE]

Dear xanadu, im just curious what othet vision symtoms did you have？
Thank you so much
[/QUOTE]

Bluehiroko, my only visual symptoms are eye strain and photophobia. Both of them were severe for a very long time, and I am still dealing with both symptoms. I was diagnosed with mild convergence insufficiency by my vision therapist, which we corrected.