PCS and screens/monitors
 

I have had PCS since April 2005 and as well as all the normal symptoms like headache, stress, depression, sleep problems, bad balance etc... I've also been unable to view monitors and screens without becoming very dizzy afterwards.

I do use and have used the PC since my accident. It's not easy though. I use a screen filter and have a high quality screen - but it makes no difference, I get so dizzy. When I get dizzy, I get bad balance. This bad balance is like walking on a mattress. It's weird.... sort of a top heavy sensation. I have this sensation most of the time anyway BUT it magnifies after screen use.

TVs are better but after an hour or so, again.. the same thing.

Reading books was also a problem but on my good days this is not so bad.

Would love to know if anyone else gets this problem.
It has not improved in 2.5 years.

Have you tried adjusting the brightness/contrast on your monitor, or the refresh rate in the display settings of the control panel?

If the refresh rate is low/slow I have more problems with vision/ headaches so try setting it as high as your system will let you.

I don't have TBI or PCS, but I do have TOS with odd visual sx at times.

Gerbil, I like your description of that weird feeling "like walking on a mattrass" or being top heavy. I also feel that way and it's worse when I have a bad headache. I couldn't really explain this feeling to my doctor. I get tension headaches - like wearing a tight cap on my head or something really pressing on my head.

Hi sissy I also have pcs symptoms for about a year and a half. I have been to 4 neurologist's and everyone of them said something different. Have you ever tried migraine meds. It did not work for me yet. There was an article in the Chicago Tribune about migraines with and without the aching of the head. It also said how hard it is for docs to diagnose this. Just a thought, I try everything. I also am seeing a dizzy specialist and he has me doing these bppv exercises. This helped TONS with one of the dizziness feelings. I think I have a couple of dizzy stuff going on one is cured the other the doc basically told me I am going to have to live with it. I have an appointment with a different doc and he thinks they are migraines but none of the meds have worked. I hope that he prescribes a different type, that might be the answer. Good luck.

Hi all,

It's interesting about BPPV. I'm actually going to a physiotherapist soon for 'balance training'. I'll see how this goes and report back.

What I find interesting is that many Neurologists have said to me that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with my balance (ie. it's not organic damage as such), rather it's a sensation that my brain is causing because of the syndrome. Some days it is almost fine, so it can't be broken... if you can say that.

Would like to hear opinions on that. How does balance and dizziness come and go with you?

Thanks.

Hi jimd, thanks for your post! I don't have any of the typical migraine symtoms, so I think my doctor is right about tension headaches. Right now I'm trying to stay of the Fioricet (or any other headache meds) for a while - just to make sure that I don't get rebound headaches - and took the last one on Thursday. Friday wasn't bad at all, I got out in my car to get some groceries in the morning and to see my sister later in the day. I just felt a little weird at times. But yesterday and this morning has been lousy. The headache is back and I feel like I have the flu or a hangover, although I'm not tired and it's just my head.

I'm sorry to hear that you still haven't found anything to really help you and hope your new doctor will be better. I am going to see a neurologist for the first time on the 18th and don't know what to expect. He is suppose to be the best in town and it took four weeks to get the appointment, so I will see what happens.

Five years ago I was in Chicago and did the Hancock Center stair climb, now I go up one floor and feel dizzy. This has been sooo frustrating. Sorry, I know many of you have lived with this for much longer.

Gerbil,
Standard computer monitors (CRT's) and televisions have been problematic for the last 15 years, along with prolonged exposured to fluorescent lights. I get very irritable and anxious after an hour or two, then all tired out.

Since switching to an LCD monitor this year, it's been a bit less fatiguing...still I have to be careful.

Balance versus dizziness: I have more balance issues than outright dizziness, especially upon awakening and at bedtime. Some transient vertigo spells no matter what I'm doing; usually they are shorter in duration than they used to be. Part of the balance issue for me is something called proprioception: I have difficulty understanding where my body is in space. Massage and accupuncture have helped quite a bit over the years, but that which remains I've come to take for granted and watch where I walk!

Hope you get some answers from the balance testing.

Best,
Jeff

I have central abnormalities that cause dizziness and vertigo. Along with other issues. I have been seeing Physical Therapist and I'm being retrained in many area's. To use my body for walking, and other things.

Its been helping a lot.

Donna

Thanks everyone, it's interesting what you say about this dizziness.
I too get more off-balance than dizzy if I'm honest. In the early months of my syndrome, I would wake up with my head spinning. That rarely happens now. What is constant is my balance problem - it's with me 24:7. It is highly exaggerated when I use monitors and screens. I'd like to point out that I NEVER had a problem with screens before. I used to use them all day, every day. Now I can barely use it for more than 10 minutes. It's as if my brain is too 'weak' to deal with the flickering. I'm going to try and find a better quality monitor but the one that I have is already very large, new and hi-tech...

So I'm not sure. I can't make the refresh rate any better than it already is.

I also get dizzy and fuzzy in the head if I read for too long.
To me, it's just as if my brain can't take the flickering, neither small print. It's just too much pressure. It's got better over the months but in the past 1.5 years it's been virtually the same.