Hi guys,
So itās taken a long while, and maybe this hasnāt even always been the case since Iāve had symptoms of MAV, but I now am certain that computer use is a trigger for my dizziness. This is not at all a good things for me as I have to use a computer for my job (and Iām also a bit of a tech addict). Somehow at work the screen Iām using doesnāt seem to bother me too badly with a filter cover over it ā but my computer at home (a beautiful, bright shiny iMac) sets me off within minutes of looking at it. The same is true for the iPad and even my beloved iPhone. I am beginning to think it has something to do with all newer Mac products (my husband thought maybe the glossy screen?) but today I sat in front of a PC for 2 hours and was feeling similarly wobbly, although itās possible it was just because I woke up extra early today or that I didnāt have a filter on that screen (??). My doctor canāt come up with any reason why one computer might bother me and not another except perhaps the refresh rate? But I donāt think thatās something I can change on a Mac. Can anyone offer any insight into this? Unless I buy myself another old Cinema Display (what Iām using at work) to put in front of my newer computer at home :? , Iām not quite sure what I can doā¦
Does adjusting the brightness of the iPad for example, dull the symptoms down too? Thatās what I do with mine. Also the iPad catches the reflection of any indoor lights like the ceiling light, and that doesnāt help.
Also, what about how far you are away from the screenā¦ Obv with an iPad your Eye to screen distance is less, does that seem to be a variable?
I turn the brightness way down ā makes it less strenuous on the eyes but still causes dizziness. Distance also helps, but even from far away my home computer (and the ipad) are triggers for me, whereas I sit a little more than armās length at my work computer without a problem (with a filter over it). This is so bizarre!! Another thing I canāt seem to figure out
I feel your pain. We seem to have identical problems with computer screens. I can tell you this: itās not brightness nor is it refresh rate and the last specialist I saw (Granot) had no idea either. What it may have something to do with is the contrast ratio though this hasnāt always held water for me either. Like you, the new Mac screens set me off whereas the older ones donāt. Apple uses a newer technology now where the screens are back lit with LED lighting and not the older bulb type lighting. LEDs emit very clear and instant light where the result is very white whites on the screen are very black blacks. There is no warm up period; they are just on immediately. Furthermore, the Macbook Air for example has a higher resolution screen which makes the eyes work a little bit harder no doubt.
I use both a 2008 version of a Macbook and a 24" iMac. Both are fine on my eyes (but not perfect). If I sit in front of the new 26" iMac Iām toast within minutes, just like you. I will begin to feel very disorientated and unwell and then dizzy. I bought a fully kitted out Macbook Air last December and havenāt been able to use it without feeling quite bad afterwards. My GF now uses it and believe me sheās not complaining. How could you!
I started this new job Iām at 3 months ago and went through screen hell at first. In the end I had to bring in my own screen from home, one that I had used years ago and new was OK. It still is OK thankfully. The other Dell screen they had here made me feel so ill I couldnāt believe it and really started thinking I would sink fast in this job. But now Iām all good with the right PC screen and my Macbook hooked up here as well.
Note that if Iām symptomatic, ANY screen will set me off. It definitely seems to be a product of migraine control which in turn shuts down visual vertigo triggers (such as the screens). If I were you Iād find screens you can handle and use those at work and stay with it until you feel OK again. Maybe then try and introduce a new screen over small periods of time and see if your brain adapts. I do adapt to some but havenāt to others. Alternatively, it may be that you need better migraine control to shut down the visual trigger.
I really want an iPad as well but am worried itāll set me off. The phones are OK for me. The actual size of the screens is a factor as well. Small screens rarely cause me trouble.
So here I am on my Macbook Air and within a few minutes the crappy feelings are hitting. Just looking at this screen is tripping me out. Itās bizarre. Doesnāt matter if I reduce the brightness right down either. Still has the effect. There has to be a way around this. It makes me wonder what weāll do 5 years from now when all screens are LED back lit.
Scott, I knew you had mentioned having similar troubleā¦ seems like itās just you and me with this very particular trigger. That is what I worry about too ā for now I can get by with an older screen if I really must, but what will I do going forward? I guess thatās the part of our anxious brains we have to learn to shut off as it only makes things worse! What type of PC screen do you use? Do you put a filter cover over it? Turn down the brightness? Just wondering if you still have to do that with screens that donāt bother you like the newer macs. You are right that I still need better migraine control and maybe finding that would help turn down this trigger a bit, but Iām at a stage where Iām not willing to try any other meds for a while at least.
Hi A ā how are you getting on with screens. Any break throughs? We have to solve this. I cannot face having to sell my MacBook Air. I love this thing but it tears me to shreds within minutes of looking at it. Right now Iām trying to tough it out again hoping I can get used to it but Iām not hopeful. Iām thinking I will have to sell this eventually if I cannot get it going and get an iPad. But before I do that Iāll ask to borrow one from a friend for a while first. Using one in the shop for 5 min does not give me enough idea of whether or not itās going to do me in (iPads have been OK so far on that front). I have to get home and sit on it for a good while.
The PC screen I use at work is an HP1702. No filter cover. Iāve never used one of those ā¦ thereās just something about the HP screen that doesnāt set me off. No idea what apart from a lower contrast ratio (400:1).
What on earth will we do when all available Mac screens use this new LED tech and the old ones die a death?
Iāve decided Iām selling the Macbook Air. I gave it time last night and then again today and it left me feeling so lousy I canāt believe it. I am not going to get used to this. Iām going to cut my losses now and sell it before they upgrade the Air. Iāll take a risk and get an ipad plus a cheaper entry level MacBook Pro (lower res screen) with the cash and hope like hell I can handle the ipad. Iāve never felt anything weird going on with an ipad to date but who knows. :?
I too have computer screens as a trigger (and donāt get me started on computer screens under fluorescent lighting!). The bigger the screen the worse.
My theory (and it IS just a theory) is that computer screens bother me for several different reasons:
no horizon - When a computer screen dominates your vision (and find me one that DOESNāT!) you have no horizon. Your brains ability to use sight for balance correction goes away because the screen doesnāt give you any frame of reference.
focus/eye strain - computer screens are notorious for causing eye strain, especially with small text and glare. I find that upping the font size and sitting a bit farther away from the screen helps, along with minimizing glare if at all possible.
flicker - All screens flicker. Doesnāt matter if it is an LCD, LED (just an LCD with a different back light), Cathode Ray (old school)ā¦ they all flicker. Newer screens might not be so obvious, but at a very basic level, all screens operate on a principle of āonā and āoffā, whether it be line by line refresh (cathode ray) or individual LCD changing colors, they all have delay between refreshes, hence, flicker. Flicker of any type sets off my dizziness like crazy.
too busy/ multiple colors - I find that the more I have going on on my screen the worse it is. Drab backgrounds are best, and I keep desktop icons to a minimum. I also try to keep only one window up at a time.
When I havenāt been staring at a screen for 3 hours straight I actually am almost symptom free. Almost. But stick me in front of a computer for 8 hours (ie, my job) and Iām toast by the end of the day. Sometimes the onset is instant, other times I can stare at a screen for a while before the dizzies kick in.
I am contemplating now that maybe computer use is the culprit for me. When I was home on disability my MAV and migraines werent as bad as they are now that Iāve returned to work part-time. This past week and a half has been horrible. Computers are a big part of my job like they are for most people now - I dont know how to get around it unless I switch vocations altogether and find something of a purely physical nature. Has anyone had to resort to this?
I think you might have something with a combo of no reference point while being consumed by larger screens and also the way our eyes are forced to focus on the pixels. On the Air, the pixels are tight and sharp and the screen bright.
The only thing that has really ever given me a clue as to the possible reason was when I loaded Window 7 onto my older 24" iMac. Using OSX I have little problem on that iMac but when I put Windows on it, the freaky head bullshit started. Immediately I noticed that in W7, text was more crisp and jagged as was the way the screen was drawn whereas the Mac OS was softer and not as harsh. So I swapped back to OSX after feeling weirded out on W7 and the symptoms stopped within 10 minutes.
I cannot believe my luck today. Just as Iām gearing up to sell the Air (only 7 months old) Apple released a new Air today ā more whiz bang which will decrease the selling price of mine. Grrrrr
Iām testing a friendās new MacBook Pro tomorrow to see how I cope. The resolution on them is lower than the Air so hoping I will not go down in flames and can buy one for myself.
Iāve decided Iām selling the Macbook Air. I gave it time last night and then again today and it left me feeling so lousy I canāt believe it. I am not going to get used to this. Iām going to cut my losses now and sell it before they upgrade the Air. Iāll take a risk and get an ipad plus a cheaper entry level MacBook Pro (lower res screen) with the cash and hope like hell I can handle the ipad. Iāve never felt anything weird going on with an ipad to date but who knows. :?
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I have no issues with the iPad at all.
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I cannot believe my luck today. Just as Iām gearing up to sell the Air (only 7 months old) Apple released a new Air today ā more whiz bang which will decrease the selling price of mine. Grrrrr
Iām testing a friendās new MacBook Pro tomorrow to see how I cope. The resolution on them is lower than the Air so hoping I will not go down in flames and can buy one for myself.
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BUY BUY BUY SELL SELL SELL!!! I agree I think bigger screens are an issue as my bfās Samsung screen at home used to thrash me when I was at my worst. I def feel more crap when Iām at work (like right now) stairing at this crappy monitor.
Hey - Iām all for symptom relief and the thought of dragging out my eyeballs or labotomising my brain is ssssssssssoooooooooooooooooooooo appealing, the thought alone makes me smile
Sorry for the late reply on this. Iām coming back to this post after having a weekend where I used the same monitor I use at work with what I thought was no problem, and seeing it greatly exacerbate my symptoms. So now Iām not sure, maybe computer use in general is setting me offā¦ but the newer macs are by far more instantaneous. Scott, the iPad and iPhone both mess me up badly. In fact, I think they may be worse than the computer itself ā I think for me the opposite is true of what you said about screen size. Smaller screen seem more difficult for me to deal with than bigger ones; I am guessing this may have something to do with trying to focus on the small object in addition to it being something that triggers me.
Now that Iām on a paranoid roll with this, and the guy at my eyeglasses placed asked me, do you also have a problem with LED televisions? I donāt think that I do (maybe because I sit far enough way from it?) but now Iām questioning all types of screens :roll: This is so troubling to me ā Iād rather have a zillion food triggers than a computer which is pretty much impossible to live without these days!!
I had to quit a job because the constant computer use was making me dizzy! I felt like I was the only one this has happened to. I try not to use the computer late at night-for some reason it seems to be worse. If Iām already having a problem with light headedness/dizziness then I try to avoid it completely. But when you have to use it for your job it makes it more difficult.
With so many of us having computer use as a trigger, doesnāt that seem to point to this having some sort of eye component? I read through the VHS thread as well, and that makes sense, but there are other conditions as well that affect the eyes that can cause/contribute to dizziness.
Anyone had a full eye workup (not just the vision check they do)? Anyone ever mention dizziness to their optometrist?
Slightcrazed - Yes, Iāve posted about this before, but Iāve been doing a vision therapy program for an eye condition called convergence insufficiency that I was diagnosed with (see thread: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3091&p=27002&hilit=convergence+insufficiency#p27002). My therapist, however, is totally baffled as to how some computers and not others could bother me.
I am having this problem too. Iāve been using computers for 30 years. Suddenly this summer I started developing vertigo whenever I use a computer screen. It seems to happen worse when I am under fluroscent lights, but it will still happen (more slowly) under good lighting. If I use a computer all day, I feel like Iām on a rocking boat for the next 12-24 hours. It always fades in time as long as I donāt look at another damn computer screen.
I went to my eye doc and got special computer glasses. They helped a bit, but I am still getting extremely dizzy from just using a computer. I am 100% fine doing anything else, including going out in boats. The only places Iāve felt dizzy are in front of a computer or in places that are lighted 100% by flickering fluroscent lights.
Iām not sure what Iām going to do. I just had a baby and now Iām looking at losing my job because I can no longer use computers. Iāve worked as a computer programmer since the day I got out of collegeāI really have no fallback position. Iām really not sure what Iām going to do. The doctors want to run multiple thousands of dollars of tests on me like brain MRIs and I suspect that they arenāt going to show anything.
This whole thing is just crazy. How can doing something that Iāve been doing constantly since the age of 10 suddenly make me sick, when otherwise I am completely healthy?
