My computer is a trigger

Specific Illnesses & Conditions VM/MAV
1

Hey All,

I was diagnosed a few years back with Vestibular Migraine. I have been on Sandomigran (pizotifen) for about 3 years and it worked great for me. Even in times of long hours and stress, I would just up my dose when I felt break through migraines (dizziness) happening and with a few weeks I was able to drop back to maintenance dose and be fine. I have always blamed the computer exposure for my migraines but its kinda hard for me to avoid them when that is my career

About 4 months ago I had a lot of stress, lack of sleep and tooooo many hours in front of my computer and I had a break through migraine. My doses got higher of Sandomigran but I have not been able to go back to normal and am still at about 80-90%. I am now on 5 tablets and don’t feel any better than what I did on 2.

I took a week off work about a month ago, to get away from the computer and basically just relaxed on the couch and went to the gym each day. By Wednesday I was feeling pretty normal again and thought that my meds must have finally kicked in.
Back to work the following week - no problems all week I was feeling great…until I awoke on Saturday feeling dizzy again.

I am trying to cut foods out of my diet, even though I am pretty sure its the damn computer… but I am trying anything to get the meds to work again. I have never noticed food triggers before so not sure if I really have any?
My neruo wants me to introduce topamax on top of 4 tablets of Sandomigran and see how I feel in a few weeks and if I am ok, start to cut back the Sandomigran and stay on a dose of 2 tablets while also taking topamax. Ideally he would like me to be on either or but says so I don’t fall in a heap to take the cocktail for a while.
I am not overly enthusiastic about this cocktail, but I am about to give it a go if my symptoms don’t improve in the next few weeks.

As I said I have cut out wheat,dairy,caffeine ,alcohol and now chocolate ( I eat really clean normally anyway) I exercise 5-6 days a week and am generally in really good health.
I cant change my job nor can I get away from computers,phones etc unless I go an join the Amish movement. I am managing my stress better and getting lots of sleep, but now it just seems to be the computer exposure that is preventing me from getting better.

Does any one else work in IT and experience VM from the stress, hours and computer exposure and if so what do you do to combat it??

2

I have exactly the same dilema, my work and computer use got me into this mess,tracking data on spreadsheets is a nightmare, unfortunately its my living and pays really well, unless i win the lottery i cant give it up

I now work in dimmed lights at my workstation with a screen protector this helps a fair bit, take breaks as much as possible

Ive found that b-vitamins have improved my symptoms, i take jarrow formula b-right a converted form of b vitamins that is easier to absorb, this has made a huge difference in recnt weeks

3

Computer is a huge trigger for me too. Computer strains the eyes which causes the migraines.

4

Hi guys,
I found this post interesting. I agree the computer screen is very difficult to face, on a daily basis. Tracking spreadsheets is awful and the text moves around. I also work on a computer pretty much all day and cannot afford financially to leave work. I really enjoy my job, just find the visuals difficult. It is however so nice to know I’m not alone :smiley: I’d love to find a med that helps with visual issues x