Particular computer monitors or settings

Hi Everybody,

I’ve just switched desks at work, and the monitor/computer/lighting in the new position I’m using, is causing me so much grief. I sat down, and 10mins into it, it’s like my persistant aura has just ramped up, and my head/behind my eyes are killing, and of course, the dizzyness feels ramped up too.

Does anybody have any luck with using any particular monitor or monitor settings?? Like, do you find you’re less irritated at a particular refresh rate or with the contrast and brightness real low?

I’m in an open plan office, so it’s hard to ask everyone to shut their blinds or turn off the over head flourescent lighting…
And I’m not sure I can test out every desk in the office and then decide where I wanna sit! So I’m tryign to focus on the things I CAN change- i.e the monitor, the settings etc.

Maybe our brains are hyper sensitive to changes in this type of thing so perhaps after a few days you get used to a new set up?

Any advise or info on what you have found, would be great to hear.
:stuck_out_tongue:
Thanks,

Lou x

Hi Lou,

I went through the exact same hell when I started this new job 5 months ago. To solve the problem I had to do three things:

  1. Move desks and get away from a colleague whose perfume made me feel instantly sick
  2. When I moved, I went to a well-lit corner with lots of natural light and had OHS turn off the fluoro lights overhead
  3. The biggie was getting rid of the LCD screen they supplied me with here. I brought in my own screen that I knew I was good on.

With the above, it took about 2 weeks and everything stopped. You have to drop the trigger load and give your brain a chance to adapt to a new screen. I now have much more tolerance for other screens that was not there before. With the iPad for example, it made me dizzy and ill for the first 2 weeks on it. I used it in small doses daily and now it causes no issues. I will never be able to handle fluorescent lighting though or strong perfume. Too much to deal with.

So experiment with triggers around you – get rid of them – and you should feel better pretty quick.

Scott 8)

Hey Scott,

Firstly, apologies for not thanking you for your reply sooner. Secondly, thank you for your advice!
I moved to a place with natural daylight and feel heaps better.
It was also good to know there was a wait time til your brain adapted- I was worried I just wasn’t going to adapt.
I feel I’ve got used to it now, though it’s still not quite right… I guess perfect isn’t ever likely so good enough will do!

Never thought about perfume as a trigger… Did the offending lady in question ever know you have a reaction to her?!

Something else I found though was that I really benefit from using a blue or pink overlay on my screen. It greatly reduces the glare from the White background, I also bought some sheets to go over White paper if I’m looking at documents…
I came across them when googling… Supposed to help kids with dyslexia, but also found to be beneficial to us types…
Will find the link and post.
Thanks again. :smiley: