Welcome everyone. After a long time struggle with monitors I decided to make a post about my eye/brain related fatigue. Perhaps there is something I can learn from you guys and you could support me with some coping strategies. I feel that my story is very similar to many users on LED-Strain forum.

Just few informal details, 26 Male. Symptoms started at age of 19-20.

My symptoms are the following:

  1. Brain fog - it shows up after about 20 minutes and it gets progressively worse. I feel like I forget what I want to say, how I phrase my sentences and difficulty thinking in general. On top of it I feel very alienated, as if I'm not in my own body. Psychotherapists referred to this as derealization. This symptom goes away within 5 hours up to couple of days. Sometimes hot showers help, although very little.
  2. Neck + Shoulder pain/cracking - The longer I use my computer the worse it gets. I tried to do neck and shoulder exercises but I feel like it only gets worse with exercise. The symptoms seems to be worse in the morning I wake up with stiff neck/shoulders. Rotating my neck feels like grinding gears(or sand/tiny stones in my neck), all forms of cracking popping is audible. Sometimes I get tense jaw that pops very loudly. I noticed that when my neck/shoulder tension is noticeable so is a bit of tinnitus. The ringing goes away when tension fades.
  3. Burning scalp + eyes - This one is very apparent too. After few hours I develop a burning sensation around my scalp. Sometimes there is a little bit of tension around my head but this isn't very apparent. Burning eyes seem like a normal symptom of using monitors however I also get quite teary eyed especially when all the above symptoms are present.
  4. Irrational fear of seizures(?) - There are moments where my brain feels like a mush, the feeling intensifies and I feel like I'm about to get a seizure. This happens frequently when former symptoms are present. I could describe this feeling by immense amount of pressure in my head that I can't stop? Perhaps it's blood rushing to my brain? I really don't want to make irrational diagnosis here. I have no idea.
  5. Anxiety, Depression and Suicidal thoughts - Pretty sure those are result of my inability to put my life together due to symptoms above. I feel stuck in life and unable to carry on.

Symptom occurrence and intensity:

Monitors - Different monitors cause different intensity and time of onset. Macbooks would do it almost instantly(2014 15" Macbook Pro and 2019 13" Macbook Pro), same with Lenovo X380. Other monitors such as BenQ XL2720T (TN 120hz) and BenQ XL2540 (TN 240hz) caused the effects very quickly. On the other hand Dell S2718H and Dell AW2521HFA seem rather usable. I have also had success with LG 34WN750-B (IPS 60hz). It is usable for generic tasks that do not use the GPU. Usable monitors still require frequent breaks to help in delaying the onset of monitors related fatigue/strain.

Light - Lights in class rooms or certain stores caused spells above.

GPU - I feel like the GPU should have a section of its own. It is the primary cause of overwhelming amount of symptoms. If I use one of my monitors listed above, like mentioned previously I can carry out simple tasks on computer be it little bit of programming, web searches, watching video or youtube HOWEVER the moment I run any application that uses my GPU the symptoms are infinitely worse. At first I thought that I get quite tense while playing games but then I realised that using applications such as Adobe After Effects or Premiere Pro would cause the same symptoms while Rendering videos. I used to be an avid gamer. Unfortunately I had to quit altogether.
Note that I am able to watch Twitch streams of other people playing games however the moment it's rendered on my own screen it becomes unbearable. I was thinking of buying a new graphics card but due to corona all the GPUS are sold out. (using MSI 1660 SUPER).

Mobile Devices - Mobile devices tend to cause same symptoms to a lesser degree. The ones I tested are iPad Air 2, iPhone 7. Samsung Galaxy S3 with AMOLED screen was a lot better in that regard.

Focus - This is another culprit. If I focus on something, say programming or writing this post right now it seems that the onset is a lot quicker than normal.

What have I tested to fix this:

  • Checked for PWM.
  • Played around with brightness / contrast.
  • Played around with game settings.
  • Multiple blood tests. Few notable things I was lacking D3, B12, Folic acid. I am on the lower end of testosterone as well.
  • Visited top tier ophthalmologist. Apparently I could have an early onset of Glaucoma due to elevated intraocular pressure. She was the one who noticed the B12 deficiency and prescribed me vitamins. Pressure is now stable however I was told to monitor it.
  • Visited cardiologist due to panic attacks / palpitations. Everything seems fine there.
  • Updated my glasses + tried out contact lenses.
  • Therapy for 2-3 years, currently on Bisoprolol but prior to that I was also on Lexapro. I tried out Xanax as well but the symptoms were also present.
  • Visited a neurologist. Smacked me with a hammer a few times, made me walk around the room and said I'm fine. Did not recommend MRI or CT. Said physical therapy would help with the burning symptom. It didn't.

There are two notable events that could have possibly triggered it however I feel like its event number 2.

Event 1:

At age of 18 I have been assaulted by hooligans. A full force blow to the jaw from the back. Ended up unconscious, I have no idea if I hit my head or not at the end. I do remember my head hurting a bit afterwards.

Event 2:

My symptoms have DEFINITELY become apparent after buying a brand spanking new late 2014 Macbook Pro 15". I was a computer science student and I had to drop out due to my symptoms. Afterwards I sold the computer but the symptoms have carried on to other devices.

There are few things that I want to check out like having an MRI or CT scan and getting an EEG done for seizures/epilepsy.

So far, nothing worked. Am I just a hypochondriac? It's getting progressively more difficult to live with this.

(I'll edit to add necessary information)

    Infinite I am sorry you are having these symptoms. You are not a hypochondriac, I identify with most of these symptoms, as do many people on here. Welcome to the club that no one wants to join! It was the 2013 Mac that started it all for me.

    Note that ophthalmologists and optometrists, while both "eye doctors", have pretty different training. Ophthalmologists mostly recommend surgical procedures or medications.

    You should try to find an optometrist that specializes in vision therapy near you. They are more likely to take our symptoms seriously. If you're willing to share where your general location is, some people here might able to find you.

        ryans Thank you for your words. I have been to few optometrists to get my glasses done but I have never been offered any form of vision therapy. I'm in Dublin, Ireland. I would appreciate it if anyone knows of such specialist.

        In reference to your Macbook I feel exactly the same. My eyes have never been the same after using it. It carried on to other devices. It's extremely frustrating. In last few years I attempted going back to college 3 times and had to drop out every time. Twice I tried Computer Science and then I thought that I'll pick something less PC demanding so I chose Physics but even there I came across quite a lot of programming and experimental work that required me to use different PCS around college that had experimental equipment hooked to them.

        • JTL replied to this.

            Sorry to hear of your trouble. I have more thoughts on your situation, but I'll see if I can write them more later.

            Infinite I'm in Dublin, Ireland. I would appreciate it if anyone knows of such specialist.

            There are some other people on this forum from Western Europe, so they might see this and chime in. 🙂

                JTL Thanks for replying JTL. It would be great if you could elaborate on your thoughts later when you have time. I appreciate it a lot.

                  15 days later

                  Infinite Visited top tier ophthalmologist. Apparently I could have an early onset of Glaucoma due to elevated intraocular pressure.

                  You are not a hypochondriac. I identify with some of your symptoms, especially the debilitating “brain fog."

                  I also had a neuro-ophthalmologist suggest possible early-onset glaucoma. A visual field test detected peripheral blindness in one eye. It turned out that the LED lights in the newly renovated doctor's office started one of my flicker migraines. I went back again when migraine-free, wore welding glasses in the waiting room and covered my eyes with my hands and then had them keep the overhead lights off in the exam room. Repeated the visual field test and it was completely normal. It’s interesting to hear that someone else also had a similar experience. This is the only time any doctor actually detected anything "wrong" with me. I think it’s evidence for both of us that the problems aren’t some kind of hypochondria.

                  I also relate to your description of feeling like you’re not in your own body. I’m not sure that it’s quite the same thing, but ambient LED flicker immediately makes me feel vaguely like there’s something off in my how I’m occupying the space around me. This feeling intensifies for me during a flicker migraine and this sense of some kind of spatial disorientation is accompanied by nausea. I think that initial subtle feeling of something being "off" has some similarities to what anxiety feels like, but I don’t think, at least for me, that it’s the same thing. I rarely feel anxious and never in relation to lights. My current hypothesis is that I’m actually perceiving the light flicker at a semi-conscious level, which is making my perception of the space around me feel "off." Then I suspect that the abnormal synchronization of brainwaves that probably happens during a flicker-induced migraine may lock my brain into some kind of signaling that makes me feel this spatial disorientation and nausea even after I’m not directly looking at the flicker. Then it just takes a lot of time for my brain to return to normal and for my perception of how I’m occupying space to feel stable. I really wonder how many other people who say that they “don’t like" LED lights are slightly disoriented by semi-consciously perceiving the flicker.

                  You aren’t alone. It's difficult for me to convince others that invisible flicker makes me very ill since most people don’t consciously perceive it at all.

                  You’re definitely in good company here in a very helpful community. I can’t personally comment much on the computer screen configurations, but I know for me, any exposure to flickering ambient light increases my sensitivity to both screens and ambient lights. Increasing the amount of flicker-free light (sunlight or truly flicker-free LEDs) helps me overall, I think because it mitigates perception of the flicker of other lights. Minimizing exposure to flickering ambient light and wearing Shade5 welding glasses and a baseball hat when I can’t avoid it also helps. My latest flicker migraine lasted about 7 weeks following 3 hours of exposure to flickering LED lights. Even the minimal flicker of some incandescent lights bothered me during the migraine. Sunlight was still good. The only artificial lights that didn’t exacerbate the migraine were flicker-free LEDs with a 0.00 flicker index. These seem to be really hard to find these days. Waveform makes them in the US - maybe someone else knows of a European manufacturer.

                      11 days later

                      jen Hi jen,

                      I appreciate your reply. Apologies that I didn't get back to you sooner... I actually caught covid and I was recovering. I do remember having similar situation with peripheral blindness. I will definitely look into the whole trick with welding glasses.

                      • jen replied to this.

                          Infinite I’m sorry to hear that you were sick and I hope you’re feeling better now!

                            18 days later

                            Infinite Irrational fear of seizures(?) - There are moments where my brain feels like a mush, the feeling intensifies and I feel like I'm about to get a seizure. This happens frequently when former symptoms are present. I could describe this feeling by immense amount of pressure in my head that I can't stop? Perhaps it's blood rushing to my brain? I really don't want to make irrational diagnosis here. I have no idea.

                            So obviously I am not you, and my situation may be different, but I have been seen by countless neurologists, ophthalmologists, and nuero-ophthalmologists in various specialty centers across 7 different states at this point, and one thing I have heard from every single one is that while our condition is painful, and real, it does not present any physical or neurological risk or stroke, seizure, or anything else. It's just discomfort. So take that for what it is worth.

                                ensete

                                I hope that's true. I felt great sense of comfort reading this.

                                    4 months later

                                    Infinite

                                    Wonder how you've been Infinite? Any luck?

                                    I found this forum thread talking about vision therapy / orthoptics in Dublin, Ireland. It might be useful to take a visit.

                                      I can relate to some of this, earlier today I posted some of my story, under the 'My possible solution….' thread.

                                      I have heard there is a nerve that goes down the spine from the head that can cause migraines when stressed, e.g. with whiplash victims.

                                      I had some brainfog develop a few years ago, I started taking saturated fats, which help the brain, my fog is getting better, (I overhauled my diet, and went totally healthy too).

                                      I used to get 'auras' too, if thats what you meant by feeling of seizures. These stopped once i used the tinted glasses, see my original post, to see what i mean.

                                      a month later

                                      Infinite I am on the lower end of testosterone as well.

                                      Got mine checked and it is LOW. Mine is 160 ng/dL, where lab reference normal is 250 ng/dL - 827 ng/dL. I am mid to late 20's and a doctor told me even 250 is too low for my age! Going to see a doctor about other testing and treatment.

                                      Am not sure it is related to our screen issue or not. I know that migraines are much more common in women and they suspect it may be related to hormones (but this is just a theory). This article claims that testosterone might help prevent headaches by "reducing swelling in the brain", "increasing levels of serotonin" and "stopping cortical spreading depression ". And an actual study here.

                                      If I am given treatment, I will report back with my results as it relates to screens.

                                      Anyone else get their testosterone checked? Here in USA, you can get it tested without a Doctor's order by using something like Quest Labs.

                                          Infinite Rotating my neck feels like grinding gears(or sand/tiny stones in my neck)

                                          I have that exact thing. My diagnosis is "cervical spondylosis" which was diagnosed in a rheumatology clinic.

                                          Infinite I feel like I forget what I want to say, how I phrase my sentences and difficulty thinking in general.

                                          I used to have that, years ago. Was caused by stopping a bunch of meds cold turkey back in 2013. Do you have anything like that in your history?

                                              ryans Mine is low for a woman.
                                              I also have migraines, but they have zero connection to eyestrain (If there was a connection I would be dead right now 🙂)

                                              But for my personal case I strongly believe that something in light damages my eyes: I tested looking on the bad phone next to the mirror, I see little blood vessels immediately appearing, after 2 seconds.
                                              If testosterone makes some impact here, it could only make this damage less painful, but not prevent it.

                                              P.S. In Eastern Europe anything could be checked without any doctors orders; so I went to complete ophthalmological check-up with a lot of tests and my eyes are absolutely, perfectly healthy.
                                              I went there in sunglasses though, cause after the phone I couldn't handle even a moody weather.

                                                  Mrak0020

                                                  But for my personal case I strongly believe that something in light damages my eyes: I tested looking on the bad phone next to the mirror, I see little blood vessels immediately appearing, after 2 seconds.

                                                  It could happen because of quick and too strong muscle activation. So the light in general does nothing to years eye but act as a trigger for your muscles to react.

                                                      xelaos who knows.
                                                      I still tend to blame the light, cause muscle activation cannot give me any symptoms of extra light sensitivity (to irrational levels). The ophthalmologist who ran all the tests also do not know the reason; she said she have more patients with similar problems.
                                                      I have never had in my life any, even slightest, light sensitivity of any kind.
                                                      (just to give a context, I suffer only with modern smartphones)

                                                          xelaos yep
                                                          Just a subjective feeling that a closed eye better reacts to light afterwards. But everything else, including muscle pain, is present no matter what on both eyes.
                                                          I have no bvd based on the string test posted here, and I already wrote that the smartphone breaks my vergence immediately, it is the same with one eye patched. It takes time to "repair" it with exercises.

                                                            2 months later

                                                            Hey all! I will respond to the replies soon. I had to take a little break from the forum since reading posts and trying different things without a solution became a little frustrating.

                                                              dev