Hi all,
I’m new posting but been lurking for a month or so; came upon LED strain while looking for solutions/ reason for my headaches, migraines, eye pain, etc.
I’m from and work in the UK; I’m 38, male and have been using computers, for work and recreation since my Atari ST without any issues what so ever until around 2012. I wear glasses for long distance for past 15 years (ish).
Also to be clear and not to confuse with eye strain, tired eyes, etc.; pre 2012 I could look at any screen, projector, laptop, etc. with any colours, brightness, resolution, refresh rate, far or near the screen, for hours and hours without any issues at all. In fact I don’t think I ever had a headache before 2012.
Some of the posts here describe my symptoms and how I feel exactly after being exposed to LEDs; this makes me feel it’s not something I’m creating in my own head which has been suggested by some medical professionals.
I first noticed this “LED” issue around 2012 when I got a new monitor at work and at the time I couldn’t use it felt like my eyes were being squashed with a terrible headache. Had to swap back to my old CCFL backlit screen.
Then I kinda forgot about it for a year or so until…
I purchased a new “LED” TV; the first thing I watched was strictly come dancing (wife’s choice) for those that don’t know it’s a dance show with bright colours, fast movements and moving camerawork. Straight away I noticed my eyes feeling squashed I wanted to stop watching; but my wife told me I wasn’t use to the new screen and to give my eyes a chance “to get used to it” that was a mistake, I think I watched the whole programme (1 hour long) after I had a terrible migraine for 3 or 4 days all I could do was be in a dark room (I wasn’t fully recovered for over a week). Needless to say that TV went back and I managed to buy a CCFL backlit TV before they were discontinued.
Also around that time I purchased a Samsung galaxy S3 with android 4.3 this is the phone I still use.
I have tried many phone “upgrades” but any phone with a higher version of android (even a Samsung S3 LTE with android 4.4) gives me the same problem as the TV. Similar with iPhone tried loads of different models/ iOS all with similar results.
Now more and more I’m noticing computers that I can currently use fine (zero issues) win7 with pre 2012 hardware/ firmware. Are starting to cause headaches which I think is software related for example latest adobe reader and MS office are unusable and as others have mentioned web browser Firefox, chrome and MS edge all have the same affect and are unusable for any browsing longer than 15 mins. (Any suggestions for a browser to try are welcome)
atm windows 10 gives me the same problem; for example my old laptop was brought in 2008 and I’ve used it with windows XP and windows 7 absolutely fine; zero headaches, migraines, etc. I opted for the “free” windows 10 upgrade (few years back) and within 10 minutes headache/ migraine started. The latest Ubuntu and iOS are similar. (Any suggestions for an OS to try are welcome)
I am noticing more shops with LED lighting, which also causes headaches. However some shops have LED lights but don’t give me a headache which is weird!!
I have been to countless doctors/ opticians who all don’t see any problems; had a MRI scan and also tried visual stress clinic which were fine.
The analogy one doctor gave me is the web cams are working but something is off with the computer. Doesn’t help but that’s all he had to offer.
My current work around is AVOID LEDs and anything new. Use windows 7 until it’s unsupported with an old CCFL monitor.