Foreword: I have severe headaches and eye pain from almost all modern devices(laptops, tv, monitors, smartphones), OS, and screens. The pain begins like sand in the eyes, then the headache begins, and the next morning there is great nausea and pressure, and the headache gets worse. If I use a harmful screen for more than 1 day, the symptoms worsen. I suffered from this for about 10 years, I could not use almost anything.
My only working config before patching:
- Hp ProBook Pro6 440 with Intel Hd Graphics
- Windows 11 21H2
- Night shift: turn on maximum(without any blue color)
If I took another computer, another screen, updated the OS, or turned off the blue filter, then I could not use it, and all the symptoms that I mentioned above appeared.
10.02.2023 I started patching. I covered my dominant eye. I bought sunglasses, knock out one glass, and, on the contrary, glue the other with paper and plaster. Here is a photo:
This was not my first attempt, but I gave up the previous ones after 1-2 days because there was unbearable pain and I did not see the difference between viewing with two eyes and one. This is a VERY IMPORTANT moment. All the previous pieces of advice that I read on this forum said that when viewing with an eye closed, the pain immediately disappeared. Therefore, for a long time, I thought that patching did not suit me and threw it away immediately every time.
And this time, at first it was very difficult, I practically did not feel the difference between looking with one or two eyes, it was very unpleasant for the eyes, but the important difference was that after the patching, the residual pain was much less. That is, my eyes and head hurt while using the laptop, but after I turned it off, everything went much faster than when viewing two eyes. There was no nausea or severe headache. By the way, I started each time "training" at the minimum brightness, gradually increasing it when it became comfortable(but I am not sure that this matters)
Every day, I could sit more and more time at the computer with my eye closed. 17.02.2023 I sat behind a "harmful" screen for about 6 hours + another half an hour before going to bed. I was tired of it, and my head hurt, but in general, everything was bearable. the next day I woke up without nausea, headache, and eye pain and I was able to work at the computer again. I planned to increase the time every day if possible, and spend at least 5 hours at the computer with the patch(ideally reach 12). I mainly programmed, corresponded, and worked with documents.
16.02.2023 I sat all day (10+ hours) and did not experience any pain. This is a very important point. I was able to fully work with a screen that was previously inaccessible to me (though with 1 eye) all day and felt great during and after work.
At the same time, trouble happened 🙁 My Honor 9 2017 broke after 6 years of work(it was the last suitable smartphone for me). I had to buy a new - Realme 10 Pro Plus 5g - and I decided to use patching with it too because I also could not use any phones without pain. First days I experienced pain and discomfort, but then I was also able to calmly look with 1 eye.
At this stage, I already felt that I had won. Yes, in glasses with a glued eye, I look a little ridiculous, but it does not matter. The main thing is that after 10 years, I was again able to use modern technology - smartphones, laptops, etc. I can earn money, surf the web, watch movies, and do it all on any device, without fear that my current oldies will die. Nevertheless, I decided to continue training with one eye, especially since I had no other options. By the way, I also came up with an option for working in public places - we buy glasses with mirrored or super dark glasses and glue the patch from the inside to one lens - others do not see that you are one-eyed, but you can work comfortably 🙂
I continued training and at the beginning of March a miracle happened, I was able to look TWO eyes at my fixed version of Windows configuration (you can read about my problems with the Windows updation here). I watched a couple of movies and read articles for a few hours. It was a huge win, but I needed to move on. And I switched to training sessions with patching for the current (latest) version of Windows:
- Hp ProBook Pro6 440 with Intel Hd Graphics
- Windows 11 22H2-latest
- night shift off
08.03.2023 I can safely use my new phone and computer on the latest version of Windows without the blue filter, with one eye closed. I do not return to the old version, because I want to teach my eyes to use modern software. I continue training.
15.03.2023 spent more than 4 hours on the latest version of Windows using patching. There was mild discomfort and minor headaches. When it gets hard, I switch to the old version, but less and less every day.
30.03.2023 I made an experiment and did not use the patch for 3 days. As a result, I was able to safely work on my laptop with the latest Windows and use my phone in peace. By the end of the day, my eyes and head felt a little tired, so I will continue patching for a few more weeks.
14.04.2023 For the last 10 days I haven't used patching at all and everything was fine. Used the same laptop and phone.
Total: in less than 2 months of patching, I was able to "tune" my eyes to two different configurations of a laptop with Windows and to use a modern smartphone. This is an incredible feeling that the problem that has tormented me for the last 10 years and did not allow me to live in peace, work, and plan my life, has finally been resolved. Of course, I have not tested my eyes on all existing screens, but at the moment I feel that I can adapt to everything. My next plan is to try to set my eyes to using Linux on my laptop, then I want to buy a 2023 laptop and test Windows and Linux on it, and then try a MacBook (even though I don't really like Apple).
In any case, I will update my post in a few months and tell you about the further state of affairs. I am sure that I will have good news. I hope the diary of my success story will motivate at least someone to try patching again (or for the first time) and solve a problem that seems unsolvable. If after reading the article you started training and were able to recover, write here, I will be pleased to know that I did not try in vain and was able to motivate someone to do it. I, too, like you, read stories from members of the forum and envied that they could solve their problems so easily. But it turned out that my problems are also solved, I just had to be a little more patient.
Thanks to everyone who wrote about patching on the forum before, I couldn't reach this without you, especially @martin and @mike
I will continue to visit the forum for the purpose of helping other people. You can ask any questions in this thread. I will try to answer and help you. Good luck and health to all. Don't give up and everything will work out!