The Sky above/photophobia'dry-eye?..

[Colin P]

As no specialist can tell me why my dry-eyes came about, i'm having to guess, out of curiosity.

(Q) Has anyone ever struggled with bright sunny days, OR Gloomy Grey days, OR changeable skies?.

I have always drove with my visor down in the car, to shield light (all year round) and sometimes squint in the dark when the car in front brakelights come on.
Ive never took any notice of this before now, but maybe some sort of photophobia has deteriorated enough to now cause dry eye problems, and ive had this since a child??.

Now here's the strange bit: i'm better in one or the other, sunny ALL DAY! or Grey skies and raining ALL DAY!.
Where i live we have the worst changeable weather in the country (if not the world) and getting all 4 seasons in 1 day is readily accepted in Greater Manchester England U.K. The contrasting bright then darker skies- then bright again etc-etc caused me maybe 2x Migraine headaches a week upto the age of 16, co-incidence??...

(Q II) Does anyone else prefer the dark? and are ok with changeable skies?.

I am better in the evening and upon checking in a mirror at night, my pupils are huge and almost all black very little Green left round the edges.

[y-gwair]

I'm afraid sensitivity to light is quite a common symptom of dry eye due to damage to eye surface, it's a symptom rather than a cause of dry eye. I have to wear dark glasses pretty much all the time, I find this helps a lot with eye strain.

It's normal to have dilated pupils at night/dark; the time to worry would be if they are still dilated in bright light (which you would definitely notice as it makes your vision extremely blurry).

[Mawsky]

Yes me too, I noticed it more since my dry eyes started, but lights bother me quite a bit. When I'm out walking on a cloudy day I can't put drops in my eyes by looking up, it's so bright I can't even open my eyes. The lights at work bother me too.

[Rachael]

I have always been photophobic, as long as I can remember. I would tear up on bright days. I can remember others trying to do posed outside pictures of me with friends/classmates/family, and I could barely keep my eyes open without tears spilling out. My dry eye started at around 17. You may be onto something....

What scares me is my 8 year old son is just as photophobic as I was. We both sneeze and sneeze as soon as we get out the doors on a bright/sunny day. (definitely light related, not allergies)

We both have abnormally large pupils, as well. People have always commented on my pupils, from childhood on. The green barely shows when I'm indoors :-)

[Colin P]

Promise not to laugh ??!!....

But something like this?...




Give me a break, it was circa 1980...

[Rachael]

Oh, that's not bad! I have some where my face is all scrunched up and contorted!!! Later I learned to do the countdown trick...if they gave me the 3, 2, 1 I'd open them on 1 :-)

Poor thing, of course you'd be squinting, they are making you look up at the sky!!

Promise not to laugh ??!!....

But something like this?...




Give me a break, it was circa 1980...

[Colin P]

I have very tall parents-lol...

And the peak of that *fashionable cap was providing a shadow, at the time.
It's more the repeating change of light i struggle with, dense cloud then clear sun, pupils dilating back and forth all day..

*Style never goes out of fashion!...

[Rachael]

Yes, light changes bother me too. Very much. I love cloudy days for this reason! I find computer work to be the most aggravating though. Which I know is normal even for someone without dry eye. If I spend too much time browsing the net, I really pay for it for a few days.

I forgot to mention about the visor.....My visor fell off our old car and I was without one for about six months. That was torture! I ALWAYS drive with my visor, even on dreary days...and I even use it on the passenger side. That drives my 6'5" husband bonkers when he's in the drivers seat and it's blocking his view. I'm really good at quick maneuvering when the car changes directions, too :-)

[Trac]

My light sensitivity changes from day to day and hour to hour. Sometimes I am fine outside in the light. Other times the traffic lights at night hurt my eyes too much to have both of my eyes open at the same time. It is really odd.