Photophobia

[cherrybrandy]

photophobia and dry eyes..

In answer to your question for me personally i had the dry eyes thn as it progressively worsened the photophobia set in..mind you i also have sinus issues and that can cause photophobia to a degree thats what my sinus doc sez...

[shoemama]

I have always been moderately photophobic. For as long as I can remember I have always prefered to wear sunglasses outside, have muted indirect light inside, which is in direct contrast to my husband. The idea of southern exposed panoramic windows makes me shudder. Upon my first dry eye "attack" in 2004 the photophobia increased to a level where I could hardly open my eyes in day light. The light made my eyes water intensly and caused great pain even with sun glasses on. It also intensified the "floaters" in my eyes. (I have not had lasik and have always had floaters to some degree). I lived in our rec room for 4 months, only scuttling into daylight to make sure the family was clothed and fed. During this time I recall one terrible incident where I was required to visit my son's highschool for a parent-teacher interview. It was held on the sunniest afternoon in history. I somehow drove myself to the school without harming life or limb. The interview was conducted in a WHITE room with sunlight pouring in, reflecting off the walls, every shiny surface available, the teacher's face. I could hardly keep my eyes open. I beat it out of there as quick as I could. To this day I cannot recall what was said and can only imagine that the teacher must have thought "It's a wonder he turned out as well as he did...."

[katia]

I have always been moderately photophobic. For as long as I can remember I have always prefered to wear sunglasses outside, have muted indirect light inside, which is in direct contrast to my husband. The idea of southern exposed panoramic windows makes me shudder. Upon my first dry eye "attack" in 2004 the photophobia increased to a level where I could hardly open my eyes in day light. The light made my eyes water intensly and caused great pain even with sun glasses on. It also intensified the "floaters" in my eyes. (I have not had lasik and have always had floaters to some degree). I lived in our rec room for 4 months, only scuttling into daylight to make sure the family was clothed and fed. During this time I recall one terrible incident where I was required to visit my son's highschool for a parent-teacher interview. It was held on the sunniest afternoon in history. I somehow drove myself to the school without harming life or limb. The interview was conducted in a WHITE room with sunlight pouring in, reflecting off the walls, every shiny surface available, the teacher's face. I could hardly keep my eyes open. I beat it out of there as quick as I could. To this day I cannot recall what was said and can only imagine that the teacher must have thought "It's a wonder he turned out as well as he did...."

Hello Shoemama,
I must admit than I never liked the sun and bright lights either and like you the idea of panoramic windows disgusses me, and bright lights in stores or restaurants were never welcome. You mention 2004 with very painful events. I hope things are better for you now, and that your photophobia is reduced, or GONE.
You are right, white is one of the most awful color for light reflection
Right now I live in a house that has in the living area open skylights on many sides and it is in Florida. You can imagine with a UV index of 5, how painful it is on white walls. I hide in another room that has strong shutters, and go oustide only when I can't do otherwise. I'll return to France next week to escape this crazy light and also the Air conditionned.

[kitty]

Night vision glasses work!

My night vision glasses arrived yesterday and I tried them last evening driving home. They really cut down on the headlight glare and eliminated the halos, but the not starbursts. I have not yet tried them indoors but I suspect they would work great. They have a yellow tint and are not particularly dark. I ordered the clip on style which were way too big, but they will do for now. I think I will ask my optometrist if he can fabricate some for me using my current distance prescription. If anyone orders any of the standard style glasses, please let me know if they would fit over regular glasses.

[shoemama]

Katia, thank you for the kind thoughts, yes my photophobia is not as bad now but I find it gets worse when my eyes are drier. We have a routine at our house. I have the curtains and blinds drawn to let in a suitable amount of light. My sun loving husband walks into the room, throws open the curtains and retracts the blinds. I scream like a vampire at sunrise, immediately reinstate the curtains and blinds to their previous levels. He mutters that we should live in a cave. I mutter that there is a cute one for sale around the block. We have been doing this routine for 25 years.

I am certainly not making light of photophobia(no pun intended). I have experienced it to an extreme degree, along with the frustration and exhastion of combating dry eye. I can live in self pity land for hours or days when my eyes are really bothering me. But sometimes you just have to laugh. I think that I am lucky that I don't have a more serious illness, I am lucky that I live in a warm (humidified) home, I am lucky I have 2 health teenagers (who are a bane to my existence and the joy of my life), I am lucky to have our old cranky dog still with us (who is still filled with love and personality), I AM LUCKY TO HAVE FOUND THE WEB SITE, I am lucky to have the support of this on line community

[calli66]

"Sunning" the eyes: what do you think?

I have read that LIGHT, passing through the eyes, stimulates parts of the brain that regulate hormones and endrocrine system. Sunlight has a particular effect, and moonlight has a regulating effect on women's mentrual cycles.

Has anybody here tried "sunning" the eyes to de-sensitize them? I have only had severe photophobia once or twice when I had blepharistis really bad, and never tried this during the bad times.

I used to do "sunning" as a way to relax my eyes--this is one of the somewhat controversial "natural vision improvement" techniques that I tried back in the 90's.

Sunning: (take it slowly)--sit outside and face the morning sun (don't try noon-day) with eyes closed. Let the brightness and warmth filter through your eyelids and try to relax (not squeeze lids). When your eyes finally relax, then cover them with your palms and let your vision "go to black"--this takes awhile. Then remove palms and "sun" eyes again (lids closed of course). For me, this produces an almost shocking response as my pupils contract and my retina reacts, turning everything red. After 10-15 minutes going back and forth from bright to black, my eyes feeling more "toned up" and stimulated.

I think this practice "de-sensitized" me to extreme sunshine--to where it didn't bother me as much. It is important to protect eyes from UV of course, but some exposure to light is good.

C66

[neil0502]

Cali-

I think sunning is a zero downside endeavor (provide, of course, that people heed your warning about CLOSED eyes).

In addition to having some potential (I have no idea whether it's ever been tested or not) to help de-sensitize, as you described, it really COULD help relieve accommodative strain in the same way that periocular warming with corn/rice bags has been demonstrated to.

Plus, it just feels awfully good!

[kitty]

May I suggest using sunscreen?