# anyone suffer from photophobia/photosensitivity?



## xe-cutey (May 18, 2004)

I have been suffering from this condition as long as i have with panic attacks and anxiety.I was wondering if anyone else suffers from this and what when they do get too much light does to there mind and body?For me my eyes start to hurt then i get like a stress headache which makes me either not be able to think properally or sends my mind hyperactive and leads to very bad anxiety levels that if not carefully controlled spill into a major panic attack which can last several hours and only ends when my body collapses in exhaustion.Most anti anxiety tablets with the exception of diazepam send my photosensitivity over the top to umanagable levels.Just a few weeks ago i was put on citproprinol (something sounding similiar sounding tbh i cant remember it correct name). I only took half a tablet and i suffered a major reaction where my pupils dilated and i was high as a kite switching between extreme euphoria and manic panic, i could not sleep for 5 days and suffered major anxiety and panic attacks constantly.After i came down from the drug though i managed one week with no anxiety and my photosensitivity had improved. But after this week i went back to my normal state.I have now been prescribed mitrazipine but i am so scared of taking this after the last bad event.I also have a slight phobia of taking pills (due to bad drugs when i was a kid) and also EVERYTHING i take sends my mind into a paranoid state where the least bit side effect scares me whitless.Anyway i have strayed off topic, i was justwondering if anyone else is photophobic/photosensitive and what reaction they have to light. Also if they have to where dark glasses like me. BTW i have good days and bad days somehow too. I am sure its a chemical miss balance in my body left of from the bad illegal drugs i used to take 10yrs ago when i was a kid. Thats what screwed me and my life up.


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## LK38 (Jun 27, 2004)

I can totally relate. I have a big problem with fluorescent lighting especially in public buildings. When i mentioned this to my doc about possible cause of anxiety attacks, he laughed and said that maybe I was really a vampire. Although he did concede that fluorescent lighting emits a subtle flashing that is unconsciously observed and in sensitive individual it could trigger migraines and other headaches. .25 mgs xanax and 25 mg zoloft helped me tremendously


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## xe-cutey (May 18, 2004)

yup flourecent lights are one of my biggest problems and they truely space me out and desensitize me.i got all the vampire jokes for so many years too. It took a long time to be took seriously. Diazepam (valium) was my savour but i stopped taking it when i went to university as i was feeling better, my disorder came back after just a few months and since then no doc will let me get back on them (even though i only took half a tablet only when i could feel an attack coming). I guess the same would go with xanax (typical UK docs), also my town is a druggy town and when i was a kid i did have a slight drug problem and so hence its stuck on my medical record for being honest. TBH it was the drugs which wrecked my eyes and brought on my anxiety and panic attacks.even 15yrs later and being on no drugs at all no one will trust me on the only tablets which honstly do make my life normal and would mean i could go back to being a chartered accountant.I honestly cannot tell if my anxiety is triggered by migraines freaking me out or vice versa and which ever way around is triggered by light. I am positive it is a chemical thing as my pupils do not dilate too much (i had them tested).EFT has helped me alot with my general anxiety and i am about to spend my own benefit cash on trying hypnotherapy due to no valium from docs and no NHS hypnotherapy aid.


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## Tiss (Aug 22, 2000)

Flourecent lights are really bad for my anxiety. I stay away from them when at all possible. They also trigger for me sort a sense of derealization which I find very uncomfortable. Glad to know I'm not alone!


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## xe-cutey (May 18, 2004)

Tiss thats exactly what i have most the time and its due to the lights.But try telling that to a doctor, they acknowledge so much but then think the rest is over-reacting.


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## BBDM (Oct 17, 2003)

I too have had problems with light sensitivity. I used to have big time trouble with migraines, which,luckily,I am pretty much over now. I also take a drug for my bladder though, that I've been taking for over 10 years, and sensitivity to light is one of the side effects. I find getting overheated makes me more likely to have an anxiety/panic attack though too.


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