Zeze
Lifer
The Soul-Crushing UBER Eyestrain
Description:
When I stare at a computer screen for an extended period of time, I begin to feel constricting pain on my eyeballs. When it gets worse, it turns into a hard, throbbing, physical pain on my very eyeballs. Again, it is physically painful- as if the focusing muscles inside the eyes are overworked. Unless I stop what I’m doing and close my eyes, it worsens to what I call ‘the point of no return’.
When ‘TPONR’ occurs, I am finished. The throbbing of my eyeballs are so severe, I can no longer function. This is now accompanied by equally severe headache, nausea, fatigue, and photosensitivity. At this point, nothing alleviates the symptoms- whether I stare at something far, go outside, or close my eyes. The ONLY way for this to go away is for me to SLEEP- nothing else.
Again, TPONR is debilitating. I am absolutely miserable- the pain scale is high as 9 out of 10. While trying to fall asleep with my eyes closed, the throbbing and all the symptoms persist. Only after a 2-4 hour nap/sleep, I am back to normal.
How does it happen?
I’ve dealt with this over 10 years now- spanning across various computer/notebook screens, lighting conditions, and many pairs of glasses/prescriptions. TPONR would occur about once every 1-3 months. I just assumed this was typical eye strain. Now that it’s gotten more frequent to several times in a single month in last 3-4 years. As you can imagine, this is impacting my daily life now. I also realized a simple eye strain doesn’t exhibit all these crazy symptoms.
* It almost always happens when I stare at a computer screen or rarely reading books- so it’s when my eyes are focused on close view.
* When it happens is not consistent. Sometimes I can stare at my PC for 12+ hours with no issues. Sometimes, my eyes decide to say ‘screw it’ and it happens as fast as in 3-4 hours. Both on same screen/lighting/area.
* My vision never becomes blurry nor do I see double vision. I can always see fine even during TPONR, but the pain/nausea/headache/fatigue is so so bad.
The search for answer:
I first mentioned this to my optometrist 2 years ago during a routine glasses fitting. He had no idea nor has come across anything like this. Last week, I called my insurance’s nurse hotline. They told me to go see an optometrist right away. So I did- with a different optometrist. She thought it may be ‘accommodative infacility’ and prescribed reading glasses (only good for close-up) which should relax my eye muscles vs my regular all-purpose pair. I will order this pair soon. She also mentioned if this does not fix it, make an appointment with a neuro-ophthalmologist.
I will also bring this up to my Primary Care Physician this month; see what he says.
Details about myself:
An otherwise healthy/normal male in his 30s. Wears glasses; has astigmatism. A slight hypertension which was only found last year. Everything else seems normal- the pupil dilation tests done at eye exam all pass with no problems. I don’t take any medications. Nothing really changed about me over a decade.
I am now posting this in various forums. What is wrong with me; anyone else experience this?
Any other forums I shoud post this at? WebMD? Yes, I am seeing a doctor soon.
Description:
When I stare at a computer screen for an extended period of time, I begin to feel constricting pain on my eyeballs. When it gets worse, it turns into a hard, throbbing, physical pain on my very eyeballs. Again, it is physically painful- as if the focusing muscles inside the eyes are overworked. Unless I stop what I’m doing and close my eyes, it worsens to what I call ‘the point of no return’.
When ‘TPONR’ occurs, I am finished. The throbbing of my eyeballs are so severe, I can no longer function. This is now accompanied by equally severe headache, nausea, fatigue, and photosensitivity. At this point, nothing alleviates the symptoms- whether I stare at something far, go outside, or close my eyes. The ONLY way for this to go away is for me to SLEEP- nothing else.
Again, TPONR is debilitating. I am absolutely miserable- the pain scale is high as 9 out of 10. While trying to fall asleep with my eyes closed, the throbbing and all the symptoms persist. Only after a 2-4 hour nap/sleep, I am back to normal.
How does it happen?
I’ve dealt with this over 10 years now- spanning across various computer/notebook screens, lighting conditions, and many pairs of glasses/prescriptions. TPONR would occur about once every 1-3 months. I just assumed this was typical eye strain. Now that it’s gotten more frequent to several times in a single month in last 3-4 years. As you can imagine, this is impacting my daily life now. I also realized a simple eye strain doesn’t exhibit all these crazy symptoms.
* It almost always happens when I stare at a computer screen or rarely reading books- so it’s when my eyes are focused on close view.
* When it happens is not consistent. Sometimes I can stare at my PC for 12+ hours with no issues. Sometimes, my eyes decide to say ‘screw it’ and it happens as fast as in 3-4 hours. Both on same screen/lighting/area.
* My vision never becomes blurry nor do I see double vision. I can always see fine even during TPONR, but the pain/nausea/headache/fatigue is so so bad.
The search for answer:
I first mentioned this to my optometrist 2 years ago during a routine glasses fitting. He had no idea nor has come across anything like this. Last week, I called my insurance’s nurse hotline. They told me to go see an optometrist right away. So I did- with a different optometrist. She thought it may be ‘accommodative infacility’ and prescribed reading glasses (only good for close-up) which should relax my eye muscles vs my regular all-purpose pair. I will order this pair soon. She also mentioned if this does not fix it, make an appointment with a neuro-ophthalmologist.
I will also bring this up to my Primary Care Physician this month; see what he says.
Details about myself:
An otherwise healthy/normal male in his 30s. Wears glasses; has astigmatism. A slight hypertension which was only found last year. Everything else seems normal- the pupil dilation tests done at eye exam all pass with no problems. I don’t take any medications. Nothing really changed about me over a decade.
I am now posting this in various forums. What is wrong with me; anyone else experience this?
Any other forums I shoud post this at? WebMD? Yes, I am seeing a doctor soon.
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