Computers, Dizzy, Headaches, Auto Glass problems

[Craig]

I have an unusual affliction that my doctors have not encountered before.  I have been diagnosed as having Vestibular Hypersensitivity and Vestibular Migraine.  We are having trouble finding the right way to treat this and I'm really curious if anyone else has experienced anything similar. The description is as follows:

I'm a 38 year old male with 20/20 vision and have had motion sickness all my life.  Planes, boats, subway trains, amusement park rides and even cars if I'm not driving.  Began getting headaches when I was about 20 years old.  They occur on a daily basis, rarely do I go three or four days without some kind of headache.  Have "Bad" ones every month or so, need to lie down and go to sleep.  Sensitive to noise and light.

I work with computers and in the past 3 years or so have become sensitive to computer monitors.  The big change came about when our computers were upgraded to Windows 95/98/NT.  The computer flicker is causing me to experience nausea, being "out of it" and I find it difficult to concentrate.  I get sick and am unable to continue using the computer.  Some computers are much worse than others.  Have adjusted refresh rates, changed monitors (trinitrons are better), contrast and all other possible adjustments to no avail.  The exact same computer I was able to use before is now causing me problems.

Watching laser disc and DVD movies on television causes me to become experience similar symptoms.

Recently I have been looking at new cars and the windshields in the newer cars are causing me to get sick as well.  I don't have to be moving I just need to look out the window for a period of time.  It seems to be worse at night. Have not determined if is the tinting of the new windows or the curve/shape of the windshield that is bothering me.  I also can't wear several types of sunglasses including polarized glasses as well as the wrap around styles.

Have tried various medications that have helped somewhat, but I am very limited in what I can do.  Most of the medications didn't help and the ones that do have undesirable side effects, mostly having to do with fatigue, concentration and mood changes.  The medications did help my headaches but that is not my primary concern right now.  Various medications I have tried are Klonopin, Depakote, Neurontin, Zoloft, Acetazolamide, Zofran and Baclofen (most of these medications were combined with klonopin).  Neurological exam, ENT exam, eye exam, MRI, and rotational chair test all normal.

I apologize for the long post and appreciate you taking the time to read it.  If this sounds familiar to anyone I'd love to hear about it.  I find it hard to believe I'm the only person that suffers from this.

[CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS]

Dear Craig:

Sorry to hear about your problem.  We see more vestibular type migraines in the younger aged group but there is no reason to assume that it is limited to this younger age group.  We have seen some adults with this problem.  However, the addtional symptoms to movement, flicker of light, driving, etc. make one think about photo-stimuli induced epilepsy.  We have seen several people with this disorder (remember the hoop-la over the video games from Japan).  Have you ever had a EEG with photostimulation?  The next thing is we find the greatest benefit with the tricyclic antidepressants, such as elavil or doxepin to treat this atypical migraine type. If you haven't had a EEG with photostimulation, I would recommend that you talk to your neurologist about one.

Sincerely,

CCF Neuro MD

[anon]

Craig..This may not be of any help...but many years ago, I had headache problems...totally debilitating...after moving into a new school (I teach).  It lacked windows...and was lit with only flourescent lights.  I was miserable. When I left the building, the natural sunlight would cause terrible pain..and I was practically blinded during the adjustment period.  My doctor( a neurologist) at the time explained to me that the lighting was triggering a chemical imbalance in my brain. It was also found that I wasn't going into the deep stage of sleep for a long enough period to have sleep be effective.  Meds did help...but when I changed jobs..and got myself into a different lighting situation with natural light available along with the flourescent...things got better.  Still have some headaches...but simple meds solve them..and they are what one would call a bother..not a problem. I do know that different light wave lengths can cause problems for others.  Good luck..in finding a solution to your problem.

[Dennis]

Craig,

One of my co-workers suffers from severe motion sickness and vertigo. He had lots of problems with his computer monitor making him sick or inducing vertigo. We switched him to an LCD monitor and it pretty much aleviated the problem. You might discuss this your company. LCD monitors are considerably more expensive than regular nmonitors but lost work due to illness costs them a lot more.

Good luck.

Dennis

[CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS]

thanks for the comments.

CCF Neuro MD

[Thanks Dennis, question for you]

I have tried using the active matrix screens (TFT or something like that) that are being used in current laptops.  Also, about a year ago I tried the "flat panel" desktop models.  Both of these cause me to have the vertigo symtoms.

Are these like the LCD monitor you mentioned above or are LCD monitors something different?

Thanks for the Input,

Craig

[Dennis]

Craig,

Yes that is what I was talking about. Sorry it didn't help you.

Good luck,

Dennis

[CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS]

thanks for everyone's input.

CCF Neuro MD

[lisa]

I am a 36 yr. old with exactly the same symtoms except for the constant headaches although I do have my share.  I get nauseated from just going into a store and trying to look up or down on the shelves.  I am on SS disability because I was no longer able to do my job (computer)  I can only be on for a very short time as I get dizzy and sick.  I even get motion sickness sometimes when I drive.  Good luck!

[Peter]

I had the car sickness and migraines - for me it was caused by food allergies (corn,yeast,tomato,dairy). Test for it with an "Elimination Diet". It goes something like this:

Start by eating ONLY fish, brown rice, broccoli (normal portions), calcium tablet for 4 days to see if the symptom improve, then if they do, add one item at a time until they come back. There are books on this to make sure you don't imbalance your diet while you are testing.

[Craig, Thanks for the suggestion]

Peter,

Thanks for the response.

I'm curious, did the problems you had with your diet suddenly occur because of a change in your eating habits, had you experienced this for most of you life or did you suddenly become allergic to foods that you were able to cope with before.

Thanks,

Craig

[CCF Neuro[P] MD,RPS]

hope you two connect.

CCF Neuro MD

[Shelly090990]

A related discussion, Possible Insomnia was started.

[Thatgirl40]

A related discussion, Headaches and auto glass was started.