I hate the sun!

[Linda0224]

I'm not sure if this is the correct forum, but let me tell you my background.  I suffered a cerebral hemorrage 10 years ago, to the left temproal and parietal lobes of my brain.  It left me with some brain damage and a seizure disorder (partial complex "deja vu" seizures).  As a result, I take Lamictal.

Ever since then, I absolutely hate the sun!  It bother my eyes, and actually makes me depressed, zaps my energy, and drives my eyes crazy.  Overcast days - I'm very energetic and happy.  My question is - does Lamictal have those side effects?  I can't really find anything specific on the 'net.  I've asked my neurologist about it - he was somewhat amused by it (i didn't mind - i'm amused too!).

My background - I have the remnants of a spinal cord tumor located at C4-C6 as a result of NF1 (neuofibromatosis).  The stroke (brain hemmorage) was a side effect of the surgery.  The stroke made me have short-term memory loss, and numerous other issues.  I'm wondering if this might also be causing this problem.

Any information on this would be appreciated.  I'm not even sure it's the correct forum.  I've never run across anybody else with this problem!!!

[helicawday]

Wow! Here are our similarities. I hate the sun too, unless it's behind a cloud. I get depressed when summer comes around and as soon as I can tell fall is here, it's like a weight is lifted. I don't like to go outside if it's sunny. Many seizure medicines can cause sensitivity to light, but I think that means skin sensitivity. They may cause eye sensitivity too (photophobia). Here's where it gets cool, I have de-ja-vu seizures too. I have had temporal lobe epilepsy for about 8 years now. I take carbatrol, but my love of cloudy days started way before the carbatrol. I know I liked playing outside in the sun when I was a kid. I'm glad I'm no the only person who likes cloudy days. I feel trapped in the house when the sun is glaring outside. I've posted on here before (10 days ago) describing my seizures and wanting to know if anyone else's seizures were similar. Tell me your story! What happens when you have a seizure? You go first.

[helicawday]

My post about my seizures was on 10/16, it's heading was: temporal lobe seizures. No one ever responded to it.

[Linda0224]

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you - I never went back to look if I got a response, and gave up on waiting for one - I wish I was more patient!

When I get a seizure, I really don't lose control, or anything like that.  It's as if you were watching an old TV, and the sound from another channel bleeds into the one you're watching.  It's hard to explain.  I also kind of space out.  I can hear the person talking to me, but my mind locks in somewhere else - a past feeling, or something like that.  Also, I get the 'de-ja-vu' feeling.  People who don't have seizures get de-ja-vu every now and then, but this is different.  However, after that, I lose my ability to spell, write etc., for a couple weeks - well, not entirely, but they are very sloppy!

I've only had 2 seizures where my spelling and writing were horrible for 2 weeks.  Most of them just make me feel space for about a day.  Nothing that disables me - I just feel out of sorts.

As far as the Sun - I've never particularly cared for it.  When I was a kid, I loved the look of colors when days were overcast.  The colors were more right looking - from an artistic perspective.  Also worth noting, here in Cleveland, blue skies are very washed out and harsh looking - especially in the Winter.  When I lived in Denver, blue skies were an intense, dark blue, and didn't seem to bother me as much.  I still preferred the Fall.

Again... I'm so sorry it took so long to get back to you.  I hope you come back here - I'd love to hear your story about the seizures.