New to forum; Fluorescent lights; Looking for healthcare

[MichaelTampa]

Hi there, I’m new to this forum. I am 41 years old, finally diagnosed with Tourette’s about 6 months ago.

 

The biggest problem I have these days is sensitivity to fluorescent lights. They cause bad headaches, anger attacks, mental and physical exhaustion, heartburn, diarrhea, nightmares, and so on. My workplace has made a number of accomodations over time related to fluorescent lights, but now they are not enough, and I am in jeopardy of losing my job. Even hanging on as I am, life is not terribly worth living as it goes these days. The sensitivity to fluorescent lights has just gotten worse and worse over time.

 

I have read on this forum that for light sensitivity, success is most often found with heavy metal detox. I have done this in a number of ways over the years. Tests indicate my levels to be low, but, perhaps, with Tourette’s, it is still not low enough.

 

I have been doing plenty of supplements, acupuncture, EFT, psych-K, and other energy and emotional work.

 

I have gone to a number of health care providers in my area (Tampa, Florida), and am really hoping to find someone with experience and expertise related to Tourette’s and fluorescent lights. I would really appreciate it, if anyone knows a health care provider that they think might be a good fit, if you could pass on their name. Assuming they won’t be local for me, perhaps they can do some consultation on the phone, or I could travel if need be. And, of course, if you’ve gone through anything like this and have any suggestions, would also be eager to hear.

 

Thanks.

 

Michael

[faith]

Hello Michael and welcome,

Since you say you are persuing different kind of modalities, have you looked into NAET? it is a form of allergy treatment in which allergies and sensitivities are hopefully eliminated thru muscle testing and a form of accupressure treatmeents. you could look it up if you have never heard of it. I think that treating sensitivity to flourescent lighting via NAET could be worth a try, but you may have to go thru some initial treatments to prepare the body, and so it can be pricey. ... May I ask what reactions you seem to have from the lighting? and how did you come to figure this as being an aggravator?

 

Faith

[Caryn]

Maybe you should test yourself for pyroluria.

It is a simple urine test and will reveal whether or not you have severe deficiencies in B6, mag and zinc due to oxidative stress.

 

http://healthy-family.org/caryn/63

 

In the mean time maybe get some polarizing sun glasses to wear while at work? It might help take the edge off.

[MichaelTampa]

NAET, yes, I am very familiar with that. I have had digestive problems for years and years, and going through NAET helped a lot--at least for a while. I was shown as allergic to about 98% of every food out there. I had them all treated, but then needed to treat combinations of foods as well to be able to eat a meal without problems. When you have to treat combinations like that (some people do, some don't), it becomes endless. But, slowly, the allergies returned. I got much better results from EFT, psych-K, and other emotional therapy. And, now, when I am without fluorescent lights, I can digest food without pain (not necessarily digest it well, but do it without pain, which is something).

 

I initially thought the fluorescent lights just caused bad headaches. It was a school teacher who noticed problems and suspected this. I imagine there could be many kids with this problem, but who don't know it. As this type of lighting becomes more widely used, it will be even harder to tell. I mostly paid it no attention over time. But, as it got worse, I remembered and paid attention, and he was right. Now that I have treated some other problems (discussed above), getting diagnosed with tourette's, and paying more attention, I am seeing the pattern that these lights are also causing exhaustion, irritability and sometimes anger attacks, nightmares, and digestive problems.

 

I did try the NAET a number of times to treat fluorescent lights, and it has never helped. The NAET practitioner says that means the problem is not an allergy. It could be the flashing--they flash so fast most people cannot notice it. Flashing lights, like fluorescents, are a known problem for tourette's.

 

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

Michael

[guy123]

Flashing lights, like fluorescents, are a known problem for tourette's.

 

Curious...

 

Do CRT TVs bother you?

 

What about LCD displays?

 

What about Plasmas?

 

And non-fluorescent lights do not give you any problem, correct?

[MichaelTampa]

Caryn: Thanks for the info on pyroluria. I will ask my doctor to take a look at it. The description of symptoms, I had some, but not way lots of them. I have never been tested for that, specifically, but, I have been tested for vitamins and minerals. The B2 was way low, magnesium a little low. But, since then, I have been supplementing with full B-complex (including B5 & B6), extra B2, quite a variety of minerals including magnesium and zinc, vitamins C & E, grapeseed oil, borage oil, and flax oil. Is there more to treatment than just taking the vitamins and minerals? It seems I'm already doing that.

 

guy123: If I spend an ENTIRE day watching TV or on the computer, I can have a little bit of a headache by bedtime. So, there might be something there. But, I would say, that type of disturbance is nothing compared to the fluorescent lights now. I can get an equivalent headache nowadays with about 5 minutes of fluorescent lights. I don't know a lot about all these different types of TV's. The one we have is very deep and is not any of the new fancy styles--I'm guessing it is CRT? I have no real experience to speak of with any kind other than this kind. I am reading on here the LCD's are better. Are these in the regular stores? Have you had any different experiences with different TV's?

 

Being out in hot/bright sun can give me a migraine. It doesn't happen consistently and it takes a number of hours to do it. Incandescent bulbs and LED bulbs do not cause any problems for me. Actually, I did run into the Irlen information, and do wear Irlen glasses (mostly yellow shading, some blue and brown in there) at work and other fluorescent situations. I found them to help a little bit, but was mostly disappointed. It was about a 20% improvement, I think. I also wear a fedora hat at work and when I'm out in the stores. It took a while to get that approved at work. But, the combination of glasses and the fedora hat seemed to help, maybe 75% improvement. Either they are not helping as much anymore, or, more likely I think, symptoms are just overall so much worse that these lights even with these items are worse for me than months ago when I started wearing them.

 

Michael

[Caryn]

My son has some but not all of the symptoms, too. Be sure to stay off of all vitamins and minerals at least 48 hours before the test if you take it. My son did have light sensitivity but doesn't anymore. Certainly not as severe as you describe. In my experience it is the zinc deficiency that makes the eyes sensitive to light. I could be wrong. High mauve requires high doses of zinc until the tissues are saturated and then the dose is lowered. It is dangerous for someone without mauve (pyroluria) to take large doses of zinc as it would be toxic for them.

So we went through that process and then afterwards the light sensitivity seemed to dissipate. He is now on a much lower maintenance dose of zinc.

 

If you have a lot of anxiety and you are pyroluric you will have greater symptoms because the oxidative stress from higher cortisol levels will cause you to deplete your stores faster. So during times of stress a pyroluric may find that they need to alter their supps.

 

Most doctors don't know much about mauve. Let me know if you do get the test done and if it is positive.