Another Migraine

[cabletvl]

Good morning,

First of all please bear with my as I try to figure out the proper blog etiquette. I am totally inept when it comes to computers and I don't understand most of the codes so if I do somthing wrong, please tell me.

I wrote last week about my sons frequent migraines and many of you were very helpful. Son was grounded for 2 weeks for shooting spitballs at his bus driver and as punishment I took away his tv and game system. The entire two weeks without both - no migraines. He got his tv and game system back yesterday afternoon and woke up around 1 am with severe migraine, dizziness and nauseous. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[Nomad]

Not really, but it could be some sort of visual disturbance. I know that glare really bothers my migraine problem. Same with excessive reading. Same with excessive stress. It could be that staying home was actually less stressful. AND by playing less (or no) video games, he was not triggering a visual disturbance. in my humble opinion, often migraines are caused by more than one trigger and it seems very possible you accidentally stumbled on elimnating them. Has he had his eyes checked? I would investigate this carefully...mentioned this to the doctor!

 

[smallworld]

My son's neuro told us that the better the resolution on the screen, the less likely migraines could occur. So if the resolution isn't that great, screen time could be contributing to migraines. We also found that if we limited screen time to about 30 minutes a day, my son's migraines weren't occurring as frequently.

Is your son on a migraine preventive medication?

When you get a chance, would you click on "User CP" at the top lefthand side of the page and create a profile similar to mine below. It helps us keep everyone on the board straight. Thanks!

 

[amazeofgrace]

maybe time to check if he need glasses or a stronger RX?

 

[Big Bad Kitty]

My mom gets a migraine within minutes of trying to do something on the computer.

 

[meowbunny]

I get nauseous if I play a game that is "3-D" or just generally has a lot of graphics for more than 15 minutes. If I play for a long time, migraines definitely occur. Resolution is irrelevant for me -- great, good, bad, same reaction.

If I am on the computer for a long, continuous time and there are graphics (yes, that includes moving avatars, emoticons, etc.), I can get ill from them, so I try to ignore graphics as much as possible. The games that I play are usually card games since others just mess with me physically.

Have your son's pede check for inner ear issues. That's mainly my problem. Something about what the eye sees affects my inner ear balance mechanism. (Sorry, had this diagnosed so long ago that I've forgotten exactly what I was told. I was just happy to know that I wasn't nuts and it really was something physical!) Your son may be in the same boat.

 

[SRL]

If he hasn't been seen by a neurologist you'll want to have him checked.

I also have inner ear issues that cause nausea and diziness with IMAX, the newer screens, or anything with very real looking graphics. When I'm in the electronics section I can't stand to look at an X-box in action for more than a few moments without it impacting me.

 

[SRL]

Also, has he been evaluated for seizure activity?

 

[cabletvl]

He does see a neurologist and we have had cat scans done, allegry testing, eye exams and we are scheduled for an awake and an asleep eeg in two weeks to rule out seizures.

 

[Sara PA]

EEGs cannot rule out seizures activity, they can only rule it in. Many people with seizure activity, particularly in the temporal lobe, never have positive EEGs. The temporal lobe is deep within the brain and it can be very hard to get a reading on it.

 

[TerryJ2]

Yes.
The faster the game, the more flashing lights, the more migraine triggers. (In my son's case, he becomes irritable and violent.)
Try having him just type his schoolwork on MS Word for a wk and see if he still gets a migraine. It may just be the light from the monitor, but chances are, it's the rapid motion from the games.
Also, those new curly lightbulbs can cause migraines in very sensitive people. So far I haven't had a problem, nor have my friends who have migraines, but we're all adults. Don't know if that makes a diff.

In case you haven't heard about the famous Japanese computer catastrophe, here's a link:

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9712/17/video.seizures.update/

There are many links to why this happens.