Help - Light sensitivity, now Eye Pain too?!

I have never posted to a newsgroup before, so I appreciate any help
that other members here can provide. Thanks in advance for reading.

This past year, around the first week in November is when I noticed my
eyes seemed to be more sensitive to oncoming headlights and traffic
lights. This was right after daylight savings time kicked in so I
figured that after driving home during daylight for 8 months that
perhaps just the time change, forcing me to drive home in darkness now,
was the cause and that my eyes just weren't used to it. Now, three
months later - headlights still bother my eyes.

Now, even driving during the day if the sun is reflecting in someones
window or off of a chrome bumper it seems EXCESSIVELY bright and it
hurts my eye for that brief moment. This is something that I have
never noticed before. Also Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) are very
bright and I have to make an effort not to look directly at them. I
also must add that I have a habit of watching oncoming cars while I'm
driving --- I don't know why but I've always done it. I would have
tried sunglasses but I can't really wear sunglasses b/c of my
prescription glasses that I have to wear while driving. Even
taillights seem very bright at night, especially if I look directly at
them --- even momentarily.

Recently, in the past 3-4 days I have started experiencing eye pain as
well. It seems to start in the early afternoon around 2-3 o'clock and
gets worse until the end of the work day. Naturally after hours of eye
pain, I also usually have a headache behind my eyes or along my
forehead. Another note, I work on a computer for 8-10 hours a day and
up until the last month routinely would spend between 10-12 hours a day
behind a computer monitor. Most of my work as a designer requires
detailed work and intense staring at the monitor is not uncommon.

I am currently taking 25mg of Atenolol daily but do not really suspect
this has anything to do with my eye problems. I have recently begun
taking a concentrated multivitamin to see if it helps - I've heard that
vitamin B (all of them) are good for eyesight.

I just had an eye exam in December which came back normal. My eyesight
hadn't changed much (it's not that bad anyway) and all other tests were
normal. I mentioned the light sensitivity to my optician and he said
that it's a common complain "this time of year" (meaning after Daylight
Savings Time).

My questions:
- Could this just be a bad case of dry eye from all the computer work?
- Could this be something worse like Optic Nueritis? (doubtful I think)
- Anyone else had symptoms like this? Can you point me in a helpful
direction?
- Am I just being paranoid and over-analyzing what I see???

This has me mildly concerned since my eyes are my job and my life. If
they get damaged --- I may not be able to do my job effectively
anymore. Thanks for any advice or suggestions that you can offer!

 

If the pain/ache is not constant and is in both eyes and is noted
after hours of computer usage I'd lean towards dry eye as the culprit.
Usually a condition such as an iritis the discomfort /ache will
be constant and one eye (not always).

I'd advise another eye evaluation to rule out anything serious (just in
case) and I would start using pfats (preservative-free artificial
tears)
starting with 1 drop 4 times daily to see if the symptoms at all are
alleviated.

frank

 

Frank, thank you for your prompt response!

I should also note that the eye pain, particularly today, is worse in
my dominant eye - my right eye. As a matter of fact it's down right
painful tonight. Once it starts hurting, the pain increases throughout
the day. To this point, the pain has never been sudden.

To be honest it's the light sensitivity that is really bothersome.
However, I will try to locate some pfats tomorrow at our local drug
store and begin trying that.

I guess I should also ask, typically how long after computer use has
stopped do symptoms subside? I've noticed that over the weekend, even
if I don't use the computer much - the light sensitivity seems to be
about the same while driving. Perhaps 48 hours isn't enough time to
rebound from nearly 60 hours of computer use during the week?

 

atenolol is a beta-blocker. this class of drugs promotes dry eyes. as
dr. frank suggested, dry eyes seems like a plausible explanation for
the pain you are describing and your medications may be exacerbating
the problem. have you tried using lubricants?

 

My suggestion: latent hyperopia.

You'd need to ask for a cycloplegic eye test to tell whether you've got
it (but there are other clues too).

Latent hyperopia can cause photosensitivity, eye strain, headaches,
especially associated with near work.

Dom

 

Latent hyperopia? I'm nearsighted. Perhaps I just don't understand
the details of how hyperopia effects the eye.

I went out last night and purchased some Visine Pure Tears and have
been using those. We'll see over the coarse of the week if they make a
difference. I will continue posting to this thread with my progress
for others that may encounter a similar problem.

 

I didn't know you were nearsighted (until now), although I suppose it's
still possible that you're overcorrected or pseudomyopic - which is sort
of the same as being a latent hyperope. I was really 'going out on a
limb' to begin with and if you now say you're nearsighted then that
makes my guess a little less likely to be the case.

If you *are* overcorrected or a pseudomyope, the way to tell is still
the same - cycloplegic refraction. Call it a process of elimination.

Dom

 

I didn't know you were nearsighted (until now), although I suppose it's
still possible that you're overcorrected or pseudomyopic - which is sort
of the same as being a latent hyperope. I was really 'going out on a
limb' to begin with and if you now say you're nearsighted then that
makes my guess a little less likely to be the case.

If you *are* overcorrected or a pseudomyope, the way to tell is still
the same - cycloplegic refraction. Call it a process of elimination.

Dom

 

Not to hijack the thread, but how does this latent hyperopia thing
work? Is it like your eyes are semi-permanently overcorrecting toward
near, so if you put more plus power in front of your eyes, you couldn't
focus through it (even though you should be able to)? If you detect
this with eye dilation, does it take a while to work up to the
appropriate plus power then?

--

 

Fair enough. I assumed that there may be strain involved, or
difficulty with or aversion to near work. I was thinking of it as
uncontrolled continuous exertion by the muscles, which might not be as
desirable as having that stress unloaded.

When it was mentioned, I wondered if I could have this problem (if it
is one), since I also seem very light sensitive, and I have a low
tolerance for reading for long periods. I recently got some computer
glasses with extra plus power and it makes it so much more comfortable
to read for long periods of time. It's probably nothing, but it got me
thinking anyway.

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