Migraines & Eco-Friendly Lightbulbs

Hi All,

It's been a while since I posted anything - didn't even know there was a new forum!!!! Anyway, M's have been brutal - worse than ever. I moved to upstate PA about 1 1/2 years ago, and since then, my headaches have been through the roof. My neurologist is pretty sure that the altitude change is playing a major part. But back to the topic: has anyone noticed their M's getting worse around eco-friendly lightbulbs?? It was brought up to me today by a friend who has MS - she said she can't bear to be around them, that they make her dizzy & nauseous. I started thinking & realized that we replaced all of our lightbulbs quite a few years ago, and my M's have tripled in frequency & pain - could this be the reason???

Any input / advice would be greatly appreciated!! Hope all are well & wishing a pain-free day for everyone!!

Janice

I'm not around them much, but it's an interesting theory.

I know flourescent lights and the bluish headlights are brutal on me so there might be something to it.

Charlotte

Hi. Migraine Action in the UK have been campaigning about this over the past year after a lot of people reported that the new low energy bulbs were causing migraines. The traditional bulbs are actually banned here now unfortunately, fortunately for the environment I suppose but not for us. They're trying to raise awareness and get a new type of bulb developed which wouldn't have the same effect.

They did a poll where 70% said they were unaffected but 30% were affected, so it was enough for them to take action.

So it's possible the low energy ones may be affecting you. I find the sort of prong ones and coil ones have a funny affect on me so try and get the ones that look more like the traditional bulbs. But I don't know what they're like in the US.

Might be worth changing back to the traditional in the main rooms to see if it makes a difference?

Good luck

Liz

I've noticed the eco-friendly light bulbs bother me too. We changed out all our household lightbulbs in an attempt to be more economical. At first I thought it was because they didn't provide as much light, but it may just be that they're very close to the fluorescent-type lighting.

Just can't win, can we?

Becky

Yes, the new eco-friendly bulbs are definitely not M friendly. I am going to stock-up on NON eco-friendly bulbs soon!
Good luck to you.

Rachel

I changed my entire house over this fall. I keep daily chart on my migraines and there hasn't been any change in frequency or attacks or intensity for me.

But, we do know that there are different migraines, as an example, mine resond favorably to Imitrex and Topamax, but other people, this doesn't work.

I'd hate to see a claim that something that is good for the environment is bad for migrainers, when it doesn't hold true for everyone.

I guess you would have to see for each individual.

Angela

I have known that flourescent lights are bad for you for years even before I started getting migraines. They are bad for everybody, not just people with migraines. I'm fortunate that at work I can have my own lighting. I don't care how eco friendly the new lights are. I won't be using them. And those headlights?? I don't care if you get migraines or not, those headlights are annoying to oncoming traffic!

the eco and floro lights trigger migraines, no doubt in that. some refresh rates and monitors as well. i don't have an eco lights, just some floros in the basement and garage.

as for xenon/HID headlights--i love them, as long as i'm in a car that has them. they really help with night vision. the good news, is the auto industry has toned down how bright xenons are compared to when they were introduced. a couple of my cars had extremely bright HIDs. newer cars, especially over the last 2-3 years are not as bright with HIDs.

Well, that is good news if it increases night vision. Mine is pretty bad.