I have photophobia. The word itself sounds like a psychological problem, but it essentially means I have an allergy. Yes, I'm allergic to light. I don't break out into hives or swell, but rather I start to lose the ability to see clearly coupled with a splitting headache. If you've never had a migraine, the sensation is much like motion sickness while staring into the sun or trying to watch tv with light glaring on the screen.
I've looked into the matter in addition to discussing it with my doctor. My doctor said he could refer me to a neurologist, but there's no cure for it. He said to avoid the migraine triggers.
I have found that having different light sources, particularly natural light and florescent combined, I will start to get tunnel vision. My doctor gave my a couple prescriptions to help once I get a migraine, while Ibuprofen helps prevent headaches, but I'd prefer not to have medicine in me. Wearing a baseball cap with its bill pulled down, helps diffuse light. Wrap around sunglasses also help.
My wife thinks I'm weird. I've had the problem progress a bit since we first got married. I used to mostly have trouble eating in certain restaurants like Cracker Barrel and Steak n' Shake without positioning myself to not see the lights blending, but now, big box stores, malls, gyms seem to trigger my headaches.
I've taken to wearing a hat and sunglasses as much as possible to avoid the chances of random light causing a headache. Sadly, going to a bank, I am greeted by signs which say that I must remove my sunglasses and hat for the safety of customers. Very annoying. I feel like I'm being discriminated against though I get that banks need to take precautions against robbers. I hope that other businesses don't follow suit.
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