Had a first today...

[Jennifer Rose Towing]

I have delt with lighting for over 25 years. From working wrecker to collecting and repairing, I have had my face in plenty of lights.

I was filming patterns of a new light I picked up and it got to me. My head started hurting, feeling off and very nauseous. Hit pretty quick and threw me off. Not sure if it was the brightness, speed or combination of both but it hit me hard! Ended up taking a good nap, other then a headache things are much better.

First time I have had anything remotely like this and it really threw me for a loop. Anyone else ever have any experiences like this?

 

[Tony P]

Sounds like a photosensitive epileptic seizure. I'd speak with your primary care and see if they suggest an EEG. The onset, symptoms, and headache after are pretty classic signs.

Edit: I'm not a doctor but my experiences as an EMT for 14 years has taught me a thing or two

 

[W2CK]

Hi,

Former EMT instructor and vol firefighter with 20 years behind me here, and I concur with Tony about this. I think this is your sign - a warning sign.

Stan

 

[dmathieu]

No medical credentials here, but I'd also look at migranes. They can start at anytime in life, and come out of nowhere. Symptoms can be similar or widely different. Just a thought.

 

[firebuff17]

Hey Jen. Sorry to hear but glad a good nap got you feeling better.
15 years as a paramedic I would concur with the above…seizure or more than likely migraine. My wife has migraines and although hers are not triggered by lights, they certainly get worse with flashing lights.

Side note: what lights were you testing?

 

[Jennifer Rose Towing]

Side note: what lights were you testing?

Thanks for the replies. My main thing is halogen lights but I do have some LED products on the wall. This one was much brighter, more colors and some crazy fast patterns. Even standing off to the side while changing the patterns was still intense.

Picked up a ULB38-TD. I passed on it a year ago but was really intrigued by the optics. Opportunity came along again so I grabbed it. It was half red/blue with full amber override but have since made it full red with full amber. It is very bright, add to that the 3 rapidly flashing and changing colors. It's a pretty awesome light though.

 

[CrownVic97]

I've experienced temporary blindness due to some powerful LED bulbs I was testing. Spots in my eyes took about 5-10 min to fully go away. Luckily didn't experience headaches or dizziness, but I learned a lesson: HEED THE WARNINGS ON THE PACKAGING!

I use a cheap pair of sunglasses now to test bright LED units. Don't need to worry if I just permanently screwed up my retinas or not again!

 

[TDC]

I had a Driver once that became sick when I had a Whelen Dashking Interleave (5mm LED?) on my dashboard, you know, because I could.

I think these LED electronic things all happen at the speed of light or something, but that light switched noticeably faster than others. I could not watch it without becoming dizzy ... didn't last, though, but for a few seconds after turning it off.

 

[Jennifer Rose Towing]

I've experienced temporary blindness due to some powerful LED bulbs I was testing. Spots in my eyes took about 5-10 min to fully go away. Luckily didn't experience headaches or dizziness, but I learned a lesson: HEED THE WARNINGS ON THE PACKAGING!

I use a cheap pair of sunglasses now to test bright LED units. Don't need to worry if I just permanently screwed up my retinas or not again!

It's typically not an issue for me to get out of the hot zone of the light. Another trick I do on occasion is throw a white towel over the light. Dulls em down but can still see what's going on.