Could CRT Computer Monitors Induce A Seizure?

Hi All,

I'm new to this forum, and new to the world of epilepsy. First off, got to say that this  is a great resource =)

I'm a few months shy of being 28, and had my first definate seizure in Janurary of this year. I then had another seizure on May 29th which is what prompted me to seek medical attention. I've had CT Scans, an MRI, and a normal as well as a sleep deprived EEG and am still to see my doctor about the sleep deprived EEG and MRI which I had recently. I have only seen a specialist once so far and he told me that he thought it was epilepsy originating in the temporal lobe. While I was shocked, there was a link as my father had been diagnosed with epilepsy when he was 42, although he would become unconcious during his seizures where as I've been reasonably aware of what's going on during both of mine.

My Story

Summary of my story to date is that when I had my first seizure I was sick at the time with the flu and was positive that I was suffering hallucinations as a result of the flu medicine as the seizure started about 20~30 minutes after I had taken it. As I had never experienced anything remotely like this before there was no doubt in my mind at the time that what I had experienced was as a result of the flu medicine so i didn't do anything about it. 4 months later while entering the local shopping center to get my hair cut I got a strange feeling of being detached from reality, I then encounted what best could be described as a flashback (although I don't take any drugs). I recognised the feelings straight away, but as I was positive the first instance was caused by some dodgy medicine I decided to keep going.

About 30 odd minutes later, just as I was finishing getting my haircut, I had another one, and then another, but so much more intense this time. Up until then I had been able to "control" my actions and behaviour by concentrating and had been able to keep myself in the real world capable of holding conversations and doing things while they were happening. Not this time. My hairdresser stopped mid cut ans said, "you don't look too good", and to be honest I was close to fainting as one of the most intense episodes that made up my seizures had just past. Still I persisted on going on, and finished getting my hair cut. The ladies at the haridressers looked after me and got me a cool drink and something to eat, and I did feel better when my girlfriend came to pick me up. We left the shopping center and I explained to my girlfriend what had been happening, and I was just hoping that I had seen the last. No luck, I had had another episode before we left the shopping center car park. Anyway, to cut a long story short (or shorter at least) the episodes increased in frequency so that where happening once every few minutes, so we though it was time to take myself to the emergency room at hospital.

My Seizures

My seizures are uncommon to everyone I have spoken to that has epilepsy. This only constitutes a handful of people so I won't draw too much from it. Both my seizures have consisted of many small episodes of the same basic structure that have increased both in intensity and frequency until I reached what I called the epileptic climax. After that they seemed to decrease in frequency and intensity until they had gone altogether, leaving me very tired and exhausted.

The episodes that made up my seizures consisted firstly a strange feeling of being detached from reality, then a jumble of images, both moving (like a film) and still going through my head that I had no control over what so ever, and I could not distinguish if these were actual memories of things I had done, things I had dreamt, imagined or had seen on some TV show. It doesn't sound that bad, but the fact I had no control made it quite an unpleasant experience. I can't even remember what they were exactly, just that none of them were violent or grotesque (my doc asked me this so I thought I'd put it in), what I do remember is that they all felt somewhat familar to me, like a dream or a distant memory that you couldn't quite place. Once this hallucination stopped a feeling of falling followed along with dry reaching, head spins, sweating and generally feeling quite faint. All this lasted as best as I could tell about 30 seconds to a minute each. Each seizure lasted several hours and consisted of dozens of these individual episodes, the first lasted about 5 hours, and the second lasted about 8 hours. Apart from the most intense episodes during my second seizure I was still able to do everything as I normally could if I concentrated, although I was feeling quie uncomfortable. Another constant feeling I have only had as far as I can remember since my first seizure is a constant tired feeling behind, and just below my eyes. A good sleep seems to lessen this a little, but half an hour into my day and the discomfort is back there again. I have not seen this last feeling described in any of the epilepsy literature II have read to date.

My Environment At The Time

During my first seizure I was unemployed, and was spending excessive amounts of time infront of my CRT based computer monitor. When I had my second seizure I was actually employed, but being a systems administrator I was again spending huge amounts of time infront of a CRT based computer monitor. I'm talking between 10 and 14 hours a day, and geberally no less than 3 or 4, even on the weekend.

Could Seizures Be Induced By CRT Monitors

I never made the connection at first, as being told you have epilepsy and hearing about how it is going to change your life is quite a bit to take in at first. The idea actually came to me when having my first EEG when I had the flashing light stuck in my face. CRT monitors operate in a very similar fashion. They manipulate three electron beams (red, green, blue) in a single stream, and effectively paint the image we see from side to side, one line at a time. An entire screen is usually painted at a minimum of 60Hz (60 times a second) on modern monitors, but a strobing/flashing effect can still be seen to the human eye at this speed. I usually try and keep this refresh rate at or above 85Hz (85 times a second). Even though at a higher frequency, this strobing effect is still there.

Anyway, the one thing that I have been able to draw from both my seizures is that I was using computers excessively during these periods. I also suspect that this is the reason for the discomfort behind the eyes (no big suprises there I think). My thought is that in my case that my seizures may well have been induced by this excessive use, and wondered if anyone else working with computers a lot could draw any parallels with my symptoms. Even though I am yet to do any serious research, or even ask my secialist about it, I think I am going to get my CRT monitors both at work and at home replaced with LCD monitors and make some adjustments to my lifestle so that I am not spending anymore than 10 hours a day (for a start) infront of them. When it comes to my peepers, I 'm just not prepared to take any chances.