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Help......Seizures and Photosensitivity
Wed, 04/11/2007 - 15:39 Hi all, I am new to the forum here. Temporal lobe epilepsy with partial/complex seizures diagnosed in 1993.
I have many seizure triggers but one in particular for me is photosensitivy and that is not to light alone. Things going around such as fans, moving items on a tv screen, moving down 4 lane highways with cars flying past or us passing. (no i do not drive) etc.
My husband and i built a house on 55 acres of woods in a very rural area to limit my enviromental triggers of noises and flashing lights etc.
Recently there has been a push in our area (near the highest point in Ohio) to establish wind farms. These 500 ft towers will be much higher than the average 100 ft trees in the woods and will have flashing lights on the top. Attached to the towers will be 3 26 ft. long white blades that will turn as a windmill would. The sun glinting on these blades will also cause a flashing light type visual effect with each turn. The windpower company wishes to install approximately 200 in the area we live. Farmers are eager to lease ground to them. They even wanted some of our ground.
DOES ANY ONE HERE HAVE PHOTOSENSITIVE SEIZURE TRIGGERS? WHAT IS YOUR EXPERIENCE? DOES ANY ONE HERE LIVE NEAR A WIND FARM? HAVE THEY CAUSED PROBLEMS FOR YOU?
If you have any information, please let me know. I thank you in advance for any consideration you give to me.
Thank you, Maryann Have a seizure free day and live it to the fullest.
Re: Help......Seizures and Photosensitivity
Submitted by autumn18 on Wed, 2007-04-11 - 19:00
Hi Maryann, I'm from a small 1,600 people community in Utah called Panguitch. I'm 18 yrs old but maybe I could help you out some. I live in the city limits and about 2 miles east out of town is where our airport sits. I can't look at that light or any other flashing, or fast blinking light (mainly strobe, and black lights). So I kinda feel your pain. I still drive and I'm watching out for my triggers. I do know when I might have one though. It has been rough for me being the only one in my HS that has them. What a shock for the student and classmates it was when I had one, but what a huge embarrassment it was for me to have the two seizures I did at school. I had one in PE as a Freshmen and one in English as a Junior. My faculty at Panguitch HS now know how to handle anyone in the school who could have one. I trained them last year for my FCCLA project and also the whole community now knows too!!! So this has had an impact not only on my life and my family’s but also my community as well. I started having them when I was a 19 month old baby stopped when I turned 3 yrs old and then when I turned 11 they came back. I had one at a community baseball league game, all star basketball game (coming off the court for a time out), and right when I got home from a volleyball practice. So it practically ruined my “sports dream†for HS. I was a cheerleader for all 4 yrs and a dance for 2 yrs. I quit the dancing for three reasons; A.) 5 am is way too early and not enough sleep for me when I go to bed at 10. B.) I was forced to do it so I could be a cheerleader. and C.) All the fancy turns and moves got me to the point were I could of had one at anytime during practice, or the competitions. When I am on my regular schedule I go 5 to 6 months before I have one, now I am on the schedule that I might not have any more until I’m pregnant which I hope doesn’t really happen. How often do you have them? Why do they want to put in these windmills? Are they going to be all around your house? How do you plan to avoid them? The only thing I can even think of is a canvass shade that you pull down to keep out sunlight. Then during the day you can control how much gets in. I don’t know what else to tell you about keeping it out. Well I have to get to work, have a seizure, unstressful, day!! And remember that “Normal is just a setting on a washing machine†and that we with Epilepsy are far from normal!!!!! (; Autumn ;)