Going from Bad to Worse

Today was aitch-ee-double-hockey-sticks.

My migraines have ramped up in the past two days, and I had to leave the office early today. I did not, however, just climb into bed and pull the pillow over my head (well, not for very long). We have a deadline tomorrow afternoon, consarnit, and I'm not going to be the reason we miss that deadline!

I've figured out that bright light can trigger a new migraine or worsen one I already have. The fact that the office in which I work is brilliantly lit by fluorescent lights at all hours of the day does nothing to help, either. Even if I arrive at work migraine-free, by the time I've been there one hour, I have a migraine.

Blarg.

I was discussing this with my sainted mother a couple of days ago (Sunday?) and she mentioned that one of her students wears special glasses at school because the lights bother him. So, today, while I waited for my Photoshop files to process, and for my SketchUp shadows to render, I researched glasses that are specifically made for migraineurs and migraineuses, such as myself.

As soon as I buy a pair of glasses for the purpose, I will be seeing life through rose-colored glasses. The most successful type of lens has a special coating, developed by the Moran Eye Center in Utah, and they'll coat almost any type of glasses for $35.

That's pretty darned cheap, and they can do a light coating or a very thick coating.

I'll have to buy glasses, though, because I don't want to put it on my prescription glasses.

I'm blind as a bat, so I really should be able to maneuver using echolocation, by now, but I guess I'm slow to evolve. Heh.

It appears that the problem most migraineurs have with photophobia (lit. fear of light but in medical terms just sensitivity to light) is caused by blue-green light, and so, by adding this special rosy pink coating, those wavelengths are cancelled out.

Fascinating, I think.

Or, I could buy ready-made glasses, specifically designed for the fashion-savvy migraineuse. This is what all the chicest migraineuses will be wearing this summer:

I don't know about the pret-a-porter migraine shades, though. I don't want people to think I'm so cool that I can wear sunglasses all day. I'm afraid they'll feel inferior and it will lead to a drop in efficiency.

You might be wondering how it's possible that I'm on the computer at home, since light hurts my eyes so much, right now. Simple answer: Flux.

Not as in "flux capacitor" but as in "a computer program that alters the appearance of your screen to cancel out the bluish light so your body recognizes that it's nighttime." My BIL introduced the program to me, and it's helped with eyestrain (and migraines!) immensely.

Link to get it yourself: http://stereopsis.com/flux/