allyann posted here about not being able to read books, but she can read on a screen.
@allyann What happens when you try to read a book, or anything on paper?
For almost a year I haven't been able to read anything on paper but I can read on screen (if the screen is dim, with light text on a dark background/high contrast).
When I try to read something on paper I feel nauseous, get a headache, poor balance, difficulty speaking, jaw popping, irritability, fatigue and increased brain-fog. All symptoms can last for 24 hours. Symptom severity increases the longer I try to read but can arise just from reading a few paragraphs.
The tipping point for not being able to read on paper was overdoing it last January. I read far more than usual over a period of three days. After that my ability to read on paper was "broken".
The little that I've turned up in researching this problem hints at neurological kindling and some kind of partial seizure (maybe a type of reflex seizure.)
From Wikipedia:
"Kindling is a commonly used model for the development of seizures and epilepsy in which the duration and behavioral involvement of induced seizures increases after seizures are induced repeatedly."
I've read elsewhere that CFS can reduce the seizure threshold. I'm wondering if reading too long on paper was inducing mild partial seizures that lead to fatigue. Reading for an extended period may have lead to a kindling reaction and hypersensitivity to reading on paper.
I was once told that reading on screen involves more areas of the brain than reading on paper. Maybe these other areas of the brain are compensating for partial seizures and allowing for normal reading on screen? Or maybe it has something to do with Sensory Gating malfunctioning in a very specific way. (@Hip might have some insight here.)
Can you read on screen but not on paper? Or maybe the opposite? What kind of reaction do you have?
Here is a similar thread about fatigue when reading on screen vs. paper.
@allyann What happens when you try to read a book, or anything on paper?
For almost a year I haven't been able to read anything on paper but I can read on screen (if the screen is dim, with light text on a dark background/high contrast).
When I try to read something on paper I feel nauseous, get a headache, poor balance, difficulty speaking, jaw popping, irritability, fatigue and increased brain-fog. All symptoms can last for 24 hours. Symptom severity increases the longer I try to read but can arise just from reading a few paragraphs.
The tipping point for not being able to read on paper was overdoing it last January. I read far more than usual over a period of three days. After that my ability to read on paper was "broken".
The little that I've turned up in researching this problem hints at neurological kindling and some kind of partial seizure (maybe a type of reflex seizure.)
From Wikipedia:
"Kindling is a commonly used model for the development of seizures and epilepsy in which the duration and behavioral involvement of induced seizures increases after seizures are induced repeatedly."
I've read elsewhere that CFS can reduce the seizure threshold. I'm wondering if reading too long on paper was inducing mild partial seizures that lead to fatigue. Reading for an extended period may have lead to a kindling reaction and hypersensitivity to reading on paper.
I was once told that reading on screen involves more areas of the brain than reading on paper. Maybe these other areas of the brain are compensating for partial seizures and allowing for normal reading on screen? Or maybe it has something to do with Sensory Gating malfunctioning in a very specific way. (@Hip might have some insight here.)
Can you read on screen but not on paper? Or maybe the opposite? What kind of reaction do you have?
Here is a similar thread about fatigue when reading on screen vs. paper.