graphic designer dealing with screen induced nausea/dizziess
Posted: 24 Dec 2023, 21:59
Hey all, I'm a graphic designer struggling really badly with screen induced motion sickness and migraines, and I'm hoping someone here might have some idea of what could be going on, or advise me. This seriously impacts my ability to work, and has been going on for almost three months now. I'm pretty freaked out by the whole thing, and I'm really desperate for advice or a solution. I will throw whatever amount of money necessary at a monitor I can use that won't make me sick and will allow me to get back to work.
The computer I was previously using was a 15 inch 2016 MacBook Pro. I could use this computer for 10 hours straight no problem on full brightness in light mode without even the slightest hint of dizziness, but it's old and too slow now to actually be usable as a work computer. I bought a 14 inch M1 Max MacBook Pro and noticed it was triggering a feeling of intense motion sickness as well as sometimes triggering a migraine without motion sickness, or triggering both. I thought maybe it was the switch from 15 inches to 14 inches, so I returned the 14 inch and got the 16 inch M1 Max and had the same issue. I saw some people suggest the issue with the newer Macbook Pros was the PWM and that the M2 MacBook Air doesn't use PWM, but that also caused the same issue for me (thought the air was fine hooked up to a Samsung AM702 32" monitor my friend let me borrow). When the M3 MacBook Pro came out I tried that one (16 inch M3 Max) as well hoping the screen might be better, but I've had the same issue. (I was in the return window for all the computers)
I've tried blue light blocking glasses (no difference), I tried a privacy screen (made seeing harder), I tried night mode (no help), the one thing that seems to help mildly is changing the color temperature, but that also means I have inaccurate colors which will impact my work.
I've also tried using the program iris and tried turning off font smoothing which doesn't seem to have helped. I've turned the brightness down which doesn't solve things. I bought 25% FL-41 glasses and they help to some extent, but they don't solve the problem. I've installed a program that forces me to take a break every 20 minutes, which hasn't really helped, but I'm still doing it on the advice of my neuro-opthamologist.
I saw my neurologist because the motion sickness was leading to migraines, and he was stumped. He sent me to a neuro-opthamologist who diagnosed me with convergence insufficiency and gave me eye exercises to do which I have been doing religiously. I am hesitant to assume the convergence insufficiency is the exact cause of the issue though, given that my old computer is still fine and causes no problems. He also suggested vistibular-ocular rehab which I told him I had already started. I'm currently working with the VOR physical therapist. Currently the motion sickness is significantly worse than the migraines, though the motion sickness also often leads to a migraine.
I finally gave up on the laptops and got a Mac Studio instead with the BenQ PD2705U 27" monitor, which has been pretty awful so far. What I've noticed is working on retouching photos in photoshop causes some mild discomfort but isn't terrible, same with watching a TV show. But typing on this forum, reading back what I'm writing, and web browsing is an absolutely nauseating nightmare. A friend loaned me a monitor of his Samsung AM702 32" which was fine with the MacBook Air, but is somewhat nauseating on the Mac Studio and MacBook Pro. I have absolutely no idea what the specific difference is between the air and pro/studio that would make the same monitor behave differently. Is this a graphics card thing? The MacBook Air isn't the ideal answer for me because the maxed out one is still a bit underpowered for some of the work I do.
I've just ordered an OLED monitor (this is the one my friend suggested for testing and is the one I got: LG - UltraGear 27" OLED QHD 240Hz 0.03ms FreeSync and NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatible Gaming Monitor with HDR10) which should arrive next week, so we'll see how I react to that one. I've also ordered one of those EmeTerm anti-nausea bands in the hopes that it might help. I've tried ginger pills and they help a little but it doesn't make it mild enough to effectively be able to get work done.
I'm going to test the BenQ monitor with my old laptop to make sure the issue is definitely the monitor (the hard thing is, once I end up with the motion sickness, it tends to carry over and things that don't normally make me dizzy like scrolling on my phone, suddenly become an issue, so I have to test fresh each day, and have to do that all within the return window of the different monitors and computers).
I have no idea what's going on. I don't know if the issue has something to do with the Mac computers themselves, if the issue is the monitors, or what. All I know is I NEED a new computer for work, ideally I would like to stay within the Mac ecosystem given that I haven't used a PC since I was 13 and my industry generally expects you to be on a Mac. Right now I feel like I'm losing my mind, and can't even compose an email without getting nauseous and ending up with an awful floaty feeling. I'm genuinely terrified of what this means for my career and if anyone could advise me, I would deeply appreciate it.
Thank you kindly and happy holidays!!
Edit: adding more info/summarize
Screens I know are fine:
2016 15” MacBook Pro
iPhone 12 mini
iPad Pro 12.9 inch 3rd generation
Wacom Cintiq 16” creative pen display
Screens that give me trouble:
MacBook Pro M1 Max 14” and 16”
MacBook Air M2 15”
Samsung AM702 32" (Problematic with the MacBook Pro M3 Mac and Mac Studio M2 Max, but okay with the M2 MacBook Air)
BenQ PD2705U 27"
I also forgot to mention I tried lowering the refresh rate on the MacBook Pro but that didn’t solve the issue. I’m genuinely deeply confused!
The computer I was previously using was a 15 inch 2016 MacBook Pro. I could use this computer for 10 hours straight no problem on full brightness in light mode without even the slightest hint of dizziness, but it's old and too slow now to actually be usable as a work computer. I bought a 14 inch M1 Max MacBook Pro and noticed it was triggering a feeling of intense motion sickness as well as sometimes triggering a migraine without motion sickness, or triggering both. I thought maybe it was the switch from 15 inches to 14 inches, so I returned the 14 inch and got the 16 inch M1 Max and had the same issue. I saw some people suggest the issue with the newer Macbook Pros was the PWM and that the M2 MacBook Air doesn't use PWM, but that also caused the same issue for me (thought the air was fine hooked up to a Samsung AM702 32" monitor my friend let me borrow). When the M3 MacBook Pro came out I tried that one (16 inch M3 Max) as well hoping the screen might be better, but I've had the same issue. (I was in the return window for all the computers)
I've tried blue light blocking glasses (no difference), I tried a privacy screen (made seeing harder), I tried night mode (no help), the one thing that seems to help mildly is changing the color temperature, but that also means I have inaccurate colors which will impact my work.
I've also tried using the program iris and tried turning off font smoothing which doesn't seem to have helped. I've turned the brightness down which doesn't solve things. I bought 25% FL-41 glasses and they help to some extent, but they don't solve the problem. I've installed a program that forces me to take a break every 20 minutes, which hasn't really helped, but I'm still doing it on the advice of my neuro-opthamologist.
I saw my neurologist because the motion sickness was leading to migraines, and he was stumped. He sent me to a neuro-opthamologist who diagnosed me with convergence insufficiency and gave me eye exercises to do which I have been doing religiously. I am hesitant to assume the convergence insufficiency is the exact cause of the issue though, given that my old computer is still fine and causes no problems. He also suggested vistibular-ocular rehab which I told him I had already started. I'm currently working with the VOR physical therapist. Currently the motion sickness is significantly worse than the migraines, though the motion sickness also often leads to a migraine.
I finally gave up on the laptops and got a Mac Studio instead with the BenQ PD2705U 27" monitor, which has been pretty awful so far. What I've noticed is working on retouching photos in photoshop causes some mild discomfort but isn't terrible, same with watching a TV show. But typing on this forum, reading back what I'm writing, and web browsing is an absolutely nauseating nightmare. A friend loaned me a monitor of his Samsung AM702 32" which was fine with the MacBook Air, but is somewhat nauseating on the Mac Studio and MacBook Pro. I have absolutely no idea what the specific difference is between the air and pro/studio that would make the same monitor behave differently. Is this a graphics card thing? The MacBook Air isn't the ideal answer for me because the maxed out one is still a bit underpowered for some of the work I do.
I've just ordered an OLED monitor (this is the one my friend suggested for testing and is the one I got: LG - UltraGear 27" OLED QHD 240Hz 0.03ms FreeSync and NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatible Gaming Monitor with HDR10) which should arrive next week, so we'll see how I react to that one. I've also ordered one of those EmeTerm anti-nausea bands in the hopes that it might help. I've tried ginger pills and they help a little but it doesn't make it mild enough to effectively be able to get work done.
I'm going to test the BenQ monitor with my old laptop to make sure the issue is definitely the monitor (the hard thing is, once I end up with the motion sickness, it tends to carry over and things that don't normally make me dizzy like scrolling on my phone, suddenly become an issue, so I have to test fresh each day, and have to do that all within the return window of the different monitors and computers).
I have no idea what's going on. I don't know if the issue has something to do with the Mac computers themselves, if the issue is the monitors, or what. All I know is I NEED a new computer for work, ideally I would like to stay within the Mac ecosystem given that I haven't used a PC since I was 13 and my industry generally expects you to be on a Mac. Right now I feel like I'm losing my mind, and can't even compose an email without getting nauseous and ending up with an awful floaty feeling. I'm genuinely terrified of what this means for my career and if anyone could advise me, I would deeply appreciate it.
Thank you kindly and happy holidays!!
Edit: adding more info/summarize
Screens I know are fine:
2016 15” MacBook Pro
iPhone 12 mini
iPad Pro 12.9 inch 3rd generation
Wacom Cintiq 16” creative pen display
Screens that give me trouble:
MacBook Pro M1 Max 14” and 16”
MacBook Air M2 15”
Samsung AM702 32" (Problematic with the MacBook Pro M3 Mac and Mac Studio M2 Max, but okay with the M2 MacBook Air)
BenQ PD2705U 27"
I also forgot to mention I tried lowering the refresh rate on the MacBook Pro but that didn’t solve the issue. I’m genuinely deeply confused!