The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

Given the rash of "My eyes are sensitive to light!! I MUST be a vampire" posts we've had lately, I thought I would pop this little tid-bit up.



Q: My eyes are sore and bright light makes them water. It feels better when I wear sunglasses. Can you tell me what this could be?

A: Sounds like you have a few things going on with your eyes, so let’s try and figure it out. You say bright light makes your eyes water, while sunglasses help them feel better. These are big clues that you are experiencing a fairly common condition known as photophobia. This is a fancy term for light sensitivity or intolerance to light. There are different degrees of photophobia. Some people are sensitive only to sunlight, and others to any type of brightness, including fluorescent or incandescent light. When experiencing this sensitivity, folks may even notice some squinting or the need to close their eyes.

Even though light sensitivity may be a minor annoyance for many people, there is the possibility of it being triggered by an eye problem (corneal abrasion) or medical condition (meningitis) that causes eye pain, soreness and severe photophobia, even in very low-lighting conditions. There are several things your health-care professional may need to know to help determine the cause of your light sensitivity:

* How long has it been going on?
* Is the sensitivity constant or every now and then?
* Are dark glasses needed outside, inside or both?
* What makes it better or worse?
* Have your pupils recently been dilated with medications?
* Have you had exposure to chemicals, dust, pollen, sun or wind?
* Do you use any soaps, cosmetics or shampoo in or around your eyes?

This brings me to the part of your question relating to eye soreness. To better understand, it would be very helpful to know the following:

* When did the soreness begin?
* Is the pain or sore feeling in or around your eyes?
* Does it feel as if there is something in your eyes?
* Do you have other symptoms (fever, joint aches)?
* Do your eyes burn?
* Is the pain worse when you move your eyes?

It is important to know that your symptoms can run the gamut from minor to major concerns. For example, tired or sore eyes after a long period of working at your computer (eye strain) is minor and is not the type of pain needing urgent medical attention. However, it would be best to immediately call your eye specialist if your pain is severe, constant and includes any changes in your vision; if you need to wear sunglasses indoors; or if the photophobia is accompanied by fever, headaches, blurry vision or red eyes, as there may be a concern for meningitis.

Summing up, here’s what you need to know: People with lighter-colored eyes tend to be more sensitive to bright light, as are those taking certain medications (doxycycline, tetracycline, furosemide), so speak to your pharmacist or physician about medications that may cause photophobia. Dry eyes may cause your eyes to feel sore. Even though they are dry, the feeling of being watery (especially when exposed to bright light) may occur due to poorly spreading tears, or less of them.

When it comes to photophobia accompanied by eye soreness or pain, there are common eye concerns to consider. These include but aren’t limited to:

* uveitis (inflammation of the inner portion of the eye)
* iritis
* conjunctivitis (inflammation of the conjunctiva, which is the thin, clear membrane over the white part of the eye; the conjunctiva also lines the eyelids)
* contact-lens irritation or complication
* sunburn (yes, eyes can experience sun damage)
* refractive surgery
* migraines
* retinal detachment
* Sjogren’s Syndrome (inflammatory autoimmune disorder)
* burns to the eye (welder’s flash)
* a stye or chalazion (these can create eye pain and sensitivity as they grow)
* corneal ulcer
* a foreign body in the eye or irritation.

The symptom of light sensitivity may be your eyes’ way of buying time to heal from one of the conditions causing the eye soreness. Given your concern and combination of eye complaints, it is important to visit your family physician or eye-care specialist. It’s better to catch a problem early and to be reassured than to be shortsighted and let it fester.


http://health.msn.com/centers/eyecare/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100139781>1=8361

Yes, it does all end in a slow ride in a hearse.

Want to go for a walk?

No matter what he says, I was reading, not leaning, and it was already on it way down..

Photophobia, while an actual sensitivity to light, is seen more as a build up effect due to other eye illnesses. People with illnesses that cause a person to become photophobic tend to find the shelter of a dark room. You don't geneticly have photophobia, but you might have other genetic problems that cause you to act in a photophobic manner.

By time i am become more sensitive to the sun and paler in skin color

actually, I get blisters from the sun, never mind sunburn, If its sunny in January, I get blisters on my skin, and my eyes are always squinted lol I feel like a gopher half the time lol

My eyes water badly in heavy light and I scratch my skin till it bleeds when I'm out in bright light for too long.

Pleasent Nightmares, Rose (Blade)

like ladyraisha, my skin is paler and my eyes more sensitiva in mean the time that i change my habits... but there doesn´t mean anything about vampires... in principle..

I am very sensitive to light. Even the white lettering on this site makes my eyes hurt, and adds on to a headache, if I have one at the time.

Firstly, I want to thank you for posting this. It was very informative.

I personally, am sensitive to light, both in my eyes, and my skin. But, I do not contribute that one thing to my being a vampire, that would just be silly. I have a condition (that I can not remember the medical name for) that causes the pigmentation to be so light on my retina that it causes health problems. If I do not wear ultraviolet protective sunglasses, the sunlight can actually cause me to go blind. I have to be very careful. That being said, the doctor said that even with that condition, my eyes shouldn't be AS sensitive as they are. Go figure. My skin is very pale, and I burn very quickly. So, couple those two facts in with all the other fun stuff (like always needing to find sources of energy besides food I.E. blood or psychic energy), and after a lot of research, I can finally say with definity that I am a vampire. *smiles* yay for me!

My skin is somewhat sensitive to the sun. It feels like it's burning after a while of exposure, as well as itching at the same time. I tend to avoid being in the sun, so it will not irritate me.

I started to have photophobia when I started to get my medecine almost 3 years ago. Now its less then it was cause I have less medication to take but it still is, sad part is that I use to love looking ouside and now unless I have sunglassess I tend to feel discomfort in my eyes, with time I manage to be able to go and not worry about it much, latetly its cool tho cuase my medication is lower to a point where I can go outside even if my skin also hurts cause of the sun, I can still make it and live a rather normal life, but sometimes I can,t keep my eyes open cause the sun hurts them to much and as for inside, well this use to be a proble big tme unable to have light on without glasses I look pretty stupid but now its okay as long as I don,t look to it but rather down its okay.

My eyes range in colour from grey, to blue, to purple. I have enlarged pupils which at tims nearly consume what ever colour my iris has until my yes are nearly black.
I have near flawless night vision and have no trouble seeing things in twilight either.
Per-photosensitivity the sun light often times sends me into a deep near REM type sleep with in a few minutes of exposure. I have very pale skin, just look at my pic.

I can not go outside with out some from of eye protection and if I am forced to the pain is rather intense.

Just some thoughts for you to ponder.

i wont let anyone take my pic, the whole thing about it takin parts of your soul away, rings too much of a bell for me

i have dark brown eyes that are slightly photosensitive (says my optition). bright sunlight is intolerable - i can barely see, and soon get a bliding headache - however, i can see in he dark a lot better than most people. not so well now i'm getting older, but my night vision was quite astounding when i was young. people also commented that my eyes look animal-like in darkened places.

i rarely go out without a pair of sunshades, and it could be argued that my aversion to sunlight has caused my eyes to become more sensitive to light. all i know is that i have found sunlight uncomfortable to the point of giving me headache since i was a small child. fortunately, i live in the UK, so its not usually a problem. (we dont get a lot of sunlight here)

Apparently my eyes are light sensitive... that's what my optomitrist said.
I can't stand looking at the flash on cameras... it hurts my eyes.

Everyone's eyes are sensitive to the flash on a camera. I know that the flash will cause a mild headache, and so will sunlight.

artificial light is not so bad for me - though i prefer a dimmer light. straying from the subject just a little - i am allergic to garlic. i love the taste, but it really upsets my stomach quite badly. people joke about it - but its a big problem these days as they tend to add garlic to almost everything.

I suffer Migraines. When I have one I can say that any light is very painful. That is as close to photosensitivity I come.

I have heard of many Albinos that are very sensitive to light. They are often required to wear sunglasses in the house.

As more often then not, the lights are to bright for them.

Artificial light isn't too bad, depends on how bright it is

i would say i m fairly light sensitve i have to have the brightness of my monitor turned low i hate day light detest sunlight and even at night driving in teh dark hurts when other car headlights shine in my eyes

I had surgery on my eyes several years ago...and now my eyes are more sensitive to light...I also burn easily....I love the sun for its warmth, but it kills me sometimes.

I have been sensetive to the light ever since I was little... It wasnt until recently that I started to become allergic to the sun, it is not bad but it continues to develope as I grow older... The dark is my haven.

If direct contact to sun makes you sneeze its Photic allergies, or photic sneezing, it affects approximatly 20% of the population and gets you banned from flying in the airforce. If this allergy is accompanied by a massive thirst you may be Sanguine. In both cases you need more Iron in your blood. Eat rare steak and red meats, or supplements are available. Consult your doctor. Many Vampire enthusiasts will drink blood to help this, but ther are many safer alternatives available out there.

Ther are so many things that can cause sensitivity to the sunlight or other lights.
Heredity, eye color, medications etc. Hope you find yours.
BLESSED BE

I was not sensitive to the sun untill my eyes got sunburned, now I have to wear subglasses in bright light or I can hardly see at all.

I am very sensitive to sunlight I used 2 have photosensitive epilepsy when i was younger but have grown out of it now although i do still get very bad migraines as well as having very strange pupils which do not react to light as they ordinarily should. i have 2 wear tinted glasses so that it reduces the amount of glare I get and now i have transitional lenses so they change in whatever light i am in

i am really sensitive to light! it hurts my eyes, especially if i walk outside durng the day! i tend to keep the lights off when im inside, but someone always comes in and turns them on, and i have to cover my eyes!

My eyes are sensitive to all light some more so than others but what really kills me is the sunlight. I step outside and I have an immediate migrain, notice I said migrain not headache, and these migraines cause my nose to bleed which last I heard was a sighn of a brain tumor. Well have been to docs all of them are unsure as to why the migrains are that quick in forming or why they make my nose bleed and the eye docs can't explain it either closetes they have gotten is light sensitivity. The sun just makes my skin itch and I begin to develop these little red dots on the exposed skin, they itch and burn and look like little needle marks. I used to have them alot as a kid but I was always forced to play outside so I adapted to the sun and now I can tan and not break out as much. Skin still itches though. When I enter a dark room from a light room I can feel the difference you could blind fold me and have everything in the room the same including the temp and I would still know.

Thank you Alexziq - When i was a schoolboy, bright sunlight always brought on sneezing, and i never knew why. My optician casually said my eyes are a little too photosensitive, but did not elaborate on this. yes - i do feel thirsty constantly - which i just atributed to IBS, but it seems you may be onto something with the iron deficiency, as both my mother and grandmother have been diagnosed with this.

Like everyone else, I have light sensitivity. I would classify mine as extreme but I also have a lot of other eye problems and I think it's just another intense irritant. I'm also extremely nearsighted, dyslexic and I have bad astigmatism. While I do have photophobia, I don't contribute it to being a vampire so much as another eye problem building on all my other ones.

My eyes are very sensitive to light and especially florescent lights... they are hard on your eyes and they cause me to get headaches if in/under them too long

In very bright places, i have some probs in keeping my eyes open...or even in sunny days...

My eyes are very sensitive to the Bright sunlight and also Florecent lights, I wear sunglasses alot in the sumer and extreme winter when it snows...weird I know yet when it snows it makes the outside brighter to me and bothers my eyes