Flashing lights

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summerf

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I'm not photosensitive - no seizure reaction at all on my EEGs to lights. However, I feel weird/sick/dizzy when there are flashing lights, and I have to look away or close my eyes. Same thing when I see things like carousels or other fair rides that go in circles. I don't ride any of them because they make me sick, but I can't even watch my kids ride them.

Are these things related to epilepsy, or are these things just related to general motion sickness? Sometimes I have a hard time knowing what's what in my life. :)
 
Hard to know for sure. Light sensitivity can also be a problem for folks who get migraines, so even without it being a seizure trigger, it could lie on a spectrum of "irritants" to your brain and body.

It could indicate a heightened sensitivity that may or may not develop into epilepsy. Prior to my first seizures I would get occasional migraine aura (but no headache) in response to flashing or dappled lights. Since developing epilepsy though, I haven't experienced that kind of aura at all, which makes me think that the light sensitivity may have been a "precursor" stage.
 
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