Television Woes

Most days I can't watch TV past a certain time of day, usually 8 or 9pm. Especially but not exclusively if I've watched some during the day. Time at computer screens also seems to impact on my ability to cope with the television.

This is a difficult aspect of M.E. to explain. Most people sit down, turn the television on and watch a good program classing it as a restful and relaxing activity. But when you have M.E. that isn't the case, in fact sometimes it can hurt to have the TV on.

And this is what I am finding at the time of writing. It reaches a certain point in the day, well more accurately evening, and I can't stand having the television on. It physically hurts my eyes and head to watch it, or even be in the same room with it on. It's almost like my brain can't cope with the moving images and flashing lights that come with having the television on, in short it makes me feel a lot worse and so I avoid it.

This means the online catch up services have a steady demand from me during the day as I catch up with the shows I want to see but am physically unable to watch in the evenings. You see for some reason, seemingly unknown to me, I can cope with the TV during daylight hours. However once it starts getting late and the light changes it's a different story. Whether it is the lighting; natural light making it easier to cope with the flashing lights/images of the TV or whether I just reach a point of exhaustion which means my brain literally just can't cope with it I don't know, I can only guess.

I'm currently awaiting new glasses, adjusted for my astigmatism, and I'm hoping they might help; perhaps it's just my eyes having to work harder and getting tired that causes the problem. Like I say I really don't know what the cause is, I just know it's immensely frustrating not just for me but also for my family, since I have to leave the room most nights if they have the TV on past a certain time, other nights I can cope. It all seems to depend on what I've done that day and how long the program is on for.

Why am I writing this post? In an attempt to explain something I'm facing everyday, to make people more aware of every aspect of M.E. even the one's which seem most unusual and difficult to explain.