Trouble sleeping??? Welders??

MarsFab

MarsFab

Will work for money
Joined
Oct 24, 2007
Location
Harrisburg, NC
I guess this question is mainly directed at fellow welders but if anyone as any help or information I'd love to hear it.

So for about 7 or 8 years now occasionally I'll have a hard time going to sleep, at night expecially. When I close my eyes (even in a pitch black room) I see flashing lights. It's completely random no rythm or anything. I guess the best way to describe it would be to close your eyes and wave the lit screen of your cell phone in front of your face. It's more irritating than anything and I've always just managed to ignore it but it seems to be getting worse lately. I'm really having a hard time sleeping. Up to this point I've just written it off as nothing serious and thought I was just a little crazy. So I got home tonight and looked it up on the web thinking I'd find nothing because it was all in my imagination. To my suprise there are tons of folks with the same problem. They describe the same symptoms, and have said that it could be hundereds of different things from mild to really threatening. Some relate it to looking at bright lights all day or a computer screen which I do both A LOT. I just wonder if any of you guys have had any experience with it.

I plan to schedule an eye doctor appointment as soon as the holidays are over so I guess we'll see!
 
I've only really experienced the same thing on days when I've had mild arc-flash (no burnt retina kinda thing). What shade lense do you wear? I look at computer screens a lot, but I think more than anything it just degrades my eyesight, versus having anything happen when I close my eyes. If I'm on the torch with less than a shade 5 lense, my eyes will hurt too. That's mainly seeing spots though.
 
I don't know if this will help or not, but get some extra UV protection and see if that helps. I've got three layers when I'm welding. My helmet, my safety glasses, and my contacts. All are supposed to block UV rays, and my glasses and contacts are always in. I believe that as a result of that, I've NEVER experienced arc burn, and I've given myself plenty of opportunity. But I wear my safety glasses constantly at work, and I think that helps a lot.
 
I had a torn retina last year. Saw flashing lights in a dark room with my eyes closed. It can be pretty serious...get to an eye doc asap. My doc sent me next door to carolina eye (carolinaeye.com), and they got me in *immediately* and lasered it up. They didn't wait around.

Then again, if it's been going on 7 or 8 years...probably not.
 
A welding flash burn plain out sucks. I was doing some spot welding once and wasn't wearing a helmet/face shield. I just tried closing my eyes best I could. It wasn't good enough. I went home with my eyes watering and hurting horribly. I made it home after stopping at my (at that time) girlfriend's house about halfway home for some cold compresses on my eyes. I went to bed hoping it to be better in the morning. It wasn't. I couldn't hardly pry my eyes open because it felt like 40 grit sandpaper in my eyelids. I managed to call 911 only for them to tell me there really isn't anything I could do but to wait it out.

Never again.
 
when I use auto darkening welding helmets I have the same issue..

I now only use old style solid welding helmet that I have to flip down to weld..

no more issues..

I had laser surgery on my eyes many years ago and ever since my eyes are a lot more sensitive to light and the .0001 sec of that flash with auto darkening helmets was messing me up.
 
Thanks for all the responses guys. Kaiser is scaring me a little lol.

I guess I should have clarified this. I have had flash burn and I'm pretty good about protecting myself from it. I wear safety glasses any time I'm in a room with anyone else who's welding. I do try to wear glasses under my welding mask. I have different shade lenses with my different machines. I use a #10 with my MIG and a #12 or #14 with the TIG.

I'm really worried about this because I can't see a direct effect from welding. I can be on vacation and have not welded for more than a week and still have the same issue.
 
BRUISER said:
when I use auto darkening welding helmets I have the same issue..

I now only use old style solid welding helmet that I have to flip down to weld..

no more issues..

I had laser surgery on my eyes many years ago and ever since my eyes are a lot more sensitive to light and the .0001 sec of that flash with auto darkening helmets was messing me up.
Click to expand...


I haven't had any surgery on my eyes, but I have the same effect with an auto darkening helmet. I hate mine. I use old style wide view helmet.

I have flashed myself a few times and it sucks. Your situation sounds similar but different. I hope you find some relief from this soon Mars. If it was me I would see an eye doc. Even if they can't help it will ease your mind.
 
I don't weld a lot but when I do it seems like I'm stuck doing it for a few days.

Everything we do is MIG welded. I use an auto darkening hood. For some reason it really wears me out. The work welding doesn't seem to be very strenuous, at least no worse than assembly, but I'm exhausted when I get home. My eyes will feel pretty tired but never see any lights.
 
You could have a retinal tear. I have a partial tear in my right eye and will have flashing lights every once in a while. Wouldn't hurt to go she an eye doc. Theres a good one in concord near carolina mall where I went.
 
I have had the same symptoms for years just like you described. Mine started LONG before I ever tried welding or was around it. Started when I was younger (around 18-20) and i've had periods of it ever since. Been to the eye doctor before and I have nothing wrong with my eyes (20/18 vision in fact) and they didnt give me an indication of any issues I had. I wouldnt doubt that welding could have a serious effect on this. I would love to know if you find out anything about this because I have wondered about it for years.
 
I don't know if this will help anyone or not, but I had the same sort of problems when I started using an auto-darkening hood. It got to the point that I went back to using the old fashioned solid lens for a while. Then a friend of mine told me to adjust the sensitivity every time I used the auto-darkening hood, and also to re-adjust it whenever I moved (or turned) to a different location. I tried that and now I use my auto-darkening hood a lot more with no noticeable eye problems. Hope that helps. :)
 
I may try to go back to the old school helmet for a while and see if it helps any. I'll be getting an appointment with the doc asap. Now that I've realized this is a lot of my problem with not sleeping I've payed more attention to my symptoms so that I could explain it to the doc better when I go. It almost seems like my eyes a twitching too when they're closed. Maybe I've breathed in too many rotten JEEP fumes lol.
 
When you go to the eye doc, one question they will ask is "do you see flashing light in the dark, or at night when you close your eyes?" It's a common symptom of "normal" eye problems. If you had something serious going on, it would have revealed itself before the 8 year mark. Most importantly, be honest with the doc. Don't hide anything from him/her.
 
Yea I'm assuming it's nothing too bad. After 8 years and seemingly not any worse Hopefully it's nothing to worry about. It is only when my eyes are closed and only in a dark place, I'm assuming because my pupils are dilated from it being dark in the room already. I guess that makes them more sensitive.
 
BRUISER said:
when I use auto darkening welding helmets I have the same issue..

I now only use old style solid welding helmet that I have to flip down to weld..

no more issues..

I had laser surgery on my eyes many years ago and ever since my eyes are a lot more sensitive to light and the .0001 sec of that flash with auto darkening helmets was messing me up.
Click to expand...
This, ^^^^^^^^^^^^
And for those of you that don't know......
Been a pipe welder for 27 plus years.
Protect your eyes my friend,they do not grow back.
 
Wish I could share some better experience from 30 years of Stock Car building, but Im guessing the reason my eyes are so bad is from tacking cages and sheetmetal bodies and interiors together, for so long, without any helmet!

I never have noticed any difference in the fatigue to my eyes with the auto darkening. But, I run a 9 shade, (at almost max sensitivity) both in an auto dark and a fixed shade helmet. So I really have to flash myself pretty bad to get my eyes "full of sand"

That flashing you see is probably cosmic rays passing thru your head and hitting your retinas. Oh....wait...that was the Astronauts while in space!:rolleyes:
 
Hope you get some helpful news from the eye doc Chris. I don't have that problem, but after I started welding a lot I noticed my eyes pulsing, almost like they have a heartbeat. Not sure if that is a muscle twitch or something. It comes and goes like you describe, but is made worse by welding a lot.
 
The auto helmets do bring the suck at times but they just seem to leave my eyes feeling more tired. I tig and mig on the same shade and plasma with a tinted safety glasses except mirrored stainless.

The twitch and the flash symtoms have bothered me more when I'm stressed and are directly related to my blood pressure.

I have learned I suffer from Trigeminalneuralgia (spelling questionable). And flashing myself to much, stress, Blood pressure, and my teeth from dental work can all trigger one of my attacks. Doc put me on a need to use seizure medication.
 
Interesting.... I just read that blood pressure may cause this and I do have slightly high blood pressure lately.

I'm too young to be having this kinda crap happen! They say welding take years off your life and I started really young. Guess it's to be expected.
 
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