If that’s the case I’ll feel dumb for keeping this phone even if I’m leaning in that direction. I do still get headaches and throbbing behind my eyes, but it’s significantly reduced from iPhone X and this phone is dramatically better than iPhone SE.
Admittedly I didn’t give iPhone 13 Pro the same chance that I did to iPhone 13 Mini. Their rates are supposedly the same, although they appear different on slo-mo camera as does iPhone 13. I may still give iPhone 13 a try since a hypothetical additional 20% reduction in headaches could be enough to push me over the edge.
I suppose I can deal with the occasional persistent headaches after use that are still there at a fraction of the intensity of past OLED iPhones. I’m more concerned with potential long-term implications if there are any.
I’m starting to get worried about you, friend. I hope it “just” stays at headaches.
Sigh. My husband and I have been in a very bad stretch for the last few years. His job has gotten more consuming while our parents have gotten older with very demanding needs, while we are hitting smack into middle age and have developed health problems ourselves, like his hypertension and my autoimmune condition. And we have kids and pets who need medical appointments on top of everything else kids and pets need.
I’m in the middle of this situation right now with my dad bouncing around various hospitals and having to care for my mother in her home as she recovers from a surgery. The commute is awful and leaves us very little time to manage our own business.
Then Covid had to complicate everything. I’m saying all this to explain how incredibly difficult it’s been and is currently actively being to track down what’s going on with MY health right now. When I first started having seizures a few years ago when menopause started, I had monitors to wear and CT scans and dye contrast and regular MRI’s and every kind of test the neurologist could order. Nothing wrong was found structurally. My body chemistry was tested as well and was fine.
My friend who has MS says the tests I had should have revealed if I have MS. What I was diagnosed with was atypical migraine. Not even epilepsy. I did get a second opinion and the verdict was the same. It was not just one neurologist looking at me.
So I’m holding on to hope that’s still holding true because I have zero option of seeing a doctor right now. I wish I could.
The past couple of days I’ve lost the ability to speak normally, at times. As you can see, I can type just fine. However I can not write in longhand and I can’t express communication of this level verbally at various times of day. That’s actually nothing new for my condition. Which is why I’m not freaking out.
What is worse than usual is that I tried to walk into my laundry room two days ago and my legs simply ceased to exist for my brain and I had to stand there and wait for the connection to be reestablished. But I’ve had shadows of that sort of issue before.
The trigger for all of this the last few days seems to have been the weather! We had two different winter storm systems move in. Every one of my friends who suffers traditional migraines has had horrible headaches. I don’t usually experience the pain they do but I get what feels like an electrical storm in my brain.
By all rights, I should still be seeing a doctor about this, but my attempts to see a doctor about my autoimmune condition flaring up met with a frustrating several hours at urgent care and one consultation with Teladoc. I never even made it to see my opthamologist or my regular doctor as Covid has dramatically changed their accessibility. I couldn’t even get my dad in to his doctor until his situation became a medical emergency! Otherwise his regular appointment is still a month away!
So I’m saying all this without really knowing for sure what’s going on with me medically, but basing it on what I do know, this is possibly how debilitating a migraine condition can become. Because I did used to get the headaches, and this is what it’s morphed into over the years. Do you want to risk this happening for yourself?
We have a MacRumors forum member here who had told us a year or two ago that his balance problems that were caused by pwm apparently now are chronic and permanent. I believed him but, I didn’t think anything so extreme could happen to me. Now I do, because it seems to be happening. When I had my 11 Pro I didn’t have any visual problems but the months I was using it I fell down and dropped things constantly, which is why my family bought me the iPhone SE2. I fell down our stairs twice and busted up my leg pretty good. I told my doctor about all this and he just called me clumsy! Never during that time did I have typical pwm issues, but when I got rid of that phone I stopped falling and dropping things!
A lot of people who read this thread will look at some of the claims we make and scoff. And that’s fine. I can’t prove iPhones have made me worse. As I said, recently it’s been weather pressure systems triggering my problems. But I can’t say this constant subjecting of myself to a known stressor is of any help, either.
I get my senses assaulted enough from lighting and nature. So naturally I question why I would add to that by choice.
I decided enough was enough. I’m not putting myself through this anymore. I lived just fine a few years ago when iPhone 4 was state of the art. What my iPhone 11 can do is still wondrous.
So when Tim Cook gets on the stage and introduces iPhone 14 and tries to tell me how wonderful it is and how it’s the best iPhone ever made, I am going to remember how iPhone 13 Pro gave me vertigo and even my adorable 13 mini gave me the feeling of being punched in the eye socket until I “got used to it” and I’m going to tell him I’m just fine with my iPhone 11, thanks.
I just read what I said about my 13 mini. If I had dated a guy who punched me in the face, would I stay with him hoping I’d eventually get used to it? That the swelling would eventually make me numb so it would hurt less? Lol no, I’d yeet him to the next county!
I’m so sorry for this long meandering post. This is the first time I’ve articulated “my journey” even to myself. The 13 Pro was my wake up call. So much money and excitement I spent on that thing. I could just kick myself now.
I’ve loved technology all my life. The iPhone form factor is basically all my childhood dreams come true. It’s not easy to jump off the hype train. But I’m getting off of it, finally. It’s fun reading the rumors but it doesn’t feel the same for me anymore. Even on the Android side of it, I’m wary. I use the OLED on my Pixel 6 Pro sparingly.
And that’s okay. There’s a whole wide beautiful world out there. I gotta stop doing stuff to myself that keeps me from getting fully out into it and living it. Mindfulness isn’t some app on my phone or watch. It’s watching a bird build a nest.
You have to do what you feel you need to do, Michael. But please don’t let this stuff damage you permanently, chronically. You’ve been a kind and thoughtful presence here and I would hate for anything bad to happen to you. I frankly think subjecting yourself to headaches is bad. But it’s not my place to make this decision for you. I can only use myself as a cautionary tale.
I do like the feeling of connection to other people that technology has given me. I’m too busy and frazzled to sit down with people for coffee anymore. So my time on this forum feels meaningful and fulfilling. But there has to be a way to stay connected without damaging myself. For now, it’s my iPhone 11 but someday I may have to find another option. We have blind MacRumors members. So there apparently are options I should investigate to stay connected without assaulting my senses this way.
