Peter is an office worker, working in an open plan office. But the fluorescent lighting system in his office causes him real problems. “I get very strange headaches, a fuzzy feeling in the left hand side of my head. It makes me disorientated and affects my memory.”
He has been prescribed the anti-epilepsy drug Tegretol for his symptoms, which he says helps slightly but he finds the side effects very severe.
“People can’t understand it at all. I have to wear a peaked cap and sunglasses at work and people think it’s a bit weird. No one understands that I am feeling rubbish some days because of the lighting.’
In his previous job, Peter was able to control his headaches by switching the lights off, but in the current open plan office the lighting is automated and can’t be switched off. He fears he wont be able to stay in the job much longer: “It’s made my life hell, basically.”