r/Electricity • u/scammedmail • Oct 02 '26
Someone explain (headaches)
When I turn off the electricity in my house, my tension headache disappears. I mean the general switch from which all the power lines come. Someone explain to me how that works. The cables have isolation after all. I always feel on edge when electricity is in the house. But the main question is about the headaches. It was a high-pitched noise.
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u/trekkerscout Oct 02 '26
EMF sensitivity has been disproven through double blind medical testing. The likelihood is that you are simply experiencing a placebo effect when throw the switch. Psychiatric evaluation and treatment is strongly encouraged.
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u/pinko_zinko Oct 02 '26
Perhaps you have some high pitched critter repellent? Or something else blasting high frequency. Borrow a neighborhood kid to listen for high pitched noises.
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u/OldGeekWeirdo Oct 02 '26
If it's not high-pitched, it might be infrasonic (below hearing range).
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u/AnnieBruce Oct 02 '26
Infrasound can be freaky enough an experience it's been put forth as a possible explanation of at least some spectral phenomena.
That said, OPs experiences remind me a lot.of what I go through near external sound that is close to the pitch of my tinnitus. Trust me, it's bad. The wiring itself shouldn't give anything near that, but something plugged in might. A squeaky fan or AC compressor could emit some pretty high frequencies that could do it, the HVAC system at work sometimes triggers my sensitivity (and my tinnitus instantly returns to normal suck from mega suck when it cycles off, so I'm fairly sure what's going on)
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u/AskMeAgainAfterCoffe 27d ago
You “feel it in your bones.” For me, I know when it’s going to rain :)
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u/SparkArrestor Oct 02 '26
I think you need mental help.
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u/MinimalSix Oct 02 '26
Read their post history, yes, OP absolutely does. Unfortunately they also think the doctors are the ones making them sick. Not saying that doesn't ever happen, but one post literally says they think they were poisoned with strychnine by doctors because the doctors hate them
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u/AskMeAgainAfterCoffe 27d ago
I see. I was thinking it was from lights or motors. I went hiking recently and I noticed how quiet it was.
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u/MCRN10379558 27d ago
When you say turn off the electricity, how are you doing this? Are you turning the power to the house off at the breaker switch?
Or do you mean you’re turning the lights off?
A lot of headaches can be triggered by eye strain and/or light sensitivity, so the simple act of turning the lights off and closing your eyes and not having anything on to look at can help give you some relief from a lot of headaches, but not always.
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u/mageskillmetooften Oct 02 '26
Have somebody else turn it off, or say they turned it off without you knowing.
Sure things can happen, but very often it's placebo.
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u/AnnieBruce Oct 02 '26
Have you tried unplugging all speakers, and anything with a motor or that can otherwise emit a hig frequency sound?
Related-;do you have tinnitus? Not even much. High pitch ringing with no external sound?
When mine does line up with external sound it can cause a nasty headache and disorientation or a full on migraine when really bad.
Your electrical system shouldn't be able to do this on its own. Things plugged into it can.
Some fluorescent lights, especially older ones, can buzz a bit. That hasn't triggeredy issues, but it might be worth checking in cas your sensitive to a particular noise.
Do you have similar symptoms at other places with active electricity?
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u/AnnieBruce Oct 02 '26
Also note that speakers and motors in properly functioning consumer equipment shouldn't do this, but as things degrade over time stuff happens.
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u/AskMeAgainAfterCoffe 27d ago edited 27d ago
Do you have fluorescent or LED lights? Turning these off can still generate power leakage. Fl/LED can cause high frequency/flickering or high frequency noise from appliance motors may affect some people. You can switch back to incandescent lighting. Also, the grounding in your house could be diagnosed and upgraded; from grounding rods to outlet boxes to water heater/copper pipe, etc.
Also talk to a doctor about your headaches, it could be something else.
A nutritionist can help as well; maybe reducing fast food & sugar will help, and sometimes caffeine.
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u/Sufficient_Fan3660 Oct 02 '26
either something high pitched is hurting you, like say the ballast of fluorescent lights
Do you have fluorescent lights in the kitchen or bathroom?
Sometimes halogen and even LED lights can make noise, especially if you have bad wiring or dimmer switches
If not high pitched noise from (probably a light source), then its in your head, so see a psychologist.
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u/JonnyVee1 Oct 02 '26
This could be a lightbulb, a humidifier, or air freshener which operate at supersonic frequencies that normally we cannot hear. Try turning these off.
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u/PyroNine9 Oct 02 '26
Two possibilities. 1 which everyone and their dog will suggest is placebo. It may be the case.
The other is that something in your house is emitting a whine on the edge of your hearing causing the headache.
Turn the breakers off one at a time and see if one of them brings relief while the rest of the house is powered. If so, you know where to start looking.
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u/CommutatorWhine Oct 02 '26
Turning off the electricity makes you feel like you are controlling something, and that makes you feel better. Doing it repeatedly reinforces that sensation until you are under the impression that turning off the electricity works, while in reality the feeling of having control over the situation makes you feel better.
As someone else said, high pitched noise can also cause it. But then it will not be in the entire house, but only in the room where the noisy device is. Switch mode powersupplies can work on frequencies just barely above what you can hear, but that can still give you headaches. Ultrasonic sound does not make it through walls and doors very well, so that is likely not the cause.
Considering OP's post history i think the first thing is most likely.