I have been given this product as part of a product review through the Chronic Illness Bloggers network. Although the product was a gift, all opinions in this review remain my own and I was in no way influenced by the company.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I was not compensated monetarily, but received the glasses to review. The opinions are entirely my own.

I had my first migraine when I was 13 years old. Thankfully, through my teens and twenties, they weren’t all that frequent, with weather changes, light sensitivity (particularly sunlight and fluorescent light), and stress being my primary triggers.

But that all changed in 2016.

A journal entry from February 14, 2016: “I miss what it’s like not to have a headache of some kind, whether it be a tension headache that can escalate to a migraine or a migraine itself. I find myself hating sunshine because it’s one of my triggers.”

Last year was a terrible year for me regarding migraines. I suffered from nearly daily migraines starting on January 2nd. I was put on a cocktail of medications for migraine prophylaxis, but they never really worked, so I stopped taking them. My migraines continued through March 12th, at which time it was discovered I had a brain tumor. I wish I’d had a pair of Axon Optics to try out then!

Since my tumor was removed, I haven’t had any migraines. However, they still try to creep up on me with the same old triggers. So I was thrilled to take part in this opportunity to review Axon Optics.

Why Axon Optics? Neuro-ophthalmologist and scientist Dr. Bradley Katz began treating patients at the University of Utah’s Moran Eye Center in 1995. The first line of products featuring the FL-41 lense launched in 2011. Axon Optics continues to perform research to provide a wide variety of products to individuals with migraines and other light-sensitive conditions.

There are many options to choose from on the Axon Optics website. Once you select a frame, you can then decide whether you want indoor glasses (a lighter tint), sunglasses (a darker tint), or even transition glasses. Prescription lenses in single vision or readers are also available to be made to your exact prescription. Despite the fact that I usually wear contact lenses, I have been almost exclusively wearing my glasses for nearly a year. As such, I opted for the COVER-RX Lite glasses, made with Axon’s FL-41 lenses, which have been clinically shown to reduce migraine frequency and severity. This frame is a unisex style and fits over prescription glasses. It even has peripheral light protection! I chose the brown frame (frames are available in brown or black) and indoor lenses.

For the first use, I deliberately picked a sunny winter day after a fresh snowfall when there was a good deal of sunlight reflecting off the snow. These are days I would normally spend in my bedroom with the shades drawn, but I threw open my shades with the intent to give these glasses a go! I was pleasantly surprised when I put them on. The lenses gave everything a sort of rose-colored tint. This muted the brightness of the light without making it difficult to see. Think about how you can select different “filters” for pictures on your phone- this was sort of an “autumn” kind of filter, as you can see in the pictures below, taken just recently.

Later that winter day, once it was dark outside, I discovered that the glasses were effective even in a dark room with only a bright lamp for light. The lenses muted the light, but I could still see what I was doing (reading and writing) with clarity.

Due to illness, I haven’t gotten out of the house much, but I recently drove myself to a doctor’s appointment on a mostly sunny day. Of course, I had to bring along my Axon Optics glasses to try. I must say they worked like a charm! Even though these were the indoor lenses, they still worked rather effectively as sunglasses in my opinion. 

However, even the best products have a few flaws. As you can see in the picture, I look slightly ridiculous in these glasses. Part of that could be due to the thickness and dark color of the frames of my own glasses; they certainly stick out quite plainly! Also, since these are unisex frames, they are huge on my tiny face. They sit really far down on the bridge of my nose since they have to accommodate for the other glasses. I kept wanting to push them up.

A few flaws aside, I really like these COVER-RX Lite frames from Axon Optics! So much so that I would like to get a pair of either regular lenses to wear when I have my contacts in or a pair of prescription lenses. It’s wonderful to have a product that actually does what it claims to do- reduce the frequency and severity of migraines. And if you are a fellow migraineur, you know the significance of that.

Check out the Axon Optics website here to pick out your migraine prevention glasses and find out more information on the technology behind the lenses!

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