Light feels sharper. Sound feels louder. Ordinary environments suddenly become overwhelming. For some Lyme disease patients, sensitivity to light and sound is one of the earliest and most disruptive neurologic symptoms. The brightness of the kitchen lights may feel blinding, and the sound of a spoon dropping can trigger a jolt of discomfort. Patients often dim screens, avoid crowded places, or reach for sunglasses indoors.

These experiences are common, medically explainable, and consistent with known neurologic pathways involved in sensory hypersensitivity.

For additional context on how Lyme disrupts neurologic pathways, you may also find it helpful to read What Does Lyme Disease Do to Your Brain?.

Why Sensitivity to Light and Sound Happens in Lyme Disease

Lyme disrupts multiple systems involved in how the brain processes light, sound, and other sensory signals. These disruptions create the experience of visual and auditory overload that so many patients describe.

When Lyme inflammation or autonomic instability alters the brain’s sensory filtering systems, normal sensory input begins to feel overwhelming. The environment itself hasn’t changed but the brain’s thresholds have.

This heightened sensory response is recognized across neurology in conditions such as migraine disorders, dysautonomia, concussion recovery, and post-infectious syndromes. Lyme disease can activate the same mechanisms, causing previously tolerable light and sound to feel intrusive or painful.

Light Sensitivity and Neuroinflammation

Lyme-related inflammation can affect the brain, meninges, and cranial nerves — structures that regulate how visual signals are processed. When these pathways are irritated, the brain may interpret even mild brightness as excessive. Light that should feel normal can suddenly feel piercing, sharp, or blinding.

Patients often describe kitchen lights that feel unbearable, screens that feel too intense, or sunlight that feels “like needles.” These reactions reflect neurologic inflammation, not psychological sensitivity.

Sound Sensitivity and Central Nervous System Reactivity

Lyme can also disrupt how the brain handles auditory input. When sensory pathways are inflamed or hyperactivated, ordinary sounds can feel amplified, sharp, or startling. Some patients jump at sudden noises they once ignored or feel overwhelmed in restaurants, grocery stores, or busy environments.

This type of sound hypersensitivity mirrors mechanisms seen in migraine physiology, small-fiber neuropathy, and post-infectious autonomic dysfunction.

You’re Not Imagining It — Your Brain Is Overreacting

Light and sound sensitivity in Lyme disease is not psychological. It is a physiologic change in the brain’s sensory thresholds. When inflammation disrupts neural filtering, the brain sends exaggerated responses to normal sensory input.

This is why patients often say the world feels “turned up too high.” Visual and auditory signals that were once manageable now feel overwhelming because the nervous system is on high alert.

Why Symptoms Fluctuate Day to Day

Patients often notice dramatic swings in how well they can tolerate light and sound. Some days feel manageable, while on others even mild sensory input becomes overwhelming.

These fluctuations often reflect real shifts in inflammation, autonomic nervous system stability, sleep quality, hormonal changes, barometric pressure, and overall stress load. As these physiologic factors rise and fall, the brain’s sensory thresholds shift with them. This variability is neurologic, not emotional, and is a predictable part of infection-related sensory instability.

These Sensory Symptoms Are Medically Recognized

Sensory hypersensitivity, neuroinflammation, autonomic dysfunction, and central sensitization are well-established mechanisms in mainstream neurology. Lyme disease can activate these same pathways — which explains why sensitivity to light and sound is so common.

Tests like MRIs and EEGs often look normal because they don’t capture the pathways that cause sensory sensitivity. This doesn’t mean your symptoms are imagined — just that the tests aren’t measuring the problem.

You’re Not Overreacting — Your Symptoms Make Sense

If light feels too bright or sound feels too loud, your nervous system is signaling distress. Lyme disease can temporarily make the world feel overwhelming, even when nothing visibly changes around you. Your experience is valid, your symptoms are explainable, and they often improve as the nervous system stabilizes over time.

Has sensitivity to light or sound affected your daily life? Share your story — your experience may help someone else feel understood and less alone.

References

1. Denuelle M., et al. (2010). A PET study of photophobia during spontaneous migraine attacks. Neurology.
2. Oaklander A.L., Nolano M. (2019). Small-fiber neuropathy and post-infectious neuropathic syndromes. Neurol Clin Pract.
3. Blitshteyn S., et al. (2024). Internal tremor in Long COVID may be a symptom of dysautonomia and small fiber neuropathy. Neurology International.
4. Nijs J., et al. (2012). Central sensitization in post-infectious illness. Eur J Clin Invest.
5. Dr. Daniel Cameron: Lyme Science Blog. What Does Lyme Disease Do to Your Brain?
6. Dr. Daniel Cameron: Lyme Science Blog. Central sensitization syndrome worsens Lyme disease symptoms?