S.A.D - Lamps & Lights (seasonal association disorder)

Karl2010

S.A.D Lamps/Lights/Bulbs

Decided i need some extra help in these dark mornings & short dark days.

Think im gonna get myself x2 Full Spectrum/White light bulbs (£10 each) at first.
And and x2 bedside lamps to put them in. (£25 each)
Im gonna put them on time switches so they come on an hour before im due to get out of bed.

If they dont work or only have little effect i might have to buy a "Mesa 160 Mega Bright SAD LightBox. These are £250.00 though which is Mega Expensive.

Anyone ever used one? What where the results? And what lamp do you use?

andy162

I don't know if it's bunkum, hokus-pokus or what but I bought Mrs Andy a Lumie lightbox last year. It's a bedside clock radio thing with the lamp built in. It gradually brightens for 30min before the alarm goes off. Mrs A swears by it but I haven't noticed any difference. I'm always a grumpy sod in the morning anyway!

Ours cost about £80.

Stewie Griffin

I guess you mean seasonal affective disorder? Are you guessing you have it or have you spoken to anyone?

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/winterhealth ... blues.aspx

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Seasonal-a ... ction.aspx

Below is a sponsored link promising a free trial of their lights.

http://www.lumie.com/shop/treatments/tr ... 4QodQFL5kw

Someone I used to work with had it & swore by her light box. She had one on her desk at work and I remember thinking that's frigging bright.

Karl2010

Thanks Ste, yeah i know ive got it.
Been getting it for years.

That trial link looks worth a look.

That lamp your talking about Andy is a Dawn Simulator, similar to S.A.D lamp.
I want one of those aswell.
I think you have to sit in front or very close to a S.A.D lamp to get the effect, and the dawn simulators just dont seem bright enough (going off the pictures)

pneumatic

We've got one. It helps.

Ours in an Innojok (from Finland). Don't know what it cost; Mrs Pneumatic bought it on the internet service.

Just now with all the bright snow, it is up on the shelf, but when we get those endless weeks of grey drizzle, it is always worth bringing out for an hour or so.

mrushton

andy162 wrote:

I don't know if it's bunkum, hokus-pokus or what but I bought Mrs Andy a Lumie lightbox last year. It's a bedside clock radio thing with the lamp built in. It gradually brightens for 30min before the alarm goes off. Mrs A swears by it but I haven't noticed any difference. I'm always a grumpy sod in the morning anyway!

Ours cost about £80.

I used to think it was b0ll0x until my partner moved in with me. She hates long dark nights, thrives on the sun and suffered depression and had Prozac on/off for a few years which she hated. Anyway, we 'invested' in the dawn clock thing and a desk light and the difference was remarkable. I used to wake her and she was startled awake but with the dawn simulator she came awake gradually - same with going to sleep. The other light she keeps on her desk at work and uses it a few hours a day. No Prozac, no depression but as some of you may know, depression never goes away, it lurks in he background. i'd recommend the lights as an excellent way to wake up instead of an alarm clock.

finchy

andy162 wrote:

I don't know if it's bunkum, hokus-pokus or what but I bought Mrs Andy a Lumie lightbox last year. It's a bedside clock radio thing with the lamp built in. It gradually brightens for 30min before the alarm goes off. Mrs A swears by it but I haven't noticed any difference. I'm always a grumpy sod in the morning anyway!

Ours cost about £80.

+1 to this. We've got one and it's brilliant.

couldashouldawoulda

+1 from my missus too.

We got a Lumie(?) was maybe £60 8ish years ago. If it ever dies well buy another.

It's nice weaking up gradual like.

The only downside is when on holidays and it gets bright in the hotel in the morning we're bounding about at silly o'clock.

Do it - your mood is worth more than you'd spend on a night out on the town!

MattC59

I've got one of these: http://www.lumie.com/shop/products/bodyclock-sunray-100
It's FANTASTIC !!! You the light wakes you gently so you feel 'awake' when you wake up. ie, not groggy or full of sleep.

I''ve also got one of these: http://www.lumie.com/shop/products/desklamp
Again, it's fantastic. I work from home and have it on my desk. The light emitted si great and really lifts you in the mornings.

I can highly recommend these, and I assume that the light quality is the same from the other Lumie products, so I'll go on to recommend any of the Lumie products.

bartimaeus

We've had one of these for about 10 years now, and they are brilliant... the fade down is a restful way of dropping off to sleep, the light is fully adjustable for reading, but best of all you wake up in the morning without being jolted by an alarm.

Cleat Eastwood

MTFU, Just like chuck

Chuck Norris doesn't worry about changing his clock twice a year for daylight savings time. The sun rises and sets when Chuck tells it to.

mrushton

Doesn't work like that. It's all to do with body chemistry/hormones etc. People who suffer with S.A.D and/or depression have a hard time. It never goes away and in fact these lights do let you mtfu as you don't need a handful of pills. Ideally we should all move to sunnier climes - migration is the right idea

seemunkee

We bought a light box many years ago when our daughter had a sleep disorder. I haven't brought it out this year, although with the way I've been feeling I probably should. Last winter I had it on the kitchen table so it was shining in my face while I had my morning tea and read the paper. I found it really did help keep me from getting so damn depressed and feel like I just wanted to sleep all the time.
Ours is a Sunbox Sunlight Jr

ShutUpLegs

Get one of these

http://www.lumie.com/shop/products/visor-solarmax

inkyfingers

ShutUpLegs wrote:

Get one of these

http://www.lumie.com/shop/products/visor-solarmax

Would anyone really wear one of those outside of your home, even at home i'd point and laugh and how much of a tit I look.

infopete

Mrs P has had a lumie for years, she thinks it works a treat.

She still moans about getting up to make the tea though

ColinJ

I normally suffer quite badly from SAD. I live in a valley surrounded by steep hills and it can be gloomy for months at a time in the winter. This kind of thing does my head in...!



It's a lot better when the weather is the way it has been here recently - lovely, clear blue skies. Bright sunlight reflecting off snow really gives me a lift.

Normally, however, I rely on my SAD light box a few hours a day at this time of year when the natural light isn't good. Here's a picture of it in use...



It's a cheap one but it does the trick. It does hum and flicker a bit and it is rather large, so if you can afford to, I'd go upmarket.

I don't think people understand quite how debilitating SAD can be. The suicide rates always go up significantly in winter in high northern latitudes.

In the past, I've been able to do sub-10 hour hilly '200s' in August and yet by November I've been physically incapable of carrying a couple of bags of shopping back 200 yards from the local market without stopping several times to rest.

I'd recommend anybody interested in or affected by SAD to read 'Winter Blues' by Dr. Norman Rosenthal.

Karl2010

thinking of getting this. the power the better.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/imag ... tore&img=3

realy dont wanna spend that much ££ tho.!

ColinJ

Karl2010 wrote:

thinking of getting this. the power the better.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/imag ... tore&img=3

realy dont wanna spend that much ££ tho.!

I think it is a strange idea to put a dimmer on a product whose aim is to blast you with really bright light!

The box I bought is about 25% of that price - here but note my warning (above) about flicker and hum.

cookiemonster

I've a philips energylight original.

Like others above i was pretty sceptical, but I reckon it works for me. It wakes me up a bit more fully in the morning - I feel more alert quicker - and generally seems to have a positive impact on my state of mind and the like.

Give it a go

jon

inkyfingers

Karl2010 wrote:

thinking of getting this. the power the better.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/imag ... tore&img=3

realy dont wanna spend that much ££ tho.!

Why did they use such a grumpy looking model to show a product that supposed to make you feel happier?!

crossborderreiver

I've just bought a wake up light from Maplins. It was a fraction of the the price of others such as Lumie and Phillips.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?Mod ... 4wodRSiC3Q

mrushton

Back when we got ours,Lumie was the only one really out there. The Maplin one looks ok but not having used it I can't say. The Lumie works for us so it gets my vote. Quite plasant waking to the 'sunrise effect'

Karl2010

Just an update to say- "They Work!"

I have been using mine on a timer now for over 1 month.

It is set to come on 1 hour before my alarm. When my alarm kicks in and wakes me up i am instantly awake and have more energy than usual. Sometimes i wake up before the alarm kicks in and same result.

Normaly im a very very slow starter in the morning, but since using this Lamp i wake up and my brain is fireing stright away and it feels grate!

I have been taking Cod Liver Oil aswell because apparently it has Vitimin D which is good in the winter.

But the lamp definitlly works. £100 well spent, and its planty bright enough!
And also it is portable.
Its this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lumie-NLBAU-0000-Arabica-SAD-Lightbox/dp/B0031IITEC/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1295581801&sr=8-8

peace out..

JohnnyAllez

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

MTFU, Just like Jens

Jens Voight doesn't worry about changing his clock twice a year for daylight savings time. The sun rises and sets when Jens tells it to.

Fixed that for you