Anyone suffer from S.A.D.?

[sammysam]

Do you have a light box thing? If so have you noticed a difference? How much and which one do you have?
Tis the time of year i dread-i have been feeling so much better today with all this lovely sunshine so think it might be time to invest....please let me know your stories

Funny you should bring this up. I have just started wondering if I would benefit from one of these boxes. When it is really dark I feel sort of hemmed in and panicky. I only started experiencing this last winter.Like you say, lovely and bright today so better. I will be interested to see what people say.

I have a lovely alarm clock with a big shade on top, plasticy with slits in. It wakes you up by gradually lighting up, over about half an hour, until it is a bright white light! (designed to simulate dawn).

Then the alarm goes off, but tbh, I'm almost awake by that time anyway, I wake up gradually and naturally. It is a FAR better wake up than the sudden shock of an alarm! And it feels so much better, brighter - it's a good start to the day.

My DH got me a light box last year. The difficult thing is finding enough time to sit in front of it. You are not supposed to use it near bedtime (when I would be most likely to be sitting down for an hour or two)in case it keeps you awake by confusing your body clock.

The general concensus in this house that it did work to some extent. I certainly felt less irritable and low.

I am aware, though, that I should have been using it more.

Another point worth mentioning is that if you're going to get one, you should do it sooner rather than later in the autumn. I was just thinking I need to look mine out. You are better getting a blast before the darkness really starts.

I found that my SAD just got worse as I got older, so it is worth a try. DH got mine via the Boots website but you can buy them direct.

Once we are not restricted to the school holidays (a couple of years to go!)DH and I are going to go on holiday somewhere sunny in Jan/Feb time.

get the alarm clock, probably - it is FAB!

Can you advise where to get one of these clocks?

Boots do them
I got one for DH last year and it genuinely is fab.

Thanks. Will look one up.

I've got a Lumie alarm clock. It made a big difference last year. Found mine cheap on Ebay. It has a sunrise and sunset action. I set it on sunset to go to sleep to and it has really helped me dropping off to sleep. I dont need to set an actual alarm as the sunrise light wakes me up, a bit like the sun on a summers day. Much better than a blaring alarm.

I am seriously considering a light box this year as I can feel the depressed, panicky, hemmed in feeling described by coochybottom, descending already. (This is probably due to the total lack of summer this year.) Though the sunrise light did help alot with that too. Getting outside as much as possible, especially if it is bright is beneficial too
Lumie also have a forum on their website which you might find useful, as you can read old posts with ideas and suggestions on how to cope with sad.

I have the Golite M2 and last year it made SUCH a difference.

It only uses the blue part of the spectrum (the part that your eye receptors respond to, to prevent SAD) so uses less power - LED bulbs too so no expensive bulbs to replace each year.

I'm gradually building up - am currently on 5 mins at half power. Last year I got up to 15 mins on 75% power, so not a horrendous amount of time needed. The cheaper lower power ones need a much longer dosage time to get the same effect.

I'd thoroughly recommend it.

Thanks everyone! I have a lumie alarm clock-have had it for years-it is fantastic-but now dd wakes me up every morning so i don't get to use it although dp does! And i actually weirdly find dd waking me up almost the same as the light on the clock-so so much better than a normal alarm clock! I would recommend these to everyone!

RubberDuck-that sounds fantastic-willcheck the link out in a min! My symptoms have been around for at least a month but tis getting much worse now. Didn't want to get one only to find out it doesn't really make a difference. 15 mins I could do very easily! How much difference has it made to you RubberDuck and probablyaslytherin?

Tis such a nasty thing to suffer from Dp is talking about moving to Oz-and right now i'd move tomorrow

I have the Lumie (its brilliant everyone should have one).

I had/have (on mat leave at mo) the desk lamp at work, which they bought for me which I used to have on for an hour in the morn and an hour in afternoon (everyone commented, but I didnt care, it helped).

I also have a smaller lamp at home which I use as well.

I used to work from home one day a week so i didnt have to face the going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark.

Work were really good, but I did have to go and get a doctors note.

It's made a huge difference to me. As I've got older, my symptoms have got a lot worse.

Last year before I had it I was getting horribly depressed, lethargic and uninterested in everything. I physically struggle to get out of bed - not a "I don't want to be up" but I just can't wake up. Lose interest in everything I enjoy. Get waspish and snappy. Feel like I'm walking around in a lethargic "fog" all day.

With the light I function normally. Still have the occasional low, but none of that heaviness of complete exhaustion even though I've slept 9hrs+.

That said, I'm also getting the alarm clock this year (the lumie one) because at the moment dh is having to switch all the lights on in the bedroom and whip off the covers just to get me up - which obviously isn't ideal!!!

Be aware that a lightbox isn't a side-effect free treatment though. For the first few days treatment every year I feel rather hyper, giddy and nauseous for the first 3 days (less so this year, as I'm starting it earlier than I think I need it and slowly building it up) - mind you, I also feel this if after a lot of rain and gloom we get several really bright days in a row, so that's obviously how my body reacts to bright sunlight! You do have to time your lightbox treatment to early in the morning too (I do mine over breakfast, about an hour after waking - too early and I wake too early the next day... too late and I end up not able to sleep in the evening). It's not a miracle cure - you have to experiment with timing and length of dose before you find what works for you.

Oh, something else I remember from last year - if you have a lie in and get up late one day - skip the light therapy for that day. Otherwise you end up resetting your body clock for the wrong time of day and it really messes you up.

Try and not skip more than one day though, or it's less effective.

I have got a Lumie alarm clock. I do like waking up to a kind of sunlight!

I have also got a light that sits on my piano, so I get "sunlight" while I play. I can't say I've noticed any great difference in me, but I shall carry on using it all the same just in case!

SAD is truly horrible. I so look forward to 21st December and the evenings getting lighter, if only by two minutes!!

Oh RubberDuck-if only I ever had the chance to have a lie in

So I've decided I should get one-not sure if dp will understand me spending £200 on one though-what do i need to look for? There is no point in getting one I have to spend ages sitting in front (although I am SAHM for the forseeable future) as there is no way dd would let me sit still for long! Thats another thing-does it effect other people nearby? Will i end up with a hyper active dd !

I ask the dses to not sit with me when I have the light on - which is semi-successful, but I don't think it particularly does them any harm.

Probably best way is to make a shortlist of what you need - sounds like a higher power one is the way to go if the amount of time you have is limited. Decide if you want a full spectrum lamp (pros: physically bigger so easier to bathe your face with the light, cons: more expensive on electric, have to replace the bulbs yearly as their effectiveness reduces). All SAD lights have the safety feature that no harmful frequencies (UV, for example) are emitted. Do you have a power point near where you are going to sit, or are you going to need to buy a rechargeable/portable lamp.

With my little LED one, I just have it on my desk pointing up to my face while I'm having my breakfast/cup of tea in the morning.

I've just bitten the bullet and ordered the M2-feeling guilty now as it was expensive but have been feeling so bad the last few days.............