Rough start

[vaneramos]

Does anyone know when you're supposed to stop using lights to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder? My therapist suggested it's about now, so I stopped on Saturday, but I don't know. It's still kind of dark when I get out of bed.

These few days it has been painful to haul myself through the motions of my morning routine. Well, they're more than motions, because knitting and writing require creativity. Creativity can be rewarding, a source of comfort and healing, but this morning my body felt so out of joint, my willpower so fragile, I just wanted to go back to bed. I did not do so.

By the time I get dressed and out the door for work, I usually feel okay. But these two hours in the morning are normally the highlight of the day, and now they just feel rotten.

Comments

[hickbear.livejournal.com]

If I may butt in and recommend, maybe you should be slowly weaning yourself off of it, only using it until the sun as risen enough to be visible? In your "front room", that should be back to around 7-ish AM or a bit earlier, isn't it? So you'd be dropping to an hour instead of 2 each morning, I believe.

[deanarae.livejournal.com]

I don't really know anything about therapy lights, but it strikes me as the sort of thing you would want to wean yourself from, rather than stopping cold turkey. As the natural light gradually increases, gradually decreasing the use of the artificial light seems more natural to me.

[fivecats.livejournal.com]

i'm going to take a guess and say this depends entirely on the individual. i cannot believe an excess of light will do any harm. if you're concerned about the levels of early morning darkness, keep using them!

...

[kent4str.livejournal.com]

All of the above. Each person's response to light is different, so no one can say, 'All right, everybody stop now.' There are no doubt some who benefit from it year-round.

If you tried, and are still feeling the effects, go back to it. And it just makes sense to use it until it's daylight when you're getting up.

Then again, these past few days could just be transitory or transitional - only one way to find out.

[corridor7f.livejournal.com]

I've had inklings I may suffer from SAD as well - I know that feeling in the morning all too well.

Have you tried Vitamin D suppliments?

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I don't use it for the entire two hours. Twenty to thirty minutes a day is recommended, and twenty is enough for me. I think I'll go back to using it for a little while.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Sounds good!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

i cannot believe an excess of light will do any harm.

Actually it can. First let me point out that this is high intensity light used at a distance of about one foot from the face for 20 to 30 minutes a day. Too much of it can be detrimental to people with bipolar disorder. The first few days I used it for 30 minutes, and found it made me jittery and anxious, so I cut back to 20 and that worked fine.

But I think you're right about continuing to use it as long as I'm getting up in the dark.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks Kent, I was hoping you would have something to say about this! I think I'll go back to using it as long as I'm getting up in the dark. I could also try using it for ambient light, rather than having it close to my face.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I started using Vitamin D during the fall, but when I lapsed out of using them and continued using the light, I suffered no immediate ill effects. The past several weeks I've been feeling more tired than usual though (but not depressed) and wondered whether going back on vitamin D would help.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

P.s. I started using the light box in mid October, and it has worked really well. My moods have been a lot easier to manage this winter.

[eniastoa.livejournal.com]

Considering that Daylight Savings Time is about to steal 58 minutes of morning light this Sunday, that makes sense. Which prompts a question -- that recommendation, was it by any chance originated in the U.S.? Because in terms of short days, winter is over sooner at their latitudes.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

atldaddybear is a recent immigrant, still getting used to Ontario winters. Actually, you might have met him and his partner at the concert.

[hickbear.livejournal.com]

I presume that "that recommendation" mentioned by eniastoa referred to your therapist's recommendation, not mine. :-}}}}

I was shocked that you were told "cold turkey". I really would have thought there would be a step-down process, never mind the fact that Daylight Saving Time begins this coming weekend. So, at least for a while, sunrise is going to occur even later - which, to me, screams for continued use of the light box. {{{Hugs}}}, sweetie!!!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

[info]eniastoa referred to your therapist's recommendation, not mine. :-}}}}

Aha, yes. Well, she lives in Guelph. All things considered, I'm a bit puzzled by her advice on this. But of course, she is a talk therapist, not a psychiatrist, so she really wasn't the right person to ask.

And yes, now it seems obvious why I'm feeling cruddy, and why I should not go off the light box so quickly. I'm already feeling better just thinking about it, after all, tomorrow is another day.

[inishglora.livejournal.com]

Remember that there is a wide range of opinion on the appropriate amount of Vitamin D the body needs each day. Some of the opinions can be found at the Weston A. Price Foundation's website, such as this.

[tupper26.livejournal.com]

Pay attention to your body's own signals. If your affect is low, use the lightbox. We just moved the clocks forward an hour tonight, so I'd use it until the natural sun is up brighter, longer, but pay attention to what your body tells you. Everyone is different.