Anyone tried a sunlamp for SAD?

[Steely]

I got one for Christmas, and I just plugged it in and OMG it is bright!!!

It says to have this light equal with my eyes but eat or read rather than obviously staring at it (lol) - and sit 11" away for 30 minutes a day. It has 10,000 LUX of light.

Any experience with this? I still feel like I may go blind.

I am trying it as I speak. I am praying this is another nail in the coffin for my depression since I moved North.

 

[TeDo]

I think it was HaoZi that mentioned something about having one. I know there is a counselor here in town that swears by it. I, personally, have never tried one since it is WAY out of my budget. Let me know how it works...say...in a week or two.

 

[Steely]

My Mom gave it to me -- so I am not sure of the cost. (I hope it wasn't too much - since I told her that is what I wanted for Cmas -- )
I am crossing my fingers this helps.

 

[Wiped Out]

You'll have to let me know how it works. I have always wanted want as I can always feel the short days affecting my moods.

At one point we thought of getting one for difficult child and psychiatrist told us NO. Apparently those lights can send bipolar people into mania (we definitely do not want that).

 

[Steely]

Yes, I have heard that too Wiped. I was thinking about getting one for Matt as well back in the day, and doctors always said no. At this point anything that even vaguely resembled mania would helpful for me -

 

[exhausted]

No personal experience. Several women in my choir and a few students have used it. Reports are all positive. Hope is a nail also! They use to rent them in some places here. Wonder if it would be affordable that way Tedo?

 

[TeDo]

Exhausted, that would be a good idea if I didn't live in the sticks in the middle of nowhere. We are at least 3 hours away from anyplace big enough to MAYBE offer such a thing. I'll just keep dreaming. LOL

 

[buddy]

MY sister got one...It is not the old fashioned sun lamp for tanning right? it is the kind to help with moods. My sister said it worked for her when she kept in a timed routine with it.

 

[Steely]

Yes, no tanning - just for mood regulation. So it seemed important to her to keep the timing regulated? Its weird because it seems like a lamp you could just turn on anytime. I will keep that in mind.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Steely -
I believe this would normally be used outside of "normal daylight hours" for the winter season.
Sitting in your nice sunny living room and then turning the lamp on - doesn't add anything to your overall light exposure.
Turning it on at 7 or 8 at night... puts "daylight hours" back into your life.
There are probably recommended usage patterns out there on the net somewhere. (I haven't had time to look.)

 

[Steely]

Haha I wish I had a nice sunny living room! No....it is all rain, short days, and clouds here in WA. Blah.
As far as a schedule you are supposed to use it for 30 minutes every morning.
It is on my home desk.....I guess that is why it seems like I should just be able to "turn it on" anytime. But I won't ....

 

[skeeter]

mine hooks onto my computer monitor. It's recommended to be used first thing in the morning, for 90 minutes. You want it positioned so it is shining down to your face, not in your eyes. Mine is small and runs off a USB port.

Since I get to work at 6:30, and it doesn't get light here until about 8, it's a perfect time to use it. And I have noticed it seems to help with the mid-day "blahs" I was having.

I got mine off of Amazon and it was about $50 or so.

 

[slsh]

My mom got me one last Christmas. I turn it on as soon as I start work, and it stays on me all day. Have it shining on me from my right. Can't quite get it full on in the face 'cuz I have to see the computer monitor, LOL. I was a bit worried about the potential for mania, but fortunately that hasn't happened (though I hear ya' about a bit of mania at this point might not be a bad thing, LOL). Can't say for sure if it's helped or not - this year has just been an abyss of depression so... not sure that even living on the surface of the sun would've helped. But I do sit here daily with- my sunlamp (and my space heater in winter months). Hasn't hurt.

 

[pepperidge]

I have heard that many schools in Alaska use some version of it in the lights.

My husband used it and it helped. for most people better to use it in the morning so as not to disrupt the melatonin sleep cycle thing.

 

[tiredmommy]

I think I read once that there's a lamp that uses a timer... it comes on at maybe 6AM local time and slowly gets brighter so as to stimulate dawn. I found that intriguing as it gets light so late here and we're often cloudy in winter too. Do sunlamps help with Vitamin D production too?

 

[Steely]

Good question. I don't know.