blu light therapy

[revlaura]

Has anyone here used Apollo blulight therapy machines? If so, has it had any affect on your ability to get to sleep? stay asleep? I got one on e-bay for multiple reasons and have been using it for a week. It's supposed to help with energy levels during the day but I can't tell much difference yet. I'm also only using it on 50% power and for about 30 min. in morning and 15-20 at lunch. Any thoughts?

[OutaSync]

I also bought one of those and used it as an alarm to wake me up with the blue lights. After a few months of use, I saw no noticeable improvement in how I felt. And it was no easier for me to wake up and get out of the bed.

[BlackSpinner]

It probably would work better in our part of the world when the sun sets at 4pm and rise sometime after 8 am in the winter. Lots of people here get SAD (season affective disorder ) in the fall.

[OldLincoln]

I have it and used it for a while last year but it didn't do much for me. This year on a whim I replaced my bathroom lights with florescent Daylight. They have a bit of a blue tint in them also. These are the little curly ones you can get anywhere. Just get daylight instead of cool white or whatever. They are cheap to buy and use.

It's a real wake up for me when I stagger in there for my morning routine. By the time I'm out of the shower, I'm ready for the day. I have a regular night light for night time visits. Small caution however. My wife complains that they show all the wrinkles destroying the illusion warm light allows.

[rosiefrosie]

As far as SAD goes, there are studies that indicate that increased Vit. D intake works better at treating SAD than light therapy does. I have used both and have to agree with the studies.

rosie

[blakepro]

People with the Respironics M series have been getting blue light therapy for years!

All joking aside, I use a happy light at my desk at work during the winters here in Alaska.

To get the full benefit, you should use it consistently, every day, at the same time, for the same duration. You need to have it so the light is facing you, and you need to glance at the light every 30-90 seconds. 20-30 minutes each morning works for most people but you may need a different duration.

My suggestion would be to use it while getting ready in the morning, or some place where you can consistently use it. Also, it take 2-3 weeks of consistent use to get the peak level of treatment.

I would suggest you combine it with Vitamin D supplements to get the best of both therapies.

[roster]

Has anyone here used Apollo blulight therapy machines? If so, has it had any affect on your ability to get to sleep? stay asleep? I got one on e-bay for multiple reasons and have been using it for a week. It's supposed to help with energy levels during the day but I can't tell much difference yet. I'm also only using it on 50% power and for about 30 min. in morning and 15-20 at lunch. Any thoughts?

I think your money and time would be much better spent on getting a CPAP machine with software and monitoring your data to ensure you are getting a good therapy.

[revlaura]

I have clinical depression and manage it fairly well most of the year with a good doctor. However, after living in Iowa for 5 years, I had SAD on top of the regular stuff. I am back in North TX but it has been excruciatingly gray here over the Fall and Winter and it has had an affect on me. I can say that after about 3-4 weeks on the blu light therapy, I believe it has helped with my energy level remaining at a more consistent level during the day and with me being ready to go to sleep at a healthier hour at night. It's not the magic cure-all, but I believe it is helping. If anyone out there is considering it - save yourself some money and buy one on e-bay. I got mine for $30. The battery doesn't work, but the plug works just fine and that's enough for me.

[YawnGirl]

My daughter's psychiatrist recommended only the white light at 10k lux. I purchased http://www.amazon.com/NatureBright-SunT ... 946&sr=1-1 and she uses it every morning and it works great! She sleeps like a rock and her mood is much better since using it.

[timbalionguy]

I have always very much preferred the light from linear fluorescent fixtures. So much so that when they were tearing down a local shopping mall, I got a trckload of them. I put them up in my living room, and plan to eventually put them everywhere in my house.

For lamp selection, I looked carefully at what was available. I generally found good old fashioned cool white was OK, and the lamps are cheap. But after working under 5000K high CRI (color rendering index) lamps for a while, I found that I wasn't happy with anything else. These lamps are advertised as 5000K or color50, etc. They give a spectrally even light even though they seem kind of gray at first appearance. They are readily available in both T8 and T12 fluorescent, in all popular lengths. I think this color is also available in premium quality compact fluorescents. I have a mix of 5000K T8's, and as I update ballasts from magnetic to electronic, 5000K T8's.