new light box - need help with how to use it

Hi all,
I have suffered from sleep problems since I've been in my teens; I'm now 39. I teach, and I need to awaken every day around 6:15 to be at school at 7:20. Ugh. I have been a night owl my whole life, and I just cannot get to sleep at a decent time, so I am in the vicious cycle that results in total fatigue. Getting out of bed is grueling, though on weekends or on summer break, when I can sleep in, I do fine.

My doc mentioned that light therapy might help me in the mornings. I just purchased an Alaska Northern lights (Northstar 10,000 lux) from a friend who bought it 2 years ago but never regularly used it. Does anyone know anything about this brand? It's in good working order, but gosh, now that I have it home, it's just huge, and I really don't know how to go about getting in the habit of using it.

I have a very hard time waking up and getting out of bed, and after reading here, I wonder if I need a dawn simulator - something that can work on my while I lie in bed. Anyway, what I have is a big box. So...

Do any of you use your light box in the mornings? If so, do you do anything while sitting or just soak up the light? I guess I need to get up 30 minutes earlier. Can I work on the computer? Sorry for all the lame questions, but I just cannot envision sitting and looking at a box for 30 mintues. The directions with this box say start with 10-15 minutes about 24 inches from the box.

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much in advance!

Claire

Hi Claire, I use a lightbox, a visor and a dawn simulator!

I started off two years ago (this is my third winter with light) with just a box on my desk at work but found that I went back too far over the weekends so bought a visor to use for travelling and weekends. The lightbox and visor made a huge difference to the quality of my life. For the first time in many years I felt like I was living through winter rather than just enduring and surviving it.

I used to be physically exhausted by the end of the day, I have a busy and stressful job (as you do I imagine if you're a teacher?) and by the time I got home even getting up the stairs was a huge effort, I had pain in my joints (I'm 38) which I didn't get in the rest of the year.

So short version - I found the lightbox was fantastic and it did make a difference to my ability to get up in the morning as prior to it I used to lay in bed counting the hours until I could sleep again but I still didn't feel good in the morning.

I added a dawn simulator last winter and this has made mornings much better, I no longer feel that I'm being dragged into conciousness as I did before and I'm much less headachy than I was. I still don't like mornings, I'm still grumpy (hubby feeds me coffee and withdraws to a safe distance!)but I no longer feel as bad as I did and I don't count the minutes until I'm back in bed again!

Good luck with your lightbox, do think about adding a dawn simulator though - one doesn't replace the other but they work really well together.

Hi Claire,
I got a light box and dawn simulator a week ago and I'm already into the routine of using it. The dawn simulator is brilliant for getting you up in the morning, it's just so lovely to wake up in a light room. I get up and make a cup of tea and breakfast and have them in front of the light box. I use my laptop and check my emails while I'm using it and that makes the time go really quickly. I don't get up earlier, I just do the things I would usually do but do them in front of the light box. You will get used to it really quickly.

Hi everybody and thanks so much for all the replies! Well, I've been using the box for three days now (for about 15 minutes a day), and so far so good. I plan to up it to 20-30 minutes in the mornings this week. I've got it next to the computer and use it while checking emails. I don't usually do that in the mornings, but I think if this helps me, it will be worth getting up a little earlier to get the "treatment."

After hearing more about the dawn simulators, which many of you use, I'm going to look into buying one also. Could anyone recommend a brand? It sounds like a great idea to help ease me into the mornings - the light box is such a shock - it's sooo bright. Let me know if you have a particular model you recommend. I plan to do a bit of research on them and buy one soon.

Thanks again for the warm welcome and words of advice,
Claire

Hi, does anyone have a partner in the room when they are using the bodyclock? Do you find you cannot use it for disturbing them, or are they OK with it?

There's a link somewhere to a questionnaire for use of lightboxes, will try and find it.

http://www.apollolight.com/apps/circ_assess_survey.html

I think this is it.