Can someone explain please

Hi,

Ive had SAD for 4 years (my mum has had it for almost her whole life) and we've both found that any medicating for SAD has to be on a long term basis. I have periods during the winter when I feel like nothing works and theres no point, these are bad times coz rather than doing light I skive off uni & lie in bed avoiding the world! However my boyfriend assures me that light therapy does makes a difference to me & in the summer when Im thinking clearly I know that after accumulated use 3 weeks+ light does make a difference.

The key is to remember that nothing is a complete cure, dont expect miracles, but it does help so its better than nothing. Don't give up on it too early & start using it the moment you feel the slightest symptoms that way it will be working well when the worst symptoms finally kick in.

Also ( I keep plugging this but it works so well for me) Salus liquid SJW is really good, I think it works better than light therapy for me. But you have to drink a lot (60ml a day) and keep it up for weeks as with the light therapy!

Good luck!

Thanks you for taking the time to reply. I guess I just need to stick with it and have faith that it is working.

I have been reading a few of the previous postings regarding lightboxes and see that there are two sorts of light, blue or white?? Well I have a feeling that mine is a blue light and I think that may be why I don't enjoy sitting in front of it. Does anyone have any advice about the type of light is best.

We had thought that perhaps I was a SAD sufferer and bought the lightbox and then in the middle of this summer, on a very bright summers day in early June (summer was late coming though), I had a very bad slump and was in such a state I went to see the doc the next day and I was given anti depressants. So we began to think that perhaps it wasn't SAD. But I read somewhere on here that it could be that it is SAD connected, even though it was a sunny day. We had friends here and they had just left and I felt so sad, I just didn't know what to do with myself, and was verging on a panic attack. I have had these panic attacks (usually at Christmas time) before, so I recognised that I was going that way. Do you think it is possible that it was SAD related after all? I don't want to live on these anti depressant pills, but they do seem to work, whereas the lightbox didn't seem to.

:? I guess you are going to tell me that I have bought a duff lightbox... I knew nothing about them when I bought it (still haven't a clue). It's an Elta from Germany.

"Have you looked at the situations which affected you and whether or not it is a 'reactive depression' to do with relationships?"

Well I have noticed that I don't like being alone when I feel really bad and find that if I talk to my wife about how I am feeling... it gets better... but only for a while... and then we have to have another talk.

"When I am feeling low with the weather I am not emotionally resilient so this coul be accentuating your feelings.....? "

I see what you are saying... it is possible. I do seem to be bad when people leave. I love having them around but don't like them leaving... especially at Christmas time.

The strange thing is that I don't really find that I don't want to get up in the mornings. I am always waiting to get up because I want my breakfast! My sleep pattern isn't bad. I go to bed at 10:30 p.m. (read for half an hour maybe) and I get up at 7:30 a.m. so I do get plenty of sleep. It is dusk that is the worst time for me, I really do feel bad when it starts to get dark. I find myself pacing the floor.

I do get outside as much as I can (walk the dog) and I think this helps, but by Christmas I am bad and it is a long time until the summer when I start to feel better.

Do you think it is worth persevering with this lightbox? Perhaps I should have another/different one so that I don't have to move it around with me?

These dawn simulators sound like a good idea. Although mornings aren't bad for me, I can see that it fools the brain into thinking that it is still summertime. Not sure what my wife will think of it though!

Thanks for the link siddy. I'll have a look at that.

My wife likes the dawn simulator as much as I do, I think it has helped us both sleep better :)
paul

If you're not getting enough of an effect from your lightbox, try using it for longer.

I use dawn simulation and have a partner, although in my case he's the one who gets up earlier than me. I recommend the one from Morning Sunrise, as you can plug it into whatever lamp you choose, or even two lamps. After some experimenting, we've set it up as follows. On my side of the bed is an anglepoise lamp pointing at the wall with a 28w halogen (40w equivalent) bulb. On his side is a little 25w spotlight angled into the corner of the room so that not much light comes up. The simulated sunrise lasts an hour and ends at 9 am, which is about the time my partner leaves for work and when I'm getting up. He doesn't like getting up to a fully bright room, so this way it's not too much of a shock for him when he actually gets up at about 8.30. I'm not being woken entirely by the light, various alarms go off too (dawn simulation alone doesn't work for him and he can't risk being late for work), but it seems to be enough to help my sleep settle into a better routine.