Light Therapy Sensations

Hi All

I've just started light therapy today, and I stumbled upon this forum. I am planning to lamp myself for an hour in the morning when I wake up, and for another hour when I get home from work.

Please could you tell me how long it takes to work, and whether a tingly head sensation and a sort of hairs standing up on end sensation are promising signs of success? I suppose I am asking if you experience immediate physical reactions that might indicate that light therapy is working?

Thanks in advanve, and I hope you all are doing swell.

John

I dont seem to get tingly or anything like that, just a little bit more awake, and perhaps a little more energy :) paul

Hi John,

Well it's true that some people seem to get benefits from light therapy whatever time of day they use it.
I think there's a good reason why it's generally recommended that you use it first thing in the morning if you have SAD though. Did you read what the Apollo site says about circadian rhythms? One of the things SAD can do to you is disrupt your body clock. Not only does this make it difficult for you to follow your normal sleep/wake pattern, but it can also make you feel low, sluggish, "fluey" -- symptoms associated with SAD. I think the questionnaire on the site is designed to help you understand what your body's natural rhythm is, and how far it's shifted.
Most people with SAD find that they can't get to sleep as early as they want, and have trouble getting out of bed in the morning. Their bodies are producing a chemical called melatonin, which makes you sleepy, too late; and it's still in their system making them groggy when they want to get up.
I have the rarer condition which is opposite to this. I found I was suddenly getting so tired between 5 and 6 p.m. that I could barely stay awake, and I was waking at 3 a.m. unable to get back to sleep. The melatonin was being produced too early and my body was running out of it in the middle of the night. Sunlight and serotonin are believed to play important roles in regulating the body clock so I guess it stands to reason that the lack of these things in the winter can cause it to go a bit haywire.
Light therapy can put these things right by shifting your body clock back to normal. This is the blessing of bright light for me because without it I'd be very ill. Early morning light can help you get sleepy earlier and wake up earlier. Evening like, which I use, prevents you from getting sleepy too early, and you can then have a normal night's sleep. I have been fine-tuning my light therapy for over a year and my body is very sensitive to the time and duration of the light. As the days get darker, and I don't increase my light, I find that my sleep starts shifting backwards again and I'm getting sluggish and muddy-brained in the daytime.
Maybe this sounds incredible -- I knew nothing about it myself until I got SAD -- but it really does happen. If I were you I would pay attention to my sleeping patterns and try to do my light when it worked best for my body, even if it meant I had to shift my schedule around to accommodate it. I tried using morning light myself at first and it made me worse. Now I use evening light every day, even if it sometimes means going out of the house with my visor on. I figure it's worth it to prevent feeling awful the next day.
Hope this helps :)
Linda.

Hello JS,
I've stopped posting mainly due to lack of ability!
After the first couple of days of photo therapy as you've read i felt perculiar. But then on the third day(MONDAY of all days) i felt really hyper active! Feet tapping, jaw clenching, laughing out loud with excitement, basically briming with energy. I thought to myself " this is it, light box treatment, i've got it sussed" But alas, after a week the positive affects subsided and gradually i've slipped back down the greasy pole.
On the plus side, i think without my light box the symptoms would probably be far worse.
Im not using my light box in the evening aswell as in the morning, so that maybe something to try.
At the moment i've just accepted that its going to get worse before it gets better!
Im in bed 8 o'clock most evenings due to a total lack of energy and interest in anything really.
Im buying my first house in a couple of weeks, and im going to set it up with a gym, a shed and a cracking home entertainment system, all ready for next year when i lock horns with this illusive beast once again!
I'll try and post a more constructive reply tomorrow, but for now, take care,
regards DAVID