4 ms·
I've had sleep problems for as long as I can remember. I self-diagnosed Non-24 Sleep-Wake Disorder, where your body clock is typically slightly longer than a 2
by daenz 7y ago
I've had sleep problems for as long as I can remember. I self-diagnosed Non-24 Sleep-Wake Disorder, where your body clock is typically slightly longer than a 24 hours, and so you feel tired later and later every day, eventually going to sleep is nearly impossible. It makes keeping to a normal routine extremely difficult.
The fix for me was morning blue light lamp, as soon as I wake up, for one hour. And 1.5 hours before bedtime, I take 500mcg melatonin. These 2 things worked like a miracle. I kept a log of doing these things, and the exact time I performed them, for a month. After a month, the habit was there, and I know have a normal sleep pattern, so long as I stick to the light and the supplement. It's had a huge impact on my life.
EDIT>> 500mcg, not mg
- balfirevic 7y agoI'm in the same situation. What blue light lamp are you using? How did you settle on your current melatonin regime? Also, any other advice that you may have would be appreciated, thanks!
- daenz 7y agoThis is the lamp https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079YBGPM5 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079YBGPM5. The important aspect of it is to have it within 12 inches of your face when using it, but not directly in your eyes (can mess with your eyes). I usually have mine in front of my keyboard, tilted up, so the majority of the light is coming in from the bottom of my eyes. As far as melatonin, I have to point out that I edited my post to say 500mcg (0.5mg) not 500mg. I've done some reading that the light doses work very well http://news.mit.edu/2005/melatonin http://news.mit.edu/2005/melatonin. I haven't really tinkered with the dosage much, because the dosage I started with seems to work well. The last thing I will say is that keeping a log is important. I've never been one to keep logs for things, but I knew if I was going to fix this problem and make it a habit, I needed to stick to it rigidly for a month. That's what it took for the habit to form, and I'm glad I did it. Best of luck!
- theonething 7y agoThank you for the details! Same situation, trouble going to sleep for most of my adult life. Going to give this a shot to see how it works for me.
- balfirevic 7y agoThanks! In case you or anyone else is interested in more details about melatonin, here is some info: https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/07/10/melatonin-much-more-than-you-wanted-to-know/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/07/10/melatonin-much-more-th...
- souprock 7y agoAssuming the screen to be 0.5 square feet, that is only about 465 lumens. LED bulbs for standard sockets are commonly available up to 4000 lumens, and I have a bigger one that is about 7000 lumens. I have those all over my house. My kitchen has 14 40-watt T12 bulbs, probably 2600 lumens each, which would total 36400 lumens.
- daenz 7y agoYeah I couldn't be around lights that intense later in the day. Same thing with computer screens...I have them dim and disable blue wavelengths around sunset.
- cevn 7y ago500mg melatonin?? I take like 10mg occasionally and considered it effective
- hnick 7y agoIf you use the blue for an hour does that set your 'start of day' to the start or end of that hour?
- sershe 7y agoI might have a slightly different version but what works for me is going to bed when I'm not tired. I tried going to bed when I'm tired on a stay-cation once, and my sleep did a full 24-hour rotation in 16 days (so, on day ~7-8 I was going to bed at noon and waking at 8pm or so, and around day ~15 I was back on normal schedule). However, if I simply go to bed despite not being sleepy, it works fine.