Light therapy

[Lostintime]

Has anyone had any luck - or even tried! - light therapy/heliotherapy? That is, sitting in front of a special daylight simulator or 'SAD lamp' for a prescribed amount of time per day. I have read from reputable sources that this can be as effective as medication, for rebalancing brain chemistry, not only for SAD and sleep disorders but for non-seasonal depression too. I was briefly on Amitriptyline (shudders at the memory), and am not keen on medication. But am in a fix as I simply cannot go on without something. It's been too long a battle and I'm starting to give up. My husband researched this exhaustively and we agreed that I try this. With a combination of CBT, for which I can hopefully get a referral this Friday, because I know it's never just one factor. I have been on it for a couple of days and believe I can feel a difference. Not sure if it is a placebo effect though. So, I thought I'd ask if there were any successful light therapy patients out there who could ... erm .... shed some light on the situation (that was a groan-worthy one, I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist!). Well, I'm cracking jokes, albeit very bad ones, so it must be getting better.
Thanks.

[windsong]

Hi Lostintime.

Never tried the light therapy myself but I have heard that it works well for some people. I think the combination sounds good and hope you get your referral that you need.

[CitM]

Yes I have! At first I thought it was all just a put on, but it works! My husband and I bought a light therapy lamp in the proper light spectrum (not all lights are the same) and I'm sooo glad I did.

People who need light therapy, need to start using their lamp as a preventative in mid September all the way through to March in the northern hemisphere, and in the southern hemisphere start using it in March all the way through to September.

Not using light therapy soon enough allows people with SADs to slip deeper into depression so that you need more hours a day in front of the lamp. Mornings and early evenings work the best in my experience.

[Donna18]

Never tried this. But read that this is effective for some people.

[derkderk]

I have used light therapy many times. I first tried the light panel and staring at it for 5 minutes that felt like 2 hours. I became very irritable from focusing on a blank screen which increased the presence of depressive thoughts.

I then found my perfect variation of light therapy. Its called "feel bright light". I prefer it for the specific light spectrum it uses which for me feels more comfortable, and I can be doing things at the same time and not trapped in a starring contest with a white display. Sometimes I'll combine it with hot cocoa (real coco, not nesquick or Swiss Miss) which ads caffeine helping the light hat work better. *Especially with mini marshmallows*


I have the one with included visor.
amazon.com links, I don't know if they have the best price:

W/O visor
[https://www.amazon.com/Feel-Bright-Light-Portable-Rechargable/dp/B00H8XFDUO/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=feel+bright+light&qid=1557728888&s=gateway&sr=8-1l]

With visor:
https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Therapy ... way&sr=8-2