Got myself a SAD light

[muck_a_luck]

I got myself a SAD light and I have been using it this morning. Wow. And this thing is only 4500 at 6 inches. I can hardly imagine what 10,000 would be like! I can position it almost exactly 2 feet from my eyes while I work at my computer. After about an hour and 20 minutes, my eyes are feeling a little fatigued. Gonna knock it off for now, maybe try it again for an hour this afternoon.

Comments

[willful_zephyr]

We have one of these. My wife has it on a timer to kick off when she should be getting up. She'll also set it up next to her while eating breakfast.

It is supposed to be strong enough that 20-30 minutes is all she needs.

[muck_a_luck]

I think I have the 4500 lumens version of that. They look exactly alike, but that one looks to be 5000. It's package says 30 minutes to an hour, minimum. I figure, there will probably be some experimentation to do. On the other hand, when I'm the only person here, it doesn't hurt to just let it sit on the desk and glow. Not so sure about afternoon use. Will have to see what the Cellmate thinks about the thing in her peripheral vision...

[willful_zephyr]

Well, it would probably start to hurt your eyes after an hour. I'm not sure this is a "more is better" thing.

[muck_a_luck]

Possibly not. It wasn't hurting my eyes at 1:20, so much as making them tired. The instruction book thingy suggested that too much bright light could make one edgy. Considering my lust for light, though, I don't know if that would apply to me.

[willful_zephyr]

LOL! [picturing a Nom! Nom! Nom! on light]

[muck_a_luck]

:D

[rydra_wong]

The instruction book thingy suggested that too much bright light could make one edgy.

Trufax. It's fascinating -- it's functioning as an antidepressant, so it can actually have a few of the side-effects of an antidepressant, including making you feel jittery.

It's worse for people with bipolar disorder, who can get flipped into mania if they overdo it with the lights.

The other thing you may need to watch is when you use it; too late in the day and it might keep you awake and end up messing with your circadian rhythms instead of helping them (alternatively, an extra afternoon dose might help avoid evening mood slumps -- YMMV).

It's a bit like caffeine; you may need to play around with it and see what your tolerance is.