Posted by Ritch on June 13, 2002, at 22:32:03
In reply to Re: Reverse SAD, sleep, light, meds » fachad, posted by Cece on June 13, 2002, at 15:18:32
> Thanks for your response Fachad.
>
> I was interviewed recently by a reporter for the NY Times for a story on Reverse SAD. She found me through a post that I made last year on P-B (Dr. Bob did not give her my personal info- just forwarded her inquiry to me and left it to me whether to respond or not). It will be appearing soon in a special supplement on Women's Health although it is not a problem unique to women. It has been reasearched some but the cause is not known. I suffer from the bright light of summer, and although where I live is relatively cool (Northern CA), I become virtually non-functional in a heat spell. I've been thinking of starting a new thread on this since the season is here- feel free to start it yourself.
>
> My pdoc is very interested in the effect of artificial light on BP disorders. He and others believe that living out of synch with the natural cycles of night and day stimulate cycling. There is an interesting article on this issue as a link off of:
> http://www.psycheducation.org/.
> This seems right to me intuitively, and as much as possible (not often enough) I take his suggestion of no electrical lighting after sunset, just candles and kerosene lanterns. It is very relaxing, and I do sleep better and wake up more easily. My neice who is BPI decided to try the idea out and has done it for 3 months! It's one of those things that it's hard to evaluate direct cause and effect, but she is feeling strong enough to take a very challenging graduate class that she had postponed for a long time.
>
> I may try raising my Trim a little- fine with my pdoc. Re the other med ideas, I am really trying to pare the meds that I take down to the bare bones- the reverse process of the layering that created a cumbersome cocktail that is a lot of work to maintain. I'm tired of running my own major pharmacy. I think that I'm going to try doing the Zyprexa, but consider it short-term, or maybe just a summer med. But thanks for the other suggestions, I'll keep them in mind.
>
> I have been told, and experience, that sleep deprivation is a short-term fix. I'm really someone who does best with a solid 8 hours, but it does only really work if I keep 'sensible' hours which is hard for me- I tend to be a night owl. My previous pdoc told me that the quality of sleep between 10 and 6 is much better than say 2 and 10. I agree that some of the sleep hygiene stuff is 'bunky'- I'll use my bed for any activities that I choose thank you!
>
> CeceCece,
That is very interesting reading. I have two SAD episodes a year-one in the winter and one in the summer. The summer one is already starting and it is marked by early morning awakenings (most of the last week or so). Imipramine is making this worse and I have stopped it (because of REM suppression?). I work evenings with artificial light and don't have the option of synching myself with nature. However, my take on the origin of the "reverse" SAD symptoms isn't the *bright* light-it is the *DURATION* of the available light. Let me start from scratch. I get depressed the worst in the winter centered around the winter solstice (lack of light). BUT, there are a lot of factors influencing the amount of light that you expose yourself to. One is the amount of natural vegetation in your environment and how much time you spend indoors versus outdoors. Anyhow, I notice that I feel *recovery* from the wintertime episode about mid-January. Snow makes things better. I have to get outside to shovel the snow away, walk to the store after a blizzard, etc. But, by the end of February I clearly notice the marked intensity of light coming through my windows (no trees yet). That is when I start developing hypomanic and mixed states. That worsens *until* the tree "canopy" is fully developed (which provides shade). So, though the temperature is increasing outside, the amount of light *INTENSITY* is drastically reduced, however the light *DURATION* is increasing. That is when I start to get my 2nd "reverse" SAD depression. It starts to significantly remit (and another hypomanic spell usally happens-however less intense) whenever the trees start dropping leaves and there is no storms or rain and the sky is cloudless and bright during the fall, while the light *DURATION* is decreasing and decreased, but the light *INTENSITY* is coming back up again-everything is very bright and "contrasty" outside.
Mitch
poster:Ritch
thread:108844
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020609/msgs/109750.html