Posted by gardenergirl on April 5, 2006, at 15:15:15
In reply to Re: Light therapy year round?, posted by Caedmon on April 3, 2006, at 20:10:11
Shoot, I started composing a reply but must have been distracted and closed the window before finishing. But thanks for the encouragement Mike and Caedmon.
I've decided to keep using the light therapy this year. I may find I need to back down from my usual 30 minutes at 10K lux, but we'll see. I can either back the light away a bit or dial it down (both versions I have can do that). Even if it just works to help me regulate my sleep/wake cycle, that would be worth it.
And I avoid the sun like crazy, too. I burn in about 10 to 15 minutes. Never have tanned. I'm very very fair-skinned. And I hate being all slathered with sunscreen, so I've got to be really interested in an outdoor activity in order to convince me to do that. I do get some great morning light in my family room, so that's a good way for me to get sunlight without burning. In fact, the other day I sat with my go-lite on one side and the sun coming in on the other. I wondered if maybe that was overkill? :) Actually, I wonder how much correlation there might be with a positive response to light therapy and being fair-skinned. I'm of N. European and Finnish descent, which my pdoc says has more SAD in the population than in sunnier areas. And of course that's where my fair skin likely comes from.
I think the Provigil is helping, although not as much as I'd hoped. I've heard of folks with ADHD finding significant improvement when taking the right meds. In my case what I've noticed is a reduction in impulsivity. I've caught myself thinking, "Hm, I'd normally just say this, but everyone's watching the game. Or talking about something else. Maybe I shouldn't interrupt or just blurt it out." I'm embarrassed to say it, but being able to avoid blurting is sort of a new experience for me. But that's good. I see it as an improvement.
I can still get distracted by multi-tasking or in trying to complete one task without hopping around starting others, and I was hoping for improvement in that. In fact, the other day when doing yard work, my husband asked if I'd taken my Provigil that day because I saw so much that needed to be done and did literally sort of run around between the different tasks. All he had planned for us to do was just pick up dead wood and sticks. But at first I think it did help with this, too. Some behaviors are just so ingrained in me that I think I need to work on it from a behavioral standpoint as well as physiological to really improve.
Provigil also seems to decrease my carb cravings, which are huge on Nardil. That's been great, and I didn't binge eat as much. I actually lost a couple of pounds. But I'm not sure that effect is continuing. I've been eating a lot of sweets again, although they are available to me, whereas before they weren't in the house. I didn't miss them though, like I did before. Again, it's a habit to always have them in the house, as I would feel deprived before if I didn't. So I need to work on that habit, too.
Okay, probably more information than you wanted, Mike. But I do think Provigil has been worth it for me, and I'm lucky it's covered by my insurance.
gg
poster:gardenergirl
thread:627778
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060403/msgs/629321.html