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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Cece on June 13, 2002, at 23:46:11
I'm putting this on P-B rather than P-S-B because I think that it relates to medications. Or rather to ways to help ourselves in addition to medications.
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 stimulates 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, I sleep
better, wake up more easily, and generally feel calmer.My niece who is BPI (I am BPII) decided to try the idea out and has done it for 3
months! It's one of those things where 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. To quote her e-mail to me: "I really
like the way day is day and night is night."Comments?
Cece
Posted by IsoM on June 14, 2002, at 2:13:31
In reply to Day is day, and night is night, posted by Cece on June 13, 2002, at 23:46:11
Interesting idea, Cece, & one that I think has a lot of merit to it. But, out of curiousity, how do you plan to manage it during the winter months with its decreased daylight hours?
I've wondered if I don't have a rather extreme sensitivity to the hums emitted by electical devices of any sort. I don't think it's the electrical fields produced so much as the sounds instead. When the power has gone off for whatever reason & everything is immediately quiet, I feel a release of tension & heave a big sigh each time. I get a similar feeling when I'm outside away from electrical sounds.
Posted by Cece on June 14, 2002, at 2:57:10
In reply to Re: Day is day, and night is night » Cece, posted by IsoM on June 14, 2002, at 2:13:31
Oh, I love it when the power goes out! All that ambient noise is so wearing. And all those nasty little LED lights all over the place.
I first tried the 'no electric lights' in winter. I find that my house is quite well lit when I have my candles lighted and my kerosene lantern going. Even possible to read if I set it up right. And a fire in the fireplace adds light and comfort and promotes reflection.
But, as I said, so far I'm only a sporadic practitioner of this experiment. I have to fight my night owl tendencies and my compulsions to get things done.
Cece
Posted by 3 Beer Effect on June 14, 2002, at 11:19:52
In reply to Day is day, and night is night, posted by Cece on June 13, 2002, at 23:46:11
I read that the sleep/wake cycle is regulated by melatonin at night and SAM-E during the day.
In other words the melatonin levels rise rapidly after sundown & especially after 8 pm.
& SAM-E (& Testosterone in males) rise rapidly during sunrise & up until I think lunch or perhaps the "afternoon lull".
Obviously, Bipolars can't take SAM-e because, like tricyclics, it is supposed to be very dangerous at triggering manic episodes (& it produces EEG changes similar to tricyclic antidepressants).
But, you could probably take melatonin 1-3 mg at sundown to help normalize your sleep/wake cycle & prevent the light induced cycling/waking/insomnia you are talking about. (The absolute maximum dose of Melatonin is 9 mg but many experts feel even 3 mg is too much & recommend only 1 mg. Personally, I think 3 mg works well for sleep (as well as 1 mg Klonopin) when combined with Ambien 10 mg.
CAUTION: and this goes for many supplements- Do not buy NATURAL melatonin or other natural supplements or natural amino acids, only buy synthetic. Natural supplements are often derived from cows or other farm animals & carry the risk of contamination from various diseases including mad cow disease & I think salmonella among other things. Not only that but I would be willing to bet that synthetic versions are not only safer, but stronger & work better [for example: d,l ephedrine hcl in Primatene Asthma Tablets is both stronger & safer (do to USP strict quality control) than the ephedra/ma huang in Xendadrine, Ripped Fuel, & Metabolife (the amount of actual active ingredient in herbal medications can vary widely since these "natural, herbal" billion dollar mega-companies have to answer to NO ONE regarding their quality control].
From personal experience, I have never gone wrong with any supplement from "Twinlab"
& they are a very respected firm among the supplement community. Also, for herbs the brand "Nature's Way" (found in those white plastic bottles) has to comply with the strict standards of the German version of the FDA. (I've have had problems with "Country Life" & "Bluebonnet" Brands of herbals)Anyways, After I get home from work at 8:30 pm at night I take a 3 mg Melatonin, & then to relax I usually watch TV for an hour with a blacklight on (available at Wal Mart for a low price in the hardware/flourescent light section). The blacklight allows you to find the remote & other things- you can still see & find your way around the room without turning on the lights or lighting candles. The black light either seems to make you sleepy or has a placebo effect- cannot tell. You might want to put one in your bathroom so you can brush your teeth etc before bed without turning on the bright bathroom lights which will make sleep more difficult. & a black light won't catch your house on fire like a candle will. About an hour before bedtime I take Ambien 10 mg, which seems to be a great sleeping pill (much better than Sonata or Klonopin for sleep).
Posted by rainbowlight on June 15, 2002, at 0:22:42
In reply to Day is day, and night is night, posted by Cece on June 13, 2002, at 23:46:11
Thanks for posting this. Very interesting! Perhaps that is why I love burning candles so much at night. I find them very soothing. I am going to give this a try.
Posted by anniebananie on July 5, 2002, at 14:02:31
In reply to Day is day, and night is night, posted by Cece on June 13, 2002, at 23:46:11
At this point I feel compelled to come back for just a minute because I am the niece and I was posting here a lot some months back and suddenly stopped. (First a houseguest was taking up the space near the computer and then I got a phone bill and realized how much time I was spending online and that it was taking up too much of my disposable income.) Sorry if I caused anybody any concern.
When I found out my aunt was posting about what many of my friends are now calling the "candlelight vigil", I decided to check out what people here thought about it, see if anyone else had tried it, all that. Having read the thread, I just wanted to fill in a few details...
Yes, I'm bipolar I, diagnosed 11 yrs ago, 2 manic episodes, lots and lots of continuous low-grade depression, a bit of the more severe stuff every now and then. When I commenced with the candlelight in March, there had been two prior changes that I think were also quite significant for me, only one of which I can say is a good thing for everyone.
The first is excercize (4-7 days a week of 1-2 hrs bicycling) which made a big difference in my mood and quality of sleep. Five months later I pressured my psychiatrist to let me try stimulants for the ADD that he had told me he thought I have. Despite the risk. There was a tremendous improvement in my clarity of thought -- for me the ultimate indicator of well-being.
About a month after that when my aunt mentioned her doctor's hypothesis about the light, it rang true enough for me that I decided to test it for myself for a month. Not only is it lovely and relaxing, but falling asleep and waking up are as effortless as they have ever been for me. I can only compare the effortlessness of getting the right amount of sleep to what happened when I began to eat when I'm hungry and not to eat when I'm not. The natural light seems to regulate my appetite for sleep. And I think I get additional benefits from the nightly ritual of candle-lighting.
I'm having no trouble studying by candlelight and have no plans to return to electric illumination. When winter comes, I'll simply have more hours during which I'll be burning candles.
Must get back to epidemiology.
Take care,
Annie
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