I need a little input on this. Anyone with experience with one of these things. I get a little depressed in the winter months and I’m wondering if it’s because of my lack in vitamin D. So I’m looking into one of these.
Only thing is that they’re a little expensive. Should I just use fluorescent bulbs for my desklamps? It’s the same concept, just using full spectrum lighting, right?
Bump
Do you mean a light box?
Best one I’ve ever used is made by Apollo health. It’s rather expensive but worth it - you can get it at Costco cheaper though.
For vitamin d, if you can’t get outdoors in the sunlight, try tanning booths.
I think it’s an awful waste of money for a self-diagnosis.
Light boxes are incredibly well-researched & effective at treating SAD - I’m not sure what Contrl means. A couple hundred bucks doesn’t seem much compared to the suffering otherwise entailed.
My point is he’s investing too much money to fend off something he self-diagnosed. He’s not even sure if that’s the source of the problem.
Stupid idea: Try taking vitamin D supps first.
Do those light boxes give you a tan? If not it’s even more pointless.
haha
[quote]Contrl wrote:
My point is he’s investing too much money to fend off something he self-diagnosed. He’s not even sure if that’s the source of the problem.[/quote]
hmmmm, yeah but is it really all that hard to diagnose? In the winter months, when there is less sunlight to act on the pituitary gland, fatigue and depression set in - this is very common in northern lattitudes. The sun makes you feel good not only because it stimulates vit d synthesis, but because of its highly complex effects via your retinas.
Stupid idea? Why worry about taking supplements for something that I can get by sitting in the vicinity of my desk? And also do you have experience with one of these or are you just being completely subjective?
The question wasn’t whether I should take something it was specifically should one of these lamps or would it be almost the same as a fluoro bulb. Fuckin duh.
Lol and me being a person of dark complexion, I don’t think about getting a tan much. More for the Vit D aspect.
First, those HappyLight systems don’t emit UV light, meaning it does absolutely nothing for vitamin D production.
Second, you can buy full-spectrum light bulbs at pretty much any store. They are a buck or two more expensive, but it’s a fraction of the cost of buying a “special” lighting system like the one you linked to. Every light bulb I have is full spectrum and there is a huge difference as it seems more like natural sunlight instead of artificial lighting.
[quote]meangenes wrote:
Stupid idea? Why worry about taking supplements for something that I can get by sitting in the vicinity of my desk? And also do you have experience with one of these or are you just being completely subjective?
The question wasn’t whether I should take something it was specifically should one of these lamps or would it be almost the same as a fluoro bulb. Fuckin duh.
Lol and me being a person of dark complexion, I don’t think about getting a tan much. More for the Vit D aspect.[/quote]
I think people are just trying to help. As the other poster said, you aren’t going to get vit d from a full spectrum bulb.
[quote]meangenes wrote:
Stupid idea? Why worry about taking supplements for something that I can get by sitting in the vicinity of my desk? And also do you have experience with one of these or are you just being completely subjective?
The question wasn’t whether I should take something it was specifically should one of these lamps or would it be almost the same as a fluoro bulb. Fuckin duh.
Lol and me being a person of dark complexion, I don’t think about getting a tan much. More for the Vit D aspect.[/quote]
Apparently reading comprehension isn’t your strong suit. I said: “Try taking vitamin D supps first”, meaning if it works then spend some money and get the lamp as it will likely be cheaper in the long run.
[quote]Madman2 wrote:
meangenes wrote:
Stupid idea? Why worry about taking supplements for something that I can get by sitting in the vicinity of my desk? And also do you have experience with one of these or are you just being completely subjective?
The question wasn’t whether I should take something it was specifically should one of these lamps or would it be almost the same as a fluoro bulb. Fuckin duh.
Lol and me being a person of dark complexion, I don’t think about getting a tan much. More for the Vit D aspect.
Apparently reading comprehension isn’t your strong suit. I said: “Try taking vitamin D supps first”, meaning if it works then spend some money and get the lamp as it will likely be cheaper in the long run.[/quote]
Uhmm… Because I don’t feel like it.
Uhm, someone with experience please post.
[quote]meangenes wrote:
Madman2 wrote:
meangenes wrote:
Stupid idea? Why worry about taking supplements for something that I can get by sitting in the vicinity of my desk? And also do you have experience with one of these or are you just being completely subjective?
The question wasn’t whether I should take something it was specifically should one of these lamps or would it be almost the same as a fluoro bulb. Fuckin duh.
Lol and me being a person of dark complexion, I don’t think about getting a tan much. More for the Vit D aspect.
Apparently reading comprehension isn’t your strong suit. I said: “Try taking vitamin D supps first”, meaning if it works then spend some money and get the lamp as it will likely be cheaper in the long run.
Uhmm… Because I don’t feel like it.
Uhm, someone with experience please post.[/quote]
Your money to waste. But you ain’t going to be generating much if any Vitamin D with the product you are asking about. It doesn’t generate UV light which is what the body needs to make Vitamin D.
I have some experience with SAD and light boxes.
Light boxes have nothing to do with synthesizing vitamin D. Light boxes emit no ultra-violet rays. The light from light boxes are around 100x more powerful than regular lights you may have in your house, so give up on the idea that you can make your own cheaply. A good quality light box will run you between $200-$400.
Vitamin D supplementation helps SAD via a differant mechanism. Basically light from a light box slows down the release of melatonin from the pineal gland. Melatonin is a sleeping hormone among other things. Science has revealed it has many interesting functions. But for our discussion you can think of excess melatonin creating an artifial hybernation mode for people that are susceptable.
The long and short of it, light boxes work, so does vitamin D. Both methods in combination are best. For some people it still isn’t enough, and antidepressants may need to be prescribed on top of this.
[quote]Dopamineloveaffair wrote:
I have some experience with SAD and light boxes.
Light boxes have nothing to do with synthesizing vitamin D. Light boxes emit no ultra-violet rays. The light from light boxes are around 100x more powerful than regular lights you may have in your house, so give up on the idea that you can make your own cheaply. A good quality light box will run you between $200-$400.
Vitamin D supplementation helps SAD via a differant mechanism. Basically light from a light box slows down the release of melatonin from the pineal gland. Melatonin is a sleeping hormone among other things. Science has revealed it has many interesting functions. But for our discussion you can think of excess melatonin creating an artifial hybernation mode for people that are susceptable.
The long and short of it, light boxes work, so does vitamin D. Both methods in combination are best. For some people it still isn’t enough, and antidepressants may need to be prescribed on top of this.
[/quote]
They are not 100x, or any significant amount, more powerful than regular lights. If this were the case the light would be unbearably bright. If you argue that the case it is in dampens the light so it is bearable, well that would decrease your exposure to the light and in practice would not be any significant amount more powerful.
As far as using regular lightbulbs, you bet your ass it works. Those SAD lighting systems use fluorescent bulbs, which are the same ones you can get at most stores. Outside of fluorescent bulbs, any full spectrum lighting would be fine, be that special tungsten lights or halogens.
Melatonin production can be influenced by any light source, be that a bright enough flame, sunlight, full-spectrum, white, yellow, etc. While all colors will affect melatonin production, the higher the color temperature the greater the inhibition of melatonin production.
Bottom line: provided you have adequate bright lighting from any source in your home you will inhibit melatonin production. I am sure everyone knows, but SAD is not solely the result of abnormal melatonin production. In extreme circumstances it may be beneficial to take an antidepressant as the above poster suggested.
Ultimately whatever helps your mood, OP.
But I would personally rather you do something that’s more of a sure-shot in bettering your mood.
You could consider adopting a pet. Preferably something that also tastes delicious, should you become bored with it or it stops being adorable once it ages.
I got myself one of these babies. It’s awesome.
DB
Edit: not sure why the pic won’t post. Trying again.
.