Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Trying to Get Right with Light

So... an interesting thing happened a month or so ago. Windows 10 installed a major update on my computer, and with it came a new feature: Night Light.


It's basically a setting that allows you to set up a schedule to automatically filter out the blue light which supposedly prevents your body from producing melatonin, and thus, keeps you up at night. I wasn't really expecting it to have much of an impact on me, but boy was I wrong!

A few days after installing it, I started noticing something I've never really experienced before... evening drowsiness.


If you've been reading my blog for a while, you probably know that I am a life long night owl. Every few months I vow to reform my ways, but I just always feel wide awake at night, and it's really, REALLY hard to force yourself to go to bed when you feel more alert the later it gets.

I mean, seriously, I've been fighting this issue my entire life. And I don't just mean my entire adult life... I've been battling with bedtime as long as I can remember. At some point early on in my childhood my mother just gave up, and decided to let me stay up as late as I wanted. I think she thought I'd just inevitably get sleepy and the problem would correct itself, but what really happened was that I was just tired all the time, and had and impossible time getting out of bed in the mornings.


Honestly, it almost felt like my body was just wired wrong or something - like I was meant to live on a planet with 28 hour days or something. There's even a name for this syndrome, it's called "Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder." Anyhow, over the years I've tried sunlight therapy, full spectrum lamps, forcing myself to get up earlier, forcing myself to go to bed earlier, "sleep hygiene" routines, melatonin supplements, and pretty much anything else I could think of. None of it ever worked, so I had basically come to the conclusion that his was just something I'd have to live with for the rest of my life.

But suddenly, here I am, actually feeling tired at night! What a revelation! Could it really be that simple?

Anyhow, I did some reading and discovered that there is some evidence to suggest that people with chronic night owl syndrome like me are simply much more sensitive to artificial light than your average bear. Hmmm... 

Suddenly I recalled a visit to the eye doctor where I was told that I was not a good candidate for Lasik surgery because my pupils were too big. Hmmm...


Well, long story short, I decided to make a concerted effort to avoid exposing myself to artificial light - at least blue spectrum light - in the evenings.

I got some special light bulbs designed to filter out the offending blue rays...


I installed an app called "Twilight" on my television (it's and Android TV) - which does pretty much the same thing the Windows Night Light settings do.


A friend bought me a Himalayan Salt Lamp - which is supposed to help you sleep. They claim it works by emitting negative ions, but I think it might have more to do with the reddish light it emits:


And I even bought some LED candles to use at night instead of turning on the overhead lights. I have them scattered throughout the house, and once your eyes adjust, they are plenty bright to see by.


The results have been nothing short of life altering. I don't think there's any risk of me becoming a morning person, but I've actually been going to bed 2-3 hours earlier and getting up closer to 9am than noon for the first time in my adult life. And the thing is... I'm not struggling with it. I mean, usually when I try to reform, it's a matter of will power - I have to force myself to go to bed when I'm not sleepy. But this time around, I'm actually getting sleepy before I go to bed.

I don't want to get ahead of myself here, because I've tried and failed soooo many times before, But I am honestly hopeful that this time around it might actually stick. And I have to say, these short days of December don't seem nearly so horrible when you can actually get up in time to enjoy a few more hours of daylight.

So I'm wondering, has anybody else out there had any experience with this sort of thing? I'd love to hear what has and hasn't worked for you.




22 comments :

  1. Two people I work with wear yellow tinted lenses when they're working on the computer and they say that they are sleeping better at night. So you're not the only one who is finding a change. Now, I'm gonna have to go look for the twilight setting on the computer.

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    1. Yellow tinted lenses... I never thought of that! I can't wear regular sunglasses but it might be worth investing in a pair of yellow tinted prescription lenses. Hmmm...

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  2. I also was going to say it might be easier to filter light closer to your eyes than to change all the lighting.

    And now I'm imagining yellow plastic wrap for your glasses.

    There is such a thing as clip-on sunglasses--I wonder if there are clip-on yellow filters.

    This news is so exciting! I hope it keeps working out! (I've never heard of this before, let alone experience it.)

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    1. It is definitely an interesting thought. I do wonder about light coming in from around the glasses though. We'll see. You can get pretty cheap glasses at Zenni.com, so if this effect starts to wear off, I might give it a try.

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    2. Okay, now I'm imagining yellow goggles! :-)

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  3. I voluntarily go to bed around 8-8:30 every night so I can't say I personally have had the same experience. But my husband definitely does! He struggled for years trying to make it to work on time and switched to a later shift because he was late so often. He'll also stay up till 4 am watching TV and playing video games because he's "not tired." I'm going to investigate and see if I can change the settings on the TV and get a new bulb for the living room lamp! Thank you!

    And I'm so happy that this is working for you! Daylight is so important, especially during the winter. I hope this is a permeant change for you!

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    1. I hope it works for him. Honestly, my entire life I really thought that morning people just had some sort of super-human willpower. It never occurred to me that they actually felt tired at night!

      Here's hoping the change sticks this time!

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    2. Oh, and here's a link to the light bulbs. I couldn't find them locally so I ordered them online.

      https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01JJZP01A/

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  4. Does your kitty cat feel sleepier now that he is watching the Himalayan Salt Lamp??? ;)

    Like Live and learn, I may have to look for the twilight setting. It's fascinating to learn about how our brains are wired. Thanks for letting us know about your sleep success.

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    1. Ha! I don't think sleepiness is an issue for Jasper - he could sleep through anything!

      Anyhow, the Twilight app is for Android devices - I found it in the Google Store. It's free.

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  5. One of my instructors said she ordered her eye glasses with blue-light filtering lenses. I was skeptical, thinking it sounded pretty gimmicky, but maybe it's real. I would think your approach, of applying filters to the light sources, would be more effective than most standard eye glasses, since light can still get in around the edges.

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    1. I wonder what her glasses look like. On Amazon you can find lots of blue blocking glasses, but they have bright yellow lenses. Anyhow, I might get a pair to experiment with. I'm not sure how comfortable they would be, but they might come in handy for times when you needed light in a room that didn't have the special bulbs.

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  6. I definitely identify re: wanting 28 hour days. I've thought the exact same thing! I feel like I want to sleep longer and stay awake longer than a normal person. I should check out some of these remedies.

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    1. I'll be curious to hear if it works for you or not. Being on a more "normal" schedule would be tremendously helpful in sooo many ways!

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  7. I'm trying this for the first time now (and going to try out that Android app, too) -- will let you know the results!

    Thanks a ton for sharing. Had no idea this was a thing.

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    1. Hope it works for you. Apparently I'm not the only person who struggles with this!

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  8. I am a total lark (5am!) so I don’t usually need help to go to sleep! However, I have not felt very sleepy for the last few nights, perhaps I have been on my phone too much..


    As I typed the above, I remembered that my phone has an automatic feature that reduces blue light at night...I checked and it was turned off...have turned it back on, it will be interesting to see if it makes a difference!

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    1. Now that is interesting - I mean it's interesting if a morning person could be impacted by this stuff too. I'll be curious to hear if turning on that feature makes any difference.

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  9. I have a sleep problem for which I have tried damn near everything. I'm now shutting down at 10 PM, and I have a salt lamp next to my bed but I had no idea about this or the LED candles. Thanks for the information and I'm enjoying your frugal series.

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    1. I hope it helps. I can't discount the idea that it's all placebo effect, but I did voluntarily get out of bed at around 9am this morning - which is sorta crazy for me!

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  10. This is interesting. I didn't know that there was an option to change the light settings on computers or TVs. I normally don't have a problem going to sleep at night, I tend to be more of a morning person, but it can be really hard to fall asleep if I'm messing around on the phone or laptop right before bed.

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    1. Hmmmm... that is very interesting that even a morning person can have problems falling asleep after using their devices. Makes me think it's not just all in my head!

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