Innovative ways to tackle my delightful sleeping problems

[elettaria]

I'm thinking of trying the method suggested by this place for increasing melatonin in the evening by blocking blue light. It's fairly well established by now that blue light increases serotonin production and suppresses melatonin production, and I have done heaps of good for my sleep cycle (which runs on a 25 hour day when left to its own devices) by sitting in front of a blue bright light box every morning. But I still am rather a crappy sleeper, so anything that improves my sleep would be excellent. Of course, there's no way I'm spending the amount that company wants for their glasses, especially since I'm not even in that country. After roaming clip-on sunglasses and even wondering if I could get away with normal sunglasses over my prescription specs, I finally spotted safety glasses in yellows and oranges. Now, the last time I wore safety glasses was for GCSE chemistry fifteen years ago. Does anyone know if they will routinely fit over prescription specs, and am I likely to find they are too huge to sit on my head? I'm mainly eyeing up these, these and these.

Also, does anyone have any thoughts on the whole business? If I can get suitable orange glasses for a fiver I may as well give it a go, at least so runs my current reasoning. I am currently sitting with a piece of vaguely glasses-shaped orange plastic, the sort I use for monitor filters, tucked inside my glasses, interfering with my eyelashes, and I must look very silly indeed.

Comments

[altglas.livejournal.com]

so blue light makes you wake up? hmm interesting. Dan can't get up properly in the morning (he's not just lazy, he really has problems)

[elettaria.livejournal.com]

Look into dawn simulation, that might do the trick. There are various articles about how it works scattered around the internet. I got on with it pretty well, but I now sleep with a moist foam eye mask on (blocks out all light and makes my eyes less dry), so I can't use it any more. If he wants to look into bright light therapy, it needs to be the really bright light boxes used for SAD.

Cross-post with some interesting stuff in the comments is here (http://community.livejournal.com/cfids_me/389949.html?style=mine).