Hi,
I have struggled with ultra-rapid cycling & would like to share something I have come across & now work with & rate...
Bizarrely Darkness Therapy, you might already have come across it, it is out there,but not that publicised..
It makes good sense.Has been shown to help rapid cyclers more thanan antidepressant might.
It's to do with the Circadian Rhytmn, that basically helps with balance, in sleep etc. day & night....and this can be quite sensitive in people struggling with Bipolar symtoms, particularly rapid cycling.
We do need enough sunlight & the blue light, early on in the day to keep us active, but we are also exposing ourselves to artificial blue- light sources at the end of the day also, by means of T.V. / computer & lighting. Blue light switches off melatonin, and so exposure to these blue-light sources in the 2-3 hrs before bed is not allowing the circadian rhtymn to do its switch....not having it this side, also affects the switch the other side....one needs to go through both these optimium phases in order to create the balance etc.
Simple solution & easy to put to the test...do not expose yourself to any artificial blue- light sources in the 2-3hrs before bed. And how you do this they say, is to block it out with the deep amber sunglasses that omit blue-light...and if you have to get up in the night, make sure you don't switch one of these artificial blue- light sources on....as you will switch the mind on & upset this fine circadian balance, that is obviously very finely tuned in some....You can get an amber light bulb especially for night....as well as wearing the amber shades, you can also block out the blue-light on your t.v. & computer with amber screens, similar / same as those used in film making..
I have an old pair of amber glasses used for flying / skiing I believe & I really do rate this...
Check out info on net...etc. If you do try it...please let me know how you get on....
http://www.vitalhomeopathic.com/Circadian_Therapies.htm here is someone who uses it, but there is more research out there.
Wishing you all the best
Makaela
re: rapid cycling share...
John McManamy
Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 12:03 AM
Hi, Makaela. Sorry for taking so long to respond to this. I recently got back from a trip to New Zealand and have been dealing with my own circadian situations from all the disrupted sleep and extreme time zone changes. Honest to God, I wish I had read this post before embarking for NZ. Then I probably would have packed some amber glasses.
What you write here makes a lot of sense. I went to the website you suggested. Your link didn't work, but for the benefit of other readers, here's a copy-paste of the URl:
http://www.vitalhomeopathic.com/Circadian_Therapies.htm
To quickly summarize: We've all heard of light therapy. The author here also suggests "dark" therapy as a means of re-setting the clock. An extreme form of dark therapy is lights out at 8 or 9 PM. (incidentally, when I get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, I negotiate my mission with the lights out. It is well-established that sudden bright light can relly mess up your circadian rhythms.)
A more practical fom of dark therapy may be wearing amber glasses. The darkened lenses may trick the brain into thinking it's dark - thus stabilizing one's circadian rhythms.
I have no idea whether this works or not, but the principle behind this is valid and is worth engaging in your own research and exploration.
Many thanks, Makaela. I love learning from readers ...
Hi,
I have struggled with ultra-rapid cycling & would like to share something I have come across & now work with & rate...
Bizarrely Darkness Therapy, you might already have come across it, it is out there,but not that publicised..
It makes good sense.Has been shown to help rapid cyclers more thanan antidepressant might.
It's to do with the Circadian Rhytmn, that basically helps with balance, in sleep etc. day & night....and this can be quite sensitive in people struggling with Bipolar symtoms, particularly rapid cycling.
We do need enough sunlight & the blue light, early on in the day to keep us active, but we are also exposing ourselves to artificial blue- light sources at the end of the day also, by means of T.V. / computer & lighting. Blue light switches off melatonin, and so exposure to these blue-light sources in the 2-3 hrs before bed is not allowing the circadian rhtymn to do its switch....not having it this side, also affects the switch the other side....one needs to go through both these optimium phases in order to create the balance etc.
Simple solution & easy to put to the test...do not expose yourself to any artificial blue- light sources in the 2-3hrs before bed. And how you do this they say, is to block it out with the deep amber sunglasses that omit blue-light...and if you have to get up in the night, make sure you don't switch one of these artificial blue- light sources on....as you will switch the mind on & upset this fine circadian balance, that is obviously very finely tuned in some....You can get an amber light bulb especially for night....as well as wearing the amber shades, you can also block out the blue-light on your t.v. & computer with amber screens, similar / same as those used in film making..
I have an old pair of amber glasses used for flying / skiing I believe & I really do rate this...
Check out info on net...etc. If you do try it...please let me know how you get on....
http://www.vitalhomeopathic.com/Circadian_Therapies.htm here is someone who uses it, but there is more research out there.
Wishing you all the best
Makaela