Sun lamp - SAD Light

I was curious if anyone has a sun lamp aka SAD lamp? I considered buying one two years ago but did not due to finances. I have felt increasingly unwell the last two years until I have spent most of my time in bed this last year. I have ulcerative colitis which fatigues me but I had never experienced such fatigue even after years of having this. I've altered my diet, done gluten tests, vitamin def. tests, forced myself to "carry on" and so forth. It didn't matter, I would get up tired - then eat or get dressed and feel terrible. I would have to sleep 2-3 hours then finish getting ready. Throughout the day I would need 2-3 naps. Not a good way to feel or live. My brain felt melty.

Hubs bought me a sun lamp and it came yesterday. I plugged it in and of course it was very bright. It lit the room like a 100 watt bulb would. One of my pet peeves is trying to find good lighting here. I can't see anything! I put my make up on in the morning in almost darkness because our lamps are not very good. I sat in front of it for an hour and like it said I got a headache. Tonight I got a headache as well. But I woke up feeling much better this morning. Not perfect, but better. My mood was better too. Maybe just placebo but I will continue on with it.

I also was a bit disturbed on how I looked. I thought I looked bad already - always dark circles under my eyes that I can't hide. But really having good light made me see how poorly I had become. I don't really know why I mention this but as a lady it is really hard to pluck your eyebrows and put on make up well when the lighting is so poor here. With my sunlamp I can actually see very well. Even if it is just a placebo I will keep it to light the room for such things - doing make up etc.

Anyone use a SAD lamp? Has it worked for you?

Sorry I have no advice on a SAD lamp.
When you talk about the lack of light 'here', I'm not sure if you are meaning 'here' in the UK, or 'here' at your house. But I was thinking...maybe you should try to get brighter bulbs for your house. Or at least one of those lighted makeup mirrors so that you can see well enough to pluck your eyebrows, etc?

My father uses one every morning during the winter.  He gets up early and sits in front of it for an hour while he eats breakfast and reads before going to work.  He is in the US so hasn't used it here in the UK but it has definitely helped him.  Just that hour in the morning helps him tremendously during the day.  I really hope that it works for you because I have seen how beneficial it can be!  Good luck!

I've considered getting one myself, but the cost is a bit prohibitive.

Whenever I get a chance-- which is maybe once a year, if I'm lucky-- I try to stop by a tanning salon, and spend about 10 minutes in a sun bed.  It really does make me feel better. 

It's not the kind of thing I'd do all the time, but I do wish I had access to one about once a week.  Not only would it help my mood, but I think it would do a lot for the skin problems I've developed since I moved here.

I was lucky enough to inherit one at work when a colleague left (way better than a stapler!).  I used it pretty much every day when from November-February when I lived in the UK.  I had spent 2 winters being miserable and the SAD lamp changed that. I would get into the office turn it on and get my 30 minutes of sun while I checked email and got my caffeine fix.  Worked wonders.  I was a slug getting into work each morning, but after that 30 minutes of light, I felt awake and ready for the day.  I had read somewhere that you should try and use it roughly at the same time each day for best results.  Good luck.  Hope this helps get you some energy back.

DH has just ordered a boatload of LED bulbs.  Apparently you need to check the lumens as well as the wattage of these things.  You expect a 60 watt new type bulb to give you the same amount of light but it doesn't work like that.  Anyway these new ones are a whole lot brighter -- pricey but they should last forever practically.  Our problem has also been an old house with minimum number of outlets in each room so I feel like I'm dressing in the dark even though the light is on.

As for the SAD lamp, DS tried it for awhile but didn't seem to help.   

I didn't do my lamp last night as DH was home early. We sit side by side at the desk so having the lamp on when he is home is a bit rude as he'd be very close to it. I feel tired today, but I think it's because I've been on my feet since early with my side job.

Albatross – I mean both outside and indoors. Both places that we've lived the ceiling lamps have consisted of three bulbs. I'm not sure the bulb we have now, but it's the highest lumens for the bulb that would fit the lamp that we could find when moving in. I would say it is as bright in here as 3pm on a winter day – when the sun goes down at 4pm. You can see but not well.

Beatlemania – Thanks! So far so good, so we'll see. The last two nights I've had really restful sleep. Usually I wake up feeling dead like I slept 10 minutes then woke up.


Woadgrrl – This is the lamp I bought:

I'm not sure if that is in your price range or not, but it is one of the cheaper ones.  I'm curious what skin issues you have developed since being here. I've found that I have gotten  a lot of spots on my face. Spots as in not pimples but skin discoloration. Sun used to get rid of them. I have them all over my nose now. I've used bleaching cream but not what I really want to do to get rid of them and it doesn't work well. Also – the dark circles under my eyes.

Karin- I'm glad to hear you've had such good results with the lamp. At the same time each day? I can do that!

BostonDiner – There aren't many sockets in this house either. It's one of the things that drives me bonkers about the houses here. You are right about the cost of the bulbs – pricey. I don't remember what bulbs we bought in the last place we were at, but they were around 9 pounds each and lasted about 2 months at a time. Tesco brand ones. We had three of those in the ceiling lamp and the room was still dim. To be fair I think something was wrong with that lamp because a bulb would always go out before the others on one particular part of the lamp. Not sure which ones we have now or type. I would need to ask DH, these bulbs and different fittings confuse and drive me nuts.

I have a SAD lamp that I use every day for 30 min in the morning. It's really helped me.

It's a blue light one, kinda like this one . I think we got it from the SAD organisation (sad.co.uk), and I remember it wasn't cheap.

However, prior to that I had one of those dawn simulator Lumie things that I got from John Lewis for ~£125. It didn't do a thing to help and broke after 2-1/2 months.  Humph...

Woadgrrl – This is the lamp I bought:

I'm not sure if that is in your price range or not, but it is one of the cheaper ones.  I'm curious what skin issues you have developed since being here. I've found that I have gotten  a lot of spots on my face. Spots as in not pimples but skin discoloration. Sun used to get rid of them. I have them all over my nose now. I've used bleaching cream but not what I really want to do to get rid of them and it doesn't work well. Also – the dark circles under my eyes.

Thanks for the link!  I was actually looking at them last night, and saw the same one.  I was surprised, because I seemed to recall them being a lot pricier the last time I looked.  But that was several years ago, possibly when I was still in the U.S., and working 3rd shift.

My skin has just gone nuts since I moved!  Eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, candidiasis, and random patches of very rough skin that no one's bothered to identify.

To be fair, I had some very mild problems before I moved.  The eczema (or possibly psoriasis, I can't actually tell which is which) was limited to my scalp, and was just occasional, fairly mild flare-ups.  And while I was always prone to blushing easily if I were warm (or annoyed!), I never had constant redness, nor the little pimples, etc. that I'm getting now on my face. 

So I don't know if it's environmental, or contagious (my husband's always had skin problems), or if it's just to do with my own immune system (I have other autoimmune diseases) and would have happened anyway (or is happening because of stress, etc.)

Woadgrrl - Sounds very frustrating and so many factors that could be causing your skin issues!  About the red cheeks - probably  not the reason but do you use lotion on your face? I ask because back in the states I used to use "utter cream" lotion on my body and face. Here it is not that cheap/easy to obtain so I started going through lotions and trying them out. All but one have turned my cheeks red. The rest of my face looks fine, but my cheeks would look irritated all the time. I use the Palmer's cocoa butter and it gives me no issues. But for awhile I did not know what was causing it. Not saying that could be it, but maybe something to consider if you use regular lotions on your face.

Aw, I feel you on the skin woes. I have very dry and sensitive skin that will randomly get very small patches of eczema that grow when it's upset and I'm super itchy all the time. There are quite a few sensitive skin creams here that aren't too expensive, which is nice. Simple is a good brand, you can check them out online if you want and the brand is available at most grocery stores places like Boots and Superdrug.  They're pretty inexpensive too, which is a positive. There's also E45, I think it's called?

My skin went through a settling in period after I moved over. I've had a lot of break outs and I'm still looking for the right body lotion for me, I did find a nice body wash that isn't drying. Lotion-wise  I'm mixing a neutrogena one with E45(?). Neither is the best for me on it's own, but if I mix them it's good. And I use the Simple bodywash with Shea butter.

I hope you can get this figured out. I know how uncomfortable unhappy skin can be.