e-beach
10 MW
neptronix said:
[youtube]lAop4Su5Uag[/youtube]
Cured my wife's anxiety and my depression with nutritional supplements.
- Thread starter neptronix
- Start date
[youtube]lAop4Su5Uag[/youtube]
what.. :lol:
Anyway, version 2 of my light is finished after a few trials with various hardware store and reptile store lights. I'm using a zoo-med 10.0 UVB fluorescent and a CREE daylight 5000k LED here. It's ~$50 worth of lights stuffed into a zoo-med reflective enclosure.
The effect is much more powerful than my lady's verilux and my circadian optics unit, which have both always barely moved the needle for both of us. I can feel a light tingle when my skin is hit by the UVB light, which is a sign that this actually works and is not merely a placebo effect.
I'm actually quite surprised how effective these reptile UVB lights are; the first one i bought was significantly overpowered; i had to return it!
It's a dark, cloudy, and snowy day here in Utah and it's a surreal experience to be feeling like it's a sunny tropical day and be in a cheerful mood, whereas everyone around me seems a bit dreary and low energy.
I really did think that achieving this would require more exotic and higher power lights.. and you can build this for less than you can buy a sub-par seasonal affective disorder light :thumb:
I do want to build a better version of this, utilizing a ceramic metal halide with ballast, plus a RGB LED array that slowly shifts through daylight cycles later on. But for now, i'm set.
Anyway, version 2 of my light is finished after a few trials with various hardware store and reptile store lights. I'm using a zoo-med 10.0 UVB fluorescent and a CREE daylight 5000k LED here. It's ~$50 worth of lights stuffed into a zoo-med reflective enclosure.
The effect is much more powerful than my lady's verilux and my circadian optics unit, which have both always barely moved the needle for both of us. I can feel a light tingle when my skin is hit by the UVB light, which is a sign that this actually works and is not merely a placebo effect.
I'm actually quite surprised how effective these reptile UVB lights are; the first one i bought was significantly overpowered; i had to return it!
It's a dark, cloudy, and snowy day here in Utah and it's a surreal experience to be feeling like it's a sunny tropical day and be in a cheerful mood, whereas everyone around me seems a bit dreary and low energy.
I really did think that achieving this would require more exotic and higher power lights.. and you can build this for less than you can buy a sub-par seasonal affective disorder light :thumb:
I do want to build a better version of this, utilizing a ceramic metal halide with ballast, plus a RGB LED array that slowly shifts through daylight cycles later on. But for now, i'm set.
Ah, i just got off the phone with zoo-med and got a nerd in product development to talk to me.
Apparently the Powersun HID product is super powerful to a point where, you could either use it for seasonal affective disorder, or for tanning. It has a sharp dropoff in the UVC range which makes it safer. I think i should have ordered one, but i'dl ike version 2 of my SAD light to be even better than the Powersun HID, and will use a ceramic metal halide bulb as the primary driver.
Here's a color graph for the Powersun HID: ( nice attenuation in the UVC range and good UVB/UVA. )
The Philips mastercolor ceramic metal halide though, is hard to beat - lights don't get much better than this. This is what you'd want for professional videography or photo shoots.. and of course, it has decent UVB/UVA output:
View attachment 3
Here's an expensive compact fluorescent for comparison:
Here's an expensive CREE LED in action; you'll notice some pretty severe lumpiness in the output and nearly nothing in terms of UVB production, which is what we want.
I would bet that people with SAD have had their conditions worsened with the adoption of CFL and LED lighting over incandescents, which had at least some decent UVA/UVB output:
Interesting how much effect lights can have on one's mood and mental health, eh?
Apparently the Powersun HID product is super powerful to a point where, you could either use it for seasonal affective disorder, or for tanning. It has a sharp dropoff in the UVC range which makes it safer. I think i should have ordered one, but i'dl ike version 2 of my SAD light to be even better than the Powersun HID, and will use a ceramic metal halide bulb as the primary driver.
Here's a color graph for the Powersun HID: ( nice attenuation in the UVC range and good UVB/UVA. )
The Philips mastercolor ceramic metal halide though, is hard to beat - lights don't get much better than this. This is what you'd want for professional videography or photo shoots.. and of course, it has decent UVB/UVA output:
View attachment 3
Here's an expensive compact fluorescent for comparison:
Here's an expensive CREE LED in action; you'll notice some pretty severe lumpiness in the output and nearly nothing in terms of UVB production, which is what we want.
I would bet that people with SAD have had their conditions worsened with the adoption of CFL and LED lighting over incandescents, which had at least some decent UVA/UVB output:
Interesting how much effect lights can have on one's mood and mental health, eh?
Attachments
I called the head nerd at zoomed and caught wind of a product they're announcing soon:
This is as close to an ideal off-the-shelf, sanely priced seasonal affective disorder product as it gets.
Obviously, this is oriented toward's reptile needs, so the UVA is boosted way, way up. A single SMD resistor change could drop the current to the single UVA light and produce a more human useable balanced ratio. This would alter the effect on one's mood.
My theory that UVB has a strong effect of suppressing melatonin production in humans is true. I used my DIY light for 5 hours yesterday, and come 11pm... i went from bursting with energy to ready to pass out FAST. Slept an additional hour. So the use of light COULD be a sleep therapy too.
I'm going to further experiment with this.
This is as close to an ideal off-the-shelf, sanely priced seasonal affective disorder product as it gets.
Obviously, this is oriented toward's reptile needs, so the UVA is boosted way, way up. A single SMD resistor change could drop the current to the single UVA light and produce a more human useable balanced ratio. This would alter the effect on one's mood.
My theory that UVB has a strong effect of suppressing melatonin production in humans is true. I used my DIY light for 5 hours yesterday, and come 11pm... i went from bursting with energy to ready to pass out FAST. Slept an additional hour. So the use of light COULD be a sleep therapy too.
I'm going to further experiment with this.
nicobie
100 MW
That's interesting. If you get a chance, post your results.
My sleep schedule is getting whack.
My sleep schedule is getting whack.
markz
100 TW
Mine to. That light would help when getting rays when waking up (early in the "day") whatever time that is.
nicobie said:
nicobie said:
I got yer results right here..
Yesterday, I used the powersun HID and it sent me into happiness overdrive after a few minutes, but i found myself addicted to it and used it for 5-10 minutes.
I switched over to my 'sipping light', which is much less powerful, but nice for constant use, and had a great day, and amazing mental function; i have mild dyslexia and ADHD which is a constant struggle, but felt like i had it in control more than ever. I have no scientific basis to explain why my brain felt very 'evened out', but that's something to look into.
I experienced the same 'low battery' feeling at night around 10pm, and instantly conked out at 11:30pm when me and the lady put our heads on the pillows.
Again, that is not normal for me.... i'm used to struggling to calm down and get to sleep every night.
I woke up at 7:32am, getting a perfect 8 hours of sleep, despite being at my lady's house which has 3 cats that like to act up around 6:00am. I tend to get 6-7 hours of sleep there.
I brought the powersun HID with me and wanted to test it out on my lady lizard before she went to work. Once the light got warmed up and started outputting UV, we both basked for about 5 minutes. All 3 cats came into the room and basked with us. My lady loved it and perked right up. She felt addicted to it and didn't want to leave for work. I hadn't even had coffee and felt like i already had dosed myself. I had coffee anyway, as i didn't want to go into withdrawal.
I'm currently editing a video i shot about this and will post it in a bit.
nicobie
100 MW
That was an interesting video.
I had a secretary who got melanoma. She died when still in her 30's. She had light colored skin, loved the outdoors. Very sad.
I had a secretary who got melanoma. She died when still in her 30's. She had light colored skin, loved the outdoors. Very sad.
nicobie said:
Glad you enjoyed it and hope you got something out of it.
I've got a few friends experimenting with a DIY light consisting of much lesser power. I'm awaiting their reports.
Melanoma is horrifying, but the dose of sun makes the poison.
I would agree that a white person getting burned repetitively.. or simply using tanning beds frequently, is stupid and dangerous.
Lack of vitamin D increases more 'all cause mortality' than melanoma kills though, so one must find a balance of exposure and protection that is healthy.
If you want to follow that rabbit hole, here's a good google search:
https://www.google.com/search?q=vit...0l2j0i390l3.4065j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
I wish i could find this again, but i read one report about australian smokers, showing they had higher vitamin D levels thanks to smoking outside. Despite their greatly increased risk for lung cancer, they had roughly equivalent lifespans.
I've read some crazy research but that was the most mind blowing thing i've read ever.
BTW, I'm on day 4 of light therapy and am still sleeping like a rock. I think it is fair to say that this is also a solution for circadian rhythm issues i've had for decades. Always been a light sleeper.
I am getting 7-8 hours a night of sleep versus the 5-7 i've got all my life.
I have noticed that i have gained a tolerance to this artificial sun and find myself wanting more hours per day of exposure.
I do not have a giddy happy feeling, more of a stabilized and upbeat, resilient mood; the kind of mental stability i've envied in others all my life.
Either this is the beginning of something like a tanning bed addiction, or my body is catching up on producing vit D and hormones due to the previous 3 weeks of overcast.
Find out more on the next episode of 'engineers gone wild'
I am getting 7-8 hours a night of sleep versus the 5-7 i've got all my life.
I have noticed that i have gained a tolerance to this artificial sun and find myself wanting more hours per day of exposure.
I do not have a giddy happy feeling, more of a stabilized and upbeat, resilient mood; the kind of mental stability i've envied in others all my life.
Either this is the beginning of something like a tanning bed addiction, or my body is catching up on producing vit D and hormones due to the previous 3 weeks of overcast.
Find out more on the next episode of 'engineers gone wild'
markz
100 TW
Try having a cooler bedroom, and laying off the screen time after supper. Might help out even more. Light therapy when you wake up will help, stimulation that early is good, its like working out early in the day.
markz said:
I do both of those things already, and every other sleep hack you could think of. I've also taken a bazillion different supplements to try to help. I even sleep with a small fan next to my head to prevent myself from waking up early due to noises. I've been 'addicted' to having a fan next to me for over 15 years as a result. oops..
I've been using this light therapy for a week and am consistently sleeping 7-8 hours for the first time in my life.
Even slept through my lady dealing with her cats acting up 4 times last night.
I think i can confidently say this works for both sleep time and awake time.
markz
100 TW
What do you think of weighted blankets?
I never even knew they existed until just recently.
I never even knew they existed until just recently.
neptronix said:
The fingers
10 TW
neptronix said:
A wighted swimming attire fashion line might be difficult to launch. :lol:
ha!
Anyway, I've been experimenting with a number of supplements with promising results.
I have found that a standard dosage of adrenal glandular + mucuna pruriens can successfully mitigate a weekend caffeine crash.
This combination would work well perpetually as a side effect free caffeine replacement, but both run a risk of creating tolerance and physiological dependence if used perpetually.
Dependence and tolerance buildup with caffeine has been a huge issue for me that's haunted my life. This is a useful tool for weekend use. I usually taper down on caffiene over the weekend... now i can fully go cold turkey and that monday coffee will be a kick in the jaw. Nice.
My lady suffers of intermittent fatigue due to medication she cannot currently get off of, which is known to lead to adrenal and pituitary insufficiency. She is non-responsive to stimulants. She tried this combination and it lit her brain up. She called it magic and wants to take it every day. I had to tell her to wait on it while i look for long term safety data. I hate that i have to do that.
An extended search on adrenal extracts only provides me with two viewpoints:
Medical industry: don't use it, we don't understand it and it's probably bad. See an endicronologist, who will likely prescribe you hydrocortisone, which has negative long term known effects. Also, adrenal fatigue doesn't exist.
Naturopaths: It's harmless because it's natural and comes from high grade cows. It does work. Oh, we don't have research either.
Clear as mud!
Without useful safety information, i am going to move on past this and try some other substances which have much more information on long term safety.
Here's a video i made on the topic:
[youtube]B7wSndOaFm0[/youtube]
Anyway, I've been experimenting with a number of supplements with promising results.
I have found that a standard dosage of adrenal glandular + mucuna pruriens can successfully mitigate a weekend caffeine crash.
This combination would work well perpetually as a side effect free caffeine replacement, but both run a risk of creating tolerance and physiological dependence if used perpetually.
Dependence and tolerance buildup with caffeine has been a huge issue for me that's haunted my life. This is a useful tool for weekend use. I usually taper down on caffiene over the weekend... now i can fully go cold turkey and that monday coffee will be a kick in the jaw. Nice.
My lady suffers of intermittent fatigue due to medication she cannot currently get off of, which is known to lead to adrenal and pituitary insufficiency. She is non-responsive to stimulants. She tried this combination and it lit her brain up. She called it magic and wants to take it every day. I had to tell her to wait on it while i look for long term safety data. I hate that i have to do that.
An extended search on adrenal extracts only provides me with two viewpoints:
Medical industry: don't use it, we don't understand it and it's probably bad. See an endicronologist, who will likely prescribe you hydrocortisone, which has negative long term known effects. Also, adrenal fatigue doesn't exist.
Naturopaths: It's harmless because it's natural and comes from high grade cows. It does work. Oh, we don't have research either.
Clear as mud!
Without useful safety information, i am going to move on past this and try some other substances which have much more information on long term safety.
Here's a video i made on the topic:
[youtube]B7wSndOaFm0[/youtube]
I'm looking to split my health discussions off this forum and on to another.
I would like to create something much like endless sphere but for DIY health hacking.
I'd like to know if this would be interesting to any of you.
Here's the video version of my call to see if interest for this exists:
[youtube]Urd6vo_72cE[/youtube]
I would like to create something much like endless sphere but for DIY health hacking.
I'd like to know if this would be interesting to any of you.
Here's the video version of my call to see if interest for this exists:
[youtube]Urd6vo_72cE[/youtube]
You can scratch considering my previous caffeine withdrawal protocol off your consideration list.
I've created a few variants of this protocol using other glandular medicine ( thyroid, pituitary, adrenal, etc ), as well as stimulants that activate other parts of the brain as a means of skirting caffeine withdrawal and have found this to be a dead end.
Glandulars, especially thyroid, have a rebound effect when ceasing them. The rebound from thyroid glandular in particular will ruin your monday. Trust me.
Other nootropic type substances prevent the weekend headache from occurring, which tells me that i am not truly recovering. Also found that my caffeine tolerance was not going down much over the weekend.
I went another route and started asking.. how do i speed up my caffeine metabolism on friday night so that i recover quick and fully over the weekend?
It lead me down the path of researching the enzymes used to metabolize caffeine and other drugs, and i found that cyp1a2 has a huge effect.
I have experimented with this enzyme boosting route using the herbal extract 'rutaecarpine' on friday night and had shockingly good results on lowering my caffeine tolerance and inducing a very quick and full withdrawal, which i bounced back from quickly, and didn't feel dead all weekend from..
As a result, i start my monday on 1 cup of coffee, not 2, and feel energized. My tolerance went WAY down this weekend, and caffeine will do it's magic for me now :thumb:
There are other routes to this. Broccoli boosts cyp1a2 noticeably and alcohol lowers it.
Check out this link for an entry point into this research rabbit hole:
https://www.coffeeandhealth.org/topic-overview/caffeine-and-metabolism/
I've created a few variants of this protocol using other glandular medicine ( thyroid, pituitary, adrenal, etc ), as well as stimulants that activate other parts of the brain as a means of skirting caffeine withdrawal and have found this to be a dead end.
Glandulars, especially thyroid, have a rebound effect when ceasing them. The rebound from thyroid glandular in particular will ruin your monday. Trust me.
Other nootropic type substances prevent the weekend headache from occurring, which tells me that i am not truly recovering. Also found that my caffeine tolerance was not going down much over the weekend.
I went another route and started asking.. how do i speed up my caffeine metabolism on friday night so that i recover quick and fully over the weekend?
It lead me down the path of researching the enzymes used to metabolize caffeine and other drugs, and i found that cyp1a2 has a huge effect.
I have experimented with this enzyme boosting route using the herbal extract 'rutaecarpine' on friday night and had shockingly good results on lowering my caffeine tolerance and inducing a very quick and full withdrawal, which i bounced back from quickly, and didn't feel dead all weekend from..
As a result, i start my monday on 1 cup of coffee, not 2, and feel energized. My tolerance went WAY down this weekend, and caffeine will do it's magic for me now :thumb:
There are other routes to this. Broccoli boosts cyp1a2 noticeably and alcohol lowers it.
Check out this link for an entry point into this research rabbit hole:
https://www.coffeeandhealth.org/topic-overview/caffeine-and-metabolism/
e-beach
10 MW
neptronix said:
Green Tea.
e-beach said:Green Tea.
The caffeine in green tea is just like coffee and no-doz. I metabolize it so slowly that i build tolerance very rapidly throughout the week.
Starting from 1 week of abstinence, my use looks like this:
Monday: 2 bags; feel great.
Tuesday: 4-5 bags; still feeling good, but not as good.
Wednesday: 7-8 bags; making it.
Thursday: 10+ bags ( starting to feel burned out yet still have energy to work )
Friday: 14+ bags. ( extremely burned out and tired yet wired at the same time; extremely unpleasant )
Saturday: withdrawal, am completely useless and depressed.
Sunday: intense headache sets in, still feel mostly useless. May have enough energy to play a video game or watch tv.
People with normal cyp1a2:
Two bags of tea or 1 cup of coffee every day and no withdrawal-tolerance cycle.
One thing to note is that the tea plant is really good at soaking up flouride. You can actually get skeletal flourosis - IE your bones become brittle to the point they'll shatter easily - over a long period of time of drinking lots of tea. Cases of skeletal flourosis in medical literature are mostly from Asia. Go figure.
I react the same to coffee and no-doz.
The root problem here is that i metabolize caffeine 2-3 times slower than most people do.
My morning dose lasts ~16 hours and anything after that will have me awake all night.
Enzyme boosters do the job. I'm absolutely wired on 1 cup of coffee this monday. Normally i have two on monday and am not this wired.
e-beach
10 MW
Do you have fluoride in your water? Also, IMO one cup of coffee a day is too much and more then one teabag a day is too much. I drink one cup of tea in the morning and generally one cup of coffee a week. When I need an energy boost, I like getting an energy boost from apple slices.
e-beach said:
Oh you're the kind of guy who doesn't need my advice if you get energized off a few apple slices.
Flouride is in my tap water in trace amounts and i have a filter to get it out.
Flouride is in much larger amounts in the tea plant when naturally present in the soil. Some drinking water supplies also have way too much.
Flourosis is a horrifying condition:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeletal_fluorosis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluoride_toxicity#Effects
Basically you don't want to drink a crapton of tea for a lifetime.
e-beach
10 MW
neptronix said:....
Oh you're the kind of guy who doesn't need my advice if you get energized off a few apple slices.
......
A small apple will keep me buzzing for 2 to 4 hours..
On the other hand, since the topic came up. This just in today.....
e-beach
10 MW
Just occurred to me, maybe you already thought about it. I think the caffeine thing depends on the height of the ride you want.
I've done 6 to 8 cups of coffee per day as a way to concentrate at work, and I have done months where I have not done any caffeine at all. It is a far less exciting way to go, no caffeine, but I was on a much more even keel through out the day.
I've done 6 to 8 cups of coffee per day as a way to concentrate at work, and I have done months where I have not done any caffeine at all. It is a far less exciting way to go, no caffeine, but I was on a much more even keel through out the day.