Has anyone tried red and infrared light therapy for sleep?

[[Buddie]]

I have been watching some youtube videos on red near infrared light therapy and supposedly it therapy emits the same frequency of light as sunlight which helps the body produce melatonin. Has anyone tried this? I am thinking about buying some of  these lights but they can be very expensive and was wanting to see if anyone has had any success with them  -

Thanks

[[Buddie]]

I never tried it, but looked at them back in the day as well and in my 5+ years of experience, I couldn't find anything short of another Rx drug to induce sleep and even those only worked for a night or 2 for me at the most.  It was very difficult to do, but I let sleep come back on its own, without taking anything.

Nothing else works for Benzo-induced insomnia because the reason why you are not sleeping has nothing to do with sleep hygiene, melatonin production, etc.

Good luck!

[[Buddie]]

I used to go into a tanning bed that was infra-red light for anti-aging. Obviously, it wasn't really a 'tanning' bed, but it was in the tanning salon. It didn't help with aging, and it didn't help with sleep either, but I was sleeping OK back then. That was about 15 years ago.

I agree that benzo WD sleep just simply has to work itself out and come back. I am grateful that my organic sleep is coming back. That I can get tired and sleep without benzo's but I still have a way to go before I am fully healed.

[[Buddie]]

I never tried it, but looked at them back in the day as well and in my 5+ years of experience, I couldn't find anything short of another Rx drug to induce sleep and even those only worked for a night or 2 for me at the most.  It was very difficult to do, but I let sleep come back on its own, without taking anything.

Nothing else works for Benzo-induced insomnia because the reason why you are not sleeping has nothing to do with sleep hygiene, melatonin production, etc.

Good luck!

I hear what you are saying and I have read that your sleep returned for you in relatively short term.  im 3.5 years in and my sleep has still not returned - im in a spell of right now that I have only slept a few 4-5 hour nights in the last 3 weeks the rest has been 0-2 hours.

Im just dumbfounded that this has gone on for so long. Not quite sure what to do at this point.

thanks tho 

[[Buddie]]

I used to go into a tanning bed that was infra-red light for anti-aging. Obviously, it wasn't really a 'tanning' bed, but it was in the tanning salon. It didn't help with aging, and it didn't help with sleep either, but I was sleeping OK back then. That was about 15 years ago.

I agree that benzo WD sleep just simply has to work itself out and come back. I am grateful that my organic sleep is coming back. That I can get tired and sleep without benzo's but I still have a way to go before I am fully healed.

Im glad your sleep is coming back to you - I was on my medicine for so long I think sometimes that i have broke something in head and i wont sleep right again. I have been going thru this for 3 and half years and I have only had a couple short spells of decent sleep. The first two years I had hundreds of nights with zero sleep - now this last year or so is still messed up and I am going thru another insomnia wave. I wouldnt mind so much with these waves but i never have a decent window to catch up with sleep.

If you tanning helped you sleep then maybe it might be worth a short to try it and see if it might raise melatonin -

thanks for your reply

[[Buddie]]

[...],

Check out this device that could help with your sleep since you are 3.5 years out.

apolloneuro.com

[[Buddie]]

I tried this LED Light Therapy Lamp from Amazon in April of 2019. I think I gave it a 2-month trial. It did not seem to help, so I stopped using it. Here is the link to the exact product I bought. I agree also that the sleep disruption caused by benzos simply has to return on its own naturally, hopefully after enough time has elapsed benzo free, but it is sure frustrating in the meantime when you are surviving on what seems like a minimal amount of sleep and the sleep you are getting is not deep restorative restful sleep..

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079YBGPM5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[[Buddie]]

[...],

Check out this device that could help with your sleep since you are 3.5 years out.

apolloneuro.com

ok i def will - thanks !

[[Buddie]]

I tried this LED Light Therapy Lamp from Amazon in April of 2019. I think I gave it a 2-month trial. It did not seem to help, so I stopped using it. Here is the link to the exact product I bought. I agree also that the sleep disruption caused by benzos simply has to return on its own naturally, hopefully after enough time has elapsed benzo free, but it is sure frustrating in the meantime when you are surviving on what seems like a minimal amount of sleep and the sleep you are getting is not deep restorative restful sleep..

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079YBGPM5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks for the link - I also agree that it returns naturally but i do believe there are things that we do that can slow down or speed up the recovery just like diet and exercise or not drinking alcohol.

it is def frustrating - I cant get on with my life. Theres not much I can get done while not getting sleep and this world is hectic and crazy and I hate not being able to keep up with it.

Thanks for the reply!

[[Buddie]]

I tried this LED Light Therapy Lamp from Amazon in April of 2019. I think I gave it a 2-month trial. It did not seem to help, so I stopped using it. Here is the link to the exact product I bought. I agree also that the sleep disruption caused by benzos simply has to return on its own naturally, hopefully after enough time has elapsed benzo free, but it is sure frustrating in the meantime when you are surviving on what seems like a minimal amount of sleep and the sleep you are getting is not deep restorative restful sleep..

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079YBGPM5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks for the link - I also agree that it returns naturally but i do believe there are things that we do that can slow down or speed up the recovery just like diet and exercise or not drinking alcohol.

it is def frustrating - I cant get on with my life. Theres not much I can get done while not getting sleep and this world is hectic and crazy and I hate not being able to keep up with it.

Thanks for the reply!

You are 100% correct. Many ppl were 1st put on benzos bc of sleep issues. The natural insomnia came before the benzo induced insomnia.  Once the benzos are gone, and you have recovered from the benzo w/d, that does not mean that the problem you started taking the benzos to mask is suddenly going to magically be fixed. This rarely happens IMO. You have got to find other ways to naturally manage the problem you started taking the benzos for. By masking, the benzos just make the problem worse in the end.