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Has anyone tried red and infrared light therapy for sleep?


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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

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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!

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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.

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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 

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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

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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

 

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Ocean34,

 

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

 

apolloneuro.com

 

ok i def will - thanks !

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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!

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  • 2 weeks later...

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.

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Can anyone direct me to some internet info on red light therapy for sleep? I have a tanning membership that includes red light therapy, and I don't use it right now, but I will if it is going to if it helps my sleep. I have never heard it helps sleep.

 

HM

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[f3...]

Ocean34,

 

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

 

apolloneuro.com

 

Interesting device. I'm guessing it works on giving your body something benign to focus on, instead of allowing racing thoughts that keep some people up. This seems promising to help people that have psychological sleep problems.

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  • 1 month later...
Red light therapy treatments are quick and simple: you just sit or stand in natural light for 5 to 15 minutes, ideally every day. This stimulates your mitochondria and gives your cells the natural light they need to make energy. I worked with the guys from https://writinguniverse.com/free-essay-examples/sleep/ and wrote an article on the topic. I read that clinical research showed that red light therapy can improve sleep quality and duration, and help people produce more of their own melatonin. But as far as I understood, more research is needed as the current evidence seems to indicate that red light at night doesn't disturb sleep and that's it.
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To benefit from red light therapy it needs to be transcranial. Just shining a light in the general direction of your body won't do much  for the Benzo damaged
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To benefit from red light therapy it needs to be transcranial. Just shining a light in the general direction of your body won't do much  for the Benzo damaged

 

https://www.wellred.com.au/duo-coronet/buy-now-9pgya-k64g6-2xm2j

 

There are devices like the one above that claim to be efficacious. I haven't done enough research on this topic but it seems promising on the whole. I do know that wave length and intensity matter, so you cant go stick any red led on your head.

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To benefit from red light therapy it needs to be transcranial. Just shining a light in the general direction of your body won't do much  for the Benzo damaged

 

https://www.wellred.com.au/duo-coronet/buy-now-9pgya-k64g6-2xm2j

 

There are devices like the one above that claim to be efficacious. I haven't done enough research on this topic but it seems promising on the whole. I do know that wave length and intensity matter, so you cant go stick any red led on your head.

 

There's a Facebook page started by a member here, I have spoken to her a few times about it and she has had good success using a similar device.

 

A quote from her PM, I hope she doesn't mind

 

"it has helped my sleep massively and it was such a bad issue for me, really critical."

 

 

She's not very active here, but if you are interested you could ask on her Facebook page, she's done a lot of research.

 

https://m.facebook.com/groups/1256254668087158/?ref=bookmarks.

 

I was going to buy 1, but seemed to turn a corner just before I did and they are expensive, so am waiting a while. I haven't ruled it out tho

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I just bought an infrared therapy wrap mainly for my stomach and back pain.  For that it's already helping and this is only the second time I've used it.  I'll try to let you guys know if my sleep improves.  I used it yesterday and last night sucked, so not sure if it made it worse or did nothing.  But it definitely helps  with pain.  I just wonder if you need to put it on your face or head for the sleep benefits?  I don't know much yet. 
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I tried the apollo neuro last summer when I was about 13 months post-jump.  It didn't do anything for me re: sleep or symptoms, in fact I think it may have aggravated my neuropathy.  My understanding is it is supposed to increase the resilience of your autonomic NS, and hence increase heart rate variability and overall well-being. 

 

Separately I got tested for vitamin D status, and was borderline low.  I bought a Sperti vitamin D sunlamp (only one on the market for UVB).  Although I was getting 6-7 hours of broken sleep (not terrible for jumping from benzos), I noticed a real improvement in my sleep.  Now getting 7-9 hours each night, still a few awakenings but I suspect my restorative sleep is much improved.  Ocean34, I would suggest getting your Vitamin D checked, as almost EVERYONE is deficient and it is very important for sleep.

 

Good Luck!

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To benefit from red light therapy it needs to be transcranial. Just shining a light in the general direction of your body won't do much  for the Benzo damaged

 

https://www.wellred.com.au/duo-coronet/buy-now-9pgya-k64g6-2xm2j

 

There are devices like the one above that claim to be efficacious. I haven't done enough research on this topic but it seems promising on the whole. I do know that wave length and intensity matter, so you cant go stick any red led on your head.

 

 

 

There's a Facebook page started by a member here, I have spoken to her a few times about it and she has had good success using a similar device.

 

A quote from her PM, I hope she doesn't mind

 

"it has helped my sleep massively and it was such a bad issue for me, really critical."

 

 

She's not very active here, but if you are interested you could ask on her Facebook page, she's done a lot of research.

 

https://m.facebook.com/groups/1256254668087158/?ref=bookmarks.

 

I was going to buy 1, but seemed to turn a corner just before I did and they are expensive, so am waiting a while. I haven't ruled it out tho

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To benefit from red light therapy it needs to be transcranial. Just shining a light in the general direction of your body won't do much  for the Benzo damaged

 

https://www.wellred.com.au/duo-coronet/buy-now-9pgya-k64g6-2xm2j

 

There are devices like the one above that claim to be efficacious. I haven't done enough research on this topic but it seems promising on the whole. I do know that wave length and intensity matter, so you cant go stick any red led on your head.

 

There's a Facebook page started by a member here, I have spoken to her a few times about it and she has had good success using a similar device.

 

A quote from her PM, I hope she doesn't mind

 

"it has helped my sleep massively and it was such a bad issue for me, really critical."

 

 

She's not very active here, but if you are interested you could ask on her Facebook page, she's done a lot of research.

 

https://m.facebook.com/groups/1256254668087158/?ref=bookmarks.

 

I was going to buy 1, but seemed to turn a corner just before I did and they are expensive, so am waiting a while. I haven't ruled it out tho

 

Thanks for the link!

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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!

 

So what part of benzo withdrawal causes sleep issues? I have non 24 because of withdrawal and it hasn't gotten better.

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It simply has to do with down-regulated GABA receptors.  GABA receptors are your body's brake pedal or what makes you calm and relaxed.  Glutamate receptors are your body's gas pedal or what makes you active and alert, even fight or flight.  Normally both are in balance so one doesn't overtake the other.  When they are in balance you sleep normally and you don't have symptoms.  But when Benzos temporarily take GABA offline, Glutamate rules the day and night, so you are wired all the time and can't sleep even though you might feel tired.  Until GABA receptors heal and/or regrow, you're in for a period of insomnia that Ashton says typically lasts 6-12 months for most.  Non 24 isn't necessarily insomnia, just a different circadian rhythm that isn't in line with a night/day "normal" sleep routine.

 

If you are sleeping but on a different schedule that you'd like, sometimes melatonin can reset your rhythm? 

 

Sleep Drive isn't the only system for sleep.  You also have your Circadian Rhythm.  Just like most people tend to get hungry around breakfast, lunch and dinner time, most people start to get sleepy around 10:00 - 11:00 pm at night.  Some earlier, some later, but regardless this is your Rhythm.

 

When your Sleep Drive is high and your Rhythm is locked, sleep occurs fairly easy.

 

However, if either one of these (Drive or Rhythm) is off, you can have a sleep disorder.

 

You can have a high sleep drive but an "out of sync" Rhythm or vice versa.  Then sleep is hard to come by.

You can get in bed and feel exhausted (high sleep drive) but your Rhythm is off so it's hard to fall asleep!

 

Benzos temporarily remove your Sleep Drive, hence the insomnia.  But if you still have Sleep Drive but at a different part of the day or night than you'd like, then it may not be Benzo induced?

 

Non 24 Circadian Rhythm occurs almost exclusively in blind people.  If you're not blind and you have Non-24, it might be because there are problems in the way your brain is getting light from your eyes.

 

Non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder in blind people is commonly treated with melatonin supplements or the FDA-approved melatonin receptor agonist, tasimelteon. Taken at a specified hour before the desired bedtime, these substances help prepare the body for sleep at the same time every night.

 

Good luck....

 

 

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