Reddit mentions of Philips GoLite BLU Energy Light Therapy Lamp, Rechargeable (HF3429/60)

Keep your curtains open. Try low dose time release melatonin (or Valarian root) to help you get to bed early. I like this. Use Sleep As Android to set an alarm that will wake you up in a light phase of sleep so you feel refreshed. After waking up use a blue light device (or get some sunshine for awhile) to help reset your sleep rhythm. Also if you live in a cold/dark/cloudy area try a vitamin D supplement. These are things that have helped me get into a healthy sleep schedule, hope it helps you!

I have this Philips GoLITE and I'm convinced it makes a difference. I'm not sure if it's placebo, but I always feel a lot better after work and sleep more soundly on the days I use it for half an hour.

Here's another tip - the lamp does not have to be full-spectrum. It only has to have the blue wavelengths. So you can get something like this, for instance, and it will still work fine. (The retinal neurons that project to circadian areas only have the blue photoreceptor, not red or green.)

Start by improving your circadian rhythm. All the time I see people talking about taking melatonin, which is complete and utter nonsense.

Your body is PERFECTLY capable of producing melatonin by itself. The only reason it doesn't do so is because you don't expose yourself to the right circadian cues (zeitgebers). Because of that, your body can't tell what time it is and can't tell that it's bedtime.

First of all, you need to massively increase your light exposure, especially early in the day. Get daylight exposure in the first hour of the day. Ideally, you should spent all day outside. Of course, in modern society this isn't feasible for most. Some workarounds to this are to at least go for an hour outside to take a walk. Almost everybody should be able to do this.

Secondly, if you're inside most of the day, you should get a blue lightbox, like this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Philips-Therapy-Rechargeable-HF3429-60/dp/B00M3SGD4Y/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1525090941&sr=8-1&keywords=golite

Just put it at your desk or wherever you're at inside and set it beside you. You'll notice that you'll feel a lot more awake when you use it as well.

This is the most important element of fixing the main circadian clock and fixing the cortisol/melatonin rhythm, which is responsible for wakefulness and sleepiness.

You should only use melatonin if you use shiftwork or when you travel to another timezone. Remember, melatonin is not a sleeping pill, it's a darkness signaler, which is what most people don't understand. It doesn't knock you out.

Since you also mentioned a lot of noise from your brothers, I advise you to get some decent earplugs. I buy wax earplugs and wear them every night, they work wonders in drowning out medium levels of noise.

Drinking more water doesn't help with sleep, I don't know where you got that. In fact, it'll only make things worse since you'll have to get out of bed to pee every night.

I would keep up exercise, but don't do endurance type work like running. Try short heavy weightlifting workouts. This will enhance your metabolic strength and make you more resistant to stress, thus reducing anxiety.

I've tried a layered alarm approach and it seems to work. It's a bit more of a headache to stay ontop of, but it works for me at least.

My first alarm is through the android app Sleep Cycle. I put some sound of birds chirping that is set to fade in. The way that app works, is it determines the best time to wake you up within the stage of your sleep where you are the most wakeful. This makes it so when you wake up, you're less likely to be tired.

At the same time, I have the HF3520 Phillips Wake Up Light. This provides a natural looking artificial sunrise to go along with it. It's expensive, but worth it.

After that, I usually have 3 or 4 more alarms go off within 2 minutes of each other. First of these is a pretty gentle alarm. The rest are a louder sound.

Then the last alarm I have is the most loud and obnoxious one I could find. This way, you know when you hear it that there are no more alarms coming after, and that you have to get up. You could use your bed shaker alarm to work in conjunction with this.

So the whole idea of this, is to pull you gently out of your sleep, and then hammer you with alarms once you're more conscious.

After waking up, the Blue-Light box is nice . It's almost like having a cup of coffee. I admit I don't use it all that often anymore though, just because it means I have to wake up earlier. The one I picked up, though, was the Philips goLITE BLU
, which was the previous model of this one I linked. I realize I sound like I work at Philips now, but oh well. It was nice because it's portable, insanely bright, and holds a good charge.

Also a note, that android App, Sleep Cycle, also has some built in sleep sounds that automatically turn off when it determines you have fallen asleep. It also tracks your sleep cycles. Along with that, the Philips Wake Up Light has a sundown mode. Basically, you tell it to start 30 minutes(adjustable) before you want to go to bed, and it simulates a sunset. This helps to naturally get you ready to sleep.

Something else you could try, I recently saw this alarm clock that actually shocks you awake. Supposedly it works real well. It's called the Pavlok and it's currently in Indigogo. I also found these Gauss glasses which filter blue light wavelengths. Haven't tried them yet, though.

Lastly, check things that emit light in your room. The little light on your TV, your router, charging lights, etc. As a computer geek, I've got like 20 of these things blinking away when I shut the lights off. Supposedly, they mess with your body's circadian rhythm. So turn those off when you can, or cover them with electrical tape when you can't. Use apps like Twilight for your phone, and f.lux for your PC to cut back on blue light as much as possible if you have to use these devices before bed.

Sorry for the long-winded post. And I know this sounds way overkill. But it works for me as long as I stay ontop of it.

edit:
Fixed the Philips Golite Blu link

After I showed my sleep specialist my sleep log and my home sleep study came back negative for sleep apnea, he recommended 3mg of melatonin a few hours before bed and using a blue light for 20 minutes in the morning.

This is the Philips GoLITE I just got in the mail yesterday. I'd heard of it before and mentioned it when he said blue light, and he said it was a good one.

I've only had the chance to try it once this morning. I didn't feel any sort of immediate energy boost like some people talk about, but I didn't have any of the negative side effects either. I'm curious to see what happens with my schedule over the next few weeks.

But let me be perfectly clear... I'm only playing around to see what happens. I know what I can take in terms of struggling against my natural schedule, and I know when to give up. (Last thing I tried was less than 3 days.)

I always recommend anyone with non-24 or DSPD free run their sleep and work their life around that. Because fighting it long-term is probably going to suck worse.

1. Get a blue light box to help you control your circadian rhythms and sleep in a regular pattern. Here's a good one. Use it daily in the morning after you first wake up. (Be careful with this if you're bipolar, as it can trigger mania if you use it too long.)
   
2. Start taking fish oil. Start slow and work your way up to 3000 -
   6000mg. Here's a decent fish oil.
   
3. If your doctor prescribed you medication, take your damn medication.
   
4. Start weight lifting. Go easy and then go hard.
   
5. Read. Reading always helps pull you out of yourself.
   
   This shit passes. It's cyclical like everything in nature. Misfortune can only last so long before it expends itself and balance returns. Remember that. It passes.
   
   

For Seasonal Affectiveness Disorder specifically, get one of those blue lights and have her shine it in her eyes for an hour every morning. I have a Philips GoLite, costs about $125, makes a huge difference. Or you can go outside and get direct sunlight first thing in the morning.

Then get rid of blue light at night, either by wearing a pair of ugly orange glasses or replacing your bulbs to be more orange (blocking blue light) and putting your devices in the new "night shift" mode in iOS or using a program like flux.

Blue light in the morning makes you feel good, blue light at night ruins your sleep. Depressed people virtually always have sleep issues.

EDIT: also magnesium. Magnesium deficiency may play a role in depression, and supplemental magnesium improves sleep which can help with depression. I recommend magnesium glycinate.

I think that he was talking about something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Philips-GoLITE-Energy-Light-Rechargeable/dp/B00M3SGD4Y/

I personally only need it during winter when I don't get enough sunlight.

Start light therapy, i do it every winter for my depression and it really helps!!
http://www.amazon.com/Philips-GoLITE-Energy-Light-Rechargeable/dp/B00M3SGD4Y/ref=sr_1_8/189-1116355-4939720?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1452111444&sr=1-8