Published on 12, July, 2020
Today i just cant get my act together. Between walking my dog i am getting back into bed. I wouldnt say that i feel tired, but fatigued and a sense of overwhelm. In the past i would battle with this, but now knowing that i am autistic, i accept it and see it as a time for the need to rest. It feels a little like giving in, but i then realise it as a necessity to keep myself feeling just ok. I used to work full time. My ability has reduced. Do you think this is common for those of us over 50? I pick and plan my activities carefully in a wsy that i can manage, it seems essential to managing my life x
I don't know about you but today the weather is making me tired. It hasn't gotten fully light all day. I've just woken up from a nap.
I got myself a very bright sun lamp for this very reason. Apparently our brains are wired to receive 15-30 minutes of sunlight first thing the morning and that helps keep our sleep cycle correct. But I don't think I've seen the sun since October...
I have improved the lighting at home and it helps but I'd still like it to be brighter. It's still practically dark compared to summer when the sun is streaming through the windows. I miss that.
My biggest issue is inability to stay awake in the evenings, so I find that light later in the day helps the most. If I'm in the library which has nice bright fluorescent lighting I can sometimes stay alert even after the sun goes down, and that's the kind of lighting I would install if I wasn't renting. I'm already wide awake and ready to jump out of bed in the mornings, often as early as 3 or 4 am. I had a light box like that one, but you had to be so close to it to get any brightness that I didn't find it very helpful, and now it's developed a flicker. I've bought a 5,000 lumen (lux = 1 lumen per sq m) floodlight that throws out light throughout my living room and am considering getting a couple more if I can work out where to put them.
To get the benefit of light in the morning they recommend that it’s sunlight. Even dim sunlight is apparently much brighter than any home lighting.
I’ll make an effort to get sunlight when the mornings brighten up but in the meantime I bought this 10,000 lux lamp, which is staggeringly bright:
www.amazon.co.uk/.../B073P2WNDS