Darkness & Light & Madness

[Rinse & rePeat]

Lokzo made this excellent video on high seratonin and how it affects mood.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjBpfAQFRuM

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

"The process of healing the brain takes quite a bit longer than recovery from the acute symptoms. In fact, our best estimates are that it takes 6 to 9 months after you are no longer symptomatically depressed for your brain to entirely recover cognitive function and resilience."

How Long Should You Take Antidepressants

How long should you take antidepressants? This guide should help answer this question for many people with depression.

www.gatewaypsychiatric.com

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

...and the vicious cycle begins. A person takes antidepressants for sadness from a break up, death or whatever, they put on a bunch of weight because of them and now the person is forever on antidepressants because they are upset about their heavy appearance.

"Antidepressants interfere with serotonin, the neurotransmitter that regulates anxiety and mood while also controlling appetite. In particular, these changes may increase cravings for carbohydrate-rich foods, such as bread, pasta, and desserts. When people are depressed, their appetites are affected."

Antidepressants and weight gain: What's the connection?

Antidepressants are a commonly used drug in the United States, but some people find they gain or lose weight when using specific types. The link is not well understood, but some types, such as tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), seem more likely to lead to weight gain. Adjusting the dose or...

www.medicalnewstoday.com

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

Matthew 6:34. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

View: https://youtu.be/tjkMmtFQkZk

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

Does sitting by a fire have red light effects?

"Fire light is very weak, but probably slightly beneficial; direct sunlight provides intense penetrating red wavelengths." -Ray Peat

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

BTI: Is there a minimum amount of hours we should be sleeping? And does it really need to be consistent?

RP: Several things influence the amount of sleep we need. For example, the hours of exposure to sunlight that we get. A man who spent 6 months in Antarctica, with continuous daylight, said he needed very little sleep, and never felt better. During the winter, unless we have very good artificial light, it’s better to sleep longer than in the summer.

Before electric lights came into use at the beginning of the last century, many people would divide their nightly sleep into two parts, sometimes 4 or 5 hours in each phase, with a meal in between. The brain goes through cycles of about 90 minutes each, and during part of each cycle there is intense metabolism, in which cell components are renewed.

If a person’s metabolic rate is slow, as in hypothyroidism, the brain doesn’t spend enough time in the restorative metabolic state, and the person can still be very tired after sleeping for 10 hours. People with a higher metabolic rate usually have 5 or 6 of the metabolic cycles, for either 7 1/2 or 9 hours per night. When the metabolism isn’t working at high efficiency, a person is likely to wake up after just one or two cycles, with symptoms of hypoglycemia.

Having some easily digestible food at bedtime, or after waking, can improve sleep.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

“I have known people who woke up every hour or two during the night with nightmares. When they set an alarm clock to wake them a few minutes before the expected nightmare, to eat a small snack, after just a few days the nightmares stopped, and they were able to sleep through the night, apparently because they had replenished the glycogen stores of their liver, muscles, and brain, preventing hypoglycemia.” -Ray Peat​

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

This video by Lokzo on vitamin D from the sun vs supplements or a vitamin D sunlamp was very informative!


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5pS4xuoSL6s&lc=UgxUxmjxzxVTcKoTXrB4AaABAg.9_1Db9-7DEp9_9sDgxbR9W&mc_cid=32a654ed21&mc_eid=c5664356c4

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

“In a famous test of the objectivity of diagnosis, a filmed interview with a patient was shown to British and U.S. psychiatrists. 69% of the Americans diagnosed the patient as schizophrenic, but only 2% of the British psychiatrists did.” -Ray Peat

 

[golder]

“In a famous test of the objectivity of diagnosis, a filmed interview with a patient was shown to British and U.S. psychiatrists. 69% of the Americans diagnosed the patient as schizophrenic, but only 2% of the British psychiatrists did.” -Ray Peat

Whoa, that’s shocking, why the disparity? Did he allude/comment further?

 

[Jennifer]

“I have known people who woke up every hour or two during the night with nightmares. When they set an alarm clock to wake them a few minutes before the expected nightmare, to eat a small snack, after just a few days the nightmares stopped, and they were able to sleep through the night, apparently because they had replenished the glycogen stores of their liver, muscles, and brain, preventing hypoglycemia.” -Ray Peat​

This has been my experience. If I don't have enough simple sugars throughout the day, I reliably wake between the hours of 3 and 4 am from nightmares. I've tracked my blood sugar religiously with a refractometer and my Brix was always 0 (hypoglycemia) during those hours. Since my mum's passing, I've needed an extra cup of sugar to prevent my old hypoglycemic induced nightmares. It's crazy what even mental and emotional stress does to our bodies. My mum needed that much sugar after having invasive surgery.

 

[TheSir]

This has been my experience. If I don't have enough simple sugars throughout the day, I reliably wake between the hours of 3 and 4 am from nightmares. I've tracked my blood sugar religiously with a refractometer and my Brix was always 0 (hypoglycemia) during those hours. Since my mum's passing, I've needed an extra cup of sugar to prevent my old hypoglycemic induced nightmares. It's crazy what even mental and emotional stress does to our bodies. My mum needed that much sugar after having invasive surgery.

It's interesting that you can still fall asleep in that pre-hypoglycemic state. If I don't eat enough carbs before the bed, I will get get stuck at this weird pre-sleep phase in which my mind's eye is full of racing imagery but I'm not yet asleep, and like a ceiling it will prevent me from progressing further beyond this into actual sleep.

 

[Peater]

What a great thread, somehow I missed it up until now!

 

[Jennifer]

@TheSir, I experience that too if I haven’t had enough sugar before bed, but also if I’ve had something that irritated my intestines. It will often accompany a repeating song in my head and restless legs. I haven’t experienced any of that since getting over my fear of refined sugar and replacing the majority of my fruit calories with it. Go figure.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

Whoa, that’s shocking, why the disparity? Did he allude/comment further?

…

This has been my experience. If I don't have enough simple sugars throughout the day, I reliably wake between the hours of 3 and 4 am from nightmares. I've tracked my blood sugar religiously with a refractometer and my Brix was always 0 (hypoglycemia) during those hours. Since my mum's passing, I've needed an extra cup of sugar to prevent my old hypoglycemic induced nightmares. It's crazy what even mental and emotional stress does to our bodies. My mum needed that much sugar after having invasive surgery.

You are so right about what stress does to our bodies. I haven’t slept well for months, because of all the recent stress in my life too. My usual honey at bedtime, progesterone and keeping protein out of my system hours before bedtime are my usual go-to’s and just aren’t remedying the situaltion, but adding a fruity lemonade and leaving a dim light on this past 5 days gave me two night of such amazing deep sleep, and even one morning I had a silly dream before waking up. Dreaming has been rare for me for a long time,

I know you have been taking care of your dad, but when did your mom pass away?

 

[Jennifer]

@Rinse & rePeat, I'm really sorry you're currently experiencing stress. I'm glad the lemonade and light are helping with your sleep. It’s hard enough dealing with stressful circumstances, never mind while sleep deprived. I hope your stress lets up soon. My mum died in January. I’ve been caring for people since I was old enough to walk so taking care of my dad comes as second nature to me and isn’t too stressful, plus, he’s only 66 and fairly self-sufficient. It’s just the mental and emotional stress over the actual event of my mum’s passing, and not knowing the true cause of death, that I’m currently working through.

 

[Dolomite]

@Rinse & rePeat, I'm really sorry you're currently experiencing stress. I'm glad the lemonade and light are helping with your sleep. It’s hard enough dealing with stressful circumstances, never mind while sleep deprived. I hope your stress lets up soon. My mum died in January. I’ve been caring for people since I was old enough to walk so taking care of my dad comes as second nature to me and isn’t too stressful, plus, he’s only 66 and fairly self-sufficient. It’s just the mental and emotional stress over the actual event of my mum’s passing, and not knowing the true cause of death, that I’m currently working through.

Jennifer, I am sorry for the loss of your mother. I saw that you mentioned her passing but did not know when it occurred and felt bad for you when I read it. You are very young to lose a parent. I hope for the best for you and your family.

 

[Jennifer]

Thank you, @Dolomite. I appreciate your kindness and sympathy.

 

[Peatness]

Sorry @Jennifer I didn’t know you’d been bereaved. So sorry for your loss. Wishing you and your family my deepest sympathy.