I Cured My Insomnia By Minimizing EMF Exposure

[seeyeff]

There are many supposed types of EMF exposure. The type you cut down on seems to be "dirty electricity." Some electricians seem to test for this when wiring a house. Also, there are supposedly little plugs (forgot what they're called, but easy to google) that eliminate dirty electricity in your house. I would prefer not to use such a technology, and merely install an electrical system that doesn't suffer from this phenomena.

I bought Tri-field EMF meter and tested my walls and wiring for that. My house wiring seems to be fine. Basically, as long as the hot and neutral wires are twisted together into one "rope", it won't generate a magnetic field, but if you physically separate those wires, it will create a magnetic field, which I have also tested on 12 volt DC wires.

But that's just one potential source, and I don't think it is what did the trick for me.

I just use / recommend the circuit breaker method because most people probably don't realize all the different sources of magnetic fields and radiation in their home.

I have verified with my TriField, just like in that video I posted, that things like laptops and refrigerators and WiFi routers and AC-to-DC power supplies all generate magnetic fields.

But even the circuit breaker method is not fool-proof because you could still have a battery powered device like a phone or tablet next to you, or you could have a smart meter on your outside wall near you, or you could be getting radiation from an apartment neighbor, or a nearby cell tower, etc.

 

[seeyeff]

I sleep right under a wifi router. Separated by maybe 4-5 meters and a thin wooden floor board.

Klinghardt would probably recommend the "German method" for that router if you cannot move it or turn it off at night or just switch off the WiFi and set it to wired mode.

Seriously though, WiFi routers are of particular concern because in order to perform their function they are effectively always on, always sending out a microwave signal. Which is even worse than a cellphone which only sends a signal while in use, or when "pinged" by a cell tower.

 

[Such_Saturation]

Not certain, but I doubt it because I've been pretty good about keeping things dark and limiting the remaining visible light to red light for years now — (my bedroom, bathroom [and even my refrigerator!] have red light bulbs which I use after sunset— my neighbors must think I'm up to something freaky), but it never solved the problem.

Also, the insomnia problem regularly persisted even after the point where I turned off all my lights and I would lie in bed waiting to fall asleep. I could lie in bed in the dark for hours before falling asleep.

The only theory that makes sense to me is that the visible lights were off but the invisible EMF was not "off".

Could be the stimulation from using social media, etc.

 

[Such_Saturation]

Klinghardt would probably recommend the "German method" for that router if you cannot move it or turn it off at night or just switch off the WiFi and set it to wired mode.

Seriously though, WiFi routers are of particular concern because in order to perform their function they are effectively always on, always sending out a microwave signal. Which is even worse than a cellphone which only sends a signal while in use, or when "pinged" by a cell tower.

Actually wifi is also in bursts if you check with the meter.

 

[seeyeff]

Could be the stimulation from using social media, etc.

I considered that, but I can now use my computer at night before bed, in the right physical orientation, and it does not keep me awake.

I put my laptop on a stand and keep it about 3 or 4 feet away from my body and I use a wired keyboard and mouse, so that even my hands are never physically within the strongest area of the magnetic field my laptop produces.

According to my TriField, being more than about 2 feet away from the laptop basically drops the magnetic field down to the ambient levels, which is about 1.5 milligauss in my house.

I can do this and still get tired at a decent hour, and then when I do want to close the laptop and go to sleep, I'm finding it much easier to fall asleep, usually within about 20 mins, which is great compared to my past.

Mind you: I switched off my WiFi weeks ago, and have only been using wired internet since then. So as far as I know, I'm getting nothing but ambient (sources outside my house) exposure to magnetic fields and radiation.

So, I'm sure there could still be a night when the laptop's content was mentally stimulating enough to keep me awake, but I have definitely noticed a significant difference on a typical night. With the aforementioned physical mechanics, normal laptop use does not cause "mental stimulation" that keeps me from getting tired.

In fact, I have a hunch that maybe the one thing that made all the difference was just that I put an end to the habit of laying in bed with my laptop or tablet resting directly on my chest.

When I think about this now, or see other people doing it, I cringe and shake my head:

I wish I had known how bad this is for you.

One day in the future, a picture like this will probably evoke the same sense of tragic irony of a photo of a doctor smoking or something like this scene from the turn of the century show The Knick of a guy getting an x-ray for the first time:

 

[seeyeff]

Actually wifi is also in bursts if you check with the meter.

Ok, I guess I was thinking in terms of continuous periodic bursts as opposed to "on demand", i.e. only when the wifi is being "requested" by your device.

And come to think of it, I think smartphones probably do "phone home" at various intervals to connect to the internet, get updates, push notices, etc.

 

[seeyeff]

This idea that household level EMF is highly disruptive seems like it should be rather easy to demonstrate via animal experiments. Has it been? Color me skeptical.

I mean, I see the rat melatonin thing linked above, but that's not a whole lot to go on. If it's as big a deal as these people are claiming park some rats next to a field and prove elevated mortality. Has this been done?

So you're a "show me the studies" guy, ay? :)

Alright, here is a list of studies that have showed negative effects from radiation, ranked in order of the strength of the exposure:

http://www.bioinitiative.org/report/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/BioInitiativeReport-RF-Color-Charts.pdf

Here is the source:

RF Color Charts Summarizing Several Studies - BioInitiative Report 2012

 

[Such_Saturation]

So you're a "show me the studies" guy, ay? :)

Alright, here is a list of studies that have showed negative effects from radiation, ranked in order of the strength of the exposure:

http://www.bioinitiative.org/report/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/BioInitiativeReport-RF-Color-Charts.pdf

Here is the source:

RF Color Charts Summarizing Several Studies - BioInitiative Report 2012

What are "MW reasonant frequencies"

 

[sladerunner69]

I think EMF can actually be beneficial to you at the correct frequency range...

 

[BigYellowLemon]

@seeyeff

That's not good.

The German Method is infeasible in my context.

I might hang some graphene painted curtains around my bed.

 

[Dan W]

For anyone looking to cut costs on a Trifield, a few notes from my casual searching:

• Used ones look like they pop up on ebay every few days, and sell for roughly $75-110.
• This is the most reasonable rental option I found, probably works out to about $45 for a week. I didn't find any coupon/discount codes for them.

 

[miquelangeles]

Great thread

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

It's when you can't get tired / fall asleep early enough and then you can't wake up early enough either (without it being a miserable experience). And then if you let yourself sleep in, you end up staying up later the following night, resulting in a vicious cycle of staying up later and waking up later each day.

This is so true. Napping makes the cycle even worse.

The Cure

Now when I intend to go to sleep, I eliminate as much EMF (aka "Electrosmog") as possible by cutting off all electrical power (except to my refrigerator and AC/furnace) at the main circuit breaker and turning off or physically distancing myself from all battery powered electrical devices like phones and tablets and laptops.

I recommend trying the circuit breaker method rather than just manually unplugging and turning things off because A) you don't always realize the EMF being generated by various devices or appliances and B) and some devices are putting out EMF even when you think they are "off".

Turning off the circuit breaker sounds extreme, but for serious insomniacs it is not a bad idea.

To wake me up, I left the curtains of a window open so that the natural sunlight would be my alarm clock. Within a few days and for a few weeks now, I have gotten tired around midnight and have woken up slowly around 9 or 10 but not later than 11 AM — and this in mid-winter and the time the sunlight wakes me up tends to correlate with how sunny or overcast it is (just as you'd expect: the brighter the day, the early it wakes me).

I find leaving a night light on, as Ray Peat suggested, AND my curtains open so I wake with the sun to be helpful in getting on a good schedule. I use to be one to watch television until I got tired which was well after midnight, and I would fall asleep just to wake up wide awake two to three hours later. My sleep is optimal now skipping television and reading instead.