Wow! What a difference blue light filter glasses make on sleep!

[JML]

i tried two different sleep masks and they both squished my eyeballs (i have very deep set eyes).

I found a sleep mask at the Chicago O'Hare airport a couple years ago that is filled with those tiny beads (like in Beanie Babies stuffed animals, but softer). I had forgotten to pack my regular one for a trip to Asia. This mask was awesome because I could reposition the beads to "fill in" my eye sockets, but it didn't put pressure on my eyeballs, and it was still very comfortable. Still use it at home now, although the elastic band is getting saggy.

[floramaria]

I´ve been wearing Blue blocker glasses at night for most of this year. Started with the safety glass style UVEX which i still wear occassionally. I also have Spectra479 glasses from amazon. M,ore expensive, but these ones are very comfortable and look like regular sunglasses. I´ve even gotten compliments o. Them from people who didn´t know they were blue blockers.
For a sleep mask that doesn´t press on the eyelids at all, the Bucky sleep mask is great. Has molded cups over the eyes. just be not to get then one that also has a weird nose pad...that will ride up and poke you in the eye. But Basic Bucky is a winner!

[Globglam]

So what's the consensus on wearing blue light blocking glasses all the time? My new optometrist is recommending them (there's not any extra cost).

I'm torn. On one hand it doesn't seem prudent to block blue light ALL the time. On the other hand I seem to remember reading that cumulative blue light exposure is predictive for macular degeneration.

[Stavia]

Globglam I think you're talking about something different - the slight filter on normal specs to protect the retina from possible damage from long hours of computer screen work?
I've looked at the evidence, suggestive but not compelling. My software engineer son has them, but he is literally looking at screens 10plus hours a day.

If so, its not the same as the very strongly blocking glasses worn from sunset which are VERY orange.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[drae]

So what's the consensus on wearing blue light blocking glasses all the time? My new optometrist is recommending them (there's not any extra cost).

I'm torn. On one hand it doesn't seem prudent to block blue light ALL the time. On the other hand I seem to remember reading that cumulative blue light exposure is predictive for macular degeneration.

Hi Globglam! I see you are new and I am too. =) I have been on the forum 1 month now, after reading Dr. Bredesen's book and realizing I fit the profile.

I am not the person to answer a consensus type question and had not heard of blue light filters on regular glasses. You can surely trust Dr. Stavia's feedback on that. She is the author of the apoe4 primer on this forum, here: viewtopic.php?f=33&t=1418

The primer is extremely helpful for beginners like me. I am working to read through it a little at a time and have used it to help me decide which parts of the protocol I can start applying in my own life, as a beginner. Please continue to read around and feel free to post questions. I find members very generous to respond. I am also spending a lot of time in the Our Stories section where I can read a lot about how people are getting started and other helpful topics.

So, welcome! Thanks for posting a question and hope to see more of you. I have learned so much here already and the help is invaluable.

Happy New Year and all my best,
Drae

[progranulindefect]

"So what's the consensus on wearing blue light blocking glasses all the time?"

as i posted elsewhere, you want to block the blue in artificial light. sunlight has many different colors/frequencies of light depending on the time of day- it also contains blue light. morning light from sunrise on is very important for hormone signaling, and contacts/glasses will block some frequencies that you need. they will also block out important light at other times of the day. i am getting yellow-tinted frames that block out less blue when i will be working in an environment with lots of artificial light and few windows. when i go into an environment with mostly light from windows (including my car), i will wear my regular glasses. i don't want to completely block out blue because we do need some blue. and if you get none, you will most likely be super sleepy and throw off other signaling pathways that need to sense blue. when i am outside, i wear nothing on my eyes and walk around in a blurry state (unless there is a safety issue or i want to see something badly). this blurry state is uncomfortable, but getting poor sleep and cognitive decline, which i am slowing down but not totally eliminating, is more uncomfortable and depressing. i wear uvex total blue blockers when the sun is not out. to not look like a total weirdo, when they arrive, i will wear my yellow tinted glasses on the train to work since i need to leave for work before the sun rises in the winter months. PS the skin can also sense blue light, so i try to cover up inside. this is fine in the winter months since my house is on the cooler side. in the hotter months when covering up would make me hot, the sun sets late, so it is easy to keep artificial light off in the evening and i don't need to cover up.
https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/transc ... 1515239951

from the above podcast:
"Dr. Wunsch: But there’s another issue with the LEDs. If you have a high amount of blue light from sunlight or the sky in nature, then you also have other parts in the spectrum, the invisible part in the near infrared, which is the spectra part longer wavelengths than red. Near infrared is always present in daylight, in sunlight, it makes up to 43% of the total amount of radiation energy in sunlight. And you were talking about the reactive oxygen species, the oxidative effect of the short wavelengths already, and in natural light we have a compensating part which is always present, and this is the red and the near infrared. So the blue light under the sun is never a solitary event. It’s always combined with the radiation part which is restoring and regenerative. And if you are using high intensity of blue light from an LED, the problem is not that it would have the same intensity compared to sunlight, but there is no compensation radiation contained in the blue light from an LED."

[circular]

i also sleep in a bunk bed with the top bed removed. i have a thick blanket which i have attached to the top plank of the bunk bed, which encircles the bed. i have to do this because i am extremely sensitive to any light coming in to my room at night. now i sleep much better (although not perfectly) by sleeping in a room so dark i can't see my hand in front of my face when i am in there at night.

That is really interesting! I never would have thought of a bunk bed transformed into a cozy and dark little cave to sleep in! I suppose one could do something similar with a four poster bed of any size. I have the blackout curtains on my list but haven't spring for it yet. I have some dark scarves I rotate and I just fold them over once and then drape them over my eyes, but I have to sleep all night on my back, so that may not work for others. I kind of scrunch the ends under the side of my face to help hold my head up since I don't use a pillow either!

[Tincup]

So what's the consensus on wearing blue light blocking glasses all the time? My new optometrist is recommending them (there's not any extra cost).

I'm torn. On one hand it doesn't seem prudent to block blue light ALL the time. On the other hand I seem to remember reading that cumulative blue light exposure is predictive for macular degeneration.

Note - Jack Kruse is controversial, so I'm not promoting this as fact, just that I personally think it has merit worth looking into. Do your own investigation.

Dr. Jack Kruse would say to block blue frequencies (the specific ones are in the 430-480nm range as I recall) all the time indoors. But not to block them outdoors. I wear these clipon's all the time indoors (these block everything <490 nm). In fact Jack noted that in the 1920's an ophthalmologist published that his cataract surgery patients with metabolic disease got better after the operation (because of they eye's exposure to UV A frequencies). He said when he presented this to an ophthalmologist group, several came up and told him they'd experienced the reverse recently, as the lens inserts all block UV. So Jack said some of his followers needing the operation getting lenses maid in Germany that do not block UV.

Jack's perspective is we should get exposure without eye covering within the first hour of sun and also at noon to optimize circadian rhythm. We do need all the frequencies, but as presented by the sun, not the blue spikes of our screens, CFLs & LEDs, which are not balanced by the rest of the sun's natural spectrum.

He looks at himself as a "mitochondriac." He is easier to listen to at first than read. He notes that some of people who read his blogs are docs, so they are intentionally very technical. I initially found him "out there, " but as I've followed up, his physics based approach likely has merit, IMO. Here are some links - it takes work to delve into this. This interview is perhaps a decent overview.

site, blogs, youtube, and podcasts.

Jack is controversial, & he would say that getting light, water & magnetism right is more important than food. Not that food doesn't count, but if you get the other's right, then you can be looser on food.

[Tincup]

Another sleep hack - face in an ice water bath for 5 minutes before bed. Use 40-45 deg F water so skin temp is 50-55 deg F. I check skin temp with this IR thermometer.

[Plumster]

I don't know what to make of it, but my sleep cognitive therapist PhD says that there's too much emphasis on avoiding screens and wearing orange glasses: "You'll get about 6 min more sleep wearing them." He's not rejecting the idea but he is downplaying it. If your eyes are right up and very, very close to the computer or tv screen, then yes, it'll affect you. But getting up in the night when you can't sleep and watching some tv should not cause problems, he says. I have tried wearing the glasses and haven't noticed a difference, but perhaps the difference is too subtle or more longterm?