I've recently found myself in a living situation in which i'm sleeping
in a room without a window.  No matter what hour it is in the day, it
is always pitch dark.  This has really been throwing off my internal
clock and and has seriously affected my mood.  One solution that I
thought of was to hook up an ordinary lamp to some sort of
programmable dimmer so that i could set it to slowly dim on as the sun
rises in the morning and dim off as it sets.  I have seen those alarm
clocks that slowly dim up ambient light, noise and smells over a half
our and finish off with a buzzer at the set time you wish to get up. 
This would only work, however, if i could somehow only use the light
element and dissable the rest.  I am more interested to know if there
is a product better tailored to my needs.  I'm looking for something
reasonably priced, but i do need SOMETHING.  So if a product does
exist but is pretty expensive i'd still like to know about it.

dingus,

I really feel for you.  Sleep is incredibly important to a persons
health and well-being, more than most people realize.  sleeping in a
room with no windows alters your REM patterns and you wake up feeling
"still-half-asleep" --groggy...  I have a circadian rhythm sleep
disorder and have used light box therapy from time to time.  They are
usually prescribed for S.A.D, depression, and circadian rhythm
disorders like mine.  There are many products for you to choose from,
but I would like to bring your attention to the NEW DAWN alarm clock
that uses your own lamp to gradually wake you up.


NEW DAWN: Turn your bedside lamp into a gentle sunrise.
http://www.apollohealth.com/sleep.html
..."Dawn Simulation:
The NewDawn? sunrise alarm clock turns your bedside lamp into a
summer's sunrise. Its computer controlled sunrise gently rouses you
from sleep by gradually turning on before you need to wake up and
slowly increasing in brightness just like the morning sun. You can
adjust the sunrise from 15-120 minutes. NewDawn? can be used with any
table lamp and supports up to 150 watts of light. For the first time
you can control how you wake up every morning..."

Besides that this company has many products to choose from. I would
recommend a full-blown "light box."  These light boxes are very
effective, are very bright, and some models have timers similar to the
sunrise alarm clock.  The light spectrum is specifically designed to
be as close to real sunlight as possible, unlike your bedside lamp.

Perhaps the best answer for you would be the sunrise alarm clock which
also gradually wakes you up to music along with one of the smaller
traditional, smaller "light boxes," gradually coming on at the time
you specify.

Here's their main page:

Apollo Health
http://www.apollohealth.com/
Click PRODUCTS on the left, and in the resulting menu, select HELP ME CHOOSE.

This one is probably what you need:

Sun Touch Plus
http://www.apollohealth.com/suntouchplus.html
..."#1 SELLING LIGHTBOX IN AMERICA!
The Sun Touch Plus is the first lightbox to combine the two most
effective treatments for SAD in one device. Using the latest
technology, the Sun Touch Plus combines the healing power of both
10,000 lux light along with negative ions..."

What are Negative Ions?
http://www.comtech-pcs.com/ions/whatareions.html
..."They're oxygen atoms with an extra electron. And they can help you
feel better..."


Here are some other companies selling these products:

Northern Light Technologies
http://www.northernlighttechnologies.com/index.html
..."Working with thousands of clinicians in North America and in
Europe, Northern Light Technologies has a full range of suitable
products to put Light in your Life for both daily and seasonal
applications..."

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) Light box Sun Simulator 410D-Lux
http://www.mortonhealthcare.com/SAD_seasonal_affective_disorder_light_box.htm

Here's ebay, these Medlight boxes seem to be very popular.  i entered
"light box" into the main search page and weeded through the results:

LOGAN Light Therapy SAD Light Box 10,000 LUX 
1) http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2975281044&category=1279
2) http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2979155530&category=3193
3) http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2977813275&category=1279
..."Ease symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). The Medlight
delivers 10,000 lux of full spectrum light to ward off the effects of
winter doldrums- excessive sleep, social withdrawal, weight loss and
melancholic depression.  Medlight, like other light therapy units, has
been proven effective in elevating mood, increasing energy and
restoring one's inner body clock..."


Good luck to you.  I'm certain one of these products will help.  If
you have medical insurance, I'd ask my Doctor for a recommendation on
strength of light to be used.

If I can be of further assistance, please don't hesitate to ask me for
a clarification of my answer, before rating me, ok?


~~Cynthia


Search terms used at Google:
"sleep disorder" "light box" 
"light box" gradual timer

---

Request for Answer Clarification by dingus-ga on 13 Jan 2004 19:42 PST

the first suggestion you made (the new dawn alarm clock) seems like it
would work pretty well.  it is a bit too expensive though.  is there
any thing similar but costs less?  i basically only need the mechanism
that can be programmed when to start and stop dimming on and off.  it
doesn't necessarilly need to be an alarm clock or a product
specifically marketed to people with sleep disorders.  thanks for your
help.

---

Clarification of Answer by cynthia-ga on 13 Jan 2004 21:16 PST

dingus,

Thanks for asking me to clarify my answer !!

I got lucky.  I changed the search string a bit and added the word
'inexpensive'  --and located this:

SunBox Products
https://www.sunbox.com/Products/DawnDuskSimulators.asp
There are 4 products here ranging from $90.00 to $175.00  Click on
each one for detailed product descriptions.  These look like they are
exactly what you requested, especially the two dawn-simulators for
lamps.  They are considerably less money, and less complex in general.


If you are *really* good with computers, you might like this:

An Inexpensive Dawn Simulator - A Dawn Simulator for under $100 
http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/~jimmc/dawnsim.html

You'll need to have considerable computer savvy to get it to work, it
uses your computer and some other parts, listed at the link...


As before, please don't hesitate to ask for another clarification if
you need more info.


~~Cynthia

New search string:
"dawn simulator" inexpensive

---

Clarification of Answer by cynthia-ga on 13 Jan 2004 21:21 PST

I forgot to mention, that I tried to locate a product that would
gradually turn brighten and gradually dim, but there doesn't seem to
be a market for them outside dawn/dusk simulation...

---

Request for Answer Clarification by dingus-ga on 14 Jan 2004 13:12 PST

The sunUp and sunRizr machines on the sunbox webpage are almost
perfect.   The only thing i would still like is to be able to program
when the dusk sequence starts as well as the dawn sequence rather than
manually pressing a button everyday.
--thanks again.

---

Clarification of Answer by cynthia-ga on 17 Jan 2004 02:11 PST

Hi...  Google is part-time for me, as it is for many Researchers, I'm
working really long hours this week at my 'day.'  My next day off is
Tuesday.  I'll probably get a chance to look for you before then, but
if not, it'll be Tues at the latest...

~~Cynthia

If you are able to make building modifications, it is possible to fit
a "light pipe" from the ceiling of your room to an outside wall.
Although it won't admit a view, it will bring in sunlight. The
changing light level as clouds pass overhead provides a better effect
than any electic lamp can.

Regards,
eiffel-ga