This document seems to be a mixed bag as far as I'm concerned. I did not read all of it super carefully.
Melatonin does exactly nothing for me. Yes, I've tried different dosages, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc. The next doctor who pulls melatonin out of their magic hat is going to get a big talking to from me.
Moreover, it is far from proven that blue light has anything to do with disrupting sleep. I did a Google search with "blue light in the evening debunked" and found multiple sources indicating that studies are showing that this is a dubious statement. My own experience is consistent with it being untrue. It does not matter whether I reduce the blue light or not at bedtime. (Though I don't know if it is because of my own brand of autism.)
A major issue as far as sleep goes, for me, is the fact that autistic people have unusual or paradoxical reactions to medicines. I did not see this in the document. Again, I did not read the whole document carefully, so I may have missed it.
None of the sleep medicines prescribed by doctors worked for me. Even the melatonin did not work. Either they did not work at all, or they ceased working after a bit. The only thing that has had a long term impact is THC.
I'm curious about what other autistic people have to say about melatonin, blue lights, and anything else.
@yourautisticlife@autism101@actuallyautistic for me the biggest impact on sleep is stress &closure. If too many things are still unfinished/unsolved etc. I have anxiety & my brain tries to solve everything. Which often gives me trouble falling asleep and more often waking me up way too early. It helps if I give myself about 1 h before bed to "chill down". Reduce sensory input, play some low intensity game on my switch (enough to keep my brain from ruminating but not excite me)then fall asleep.
I use an over-the-counter sleep aid, Unisom tablets (doxylamine succinate). It's just a drowsy-inducing antihistamine, but it stays in the body longer than the other approved medication (diphenhydramine), and my problem isn't getting to sleep, it's staying asleep. 1/2 tablet every night is enough to keep me sleeping through the night. The tablets are scored at the 1/2 point, so it's easy to break them in half.
@yourautisticlife@autism101@actuallyautistic luckily, I almost never had sleeping issues, despite anxiety and ADHD. When I have troubles sleeping, relaxing herbals and melatonin help me falling asleep. The troubles never last more than a month.
Concerning blue light, it doesn't prevent me from sleeping I think, but I have a filter on my glasses.
I can't get melatonin or THC here, so I've no data on those.
CBD makes my sleep deeper and more solid, but doesn't lengthen it.
Bright light certainly wakes me up if I see it in the small hours. Before bed, it seems more important to avoid excitement, cognitive demands, and thinking about the next day.
I fall asleep within 30s (because I'm always sleep-deprived) but struggle to stay asleep or go back to sleep after awaking.
I naturally go to bed very late: typically between 1am and 2am. That might be consistent with the observation that many autists are short of melatonin (so I don't get tired when the sun goes down), but I've not measured it.
I'm considering getting a formal autism dx just so that I can ask my GP to prescribe melatonin and see if it helps. But, as the world slides towards fascism, there are also reasons to keep it dark.
Add comment