The Sun Also Rashes

I haven't blogged much recently because I've been off my feet with a cold. I am a bad patient -- either I try to ignore the cold and blearily carry on, feeling lousy and infecting others; or I put myself to bed for a few days (when I have the opportunity, as I do these days). In that case, I still feel lousy, but also think of myself as a malingerer and a sham-artist, for expecting others to stand in for me when I'm suffering merely a cold (I haven't cooked a meal in 4 days). While I do believe that the go-to-bed technique throws the cold out of my system a day or so earlier than ignoring it, the guilt may not be worth the gain next time.

This post is an update about Therapy Lights. Mom and I discovered that both of us were needing desk lamps a couple of weeks ago, so we splurged and bought identical lamps (online), that operate with the full spectrum bright light that is supposed to combat SADs. Neither of us has been officially diagnosed with the disorder, but both have noticed flagging energy come winter, and this fall it was coming earlier than usual (October, rather than January).

SADs is, of course, Seasonal Affective Disorder Something, a somewhat too-cute abbreviation to refer to the "down" that some people in northern climes get in the dark of winter. It features lethargy, sleeplessness, tiredness, and general depression, but, crucially, without feelings of suicide or deep despair. (I suppose having the latter would put the patient in the Clinically Depressed group, out of the SADs group.) A person diagnosed with SADs may not get it every winter; they may not get it at the same 'depth' every time they do get it.

Treatment depends upon the seriousness of the bout, and runs from the most basic good advice to the medicable -- an hour of exercise outside every morning (as early as possible after the sun rises, to set one's circadian rhythms); or 15 minutes to two hours of artificial sunlight daily (also early in the day); or finally Welbutrin and other lower grade anti-depressants.

Aaaaanyway, I have enough self-knowledge that the idea of an hour of exercise every dawn, seven days a week, doesn't make it past my mental doorstop, even it if does mean better sleep and better spirits. Even were I willing to try that treatment, the sun in Portland winters haunts us at most for 15-20 minutes in the late afternoon -- so my circadian rhythms would remain out of whack. And Mom already gets an hour or so of exercise every morning, swimming, and that wasn't helping her enough (that's swimming indoors, of course). Hence, the lamps for both of us.

So, I did extensive research (i.e., about an hour on the web), and ended up getting us each a BlueMax lamp from Full Spectrum Solutions. It is a nice-looking brass lamp with a high grade florescent-like full spectrum light bulb (which thankfully doesn't flicker like other florescent bulbs), an adjustable goose neck and, importantly, a dimmer. The light therapy requires "10,000 lux" of full spectrum light, for between 15 minutes and an hour every day. The BlueMax lamp provides 10,000 lux at 18 inches; 5,000 lux at 24 inches. But after you've got your therapy out of the way, you might want to turn the light down to mere "bright" levels. (A "lux" is a measure of luminance -- one lux is 0.0929 foot-candles. For comparison, in a stage play, 100 foot-candles, or 9.29 lux, of light -- are recommended for the actors' faces. I should mention that I grabbed the stage-lighting fact from a random website, so I don't vouch for its reliability).

I have been dutifully getting my 15 minutes every day (usually an hour, actually) -- and I think it does help. I don't want to claim that I was feeling terribly sad before and that now I want to jump hourly for joy, but I do have more of a sense of confidence and stability. And I'm feeling quite alert throughout the day and sleeping through the night (aside from coughing bouts). Mom will have to comment on whether she's noticed any difference herself.

However, there's been another wrinkle. As perhaps all of my readers know, I was diagnosed a few years ago with "solar dermatitis" -- a more clinical name for a general allergy to the sun. If I get any extended exposure to intense sunlight, I break out in hives. This condition came to a head during our walks in Europe a few years ago. At the end of one particular 12-hour walk, the last two of which were alongside the Mediterranean, sunlight reflecting off the waves, I burst into a nasty flame of hives over my face, arms, and thighs below my shorts -- anywhere exposed to the sun, despite copious sunscreen. To avoid the rash, I need to avoid the sun entirely. Shade is my friend. Sunscreen won't help, unless it is a physical blocker -- zinc oxide, or titanium dioxide. I don't fully understand the nature of the allergy (and online sources, even presumably reliable ones like the Mayo Clinic and Blue Cross Blue Shield, differ wildly in their claims, so I haven't been able to learn much), so I still am not sure if it's an allergy to UVA or UVB or something quite different (photons? lightwaves?).

I've been wondering whether I'd need to wear sunscreen to work at my desk.

I think the answer is, "yes". I've had no problems until yesterday, when I realized that the itch on my hands and cheeks were the sadly familiar small hives I get from a lesser sun exposure, despite having been inside (in bed!) for most of these last several rainy days. Ah, but I haven't been wearing my daily sunscreen, because I was not leaving the house. And I have been checking email and others blogs, for an hour or so a day. So, yes, I've got the sun rash to prove that the BlueMax lamp is powerfully sun-like.

There is an easy solution -- I shall have to monitor my time under the brightest light a bit more, and I have to make sure to work at the desk after applying my sunscreen-filled moisturizer. And just think -- I have a built-in defense against any potential vampires who might try to waft into my life. I simply will ask them to look at something on my computer and watch their hands for smoking.