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Turning on a bright light in the middle of the night (i.e., to go to the restroom) can ruin your sleep (vanity)

Posted on 12/06/2022 2:08:44 AM PST by RoosterRedux

Okay. Calling Capt. Obvious.;-)

That said, I saw a video the other day in which a neuroscientist (I think it was Dr. Andrew Huberman) said that turning on a bright light to go to the restroom in the middle of the night significantly disrupts the body's steady flow of nighttime melatonin and makes it impossible for some people to return to sleep.

That is a comment that caught my attention. Now that I am older, I make many visits to the restroom at night and I turn on some bright lights when doing so. When I return to bed, I definitely find that I have trouble returning to a deep sleep (particularly after midnight).

So I tried a new approach.

Instead of turning on my bedside lamp, the hall light, and then the bathroom light, I keep my tac-light at my bedside with the brightness at a very low level (just enough visibility that I don't step on a cat tail protruding from beneath my bed). A weak flashlight would be just as effective.

Long story, short, it seems to work. Returning to bed from a visit to the loo, I immediately fall right back into a deep sleep and feel much more rested in the morning.

Of course, this is purely anecdotal, but I thought some fellow Freepers might be interested.

As an aside, I can't locate the exact video source for this topic, but, in the end, it doesn't matter because each person's experience will certainly vary.


TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: vanity
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1 posted on 12/06/2022 2:08:44 AM PST by RoosterRedux
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To: RoosterRedux

I concur with your findings,


2 posted on 12/06/2022 2:10:52 AM PST by mad_as_he$$ ("You'll shoot your eye out kid.")
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To: mad_as_he$$

Then there was the guy who told his doctor the light came on automatically every time he went into the restroom at night. The doctor talked to the man’s wife about it and she said, “Darn! That means he is peeing int he refrigerator again!”


3 posted on 12/06/2022 2:16:37 AM PST by ArtDodger
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To: RoosterRedux; mad_as_he$$

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrywkDJ8W9k


4 posted on 12/06/2022 2:17:12 AM PST by kiryandil (put yer vote in the box, chump. HARHARHARHAR)
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To: RoosterRedux

I don’t have much difficulty finding my way there in the dark. I never have turned the lights on to get there.


5 posted on 12/06/2022 2:22:57 AM PST by fruser1
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To: kiryandil
Thx much for that. That's the guy.

I just watched that video and, in it, he does hit all the issues.

He doesn't specifically address the issue of going to the restroom at night and turning on the lights (as he does in the video I referenced), but it's close enough to understand what needs to be done.

6 posted on 12/06/2022 2:31:27 AM PST by RoosterRedux
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To: RoosterRedux

0432 CST - ruined


7 posted on 12/06/2022 2:32:24 AM PST by Theophilus (It's fake and defective)
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To: RoosterRedux

For elderly with diminishing vision, good light seems better than the low light that creates a higher risk of falling and breaking a hip.


8 posted on 12/06/2022 2:44:37 AM PST by Seeing More Clearly Now (. )
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To: mad_as_he$$

Me too.


9 posted on 12/06/2022 2:44:45 AM PST by sauropod (Fascists also buy Comcast cable packages" - Olby - Wanna buy mine?)
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To: RoosterRedux

I have had muted night lights in all my rooms for 40+ years. I also have a smart bulb in my AM workout room that is a blue/green hue at about 40% intensity. When I travel I take night lights with me (including motion-activated battery run ones for restrooms with no outlets).

I REALLY do not like bright lights when it is dark out.


10 posted on 12/06/2022 2:49:41 AM PST by freedumb2003 (Difference between a cow and the US Capitol 1/6 "riot:" you can only milk a cow 3 times a day)
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To: RoosterRedux

Just use a red bulb that faintly lights up the room.


11 posted on 12/06/2022 2:51:32 AM PST by Jonty30 (You can't spell liberal without the a-hole. )
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To: ArtDodger

“Darn! That means he is peeing into the refrigerator again!”
I’ve never heard of that one, but it is the best.
“God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy”


12 posted on 12/06/2022 2:52:35 AM PST by rellic
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To: RoosterRedux

The way that Free Republic cuts off a headline in the sidebar, I thought this article was going to be “Turning on a bright light in the midterms”.


13 posted on 12/06/2022 2:52:49 AM PST by Lazamataz (The firearms I own today, are the firearms I will die with. How I die will be up to them.)
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To: Seeing More Clearly Now
Check out the video in Post #4 above. It isn't an either-or situation. There are compromises like using lamps at lower altitudes instead of overhead lights.

If your sleep is fine at night, this probably isn't a problem for you.

Using a flashlight might give a person all the safety they need...unless they are like dementia-Joe and can't remember where they are going once they're out of bed.

14 posted on 12/06/2022 3:01:21 AM PST by RoosterRedux
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To: RoosterRedux
There are compromises like using lamps at lower altitudes instead of overhead lights.

Quite right! At anything below 15,000 ft, you should always use a lamp!

Oh, you meant "heights."

Regards,

15 posted on 12/06/2022 3:05:55 AM PST by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
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To: RoosterRedux

I get up once or twice a night to take care of business.

Here’s what I do: a urinal.

I keep a urinal right next to my bed.

Any appropriate bottle will do.

I use a very weak flashlight to make sure things are going in the right direction.

When finished, right back to bed and right back to sleep. I hardly miss a snore.

In the morning, I just empty it in the toilet, rinse it out good, add a little dish detergent (or something that smells nice), add some water (just a touch), swish it around good, and put it back near my bed. All set for the next night.


16 posted on 12/06/2022 3:08:43 AM PST by Jack023
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To: RoosterRedux

Glare... I use red night lights, works great. It’s a holder over from my years at sea. I used to need noise like a slightly noisy fan in the room, but I’ve gotten away from that somewhat however, I have noticed that if there is a bit white noise going on that will usually suffice, the fridge, or washing machine or dishwasher, are the usual white noise generators.

I used to have a white noise generator (surf, rain) that really worked but one of my ex’s saw to it that just about all gizmos were routinely rendered inop by yanking on connectors, wall plugs etc...


17 posted on 12/06/2022 3:10:38 AM PST by Clutch Martin ("The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right." )
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To: alexander_busek
Schoolmarm alert!;-)

Didn't you take creative writing? Applying artistic/literary license makes writing so much more fun.

The use of altitude instead of height is a thing called hyperbole.

But then you learned that in schoolmarm class.

18 posted on 12/06/2022 3:21:58 AM PST by RoosterRedux
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To: alexander_busek
There was a guy on my team at work who was always on the prowl for some kind of perceived (by him) misuse of language. We called him Dr. Sytax.

He was always "technically" correct but really disliked. His favorite violations/sins were "home instead of house" or "attorney instead of lawyer."

It seems no one likes a know-it-all. I can't imagine why?

19 posted on 12/06/2022 3:28:33 AM PST by RoosterRedux
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To: RoosterRedux

I keep one eye closed. Don’t know if it does anything or just a placebo effect.


20 posted on 12/06/2022 3:28:35 AM PST by Krosan
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