
Can orange glasses make you sleep better? - jonas_b
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/07/can-orange-glasses-help-you-sleep-better/
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TimPC
Apparently you can study 13 people and get it blogged about on the ny times.
Talk about ridiculous sample size, 13 person studies can say just about
anything if the researcher gets lucky because variance is the biggest factor.
Interesting random thought -> the number of PhD's who become professors in
some fields is well below the margin of error on a study, it would be
interesting to see how many people are getting Professorships from having
interesting results that eventually fail to replicate. If this number is
overwhelming it could be the PhD system in those fields is almost a lottery
where having variance trump data is the most likely way to get a
professorship.

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dwich
While we might be able to draw stronger conclusions from a larger study, the
effects on the participants were strong, and the information might benefit the
readers directly. So I'd argue it's worthy of inclusion in the wellness blogs
area even if it's not really hard science reporting.

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Filligree
If you don't want orange glasses, try f.lux (Windows, Mac) or redshift
(Linux).

Either one accomplishes much the same effect by adjusting the (apparent) color
temperature of your screen depending on time of day. It distorts colors, if
you fancy yourself a photographer, but your eyes will thank you.

~~~
WalterSear
They don't. They might reduce eyestrain (I have it installed on all my
computers, fwiw), but they aren't effective enough on their own to help with
sleep.

In psychology grad school, I learned that a single blue photon hitting the
back of the is sufficient to cause a measurable shift in melatonin output.
Note: measurable is not the same as deleterious, but flux doesn't even
eliminate all the blue light your computer is putting out, let alone the other
sources in your house.

The only solution, baring blacking out all your windows, or removing all
modern light sources from your house, or replacing them all with red lights,
is 0.3-0.5 mg of melatonin a few hours before bed. Note: it's sold in the
stores in 5 mg tablets - an order of magnitude too much.

[http://www.gwern.net/Melatonin](http://www.gwern.net/Melatonin)

~~~
bsg75
What is the result of the typical over-the-counter dose, often 3-5 mg?

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enraged_camel
I think the effect is different for everyone. I personally have extremely
vivid (and not necessarily pleasant) dreams when I take a 3mg pill. 1mg or
less works great, though.

~~~
heffo
As with any medication, side effects vary. When I took melatonin, I would very
quickly fall asleep but would still wake up extremely tired. I also
experienced very severe depression when on melatonin, that started about 2
days after use, and ended about a day after stopping use.

I do know people that have had it work very well for them, however.

~~~
WalterSear
That hangover in the morning means you were taking too much, fwiw. If I were
you, I'd experiment with much lower doses.

~~~
heffo
That's very possible, but the depression was severe enough that I'm not
inclined to try again.

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kristofferR
Eh, isn't there a huge different between just orange glasses and safety
glasses that are designed to block blue frequencies?

I have the Uvex S1933X glasses, and they're amazing. I have pretty cool LED
lighting in my apartment and can make my whole living room any color I want at
night. If I set in to pure blue and put on the glasses, it's like being in
pitch blackness (except a couple of items glow brightly).

It's not like looking at things with an orange tint at all, even though the
glasses are obviously orange.

That being said - the benefits I get by using them is amazing. It's weird how
much of a difference it can make, I get tired quickly after putting them on in
the evening. If I forget to put them on I usually end up staying up too late,
getting too little sleep and often ruining the next day. Personally I find it
way more effective than flux.

By the way - blue light isn't just a negative thing, but also a huge positive.
In the morning I use a Philips goLITE BLU HF3332, and it really improves both
my energy and mood quickly after just a few minutes of usage.

Those two simple items, a blue light and a pair of blue-blocking glasses, have
improved my life significantly. Try it out (especially the glasses, it's just
$9).

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josephpmay
This is mostly useless antidotal evidence, however:

I started wearing orange tinted glasses about a week or two ago, and I have
noticed that they help me feel more tired when I'm trying to fall asleep.
However it could just be a placebo. The downside is that I can't do any design
work while wearing them, and programming is more difficult because code
coloring is really off in Sublime. If I continue to wear them, I'll probably
have to change my Sublime theme to something that's easier to distinguish.

~~~
michaelchisari
_I can 't do any design work while wearing them, and programming is more
difficult because code coloring is really off in Sublime_

Maybe that's a positive. If you're supposed to be winding down for bed, those
are two activities you really shouldn't be doing.

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TY
I've been using yellow tinted Gunnar glasses for about 5 years (wearing them
now as I'm typing this)- they do help a lot with eye strain reduction.

Prior to wearing Gunnars, I'd often have headaches by 4 pm and my eyes felt
dry and quite tired. I was sceptical in the beginning, but these things do
help.

Easily the best $140 that I spent on ergonomics.

[http://www.gunnars.com/](http://www.gunnars.com/)

~~~
bitL
I use them for the past two years and can confirm I don't have problems
looking at monitor for 12h if necessary anymore. I bought the cheapest ones
just to test if I see any difference (at that time around $40) and it seems to
be having a surprisingly positive effect on me. The only problem is when I am
producing visual art - they have to go away when I am adjusting colors or the
results are too cold ;-)

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kazinator
In Japan, you can order "PC Lenses" for your glasses at outlets such as Jins.
These supposedly filter out that blue light (PC is from Personal Computer:
staring at the screen).

Link:

[http://www.jins-jp.com/jins-pc/](http://www.jins-jp.com/jins-pc/)

If I search in English, most of the search results are spammy companies
selling what look like sunglasses for computer use (e.g. google "compuer
glasses"). These are obviously tinted. But these Jins "PC Megane" do not look
tinted, or only faintly so. Jins will put these lenses in any frame.

I wanted these the last time, but for my astigmatism it would have required a
1 week order, and I was flying out of Japan sooner than that.

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davidw
I don't know about sleep, but I used to love my orange-ish Oakleys for bike
riding in spring/winter/fall in Oregon when the sky is often overcast and
dreary. They make things look a bit brighter and cheerier.

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smartial_arts
Interestingly enough, f.lux[1] has been around for a while (a cool app that
adjusts the colour temperature of your screen(s) as the day progresses, based
on your lat & long.

I also noticed a similar functionality in one of the latest CyanogenMod (CM12)
- under "Settings -> Display & Light -> LiveDisplay" \- you can adjust colour
temps too for day and night times. Not sure if it takes lat & long into
account.

[1]: [https://justgetflux.com/](https://justgetflux.com/)

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Mc_Big_G
Anecdote time: My home gym is outside (Bay Area) and I had to stop wearing my
blue blocker sunglasses during workouts because I feel significantly weaker
when wearing them. I can't say why.

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touristtam
How about we take a step back and realize that, maybe, to stop using any
screen 30-60 min before sleep might achieve the same result?

