Clinical trial shows that the use of Vitamin D supplement improves sleep quality • Hacker News Board

Re: Clinical trial shows that the use of Vitamin D supplement improves sleep quality

#81

Post by JonathanFly » Wed, Oct 06, 2021, 1:12 PM UTC

wincy wrote: post #72

wongarsu wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A minimum of 10 100-watt bulbs in my experience, and even more is better. Plugging in some rough numbers, that seems equivalent to a ~170W LED flood light. A 200W version is $70 from Amazon (e.g. [1]). Are the emitted wavelengths crucial or is such a lamp on a timer a viable way to get early "sunlight" in the winter? 1: https://www.amazon.com/Waterproof-Daylight-Security-Floodlig...

I think CRI does matter, I’m guessing the parent post saw something like this article. https://www.benkuhn.net/lux/

That may have been exactly the article I saw, there's certainly more useful information in there than I can answer. I pretty much just took away MORE BULBS.

Re: Clinical trial shows that the use of Vitamin D supplement improves sleep quality

#82

Post by Robotbeat » Wed, Oct 06, 2021, 1:15 PM UTC

wincy wrote: post #73

danuker wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You need a LOT of lightbulbs to make up the difference. Indeed. You can measure ambient light with your phone: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.vonglasow.michael.satsta... Pointing my phone towards the sun gives upward of 4000 lux, whereas the two bulbs in my room barely add up to 1000 from 1m away.

The outside at midday in summer on a sunny day is more like 120,000 Lux.

Yeah, point the phone camera to the sun will saturate the camera sensor and not lead to an accurate value for flux.

Re: Clinical trial shows that the use of Vitamin D supplement improves sleep quality

#83

Post by specialist » Wed, Oct 06, 2021, 1:27 PM UTC

rojeee wrote: post #9

stooliepidgin wrote: post #3

My vitamin D level is only optimal when taking an average of 11000 IU / day (D3 + K2). It hasn't improved my sleep quality. As an example, I woke up at 3:30 am this morning and feel like I haven't slept at all.

Not that I'm an expert in sleep but I would recommend assessing your cortisol levels - you can do a blood test and I think there are also saliva tests - if you are regularly waking up early. I'd also recommend reflecting on whether there are any chronic stressors in your life - sometimes these things affect you for so long you almost become unaware of them! I guess you alrready know this but 11000 IU is a massive dos…

My cortisol levels were way out of whack. Getting them under control helped. Definitely my first treatment resulting in real benefits.

For some of us, insomnia is a multi-factor disease. So I had to do All The Things. My sleep hygiene regiment is a superset of everything listed here.

Ultimately, I needed proper diagnosis and then treatment of my sources of chronic pain to attain somewhat healthy sleep patterns. Pinched nerves, aka "bone spurs", in my spine.

I definitely had to jump thru all the hoops to get to this point.

Re: Clinical trial shows that the use of Vitamin D supplement improves sleep quality

#84

Post by slothtrop » Wed, Oct 06, 2021, 1:38 PM UTC

FrankyHollywood wrote: post #56

I needed better sleeping and tried various things. In the end I stopped drinking coffee and tea. For me its now just hot or cold water, sometimes a herbal tea, and an occasional beer or orange juice. First caffeine-free weekend I had terrible headaches, than came weeks of strong urges (I felt I was an addict). In these weeks I just fell asleep on the couch or even at my desk at work. I slept a lot these weeks, during…

Reducing total caffeine intake has improved my sleep quality, but I find there are diminishing returns to making it nil consumption. My sweet spot is a single small cup of tea or coffee in the morning. Research suggests that some trace amounts of caffeine can remain in your system many hours.

Re: Clinical trial shows that the use of Vitamin D supplement improves sleep quality

#85

Post by slothtrop » Wed, Oct 06, 2021, 1:39 PM UTC

kristofferc wrote: post #2

For people with sleep disorders.

Improving sleep quality does not mean the same thing as alleviating symptoms of insomnia, exactly. It would appear vitamin D could improve quality in most people.

Re: Clinical trial shows that the use of Vitamin D supplement improves sleep quality

#86

Post by Karawebnetwork » Wed, Oct 06, 2021, 1:39 PM UTC

Vitamin D is actually a hormone rather than a vitamin. I can't put enough emphasis on how important it is not to be lacking in Vitamin D.

Re: Clinical trial shows that the use of Vitamin D supplement improves sleep quality

#87

Post by slothtrop » Wed, Oct 06, 2021, 1:40 PM UTC

stooliepidgin wrote: post #3

My vitamin D level is only optimal when taking an average of 11000 IU / day (D3 + K2). It hasn't improved my sleep quality. As an example, I woke up at 3:30 am this morning and feel like I haven't slept at all.

An intake that high could backfire.

Re: Clinical trial shows that the use of Vitamin D supplement improves sleep quality

#88

Post by slothtrop » Wed, Oct 06, 2021, 1:41 PM UTC

colechristensen wrote: post #52

hoseja wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't that way into overdose territory?

Yes, taking that much vitamin D every day puts you at risk of developing dangerously high blood levels. One of the things it can do is screw with your calcium levels which screws with your nerves which can, for example, make your heart beat abnormal. Don’t do this without the advice of a doctor and regular serum level testing.

I expect the K2 would reduce the risk of calcium build-up, but it's still a very high dose which could pose problems.

Re: Clinical trial shows that the use of Vitamin D supplement improves sleep quality

#89

Post by slothtrop » Wed, Oct 06, 2021, 1:43 PM UTC

pibechorro wrote: post #22

Wake up at sunrise, go to bed at sunset. Anything else is going to cause problems.. or you are simply a night owl, which is ok. The key is to go outside, get some natural light and sun on your skin. Most of us reading this are vitamin D deficient year after year. Covid has had an advantage on anyone lacking proper vitamin levels.

As the circadian rhythm is concerned, exposure to light through your eyes is what's important, not skin (though I believe for vitamin D levels skin contact matters). All that matter is that it's done in the morning and throughout most of the day, while avoiding blue light at night.

Re: Clinical trial shows that the use of Vitamin D supplement improves sleep quality

#90

Post by stooliepidgin » Wed, Oct 06, 2021, 1:56 PM UTC

rojeee wrote: post #9

stooliepidgin wrote: post #3

My vitamin D level is only optimal when taking an average of 11000 IU / day (D3 + K2). It hasn't improved my sleep quality. As an example, I woke up at 3:30 am this morning and feel like I haven't slept at all.

Not that I'm an expert in sleep but I would recommend assessing your cortisol levels - you can do a blood test and I think there are also saliva tests - if you are regularly waking up early. I'd also recommend reflecting on whether there are any chronic stressors in your life - sometimes these things affect you for so long you almost become unaware of them! I guess you alrready know this but 11000 IU is a massive dos…

Incorrect. The RDA and TUL amounts for vitamin D are wrong. 10k IU/day is safe. Dr. Fauci takes 6k IU/day.

My levels of 25(OH)D3 are optimal. It takes slightly over what the real average TUL should be because of my mass and apparently poor absorption.

Edit: Cortisol levels are fine. I also had a complete HPA/G/T workup by an endocrinologist. The results were unremarkable. I even had testing for pheochromocytoma, although this does not rule out other types of adenomas.