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Thread: SAD or something else?

  1. #1
    Geila
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    SAD or something else?

    These past few days I've been feeling down and I can't quite figure out if it's SAD finally coming in or something else. I normally struggle with SAD starting in about November but this year I had no problems at all, probably the best holiday season I've had in years. On Monday I was feeling blah and felt like skipping my support group, which I normally really enjoy. Then in group I got some information that made me unhappy and I've been feeling crappy ever since; I also felt annoyed with my group members. Last night I finally started feeling better emotionally but then I got severe cramps for about 30 minutes. And today I slept in much longer than normal.

    The only thing that has changed recently is caffeine intake. For many months, maybe 6, I've been caffeine-free, but last week I started drinking coffee in the mornings. Dh was on vacation and he drinks coffee and I just kind of fell into the habit. I've been having about 10 oz of weak coffee and I haven't really felt it affect me much. In the past it gave me a bit of anxiety or a jittery feeling, but I haven't noticed much of that at all, only a slight irritation when I'm out driving in traffic. However I do find that it keeps me up much later at night even if I have it early in the day, say before noon.

    I'm now wondering if the caffeine is causing the depressed feelings. It seems counter intuitive though. I promised myself that I would stop the coffee and test out the theory today but I buckled. It always surprises me how quickly coffee becomes an ingrained habit and hard to break.

    Anybody else ever have this weird reaction to caffeine? Or find that it exacerbates SAD?

  2. #2
    Senior Member
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    I've never gone off coffee so don't know how I would be without it. I notice that without vitamin D 3 I get dreary thoughts, maybe depression. I also think the current political climate may exacerbate irritability. Or maybe you just had a wee bug.

  3. #3
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    I found switching to decaf definitely helped with generalized anxiety, and I have SAD too, so this time of year is always extremely difficult, at least living up north.

  4. #4
    Senior Member CathyA's Avatar
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    Yes, Definitely keep your D3 up and maybe get a Bright Light?

  5. #5
    Geila
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    Decaf coffee! Why don't I ever think of that? I'm buying some today. I've also been taking B-12 since Monday, for some reason my body doesn't respond well to Vit D supplements. But we've been getting more sun and I went for a nice long walk yesterday. I feel like the fog is lifting and my good mood is starting to come back.

    I'm also sleeping lots more so maybe my body just needs more sleep this time of year. Hibernation an all that. I do know all my pets are sleeping a TON right now. For example, during the summer they get me out of bed by 6 or 7 am, and it's really hard to get them to let me sleep in longer than that. Right now, they are happy to sleep in until 10 or 11 even later - I'm the one who is having to get them up. And my cat, who is usually the first one up, is sleeping past noon quite often.

    Maybe I just need to embrace the sleeping!

  6. #6
    Senior Member
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    Yes, embrace the sleep!

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