Seasonal Affective Disorder

[19Sandy]

My seasonal affective disorder is kicking in earlier this year - no sunlight and raining today too.

Lightboxes don't work and are way too expensive.

[Chicken lady]

I found at diet is a big part of mine, although light does help. Doesn't have to be a light box, just lots of full spectrum bulbs. Dh even set one up on a timer for me so the lights would come on before the alarm went off.

[sweetana3]

Lightboxes do work for many with SAD. Do you mean you tried them and they don't work for you? Have you discussed alternatives with your doctor? They may be expensive but are a lasting medical device expense that will work each season rather than pills that are a continuing expense.

Here is a comprehensive article from the Mayo Clinic on SAD: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder/basics/treatment/con-20021047

[greenclaire]

How far North do you live? I live in Northern Europe and it's still a fairly long day here. I do get SAD but only when it gets to very short days and I'm going to work in pitch black and coming home from work in pitch black. There can be days Monday-Friday when I don't see daylight at all as my room at work looks out onto a courtyard which doesn't get much light. I find trying to get out for a walk at lunchtime helps (sadly doesn't always fit with work), light boxes do work for me but you have to use them properly and be quite religious about the times they are on for each day. General health things like exercise and good diet too, as well as knowing the darkness isn't forever, spring will return!

[freshstart]

Verilux has some reasonably priced light boxes. I don't have seasonal depression, but I bought one anyway figuring it can't hurt. I think it does help some at that dark time of the year, but it does not work if I don't do it religiously

[Tammy]

It seems so early in the year - that I would consider getting an assessment to see if it's something other than SAD. Differential diagnosis is key to good treatment.

[Suzanne]

I've found some relief from SAD by taking 2000 IU of vitamin D3 daily.

[Simplemind]

I felt mine starting to creep in a couple of weeks ago.

[19Sandy]

Yes some vitamin D from the store with my free coupon or maybe a multi with a lot of D.

[rosarugosa]

I used to think I had SADD, but now I'm not so sure. I think it's normal to feel a little sad as summer departs, and I don't go into a deep funk for months or anything like that. Like Claire, I do have times where I am going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark, so that is a bit dismal. I've found that it really bolsters my mood if I continue to get outdoors for walks even in the winter.
I also try to embrace the concept of making home a warm, cozy, bright and inviting space in the darker months of the year:

http://www.mnn.com/family/family-activities/blogs/how-hygge-can-help-you-get-through-winter

[Chicken lady]

Rosa rugosa, with sad, it's not so much mood, like "I feel sad today" it's actually depression, as in I can't get out of bed because I'm pretty sure my body weighs 7,000 pounds and it takes me 20 minutes of standing dazed in the kitchen to decide to eat cereal. Not to fix the cereal, just to decide to eat it.

and like depression, all the things that are too hard to do can help - exercise, healthy eating (and appropriate eating, there have been studies done where some people are "carb dependent" sufferers, some are "protein dependent" and some are neutral., regular sleep...

i think I actually caught mine when I shifted my focus a few weeks ago - part of my "exhausted, overwhelmed" may just have been too much time in the basement with bad lighting.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I also try to embrace the concept of making home a warm, cozy, bright and inviting space in the darker months of the year:

http://www.mnn.com/family/family-act...through-winter

wow was that article not about making a home warm, cozy and bright and inviting. That's an materialist-American interpretation (maybe materialism is as American as junk food) of something they keep saying in the article can't be interpreted that way. Interesting article though.

A bit more sad moods (and they are moods for me as they do pass) this time of year yea. Also I struggle more physically, I can feel my body feeling physically less resilient than it does in spring and summer.

[Chicken lady]

Today is a hard day.

dh came home and found me sitting at the kitchen table mindlessly eating nuts out if the bag. He asked "have we reached the part of the year where you shut down and stop functioning?" And I said "yes." He made me come sit under the blanket next to him while he watched baseball until I could get up and go do my chores.

but then he stayed up watching baseball, and I stayed up with him. And I didn't get enough sleep and the day is overcast with rain due. I didn't get out to do the milking until 9:00.

i have a phone conference at 2:30. Right now, all I'm asking myself to do is to try to finish filling the raised bed. If I can do that before it rains, that will be pretty good.

[nswef]

Yes it will CL. Anything you get done will be a plus. Rest.

[Chicken lady]

Thanks. It means a lot to have somebody answer.

No rain yet. i filled the raised bed,although I think the chickens kicked out half a wheelbarrow load while I was putting my tools away. I figured it will settle anyway and intend to top dress it with freshly composted manure, so for now I just covered it with boards. I'm going to cut a piece of screen to fit over the top and then just putter around the house picking up a little before my call.

i ate fruit and nuts and I'm having a caffeinated drink - which all helps. Gotta remember, a little caffeine is good, a lot of caffeine is bad.

[JaneV2.0]

Chicken lady, you do more before breakfast than I do in a month. That you do it while wrestling with depression is even more impressive. Kudos to you.

[19Sandy]

Try a light box or high spectrum lightbulbs to get over SAD. ;)

[Chicken lady]

I have full spectrum lights. They are part of a multi pronged approach. My kids say I could do surgery on the kitchen table.

i did not do as much as I would have liked today, but I did not do badly. The house looks a little better than it did when I got up this morning, and my only dietary bad calls were a glass of chocolate milk, 3 oz of salted pistachios, and a small piece of chocolate cake. Nice salad for dinner.

[nswef]

Oh CL, You are so hard on yourself. As jane said, You do more in a morning than I do in a month. I don't know how you can lower your expectations and give yourself credit for all you do in a day, but I hope you can see your way to acknowledging what you accomplish. You are AMAZING!!!!

[Chicken lady]

Lol- that was me giving myself credit! I guess I am eeyore. Also, you guys must have a lot of dirty dishes around if you don't wash them once a month ;)

today it it is sunny, sunny, sunny, so I feel better. Also I am teaching today and the kids are almost always a lift.

also I am happy because in spite of my chocolate indulgences, my weight ticked down yesterday. Today I am going to swim again. Dh was reminding me last night that my new mantra is supposed to be "sleep, healthy food, exercise."

i am probably going to turn orange because carrots are crunchy and sweet and easy so I am eating a lot of them!

[greenclaire]

I'm starting to feel the literal darkness creep in too. It's only 5:30pm here and it's already starting to get dark, the clocks go back at the weekend too so by Monday it'll be starting to get dark around 4:30pm. Yuck! And we're still on the downward spiral to the shortest day :(

[Tiam]

Oh, here we go! I actually don't mind Winter. I'm not a Summer person. But every November it hits...I don't know what you call it, but it's some form of SAD. I get hit by waves of fatigue and sleepiness. It's like I'm being injected with some kind of sleep drug! It's not so bad now that I take Vitamin D, and it passes. Later in Winter I don't feel this way. It's some kind of acclimation. Today the weather was nice and sunny and I spent time doing a walk and raking leaves in the sunshine and staying busy but still I feel so wiped out. I can't even stay awake to do anything after 8.00 PM..I can sit in bed and read, but other than that, I feel literally drugged. What do they do in Scandinavia???

[goldensmom]

I have Seasonal 'Annoyance' Disorder. The shorter daylight hours annoy me because I don't wake up to the sun and birds singing at 5AM and I cannot work outside until 10PM. I walk more everyday as I cook heavier meals. I am online more and have to consciously limit myself. I am not depressed, I am annoyed by less daylight hours to work outside and it's cold when I do but I adjust and after a few weeks it's okay.

[freshstart]

have you tried a special light box for people with SAD?

[Tiam]

My bottle of Vitamin D ran out. I was taking about 2000 IU a day. That was about 3 weeks ago. I thought, oh, what the hell, spring is almost here, I don't need to refill it. This weekend was sunny and warmer than it's been, but all I want to do is sleep. Seriously. After 8 hour of sleep I'm up for two hours and then literally falling back asleep again. I don't know if that's Vitamin D withdrawal or what, but I went out and bought another bottle today!

[CathyA]

I don't know if I have it or not, but I have lots of other things to keep me pissed off. :~) I have fibromyalgia, IBS, osteoarthritis, etc., etc., etc. BUT.......About 25+ years ago, I started having a descent into hell every late July/August. It wasn't necessarily depression, but a malfunction of my body.......lots of problems/pains/migraines/funky happenings/feelings. I always wondered if my body gets depressed, more than my mind. It would clear up in January. However, in the past few years, it's gotten all off schedule, and I haven't gotten the improvement in january. I take D. I've tried a light box and it didn't make much difference. I told my doc about my crashing every Fall and he said "Oh.....you're deciduous!" He's absolutely right! That's how I feel. Maybe I'm just an old tree and am struggling not to lose my limbs.....

But.....I guess what I'm saying is that some of us seem to have a more direct mind/body connection, or at least bodies that respond more to nature's timing/plan, more than man's. I guess we all have to figure out what will get us through the night, since it might be different for everyone. But I have always found it strange that my body seems to try to shut down in late summer. Which makes me wonder if we are, indeed, supposed to slow down/hibernate.......which just doesn't work in this culture. My empathies and sympathies to everyone who struggles.

[19Sandy]

My bottle of Vitamin D ran out. I was taking about 2000 IU a day. That was about 3 weeks ago. I thought, oh, what the hell, spring is almost here, I don't need to refill it. This weekend was sunny and warmer than it's been, but all I want to do is sleep. Seriously. After 8 hour of sleep I'm up for two hours and then literally falling back asleep again. I don't know if that's Vitamin D withdrawal or what, but I went out and bought another bottle today!

Wow , 2000 is a lot! I have been taking a multi with 400 IU Vitamin D plus the weather is slightly better so that is helping somewhat.

[CathyA]

Sandy....if you're low on D3, 400 IU is almost nothing. I would probably start out at 2,200 I.U. Currently, I'm taking about 7,200/day, because I feel like I have symptoms, and I tend to run low.

[freshstart]

I the the 50,000 units once a week. I know right away if I;ve missed a few doses because I get very depressed.

[CathyA]

I often wonder why some don't have problems and some do? Is it a defect in their skin? Is it not enough sun? Is it a bio-chemical deficiency? Is it genetic?
My DD is a Vegan. A couple years ago, she got so dizzy, she couldn't get out of bed for several days. We had her get her D level checked and it was something like 7!
Now, she's a pretty smart Vegan, but I still worry about her getting low in some things. She takes D2 (a Vegan type) and it seems to keep her D levels up okay.
It's so weird that just a few years ago, we were warned how easy it was to overdose on D, since it's fat soluble and can build up to toxic levels in your body.......but it seems like lots of people are low in it now. And it's so important to so many processes in the body.

[Tiam]

Wow , 2000 is a lot! I have been taking a multi with 400 IU Vitamin D plus the weather is slightly better so that is helping somewhat.

Do you think so? I don't think so. The last time I was tested I was taking 1000 units a day and came up low. 2000 isn't nearly as much as I've seen some people recommend.