Does anyone here suffer from seasonal effective disorder?

[Tiltyred]

I have reverse SADD. I get pretty severely depressed in the spring, and feel elated and well in the fall.

 

[sprinkles]

U mad? Cyclical insomnia, depression and parkison cannot simply be cured by moving 7-8 parallels south and-or by a string of sunny days. Of course the border between illness and not is always subjective, so from that POV you are right. SAD could just be a signal that you're living in the wrong place for your body.

If you have to put on a coat then you're 'living in the wrong place for your body'.

Your body has homeostasis with your environment. If you get left out in the cold, you die. Just because you can survive some place due to constructed protections does not mean you are or are not living in the right or wrong place.

 

[Redbone]

I'm sort of in the Pacific Northwest too......... totally started affecting me when I moved here. Eventually I had to get the indoor daylight lights and take vitamins everyday. Also maybe try blocking out all the windows when it is rainy and go outdoors a lot when it is sunny.....

yeah, it can get pretty bad. I'm gonna have to give it up and get some lights. We actually had a little sun today and despite the cold, I opened the window, put on some music and started singing! That's pretty bad.

 

[jixmixfix]

I have reverse SADD. I get pretty severely depressed in the spring, and feel elated and well in the fall.

People have that too it's not as common I just don't see how though.

 

[Tiltyred]

I think it has to do with whether you are a solar or a lunar personality.

 

[jixmixfix]

Yes, I've had seasonal affective since I was like 12 that has turned into bipolar with a roughly predictable seasonal pattern. I find that having a routine helps, and just make sure you're getting as much awake times during sunlight as possible. I use a broad spectrum white light in the winter mornings, and that's helping immensely this year. It does have some bad side effects when you first start using it. (Irritability/ insomnia), and it takes a couple weeks to start working. Insurance sometimes pays for the light if you have a diagnosis.

There are some studies saying blue light helps SAD people, and some that promote the broad spectrum white. I am sensitive to the white, it makes the bipolar worse if I'm not medicated properly. Some people do have those kinds of reactions to it. Anyway, they run from about 60 dollars to 300 dollars. Mine was 60, it's cute and called "lightphoria". Only reason it was so cheap is because it's small and you have to keep your face like nine inches from it which makes it hard to do other things. I'm not a morning person anyway so I just stare at it half asleep for 15 minutes when I get up. With this method, I went from sleeping 14-15 hours in the winter to 7-9. Hope this helps.

(Edit: Also, read amazon reviews about these lights, they are hilarious!! This one family was facing the dumb thing at the grumpiest person at the breakfast table in the morning and were like "our whole family is happier!!" )

I heard that seasonal effective disorder can turn into bi-polar is it because your symptoms went untreated? I've noticed that my symptoms tend to be the worst during the darkest days of the year right around Christmas. Over here in Canada the summers stay bright up until 10:00pm and the winters get dark around 4:30- 5:00 that's an average of 5 hours less sunlight it's quite a bit. Strangely enough my body/mind gets used to the crappy whether around February and it doesn't affect me as much. The sad lamp I bought was quite expensive because I wanted something that works, and it seems to be helping I hear you can make your own lamps as well. The one I have only has 4 fluorescent bulbs attached to one another pretty basic for such an expensive lamp.http://northernlighttechnologies.com/light-therapy-store/sadelite-desk-lamp

 

[jixmixfix]

I think it has to do with whether you are a solar or a lunar personality.

Well from what I've read most people have winter Sad and few have spring/summer sad. I've read that Spring/summer sad has more to do with being anxious around that time than depressed.

 

[Tiltyred]

It feels like an overwhelming melancholy. True, it's not the same as a clinical depression kind of numbness -- it's more vivid -- but it's all-pervasive and interferes with functioning to some extent. Or, since I live where it gets way too hot and humid for about five months of the year, maybe it's just that I'm dreading summer.

 

[jixmixfix]

It feels like an overwhelming melancholy. True, it's not the same as a clinical depression kind of numbness -- it's more vivid -- but it's all-pervasive and interferes with functioning to some extent. Or, since I live where it gets way too hot and humid for about five months of the year, maybe it's just that I'm dreading summer.

Wanna switch houses?

 

[Tiltyred]

Yes! Yes please! That's a great idea!

 

[King sns]

I heard that seasonal effective disorder can turn into bi-polar is it because your symptoms went untreated? I've noticed that my symptoms tend to be the worst during the darkest days of the year right around Christmas. Over here in Canada the summers stay bright up until 10:00pm and the winters get dark around 4:30- 5:00 that's an average of 5 hours less sunlight it's quite a bit. Strangely enough my body/mind gets used to the crappy whether around February and it doesn't affect me as much. The sad lamp I bought was quite expensive because I wanted something that works, and it seems to be helping I hear you can make your own lamps as well. The one I have only has 4 fluorescent bulbs attached to one another pretty basic for such an expensive lamp.http://northernlighttechnologies.com/light-therapy-store/sadelite-desk-lamp

Hmm , that's possible, I didn't buy my SAD light until it was too late actually, and was really set on not taking antidepressants. I also read that it turns into bipolar in 20 percent of people. I had really severe SAD though, one time just laid in bed for three weeks straight.

The February thing makes sense, as the days are a little bit longer by then too. I've gone right up until June though, I think that's just because that year I needed a lot of situational changes as well . Stay on it , it's not worth being unhappy for a third of the year.

 

[jixmixfix]

Hmm , that's possible, I didn't buy my SAD light until it was too late actually, and was really set on not taking antidepressants. I also read that it turns into bipolar in 20 percent of people. I had really severe SAD though, one time just laid in bed for three weeks straight.

The February thing makes sense, as the days are a little bit longer by then too. I've gone right up until June though, I think that's just because that year I needed a lot of situational changes as well . Stay on it , it's not worth being unhappy for a third of the year.

Yesturday was grey all day and i felt really meloncholy pretty sapped for energy I turned on my lamp last night after work for a half hour and felt better right away crazy stuff. I think 30 minutes should be the minimum im pretty sure you could get away with 2 30 minute sessions with a break in between.

 

[King sns]

Yesturday was grey all day and i felt really meloncholy pretty sapped for energy I turned on my lamp last night after work for a half hour and felt better right away crazy stuff. I think 30 minutes should be the minimum im pretty sure you could get away with 2 30 minute sessions with a break in between.

hmm, I actually only need 15 if I do it every day, I can't take too much though, I don't just balance out, i'll go flying in the opposite direction, if I took an hour in a day, i'd probably be awake for two days straight. It's almost as potent as a med, really.

 

[jixmixfix]

So I've been using the lamp for 30 minutes a day and taking 2400 Ui of vitamin D a day and I feel great!. I don't think I have ever felt this good in the winter in a long long time. On a gray day the lamp has a very "soothing" feel to it, I highly recommend it to anyone with this type of problem.

 

[Guy V. Malaxia]

I don't know if this has been suggested yet, but you all who get the winter blues every year should look into taking some vitamin D supplements. Deficiencies have been linked to an overall depressed mood. It's a difficult nutrient to adequately incorporate into the diet for several reasons, and unless you're bathing in the sun every day you're most likely not getting enough.

Anecdotally, I've been taking about 10,000 IUs a day for a few months now and I feel great. There's a lot of competing research on how much should be taken, but it's pretty much common consensus that what's advocated as the current DRA is borderline deficient.

 

[jixmixfix]

I don't know if this has been suggested yet, but you all who get the winter blues every year should look into taking some vitamin D supplements. Deficiencies have been linked to an overall depressed mood. It's a difficult nutrient to adequately incorporate into the diet for several reasons, and unless you're bathing in the sun every day you're most likely not getting enough.

Anecdotally, I've been taking about 10,000 IUs a day for a few months now and I feel great. There's a lot of competing research on how much should be taken, but it's pretty much common consensus that what's advocated as the current DRA is borderline deficient.

While Vitamin D is great, 10,000 IU is a bit too much I've talked to my doctor about vitamin D and he said that everyone is deficient in the winter. He explained that 1000 IU is enough to treat about 80% of people with deficiencies and 2000 Iu is enough to treat 99% of people. Vitamin D fat is soluble so it could build up in your system and give you poisoning if you are not careful unlike other vitamins you can just pee out . He said anything that is 5000 Iu and under is safe, so you might want to reconsider your dosage. On the upside Vitamin D works wonders for mood and overall health I'm glad I've started taking it on a regular basis.

 

[ceecee]

People have that too it's not as common I just don't see how though.

Come see me in July when it's been in the 90's with 90% humidity for a week straight and blazing sunny days. That is just energy sapping x100 weather. I don't want to go out in it, I don't want to do anything. It's currently overcast and 19 here and I feel great.

 

[Guy V. Malaxia]

While Vitamin D is great, 10,000 IU is a bit too much I've talked to my doctor about vitamin D and he said that everyone is deficient in the winter. He explained that 1000 IU is enough to treat about 80% of people with deficiencies and 2000 Iu is enough to treat 99% of people. Vitamin D fat is soluble so it could build up in your system and give you poisoning if you are not careful unlike other vitamins you can just pee out . He said anything that is 5000 Iu and under is safe, so you might want to reconsider your dosage. On the upside Vitamin D works wonders for mood and overall health I'm glad I've started taking it on a regular basis.

Keep in mind that doctors aren't the most reliable source regarding nutrition because most medical schools don't require too many classes on it. Your best bet is from an RD of some kind, as they're most likely going to be up to date on current research.

You're not going to have any problems with toxicity unless you're approaching the 40,000 IU range for daily dosage, according to the Vitamin D Council.

Even Harvard admits that current recommendations may not be an accurate reflection of real dietary needs.

Currently, there’s scientific debate about how much vitamin D people need each day. The Institute of Medicine, in a long-awaited report released on November 30, 2010 recommends tripling the daily vitamin D intake for children and adults in the U.S. and Canada, to 600 IU per day. (7) The report also recognized the safety of vitamin D by increasing the upper limit from 2,000 to 4,000 IU per day, and acknowledged that even at 4,000 IU per day, there was no good evidence of harm. The new guidelines, however, are overly conservative about the recommended intake, and they do not give enough weight to some of the latest science on vitamin D and health. For bone health and chronic disease prevention, many people are likely to need more vitamin D than even these new government guidelines recommend.

Ultimately with the amount of variance between publications it's hard to firmly conclude on one dose or another. For me personally I've looked into it a bit and have decided to take about 10,000 IUs a day and see how I feel. So far it's been great. Those who are a bit more cautious than I am should be fine with about 2000 IUs a day, like your doctor recommended.

 

[jixmixfix]

Keep in mind that doctors aren't the most reliable source regarding nutrition because most medical schools don't require too many classes on it. Your best bet is from an RD of some kind, as they're most likely going to be up to date on current research.

You're not going to have any problems with toxicity unless you're approaching the 40,000 IU range for daily dosage, according to the Vitamin D Council.

Even Harvard admits that current recommendations may not be an accurate reflection of real dietary needs.

If my doctor says that there haven't been enough studies on Vitamin D safety past the 5000 IU range I'm going to believe him for the most part.

 

[jixmixfix]

Come see me in July when it's been in the 90's with 90% humidity for a week straight and blazing sunny days. That is just energy sapping x100 weather. I don't want to go out in it, I don't want to do anything. It's currently overcast and 19 here and I feel great.

19 Fahrenheit or Celsius?