It seems like this happens every fall. I get tired. I lose energy. I hate it!
I know I probably have Seasonal Affective disorder, and I take extra vitamin D3 recommended by my doctor. I also take B complex for energy. But wow, since the time changed I feel exhausted! I could have slept all day (but my little girl was up at 6!) I try to get out in the sun when it is shining, but wow, all I really want to do it sit on my butt, do nothing, or sleep! Zzzz.
I feel a change at this time too, exactly with the time change. For me the change is different though. I feel more homey. I think it's because the children have to come in sooner, they're close at hand all the time, and I just feel closer to them. They're cuddly, they don't smell like grass and I pull out the candles to eat by.
But boy has my tummy been grumbling!! It's not fooled by the time on the clock! LOL!
I think you're probably spot on about needing more sun. It's definitely a real disorder.
I felt much more tired since around Halloween time since the weather has been more gloomy.
What worked for me was adding one additional vitamin D chew to my day- before I used to take 1 a day- now I take 2. After a few days I felt better.
Oh btw when I spoke to my doctor before getting tested for vitamin D she told me when you lose a lot of weight your vitamin D stores that were in your fat (yes it gets stored in your fat) are depleted so it can cause you to be tired.
Does vitamin D really work? I've been a hibernator for way too many years where I don't want to go any where and just work and sleep and don't really want to go to work either. I live in ND and sometimes just coming and going is miserable so it's real tempting to stay in if you can. I've never tried vitamin D though. Does the chewable part make a differance too?
Wow, I'm not alone then! Thanks for posting this Lyn as it seems Eliana has hit the nail on the head.
I'm in the UK and our clocks went back just over a week ago and since then I've just wanted to hibernate. Although I'm still following my plan and sticking to my exercise routine, everything else just seems like too much effort and I'm feeling anxious about everything I have to do and seem to have no energy to even start it.
The weather here in the UK has also been terrible this last 4-5 days, with galeforce winds, heavy rain and really cold, so my usual 10min walk each way to take DD to school and back has been stopped as we would either be blown away or soaked through.
I wonder if I should look into starting to get some vitamin d tablets...
If you are low in vitamin D (specially if you don't drink milk or eat fish on a daily basis) it can affect you- I was tested at my doctor and my vitamin D came back at 21- you should be 50 or above.
Vitamin D is not really a vitamin but a percursor to a hormone and is VERY important for function- I can't stress how important it is. My husband has MS and now they are saying their might be a link to vitamin D deficiency and MS. I mean that's SCARY! I was always exhausted until after I started my pills- I feel a million times better since taking the vitamins (2 months ago) and I'm never going to NOT take vitamins again- I thought I ate very healthy but I was wrong apparently.
I suggest buying a multivitamin (not gummy ones) with vitamin D in it and seeing how you feel after a few weeks- I am sure you will notice a huge difference. I take the chews because I hate swallowing pills- the brand is viactiv. I take one multivitamin chew and 2 vitamin D plus calcium chews. Spread them out during the day because you can't absorb a lot of calcium at once- I think 600mg is the most calcium you can absorb at one time. And you need calcium to absorb vitamin D.
I think our bodies have left over impulses from caveman days to rest more and pack on lbs when fall hits! Need the insulation and the fat(energy) store for winter.
Too bad we arent cavemen anymore....
I have read some research that suggests that in addition to light therapy, diet can improve SAD affects. Specifically I was reading that diet high in plant based nutrients and omega oils help. Also read that a diet high in tryprophan can help, but that was an article I cant attribute sources too.
I am definitely hit with SAD this time of year, exactly when the clock changes. It's hard for me when it gets dark by 5, I do so love the sunlight. It's also harder because it gets too cold for my toddler to play outside as much so he's underfoot a lot more and requiring a lot more attention. During the summer he's out in the back yard for 3 or more hours per day, not so in the winter.
I'm finding that if I can get out for my walk before 10am that it helps a lot. I get the nice, brisk air and some good sunshine and it revs me up until late afternoon hits. Then I want coffee.
I'm trying to cuddle with my kids more, trying to enjoy the time they have to be inside knowing that when summer hits again he'll be out and about and not all about mom. It's hard, but I'm trying to keep a positive attitude about it.
I have read some research that suggests that in addition to light therapy, diet can improve SAD affects. Specifically I was reading that diet high in plant based nutrients and omega oils help. Also read that a diet high in tryprophan can help, but that was an article I cant attribute sources too.
I thought tryptophan makes us sleepy because it raises our serotonin levels?
Yep me too. I attibute it to the combination of it getting dark minutes after hubby gets home (thank you time change), the colder weather and the fact that it always seems to be gray out all day long, for day after day.
I tend to want to do more "housey" things, cleaning and organizing and cooking. Too bad out of all housey things cooking and baking are my favs and now I can't just have at it with wild abandon because then I would eat things I shouldn't.
Despite being pretty darn close to the arctic circle, I have never struggled with SAD. I actually love our long, dark, cold winters (does anyone see why I left southern California? ) and dislike the endless sun in the summers.
That said, it definitely makes me want to hibernate (I loooove sleeping!) and vitamin D is very, very helpful in combating that. Almost all of us up this far north are severely deficient, so supplementing and eating foods rich in vitamin D is crucial for overall health and wellbeing.
Thank you for the information about Vitamin D. I was just hit with this SAD thing this week. Seems to happen every winter though. I just don't want to leave the house, unless I have to, and that really doesn't work when I work out at the gym. I will have to talk to my Dr about Vitamin D.
I've had SAD for years - but didn't realize until I was talking to my wonderful doctor in February this year. I heard the words 'I go off every October' come out of my mouth and kind of went 'Duh!' at the same time. I'd never made the connection.
I'm not just grumbly and snarly, my depression gets really bad, and I start to feel my spirit just dissolving away..... This time, on the doctor's advice, I have my weeks and days planned out hour by hour, a grid timetable. This is to make sure I get all the things I need to do done, that I can give myself some positive reinforcement for the things I do get done, and so I plan in a daily walk as a Must-do activity, not something to squeeze in if I get time - the days are drawing in, and although I would walk round here if I absolutely had to, it's not really random walking territory after dark.
The first week was good.
The second week I stuck to the timetable less well.
This week I feel horrid but I'm sticking to the timetable better.
This year, I haven't got to the spirit-dissolving stage yet but I am seized by gloomy thoughts: if I die in 20 years' time, people will say it's not a bad age to have got to - but 20! that's so little!; my head still hurts from the fall 6 weeks ago, and that fall set me thinking how easily and unexpectedly a life can end. I know mine didn't but people do die of simple falls if they just fall wrong; last week at a staff lunch, I got some food stuck in my throat - that's never happened to me before, same as falling on my head has never happened before - and they all just sat and looked at me as I gasped for breath. I really thought this might be The End. Eventually it moved, and my first recorded comment was to yell, 'Has no-one heard of a Heimlich?' but they just laughed.
I'm persisting with the timetable, and with walking in the daylight - but I'm going to follow up those supplement and food ideas too.
Losing Energy
) and dislike the endless sun in the summers.
