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Treating Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
Hello,
I live in the UK and every year to as early as I can remember I've experienced Seasonal Affective Disorder between September and March. I experience low mood and my normal routine requires a lot more willpower.
Has anyone managed to treat this or experience relief from this by applying the principles of this diet? If so how long did it take you?
Thank you.
I had pretty good success using a heat lamp. 250 watt incandescent bulb. I'd feel my metabolism roaring after sitting under that for a while.
I had pain in low back for all of 2022. I was wrecked unable to work with isotretinoin induced sacroiliitis on 11/22/2022. The gory details are available in posts elsewhere on this blog under "deleted user." The pain limited my sleep to 3 or 4 naps every 24 hours for 15 minutes or less. Went on for months. That might have affected my mood.
Hooked up with idea of vitamin A toxicity in 12/2022. Drilled down found Grant and xxxxxx through Judy Cho. Studied up and worked with the ideas. Made progress. Xxxxxx's program got me going with diet, minerals, UVB light (sun and Sperti lamp) and red light (sun and Kala red light). Between going low vitamin A, depleting vitamin A and copper, light therapy and a few other ideas, I was able to hang up my walker 4/15/2023. That was also the first 24 hours I slept a continuous 10.5 hour nap. Betting I was a nicer guy.
I went back to work landscaping late May, 2023. By June we had customers, friends, suppliers, everyone we saw, old and new, remarking about what a nice guy I was. This was not normal.
At first it was weird and threw me off balance. That is not a compliment I have ever routinely gotten - if ever. Thought the first few were sarcastic. I have gotten used to it now and quietly say thank you and move on. I am used to it and find it uncomfortable.
An incident I think in July, 2023 near a jobsite drove home the seriousness of the compliment. I approached a job in an expensive neighborhood in our small dumptruck with my wife. The truck has 2 seats. Couple guys ran through the intersection - not well dressed lads. Looked like they had slept rough for the last week. One ran back to drivers' side door yelling they needed a ride to catch a train.
I took a look, thought to let him jump in dump bed, realized it was too high, smiled, looked him in the eye, said "Sorry man, not today, and started slowly driving on." Told my wife, I think they wanted a ride.
She replied, "Yep. They did not want to be passengers." I turned and looked at her and then back at the guys in my mirror and replayed the scene. Big guy ran up and grabbed driver's side door handle as he yelled. Door was locked but window was partly open. Train station was 2 blocks away. They could have run one of those blocks in the time it took to confront me in that intersection.
When he looked in my eye, he relaxed, smiled, nodded and backed away. I was a nice guy and now he was too. I was so nice it had not occurred to me it was a carjack until I got 100' past it. Granted, he could have reached in to take the next step. Considering my habits and recently acquired attitude, I am pretty sure I would have rolled the window up tight on his arm and slowly driven him to a different station in town. Unless he was armed. Either way I would have been nice about it and calmly dealt with it.
Have had similar circumstances a few times in last 50 years. This is the first time I had zero adrenaline dump. In our circle of friends and former coworkers we known a few first responders, bouncers, security workers, military, psyche care workers,....... Everyone of our friends concur that out of all the people we know in and out of martial arts, the toughest guys are always the nicest. Given the little guy I am I hope that makes me tougher now.
It is hilarious meeting old friends now. We watch, wait and crack up when we see them realize I am not the old grumpy guy they expected to see.
For sure it is because I am in so much less pain. That can not explain it all away though. Things just do not get to me the way they always did. Kid t-boned that same truck a couple months ago. I never so much as cussed. I got out and to his car before he had his seatbelt off made sure he was alright.
Bomb squad guys happened to be driving by so we suddenly had 10 huge cops directing traffic in this intersection. As upsetting as it was to lose my favorite truck in the middle of a delivery, I had to acknowledge how hilarious it was to be swarmed by the bomb squad in their off hours. Guys were hilarious. Nobody got hurt. We cleaned everything up and all moved on.
Another friend offered his truck to finish the delivery before I could ask. Later we went though a few hoops with other friends and that favorite truck is now rebuilt better than it was. Ten years ago, I would have been an angry adrenalized over dramatic guy. It would have taken the bomb squad to calm me down. Instead we were all laughing that the county felt it appropriate to send a bomb squad because of my beautiful (in my eyes) 28 year old truck.
I also know of a few people on another blog who have dialed down and worked their way off a number of drugs by depleting vitamin A and copper. Will look for and repost their testimonials here if given the chance.
Hi Rich,
this topic has been discussed before but I a quick search didn't find much for you, darn it.
My hubs has decided in the past that I suffered from SAD.
Quite simply, I think the very best thing for SAD is to get outside, as there is no substitute for it. Even in the dead of winter. There is a good book on the subject, I think it is online and free called something like "Naked at Noon".
Another thing, and perhaps it is troublesome, but why do we force ourselves to live at latitudes that our ancestors didn't come from? It might be quite nice to go and live at a latitude that your genetics expects. We wouldn't expect polar bears to do well at the equator, would we?
But hey, maybe you are of UK stock and just need to get outside, every day, and drink in the glow (such as it is, LOL). If we are of mixed heritage, maybe we can even just look at our skin type and relate it to a latitude. My latitude would probably be the same as Santa's Village in upper Norway near the arctic circle, LOL.
In winter I even go and sit near a snow field and the sun seems to magnify off it.
I guess, if you have to, the lamps and such are better than nothing. I personally no longer believe in taking Vitamin D as a supplement.
Quote from lil chick on September 27, 2024, 7:44 amHi Rich,
this topic has been discussed before but I a quick search didn't find much for you, darn it.
My hubs has decided in the past that I suffered from SAD.
Quite simply, I think the very best thing for SAD is to get outside, as there is no substitute for it. Even in the dead of winter. There is a good book on the subject, I think it is online and free called something like "Naked at Noon".
Another thing, and perhaps it is troublesome, but why do we force ourselves to live at latitudes that our ancestors didn't come from? It might be quite nice to go and live at a latitude that your genetics expects. We wouldn't expect polar bears to do well at the equator, would we?
But hey, maybe you are of UK stock and just need to get outside, every day, and drink in the glow (such as it is, LOL). If we are of mixed heritage, maybe we can even just look at our skin type and relate it to a latitude. My latitude would probably be the same as Santa's Village in upper Norway near the arctic circle, LOL.
In winter I even go and sit near a snow field and the sun seems to magnify off it.
I guess, if you have to, the lamps and such are better than nothing. I personally no longer believe in taking Vitamin D as a supplement.
Vitamin D pills are repeatedly proven to be rat poison. Supplements are dosed for slow poisoning. It is death by calcification. It turns us to statues from the inside out. Absolutely, getting out is the best. Sperti and Kala are poor substitutes. They do help when I hurt and cannot get the sun. Nothing comes near what the sun does for us.
Quite simply, I think the very best thing for SAD is to get outside, as there is no substitute for it. Even in the dead of winter. There is a good book on the subject, I think it is online and free called something like "Naked at Noon".
I can echo what @lil-chick said above. To illustrate: This summer I slept in the woods near my brothers house. The weather was great that week so I didn't need a tent. In the morning I lay naked on the grass for ten minutes. The sun shone down on me like a glowing light bulb, the blue sky as a backdrop to the scenery. I was a little afraid someone would see me. Anyway, I slept really well the following night and had a significant boost in my libido. I wish I could sleep in the forest regularly, even in winter. I think it's an under-explored lifestyle change that would have great health benefits if done regularly.
I use a SPERTI vitamin D lamp in winter. It's probably best to avoid vitamin D supplements. I haven't taken any for years. I think there is something to the idea of calcification through vitamin D supplements. Also, a light therapy lamp might give you the mood boost you need in the winter. I'm not sure how much my mood has improved as a result of low vitamin A levels.
Quote from Janelle525 on September 26, 2024, 3:31 pmI had pretty good success using a heat lamp. 250 watt incandescent bulb. I'd feel my metabolism roaring after sitting under that for a while.
Yes I've been thinking light therapy would be one avenue to try. I'd used a light box in the past to no effect. IR or UV in the winter may be the next thing to try.
Quote from Joe2 on September 26, 2024, 9:16 pmI had pain in low back for all of 2022. I was wrecked unable to work with isotretinoin induced sacroiliitis on 11/22/2022. The gory details are available in posts elsewhere on this blog under "deleted user." The pain limited my sleep to 3 or 4 naps every 24 hours for 15 minutes or less. Went on for months. That might have affected my mood.
Hooked up with idea of vitamin A toxicity in 12/2022. Drilled down found Grant and xxxxxx through Judy Cho. Studied up and worked with the ideas. Made progress. Xxxxxx's program got me going with diet, minerals, UVB light (sun and Sperti lamp) and red light (sun and Kala red light). Between going low vitamin A, depleting vitamin A and copper, light therapy and a few other ideas, I was able to hang up my walker 4/15/2023. That was also the first 24 hours I slept a continuous 10.5 hour nap. Betting I was a nicer guy.
I went back to work landscaping late May, 2023. By June we had customers, friends, suppliers, everyone we saw, old and new, remarking about what a nice guy I was. This was not normal.
At first it was weird and threw me off balance. That is not a compliment I have ever routinely gotten - if ever. Thought the first few were sarcastic. I have gotten used to it now and quietly say thank you and move on. I am used to it and find it uncomfortable.
An incident I think in July, 2023 near a jobsite drove home the seriousness of the compliment. I approached a job in an expensive neighborhood in our small dumptruck with my wife. The truck has 2 seats. Couple guys ran through the intersection - not well dressed lads. Looked like they had slept rough for the last week. One ran back to drivers' side door yelling they needed a ride to catch a train.
I took a look, thought to let him jump in dump bed, realized it was too high, smiled, looked him in the eye, said "Sorry man, not today, and started slowly driving on." Told my wife, I think they wanted a ride.
She replied, "Yep. They did not want to be passengers." I turned and looked at her and then back at the guys in my mirror and replayed the scene. Big guy ran up and grabbed driver's side door handle as he yelled. Door was locked but window was partly open. Train station was 2 blocks away. They could have run one of those blocks in the time it took to confront me in that intersection.
When he looked in my eye, he relaxed, smiled, nodded and backed away. I was a nice guy and now he was too. I was so nice it had not occurred to me it was a carjack until I got 100' past it. Granted, he could have reached in to take the next step. Considering my habits and recently acquired attitude, I am pretty sure I would have rolled the window up tight on his arm and slowly driven him to a different station in town. Unless he was armed. Either way I would have been nice about it and calmly dealt with it.
Have had similar circumstances a few times in last 50 years. This is the first time I had zero adrenaline dump. In our circle of friends and former coworkers we known a few first responders, bouncers, security workers, military, psyche care workers,....... Everyone of our friends concur that out of all the people we know in and out of martial arts, the toughest guys are always the nicest. Given the little guy I am I hope that makes me tougher now.
It is hilarious meeting old friends now. We watch, wait and crack up when we see them realize I am not the old grumpy guy they expected to see.
For sure it is because I am in so much less pain. That can not explain it all away though. Things just do not get to me the way they always did. Kid t-boned that same truck a couple months ago. I never so much as cussed. I got out and to his car before he had his seatbelt off made sure he was alright.
Bomb squad guys happened to be driving by so we suddenly had 10 huge cops directing traffic in this intersection. As upsetting as it was to lose my favorite truck in the middle of a delivery, I had to acknowledge how hilarious it was to be swarmed by the bomb squad in their off hours. Guys were hilarious. Nobody got hurt. We cleaned everything up and all moved on.
Another friend offered his truck to finish the delivery before I could ask. Later we went though a few hoops with other friends and that favorite truck is now rebuilt better than it was. Ten years ago, I would have been an angry adrenalized over dramatic guy. It would have taken the bomb squad to calm me down. Instead we were all laughing that the county felt it appropriate to send a bomb squad because of my beautiful (in my eyes) 28 year old truck.
I also know of a few people on another blog who have dialed down and worked their way off a number of drugs by depleting vitamin A and copper. Will look for and repost their testimonials here if given the chance.
I enjoyed your story thank you. I know someone with a chronic pain condition (scoliosis sciatica) and it also impacts their mood enormously as you would expect.
Quote from lil chick on September 27, 2024, 7:44 amHi Rich,
this topic has been discussed before but I a quick search didn't find much for you, darn it.
My hubs has decided in the past that I suffered from SAD.
Quite simply, I think the very best thing for SAD is to get outside, as there is no substitute for it. Even in the dead of winter. There is a good book on the subject, I think it is online and free called something like "Naked at Noon".
Another thing, and perhaps it is troublesome, but why do we force ourselves to live at latitudes that our ancestors didn't come from? It might be quite nice to go and live at a latitude that your genetics expects. We wouldn't expect polar bears to do well at the equator, would we?
But hey, maybe you are of UK stock and just need to get outside, every day, and drink in the glow (such as it is, LOL). If we are of mixed heritage, maybe we can even just look at our skin type and relate it to a latitude. My latitude would probably be the same as Santa's Village in upper Norway near the arctic circle, LOL.
In winter I even go and sit near a snow field and the sun seems to magnify off it.
I guess, if you have to, the lamps and such are better than nothing. I personally no longer believe in taking Vitamin D as a supplement.
I work out of doors so I don't believe could get any more sun, so I think your lamp suggestion is a good one.
Like you I'd searched the forum for SAD related content as I sure its been addressed but didn't find anything.
I wonder if there might be some aspect of coldness that plays in as well. You know I swear I learned something about "more vitamin A being used when fighting coldness" from my WAPF days. Could it be that something about being cold gets it circulating?
People here have talked about their coping mechanisms for staying warm. I believe heavily in WOOL.
I suppose that in the past people spent lots of time around a roaring fire. I have often wondered if we actually benefit from fire just like we benefit from sun. If you think about it, the tree stores up sunlight (via photosynthesis) and the fire releases it. It has been said that hospitality consists of the 3 F's: food, flowers and fire.