Grey sky moods

[unspoken]

How much do other people find their mood is affected by the weather? I seem to be very sensitive to weather conditions. On Saturday the sky was grey all day and it rained for most of it. I felt angry and hopeless and I could feel my depression returning. On Sunday it was blue skies and sunshine - not warm, but clear. My perspective on life was very different, I felt more alive and went out and enjoyed myself. I went out on Saturday and it rained heavily but I barely noticed, I felt slowed down and disconnected from the world around me.

I have been taking sertraline for 5 years and it mostly keeps my moods stable. I have been getting depressed between November and February since I was 12 years old. When the sky is clear I feel like anything is possible but when it's overcast, regardless of the season, all my worst thoughts take over. I'm not sure a sun lamp would help with this. Watching TV shows where it's sunny helps.

Just wondering if anyone else finds their moods this closely linked to the weather.

[lior]

MyNameIsTerry has some good info on this, but can't remember what thread it was on... sorry...

[MyNameIsTerry]

MyNameIsTerry has some good info on this, but can't remember what thread it was on... sorry...

Me neither :doh::roflmao: any ideas what I was babbling on about Lior?

I have had these issues myself, its like when you get up and think "I god, another worthless day". Cold weather and wet weather seems to be a trigger for many. Conversely, get up to the lovely warm sunshine and you feel different.

I have found this has bothered me less so far and I can only put this down to supplementation of high strength Omega 3 for the last few months with Vitamin D included. I read about some studies of depression where >1000mg EPA or DHA (can't remember which without checking) helped boost mood. So, I picked up some cheap Tesco liquid that is around the 800mg mark and it has helped my mood swings. Even when they come I find I am more resilient. The weather doesn't bother much so far.

[PanchoGoz]

I used to! That feels good to say! I don't so much anymore unless I am feeling low. I tell you what did the trick for me - candles and insense. And on horrid days I tend to do a lot of cleaning, of house or cars. In the summer, gardening. Wet ground is easy to manipulate and mud makes me feel good.
My biggest boon is candles though.

[SADnomore]

Sounds like seasonal affective disorder to me. But mine comes with low-level panic/trapped feeling, despondency, frequent crying and agoraphobia (to be fair, it will be -40 outside! Really, who besides the polar bears wants to be out in that? :mad:) My doc diagnosed me in March and recommended venlaxafine (Effexor) and I am giving it a go. So far, so good. Normally I would be a basket case by now, but I think it's making a difference. No low level restlessness or despondency by mid November is unheard of for me! S-l-o-w titration (weeks, not days) has taken me successfully from 75 mg to 225 mg.

Terry, thanks so much, I've started an Omega Supplement, 525 EPA/225 DHA. Also contains a miniscule amount of Vitamin E and am considering getting an E supplement as well ... I have a problem with large capsules, and this is the best liquid form I've seen!

ALSO Vitamin D! They are running trials for D as a treatment for depression, so it seems there is more to winter depression than just the shortness of daylight hours. We are obviously not getting enough sunlight, and moreover, it's also being said that our "quality" of sunlight is not good enough this far from the equator. Not enough UVB for one thing. When I lived on the rainy coast, my doctor there said he wouldn't normally advise taking sun without sunscreen, but there, was advising to not use sunscreen all over, but to leave one limb uncovered for sun absorption and rotate limbs. In a tanning bed in winter. Not kidding. My doctor was advocating the use of tanning beds. ... I keep hearing more about Vitamin D and our chronic deficiency and the new thinking that we all need much, much more than the RDA (please can this be raised!).

Meanwhile, my doc here has given me permission to take from 5,000 IU to 10, 000 IU of D (I take drops) per day, which I am now taking along with my liquid Calcium.

Food for thought, take what you like, and leave the rest!

PanchoGoz, thank you for sharing about the candles. I love candlelight, and used to use incense in my bygone hippie days (lol). Time to dig them out again. Candles first, not sure how hubby and the cats will take to the incense, lol!

Marie :flowers:

_________________________________________________
ps I don't advocate tanning beds. Vanity now, mainly, ha ha! Not looking for more premature age spots and wrinkles
:roflmao:

[unspoken]

Thank you for your replies. Perhaps supplements might help me. I had some blood tests last month and they showed I had low iron and haemoglobin levels so my doctor has prescribed me iron tablets. At first they didn't agree with my stomach but I seem to be tolerating them better now. It's so confusing though, reading about the different combinations of vitamins and minerals that don't absorb well together, it makes taking a multivitamin sound futile. I eat salmon which contains omega 3 but I don't feel that I always fully digest my food due to IBS. I'll see how the iron pills have worked out when I next have a blood test.

I've been under some pressure at work and I've been struggling. When I can't do something, I blame myself. I'm in an awkward situation where I don't have a lot of support because my manager is a travelling salesman whereas I am based in an office. I hardly ever see him or the other salesmen I work for as they're rarely in the office and they give me problems to solve for them as part of my job. I think the combination of darkness, grey skies, rain and work pressure has made me feel anxious and once I feel this way, it compounds itself. I've asked for some assistance at work from somebody on another team to help me with specific problems I can't solve. I've also been in touch with my employer's occupational health team because when I had my pre-employment assessment, the nurse was very nice and told me I could call up any time I needed to talk and it would be confidential. But now I'm worrying that asking for help at work and admitting weakness will be used against me. I've had experiences in the past where a manager has seemed sympathetic at first about my anxiety but then they go and use it against me as a reason I'm not right for the job. I've not been in the job long enough to have legal protection against discrimination so this is making me anxious too. It just feels like it'd be easier to deal with if I could go for a walk in the sunshine at lunch time or after work like I did in the summer.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Sounds like seasonal affective disorder to me. But mine comes with low-level panic/trapped feeling, despondency, frequent crying and agoraphobia (to be fair, it will be -40 outside! Really, who besides the polar bears wants to be out in that? :mad:) My doc diagnosed me in March and recommended venlaxafine (Effexor) and I am giving it a go. So far, so good. Normally I would be a basket case by now, but I think it's making a difference. No low level restlessness or despondency by mid November is unheard of for me! S-l-o-w titration (weeks, not days) has taken me successfully from 75 mg to 225 mg.

Terry, thanks so much, I've started an Omega Supplement, 525 EPA/225 DHA. Also contains a miniscule amount of Vitamin E and am considering getting an E supplement as well ... I have a problem with large capsules, and this is the best liquid form I've seen!

ALSO Vitamin D! They are running trials for D as a treatment for depression, so it seems there is more to winter depression than just the shortness of daylight hours. We are obviously not getting enough sunlight, and moreover, it's also being said that our "quality" of sunlight is not good enough this far from the equator. Not enough UVB for one thing. When I lived on the rainy coast, my doctor there said he wouldn't normally advise taking sun without sunscreen, but there, was advising to not use sunscreen all over, but to leave one limb uncovered for sun absorption and rotate limbs. In a tanning bed in winter. Not kidding. My doctor was advocating the use of tanning beds. ... I keep hearing more about Vitamin D and our chronic deficiency and the new thinking that we all need much, much more than the RDA (please can this be raised!).

Meanwhile, my doc here has given me permission to take from 5,000 IU to 10, 000 IU of D (I take drops) per day, which I am now taking along with my liquid Calcium.

Food for thought, take what you like, and leave the rest!

PanchoGoz, thank you for sharing about the candles. I love candlelight, and used to use incense in my bygone hippie days (lol). Time to dig them out again. Candles first, not sure how hubby and the cats will take to the incense, lol!

Marie :flowers:

_________________________________________________
ps I don't advocate tanning beds. Vanity now, mainly, ha ha! Not looking for more premature age spots and wrinkles
:roflmao:

Wow, there is a doctor that is going is be getting sued at some point!

I know that in the UK, the quality of daylight we receive in winter is not even good enough to help with this issue from an article I read so more people are turning to supplements and SAD lamps.

If you want to find higher strength Omega 3, the best form is actually in liquid. I've looked at a far few, Oosh has a thread about them on the Natural Remedies board and he's looked at loads more than me, and I've found that high strength capsules are not high strength at all, they far less than the old fashioned liquid forms that our mums used to spoon feed us ever day!

If you get Seven Sees over in Canada, there are a couple in their range that provide a very high level of Omega 3 but be careful when assessing them because there are 4 types of Omega 3 so if they don't break it down, you don't know if you are getting the EPA & DHA ones. Oosh also has done some research on ratios and how the body stores them so its worth a read.

There are also various ones on the sports supplements & bodybuilding websites so you may find something a bit stronger on there.

Something I found strange was a) I felt a lot better at first and b) when my anxiety cycles came back around they were more intense. After about 6 weeks this changed again so that the anxiety cycles were less intense but my mood was less 'up' so perhaps this was the Omega 3 restoring some balance?