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I noticed a significant energy improvement from early spring (when it's still cold) into summer. I did this for my mood and other mental/physical health reasons.

I took these supplements:

Vitamin D 2K IU. You really don't need more and should cycle off for a week every 3 weeks.

Trace minerals. Cycle off every 3 weeks.

Omega 3. Cycle off every 3 weeks.

Probiotics. I found a formula that is supposed to have all the beneficial mood and psychological bacteria. Did not experience die off though. I think the product I ingested wasn't even real though.

I just learned that there are bull crap sellers on Amazon. I would suggest using a probiotic from a retail location like CVS with bacterial counts in the billions.

I also looked into this with my doctor. The prescription was too expensive for me to pick up though.

Prescribed probiotics start in the hundreds of billions or trillions and should be used as prescribed.

If anyone is interested in the bacterial strains sought out I will list them if requested. I spent a fair amount of time doing research on it.

----

I also watched 1 hour of random acts of kindness as remembered. 3 weeks on 1 week off.

I did jumping jacks in the morning. 20 or 50 will do.

I also started going to bed when night hit. I didn't stay up past 11pm. I tried to start sleep every night from 8pm to 10pm.

I also tried to cut out blue light (TV cellphone) on a week trial when sleeping. It helped somewhat.

All of these supplements and activities energized me and improved my mood.

I think the body is a super organism though and that the entire system thinks as a unit.

Your mileage may vary.

I'm not a doctor or psychiatrist. Talk to them before you start any new medicines or supplements. This is not medical or psychological advice. This is for entertainment purposes only.
 
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Patrickg

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Vitamin d! Mixed with excerise and some activity outside. Also I try to do one thaw a winter in Florida or something similar.
 

Dave E RDN

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I was diagnosed with depression in college. I still use a high lux light in the morning to this day. It's a little beaten up but works great. These day the more modern models are even better.

IMG_0730.JPG

This will not cause your body to synthesize vitamin D so I supplement with 5000 IU a day.

Other things I do to manage depression:
- fish oil - 2000mg epa/ 1000 mg dha
- exercise
- get adequate quality sleep
- be social
- get stuff done and work on my goals, rather than stew about creating anxiety

I got this info from a book called the Depression Cure. It is certainly not a cure but it is very helpful.
 
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TheSilverSpoon

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I suffered from this and honestly I can say vitamin d, good lighting, going outside etc - none of it worked. My experience was that all of these were band aids on a broken leg.
Moved to Arizona and the overall quality of my life shot through the roof. Been here for many years and never looked back.

This.

I spent the last two months or so of 2017 travelling around in the southwest. Early 2018 was back in the northeast. No matter how much vitamin d, lifting, and outside time I get up here - it doesn't seem to even come close to what the desert sun did for my mood.
 

jon.M

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Vitamin D - not sure if it's working at all. I feel pretty much the same whether I take it or not (but that might be incorrect because I often travel to sunny places during winter)

Fish oil - I don't take it, but I'd assume that like with vitamin D it probably takes time to build up in your organism.

Sun lamp - it might feel a bit weird in the beginning but actually as far as I remember I felt better almost immediately. For me, the best combination is early morning, tea, and a sun lamp (though in sometimes also use it in the afternoon or evening to sort of prolong daylight).

Going outside in the sun in the winter - as long as you're dressed properly (i.e. you aren't cold) and go to some kind of a natural setting it works almost instantly. Urban settings don't really make much of a difference for me (I actually think that sometimes they might be even more depressing than staying inside); while spending time in a forest makes a huge difference.


Just walking outside of the apartment makes it worse for me. Soulless concrete buildings. The snow and ice turned grey when mixed with car emmisions. Everything's just dead and it brings out a lingering sense of anxiety and desperation.

Going to a more natural place definitely seems to help. Taking a walk in the forests can be really different. Then you see the beautiful side of this season, and I think that does a lot to the human mind.

I've tried out a high number of supplements, liberally experimenting with mega dosing and what not. Neither fish oil or vitamin D has made any noticeable difference. I think the best thing you can do is just change your environment, or keep your mind occupied during this time of year.
 

Olimac21

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I no longer live in a "winter wonderland" lol but I was living in Sweden for a long time, my strategies:

-Always waking up at the same hour each morning.
-Take walks or breaks outside.
-Working out.
-Finishing my days earlier than during summer (1-2 hours earlier)

Like someone said, Vitamin D is very important and a good health in general. Also if you like winter sports or indoor activities, you can plan in advance to do things that really excite you in advance so then you are always engaging in cool activities for that time of the year.
 
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RazorCut

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Well it's pushing winter again so I guess its why this thread has resurfaced.

Just walking outside of the apartment makes it worse for me. Soulless concrete buildings. The snow and ice turned grey when mixed with car emmisions. Everything's just dead and it brings out a lingering sense of anxiety and desperation.

Going to a more natural place definitely seems to help. Taking a walk in the forests can be really different. Then you see the beautiful side of this season, and I think that does a lot to the human mind.

What country are you in @jon.M ?

I am a self diagnosed SAD sufferer. I even dislike Autumn/Fall as I just see it as the forerunner to Winter. Give me Spring and Summer anytime.

I currently do one or two 3 1/2 mile walks through the forest weekly. Have a sauna and steam room session most days and have a 9 minute suntan session once a week (just about to head off actually). That together with regular exercise at the gym 5-6 times a week seems to be keeping the symptoms away this year.

Having said that it's still only November.
 
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MTF

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The only thing that helps me effectively manage the symptoms is traveling to warm and sunny places. The moment I'm back home when it's fall or winter, my energy almost instantly drops by at least 50%.

If you're suffering a lot, using SAD lamps and stuff like that helps, but it's nowhere near as effective as simply being in a place where you get to see bright blue skies daily and where you don't suffer from biting cold weather that makes you stay home, making everything even worse.
 

jon.M

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Well it's pushing winter again so I guess its why this thread has resurfaced.



What country are you in @jon.M ?

I am a self diagnosed SAD sufferer. I even dislike Autumn/Fall as I just see it as the forerunner to Winter. Give me Spring and Summer anytime.

I currently do one or two 3 1/2 mile walks through the forest weekly. Have a sauna and steam room session most days and have a 9 minute suntan session once a week (just about to head off actually). That together with regular exercise at the gym 5-6 times a week seems to be keeping the symptoms away this year.

Having said that it's still only November.

Sweden. Lucky for me, I live quite far south. In the most northern parts there is no daylight at all during a period of winter. Talk about uplifting environment :jawdrop:
 

Olimac21

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Sweden. Lucky for me, I live quite far south. In the most northern parts there is no daylight at all during a period of winter. Talk about uplifting environment :jawdrop:

I still have nightmares just thinking about Swedish winters haha (lived in Stockholm for 3 years), I feel your pain.
 
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RazorCut

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Ha! My 21 year old son is a self taught web developer. I got him started on Elance (Upwork) and now he subcontracts exclusively for a Swedish company and they fly him out to Stockholm every 6 weeks or so. They have asked him to move there but he's not keen. Only a smallish young company but they have some very nice contracts. He's just finished one for Ericsson.

-
 

minivanman

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I never had seasonal depression. At that time, I would do just about all of our work during the cold months and my then girlfriend would take over during the warm months while I went racing. I would literally work 24/7 keeping up with the girls I had working for me then she would take over when race season came around and let things run down hill, then I'd get them back on track.... year after year after year.... lol Never had time to even spell the word depression.
 
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Kruiser

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- Artificial tanning. This has been the most effective thing for me by far. I just started it at the end of last winter season. It doesn't even feel like late fall to me. I'm used to feeling like complete crap by now. I've got a very mild tan. No one notices it. I've done my research. There may or may not be some increased skin cancer risk. But any increased skin cancer risk is a way lower mortality risk for me than my sometimes crippling seasonal depression.

- Bright light during my early morning routine.

- Short mid-morning walk outside. Even in the Pacific Northwest on a dark and cloudy day, it is WAY lighter outside than inside.
 

CaptainAmerica

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I'll jump in here too. I live in the PNW, and grew up in Boston, so ....yeah.

I increase the nootropics and Vit. D starting November 1 and carry that through March 1. I make it a point to hike to the butte on sunny days, at least once a month, because it's the Wide Open Sky Filled With Sunlight that helps reset things. And, finally, last year, I got a tanning package, and go weekly in December and January, sometimes into February. The risk of skin cancer is less than the risk of suicide/homicide. Funny/not funny.

Thanks for the reminder!
 

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Just an update for anyone interested in knowing anything discussed has made a substantial impact on life.

I did in fact move to California in the Winter of 2018-2019 and it unfortunately didn’t make me feel better BUT it was the coldest/rainiest winter in Los Angeles in many years. This does not rule out that the weather is part of the solution for me. I believe it comes down to my health and it may be something much deeper then I may think or possibly many different things combined.

My current focus is to investigate and test if Mold toxicity can be playing a role to my current seasonal depression symptoms which seem to be year round but just worse in the winter. When I moved to California I still brought all my items from a potential moldy environment in New York, which can result in cross contamination hence bringing the problem with me. Also I found that I have a hole in the floor of my 1991 Volvo 740 (surprising right?) which caused the carpet to be soaked and moldy for many years. My trunk has also been moldy for years as there’s a leak but didn’t think it was a problem since it’s in a trunk on a sedan, but mold toxins supposedly can still invade into the rest of the car.

I purchased another car. This time a 1994 Volvo 940 WAGON (so I can sleep in it) and will be driving to a campground in the desert, staying for a few weeks, bringing minimal items with me to test to see if I feel better. I totally ripped out all the carpet, headliner, and back seats, siliconed the sunroof, and used 5 different common cleaners for mold to make sure I am minimizing any mold spores in the air quality. I will be spending the days in the sun and fresh air.
 

James Klymus

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I live in Chicago, and I don't think I get depressed in the winter, I actually enjoy winter until the holidays are over. Then I cant wait for May.

I know MJ mentions in his books that he had some sort of seasonal depression in the winter (In Chicago too) and moving to Arizona helped him tremendously. I would like to spend a winter in a warmer climate soon though, because even though I don't get depressed, I do definitely miss warm weather and the sun. And there's nothing worse than driving in the snow :thumbsdown:

Like some others talked about on here, I do take vitamin D supplements and I'm going tanning this winter.
 

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