SAD winter support thread

[AutumnScream]

Apologies i can't find last years threads but they were a massive help checking in or just reading how everyone was doing day to day to get through the difficulty of winter. So many of us suffer from SAD and no amount of hyge and cosyness makes up for it.

I'm in, have started with the SAD light at my desk and need to go out for a walk before work and at lunchtime.
Roll on February!

Thats fab where did you get your SAD lamp and do you find it worth it? Ive been considering getting one for ages. Yes roll on march as im due then as well so a light at the end of the tunnel.

like my light box

Lloyds Pharmacy one

Congratulations on new spring baby! We have a grandchild due in the Spring.

Getting outside and things to look forward to is a way through the winter, but it's hard when its raining.

Thank you and congratulations on the grandbaby thats so exciting! Is it your first?

Yeah getting out is good but is rubbish where i am theres nowhere to walk except down residential streets.

Thank you, it's our second. I was a young mum, so really love being a middle-aged granny.

Is this your first baby? Winter is a good time for pregnancy, more reason to take it easier and enjoy nesting.

Even residential streets is good, just for the light..
Yesterday was horrible rain but will get out today.

Signing in. Going to be one hell of a winter this year, all the general global and UK crises, plus round 5 of our dismal IVF journey to come in a couple of weeks and I’ve just had my 12th pregnancy loss since May 2020. I just need to survive until spring!

I may need to surround myself with about 50 SAD lamps. I have one on my desk that stays on all day to take the edge off! Walking the dog in the forest also helps.

I also need to revamp nutrition for IVF/ weight loss (miscarriages, hormones, steroids all pile on the kgs!) as have slipped back into tea and chocolate for comfort but I need low sugar/carb, high protein for egg quality. Might help mood too, we’ll see.

If I had a fast forward button, I would just skip ahead to March 2023! Hibernation should really be a thing.

Found my people. I honestly thought something had gone seriously wrong with my mental health last winter, I was verging on suicidal. As soon as the clocks went forward my mood just...lifted.

I take extra vitamin D every winter, and I'm trying out a light box. We also now have a gorgeous wee dog, so I'm hoping having to get him out on walks, and just his lovely doggy company, will help.

My sad light is a life saver for me. I struggle with sad every year but the light improves it a little bit.
I live in the very North not on the main land and the darkness is just beyond depressing and talk of cozy makes me rage filled!
I've managed to get my vitamin d up to decent levels with being religious about taking my supplements for the first time in ages though which is good.

Hello! I started last year’s thread under a different username so I’ll be here this winter 😊. I’ve been taking Sertraline for a year now and doing well but considering asking the doctor to up it for winter. So far I’m doing Ok since it’s been so mild and we’ve just had a holiday in Turkey so got some extra sun (feeling very fortunate as we couldn’t have afforded it this year but it was rearranged from 2020 and then 2021 and all inclusive so not much extra spending money was required). It was a shock to the system to fly back on the day the clocks went back, I can feel my eyes stretching to try to drink in the last of the light at 3pm. I used my SAD lamp for the first time on Wednesday but was out all day yesterday so didn’t get chance. It really does help but my advice is to use it on the lowest setting at first or it can give you a headache/ eye strain. The main thing I need to do (same as last year) is make sure I remember to take my vitamins 🙈. Exercise and walking the dog really helps too.

I have this SAD light which I think helps. It's expensive but I was very lucky as my DM bought it for me as a Christmas present last year. I also have a sunrise alarm clock which I've had for years and that definitely helps in the mornings.

Agree with others about getting outside for a bit of exercise and fresh air every day. I never feel like it and I have to drag myself outside for a 10/20 minute walk round the streets at lunchtime. It doesn't actually feel as though it makes much difference at the time either but if I look back it seems to have a gradual cumulative effect and I'm overall feeling a bit better about things if I've been getting out each day.

I've also cut right down on alcohol which seems to help a bit.

I'm ridiculously busy at work at the minute which is making me stressed and waking up at night, but it's actually making time seem to go a bit faster so I can feel the winter solstice getting closer and that always feels like a bit of a corner for me, every day after that is a tiny bit lighter and longer.

Hello everyone im sorry so many people struggle so much in the winter and yes this one seems like it might be particularly difficult:(

I found out last night my sister may have breast cancer so im extremely worried for her and cant stop stressing over it.

Definitely trying to keep up with vitamins each day especially vitamin D. Lemon and ginger tea is always something i advise in winter as it really helps the immune system somehow.

Urgh I’ve woken up this morning with a cold and sore throat having just got over covid (again) a few weeks ago 😭. The weather is awful, it’s barely light and it’s 16° in my house. All I want to do is snuggle on the sofa with my dog (sorry I know we hate snuggling but snuggling with a dog is different 😂) but DH won’t allow him on the sofa (I have to get up early with the dog and we love our morning cuddles that DH doesn’t know about!).

@AutumnScream hope it turns out to be something else 🤞. My dad recently had a cancer scare and it turned out OK but not a good time to be going through the NHS.

How is everyone today?

I noticed it was a lot chillier when i went to work and the rain didn't help.

Having a rough day today, how quick it got dark today was crushing. Wish I could pay someone to just walk around with me holding a SAD light above me! The weather is not helping at all.

Hope everyone else is doing OK!

All I constantly think about during these months is how much happier I would be if I lived in a hot country, and how my life would be so different. In the summer I naturally wake early with the sunrise and I'm so happy and productive. There's no chance of us moving as children are settled here. Wish I didn't keep having these unhelpful thoughts

We’ve had a nice weekend but it feels like the day is over before it begins! @Xhaustedd I feel the same, we tried to emigrate to Australia years ago but got turned down due to DH’s medical condition. I feel like I’m wasting at least half of my life here 😭.

Hows everyones day been? Im at work and I'm stressed to hell we are short staffed by 3 people and i dont know how im supposed to get through today.

Oh and the heating at works broken and they arent fixing it anytime soon. Wish i lived somewhere sunny and warm.

I'm under a heated throw with a book and a hot chocolate. Sunny but breezy out, so will get the dog out again before I do the school run.

Fresh air and exercise must help, right?

Fresh air and exercise sounds amazing.

I need to make an effort to get out and exercise more very soon. I just ordered a takeaway kebab though as today was a really rough day at work.

I managed to get my train before the rain came down heavy so thats a plus!

Hello everyone, I was hoping there would be another thread. I'm finding this last week or so to be quite hard, I seem to have that winter slump already, I guess it's from the skies being so overcast. For me the days feel very short and my productivity on anything has gone down. I've also come down with a sore throat and cough.
Sending warm and sunny vibes to everyone

Hello vicar. Yes the amazing poster from last years thread is on here too and honestly i cant tell you how valuable last years thread was at keeping me sane all winter.

Isn't it hard? Though last year wasn't as bad for me, this year seems as bad as it's ever been. And I nose dived very quickly during last month
And I'm trying to keep off the chocolate, with very limited success

Hello. Can I join you all?

I'm disabled and stuck in the house quite a lot. As my health has got worse, I've found the long, cold & dark winter hard to deal with; from a SAD perspective and for the increased pain problems. I'm longing so hard for daylight from 4am to 11pm; I love the light nights. Spring can't come soon enough.

I bought a SAD light over the summer and I think now is the right time to get it out and start using it. I just feel low for no other reason and I'm finding it hard to keep my spirits up.

Hi all, I have an 18 yo diagnosed with SAD. I’d love to get some tips from those of you who are going through this. If there’s anything I can do as a mother I’d do it to make her better.