Top tips for SAD please and getting through winter.

[whatisforteamum]

Since I was as 20 I noticed I felt down and lost weight in the winter.I see it as something to endure
.I start off ok thinking this year will be different and positive.Then after my birthday in October boom! Low withdrawn, and just going through the motions.Last yr I bought a SAD lamp and religious ly used it and perhaps it helped a bit.I also started HRT which has helped enormously and my MH has been great all lockdown and I e improved my eating habits.
Please give me your tips for staying happy when it is cold and dark.What has helped you cope?I feel like a different person come spring.

I’ve struggled for years but managed it better recently

Sunrise alarm clock

SAD lamp on my desk

Fresh air: open windows wherever possible

Swimming outdoors even if freezing

Will be trying vit D this year too

And yy to all the hurrah for Autumn rubbish - bring on Spring!!

Oh and also yoga, restorative yoga, and mindfulness

I did think in lockdown about what I missed doing 50 plu s hour weeks.Other scenery and people!
I do feel like time flies though as I work in a stressful job so adrenaline gets me through the days and weeks tbh.Sometimes I feel like winter is like a roller blind coming down.A strange feeling I cannot outrun.I am sorry many of you suffer too.

Sorry - I think someone asked which SAD lamp people had. I only just checked and mine is called a litepod

I'm dreading this year. Had to cancel my annual Greek holiday next month as I have an NHS job and was told I'd fuck my career if I unexpectedly needed to quarantine. It was the only thing getting me through. I'm going to need to go back on fluoxetine for the first time since 2015.

I can already feel my winter mindset dripping in. I hope I can go somewhere warm in January or I genuinely don't think I'll cope.

My SAD lamps are a massive Lumie one that I stare at in the morning with a cup of coffee and then a little Beurer one for my desk or when I travel (it's the size of an iPad so super portable but really works!). Getting a wake-up light this year but usually the Lumie is on a timer to come on with my alarm.

Special clocks and lamps can be got for twenty quid or less on Amazon.

Just ordered another for DP for when he's working in the spare room - I went up the price bracket to £19.99 because I wanted something a bit larger.

@MitziK can you send me a link to the £19.99 one? The lowest price I can find on Amazon for alarm clocks is £39.99

@bearlyactive

Special clocks and lamps can be got for twenty quid or less on Amazon.

Just ordered another for DP for when he's working in the spare room - I went up the price bracket to £19.99 because I wanted something a bit larger.

@MitziK can you send me a link to the £19.99 one? The lowest price I can find on Amazon for alarm clocks is £39.99

Hang on, I'll check the one that's coming today and come back to you.

OK, this is a light rather than a clock - I chose the one that had a USB C charger as it was more suited to what we have indoors already.

Light

This one says it has an alarm clock function.

Here

This one is £20 new or has options for Amazon Warehouse for less.

Here

I can see that the prices have gone up in the last couple of days since I ordered the light, though. All the clocks were all about £5-7 cheaper until the Amazon Sale came along, so I guess it's a seasonal algorithm coming into play.

There are some pretty good deals on Lumies at present if you can stretch to them (always get an LED one, don't bother with the radio options), but I think these are good for deciding if you want to spend the extra; I very rarely wake up before the alarm sounds, but as I'm somebody who, when I actually manage to go to sleep, can sleep through all the tiles on the roof coming off in a storm, car crashes outside the open window and always, always through any alarm known to humanity, I do wake up really easily with these in comparison.

The key is having them so that they are near your face - the light needs to be fairly close, not across the room or behind your head. And I am somebody who struggles to go to sleep in the first place - the first sign of a standard light at night means I ping wide awake for the next six hours; if I'm to go to sleep, I can't have the landing, bathroom or bedroom main light on at all on my way up there. So I know I'm sensitive to light in the first place.

Never underestimate the health benefits of getting out in the fresh air everyday regardless of the weather.
Last winter I went from having to be out twice a day to walk the dog morning and late afternoon to no reason to leave the house when DDog died. I started indoor running on my treadmill and not going out in the cold but the lack of natural light and fresh air made me utterly miserable.
Even just a stroll outdoors in your lunchbreak might help.
I got back into my outdoor routine without the dog and mood (and skin) improved immediately.
New dog now so no excuse to stay in ever again.

@MitziK

OK, this is a light rather than a clock - I chose the one that had a USB C charger as it was more suited to what we have indoors already.

]]

This one says it has an alarm clock function.

]]

This one is £20 new or has options for Amazon Warehouse for less.

]]

I can see that the prices have gone up in the last couple of days since I ordered the light, though. All the clocks were all about £5-7 cheaper until the Amazon Sale came along, so I guess it's a seasonal algorithm coming into play.

There are some pretty good deals on Lumies at present if you can stretch to them (always get an LED one, don't bother with the radio options), but I think these are good for deciding if you want to spend the extra; I very rarely wake up before the alarm sounds, but as I'm somebody who, when I actually manage to go to sleep, can sleep through all the tiles on the roof coming off in a storm, car crashes outside the open window and always, always through any alarm known to humanity, I do wake up really easily with these in comparison.

The key is having them so that they are near your face - the light needs to be fairly close, not across the room or behind your head. And I am somebody who struggles to go to sleep in the first place - the first sign of a standard light at night means I ping wide awake for the next six hours; if I'm to go to sleep, I can't have the landing, bathroom or bedroom main light on at all on my way up there. So I know I'm sensitive to light in the first place.

Thank you so much, I have invested