SAD and vitamin D? Or light box?

[Fingerbobs]

Hello
My DP suffers from SAD, we have (finally, doh) realised. I really want to avoid another descent into full-on depression so i'm looking for advice.I've seen some fairly limited research that suggests vitamin d may help, but nothing reliable about dosage. Has anyone tried this? What worked? We've started takAlso has anyone found light boxes to help? How did you fit the time into your day?
Many thanks in advance.

I have a light box, and I do think it helps a bit. I use it when I'm sitting drying my hair, you really only need a few minutes every day

Thanks Shesparkles . I've also seen some stuff about fish oil so will try that too.

Light box - I use it for half an hour before sunrise and half an hour before sunset. It works incredibly well. You need to be about three feet or less away from it and it needs to be a SAD lightbox not just any old one.

I use mine at my desk.

I rented a light box whereby you owned it at the end of the rental. We will start using it soon as the days are getting much shorter plus there have been few sunny days this year.
The entire family takes vit D supplements all year round except on sunny days (28 this year)

Box is on for 20 mins in the morning, it sits on the table when the family are at breakfast.

Actually, the main expert I've spoken to on the topic says that light boxes are in fact the only method for reducing the incidence of SAD that he's found. (He is the professor of circadian neuroscience at Oxford, so not exactly a lightweight on this issue.) A light box is going to belt out the level of lux that you need. I'd give it a go.

The evidence for vitamin D is separately interesting (there has, for instance, been recent work on its likelihood of reducing the incidence of age-related macular degeneration and that is in fact linked to anti-inflammatory agents) but there is AFAIK not a SAD connection.

No thanks, I rather think he's a bit busy for that. Wrote this book and all. I suspect if I sent him a paper he's either read or hasn't read he might snigger at me. And I like him too much to be sniggered at.

ted- we are outdoors every day and rarely in a town so no city pollution/ urban stress (just rural stress!). It has been too cold to be fully naked outside.

I don't think anyone nearby would share the cost of the tests and £200 is quite a lot. 10 tests seems a strange number however, I will think about it.
I think we can have our vit D levels tested by the dr and I was going to ask if we could have them done soon then tested again in spring.

The daily intake levels seem to vary and it is difficult to find the RDA for each person yet most of Scotland are vit D deficient and Orkney has a very high instance of MS.

ted, that is interesting.

I take quite a large dose daily, 2200 iu, dh takes 600iu and the dcs 400iu.

I began taking the supplements last October (600iu) upping the dose in January. I found that the depression (which usually hit in the winter months) did not appear. A mild winter helped but sleep pattern was normal as opposed to dreadful insomnia during the harsh winters.

Re breast milk, I gave my son vit D supplements when he was beginning to show signs of leg curvature despite being fully breast fed for a long time. when I had my first ds in the 1980s, vits A,B,C and D were given to babies in drop form (north Highland Scotland) but in 2007, I was given no advice on vit supplements at all.(Perthshire)

Link to Lesley Riddoch's podcast on Vit D

Wow a lot of info on this thread
Wrt vit d, standard supplements are crap and the rda is very low, much lower than now suggested as optimal doses
However
I'd be a bit wary of high dose supplementation without GP supervision
2000 daily is often suggested as a safe amount though, or you can do it weekly instead
Dsis likes her lightbox but I'm not sure it's had much effect. She is vit d deficient and treating that is helping
GP can organise blood test but aim for well over their view of sufficient!

Wow a lot of info on this thread
Wrt vit d, standard supplements are crap and the rda is very low, much lower than now suggested as optimal doses
However
I'd be a bit wary of high dose supplementation without GP supervision
2000 daily is often suggested as a safe amount though, or you can do it weekly instead
Dsis likes her lightbox but I'm not sure it's had much effect. She is vit d deficient and treating that is helping
GP can organise blood test but aim for well over their view of sufficient!

Can someone advise me - I bought a light sold to up my Vitamin D Levels specifically. It's a UV type thing, have to wear goggles in front - will it actually work ?

I really don't think a study of 15 subjects which concludes 'Further studies will be necessary to confirm these findings' is anything more than anecdotal but hey, just keep peddling the supplements...

A rather more comprehensive study, in fact, found the reverse in terms of vit D levels and depression (lovely bloke too, that researcher. Works on chocolate and red wine, benefits of both and a joy to talk to).

Vitamin D is terrific stuff in many ways but the depression link is not, at the moment, particularly thought to be one of them (apart, it seems, from that one study of 15 subjects 13 years ago).

Crikey, loads of info here, thanks very much all.