Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Right?! And even the sunniest hours (hour? singular? still generous...) are not very sunny at all these days. I've been trying to go easy on the drinking to deal with the gloom but yeah, it totally works, and I see why it's such a big tradition now!

I wonder how Smoothie is doing, as she is even further North than us. Hanging in there, S?

Ugh, this time of year just slays me. I am so forking low right now.

me too, can we just hold each other and wish for sunlight?

Yes, let's. Blahrrggh. <3

yes, hanging in there! i am actually doing quite well - i took 5-HTP for about a month which really really helped, and then switched over to L-tyrosine because 5-HTP can be pretty bad for libido. i've been off the 5-HTP for almost 2 months, but my libido is not back yet, so I just stopped taking my hormonal birth control.. i suspect that my hormones are a little messy - my libido is low and my period won't show up (i'm not pregnant), but it could also be stress. just gonna let things get figured out - BUT i am not feeling depressed, just tired, so my SAD issues are basically non-existent by now. it can only really be the L-tyrosine (and 5-HTP? maybe it balanced something? i don't know), because i have not used my SAD lamp for 40 days and my symptoms have not returned.

disclaimer: 5-HTP and L-tyrosine has not been approved by a lot of the european health departments, so i am totally taking it knowing there might be bad side effects. so far the only thing that has happened is a lower libido, which is really sucky (but a lot better than being non-functional in general..)

Okay, I really feel like blaming the weather for how I feel right now. Just have to keep reminding myself I totally have SAD. Somehow makes me feel less guilty.

I've moved a total of 0" from the spot on the couch I'm in since trying to motivate myself to get groceries or do anything productive really.

I am really thinking about getting that lamp you wrote about, smoothie... but its pretty expensive on amazon germany! Like, 170 Euros or so...

My SAD vacation is coming up! Although honestly, it hasn't been so bad for me this year, usually the cold gets me but we've had a pretty moderate winter so far. I'm heading to San Diego in a couple days which usually perks me up for the rest of the winter.

I hope that carries you through, i'm going to austin in a few weeks and i hope that cheers me up

Mainlining vit D supplements here. New Year's Day really helped, it was bright and clear and crisp - we drove home across the Pennines, threw open all the windows and generally enjoyed pretending it was spring. Hurry TF UP spring.

It's been so overcast in London for weeks; I am just not coping. The sun came out for about half an hour this morning and I was so happy, but it's not enough. I've promised myself that next year I'll book a winter sunshine holiday for late January so I have some sun to look forward to before Spring.

it's GREY all of the time. ugh. and i sleep around 10-12 hours a day. i don't feel depressed, i am just exhausted! what do one do about that?

me too... it doesnt get any lighter all day. I feel soooo tired... got a 10.000 lux lamp from my mom, will start using it tomorrow. a colleague of mine goes to Lanzarote every November, but I am afraid it would be worse coming back again then just staying here all winter?

I was in a really bad place around the solstice. Couldn't get out of bed, uncontrollable crying in public, drinking more than I would have preferred, etc. We spent the week of Christmas in my family in the South of France, and it really helped. How amazing to see sunlight after 5pm! I've been doing much better since we came back. Wally has a number of colleagues from Tenerife who go back there for Christmas, and it seems to generally do wonders.

Exercise helps, too, it seems. I go swimming for an hour each week, and I feel better afterwards.

What's your lamp, Jerusha? And do you know where your mother bought it? I looked at Saturn and a couple other shops, but I couldn't find any 10,000 lux ones.

I often have that problem (systematically?) For several years I plan any holidays according to that rule (Winter>South; Summer>North); and I strongly wish I'll be able to live 100% like this one day. (One house in Scotland, one in the Canary Islands...)

I went to Malta over New Year last year, and I'll be going to Lanzarote in a few weeks (wish it was sooner but my partner can't get away this month). Malta definitely helped, it's so freeing to be able to walk around without a coat on for a bit, simple as that sounds. Change of scene and I guess just being on holiday probably helped too.

I think 'Plant Based Nutrition and Health' recommends a winter break if you can manage it for countries that don't get enough sun for vitamin D in the winter months, to top up supplies, even if you supplement.

Aelle, I have the Elta HL100, I bought it on Amazon ages ago and gave it to my Mom as she suffers under SAD a lot.

Thanks!

Nope, but I have been super pms-y! i just got my first period after quitting the BC and it hurts a bit (but nothing too bad - at least not yet), i'm bleeding a bit more than usual and i am freezing all the time, basically. but the pms.. The past three-four days I have been a raging bisque. My boyfriend claims that I've been exceptionally mood-swinging for the past week or so (which might be true).
This is of course all clashing with my starting a new semester, which require that I get up every morning at 6am for 3 hours og intensive french (which is a new language to me).

So, when this week is over I am going to feel like I am the most badass person ever. I am definitely managing myself better than a few days back, after two really hard exams.. I kind of wanted to kill someone. And by "kind of" I mean "literally" and by "someone" I mean "every single person on the street". PMS is so not cool.