Reality Bites & War Stories

[figmom]

Sometimes reality bites even though it is something that will be beneficial. After having gone through various dr. appts., cardiologist, pulmonary, psychologist, sleep apnea study, starting the use of a cpap machine for the sleep apnea & finally getting 5 yrs. worth of medical records (proving I am morbidly obese)and have tried various dieting

Comments

[mood_indigo]

There's a little story behind the vitamin D. I was born in southern California and lived there for 40 years. My husband needed to transfer and we picked Seattle so we moved to Southwest Washington state three years ago. I don't know how familiar you are with the Pacific Northwest but the area we live in, which is the rainforest part (coastal/inland) is pretty much rain 9 months out of the year and when it isn't raining it's usually overcast. My "condition" started with a weird depression which I thought was just homesickness but eventually I became severely lethargic, my joints aches and my knees were stiff and achey and I used to get horrendous headaches where all I wanted to do was doze off and take naps all the time. I was at the point where I felt I needed to go to the doctor but was told that I should try vitamin D and calcium first. I thought it was a crazy thing but did research and started on 1,000 IUs of vitamin D and calcium (calcium helps the body absorb and utilize the vitamind D). I noticed a difference after 3 weeks so I kept doing it and got better and better. I suffered a little setback in the winter so I increased the vitamin D to 2,000 IUs and now I'm pretty much back to normal. I have energy, I don't get headaches, I don't hurt anymore and I don't feel like I want to sink into a hole in the ground! I've met one other woman where I live whose doctor recommended the same regime and from what I've read, this sort of deficiency isn't uncommon in places that have a severe lack of sunshine. Anyway, there's my story. By the way, I started drinking fat free milk to lose weight and it's gross but it's another acquired taste. ;)

[figmom]

wow, so is this comparable to seasonal depressionn?

[mood_indigo]

Sorry it took me so long to reply to this, I had a houseguest over the weekend. *sigh* Anyway, the answer is, I would say, "no". These are physical symptoms of vitamin deficiency. Although I could be wrong because I just don't know enough about seasonal affective disorder. I do know that it took much longer to recover from this vitamin deficiency and for the most part it was purely physical, although it was depressing to be feeling so bad physically!