I live in the Panhandle of FL, it is hot and sunny and therefore I can't go outdoors due to some meds. I too feel like I climbed Mt. Everest without oxygen! I have to take extra "D" VITAMIN along with my calcium and it is still an uphill battle. I think for me part of the problem lies in the fact that I have Cushings disease and spinal stenosis, the pain is horrid. I have found that taking a powdered form of Magnesium seems to alleviate the pain, even though I still take pain meds Relaphen and Neurontin, which I know are bad for my stomach and liver. Do you have any suggestions as to how to divert my attention away from pain and depression? I do get moving but it always seems I never finish a task. Very frustrating.
Kathleen in PCB
OK Kathy & Rose, I am not going to leave you guys hanging. I got to go digging in my old boxes to find some good old information that I know I have. I am going to need some time though, MS fatique has set in so it may take me a minutue ok a whole lot of minutes or hours, but do not give up on me. Much love sherry/smomdukes
Many thanks to all, Kathy its true, Northern Europe get v little real light. Youre so right about Vit.d. and Low Fat Carbs. I have a weight prob. coz of the Efexor Xl and also 'I crave carbs and sweet things. In sun, Idont. I eat Rice Cakes which are low fat and v low on Cals. Now I cant wait for that info. thats going to come from some old literature. Very often I find the old cures and remedies are so good. I try to get as much light as possible.In the winter, I have Fairy lights over the Mirror in the Livingroom and I have small lamps and also nice candles burning, anything to cheer up the place ! Red lipstick works [only in the dark winter]. I have as many Mirrors as I can. Everythings painted [even my wardrobe] in an off white to bring light in. In Ireland the light has a greyish hue so White only works in the Summer, when its sunny. So I paint my whole cottage, orchid white, which is a v light cream, its warm and mocks sunlight. Pink is healing, in cushions. Red is an anti depressant but I find its too much for me in furnishings and clothes. Pinks and purples are defintiely good, yellow in flowers and cushions and candles really cheer me up. Sorry this is supposed to be about the Mental Health System !! They never told me that incidentally, I had to buy books on S.A.D. In this country you have to take responsibility for your own mental health. A good example would be my finding this site, event though Im not very computer literate. I will be v interested to see what other members have to say about their countries. love to all and hang in there, remember you could be in Ireland splash splash drip drip, soak soak,
The combination of pain, lack of sunlight and fatigue must be terrible. Would you be able to do exercises in the water during the early morning or early evening when the sun is low. I wonder if that might help your fatigue and strengthen your muscles. You should try to pace yourself and not do to much when you start to get tired. I suppose it must be a bit better in the winter when the temperature drops and the days are shorter. Are you having problems sleeping? This may also contribute to afternoon exhaustion. Do you nap?
Just a quick word about seasonal affective disorder otherwise known as SAD or winter blues. As I suggested earlier, many of us are suffering from the summer blues because lack of sun is affecting our serotonin. Research has shown that eating carbs increases serotonin production and we pointed this out in our book, the Serotonin Power Diet. People who live in the northern countries like Sweden eat foods like potato sandwiches in the winter, no kidding. But light boxes otherwise known as sunboxes are the lights which are used to mimic sunlight and reverse the symptoms of SAD. They are medical devices, regulated and available from many different companies. Go on the web and look up sunboxes or light boxes to get more information.
Hi and good morning [its morning here] I realise with your MS that its hard for you to do thing quickly, take your time, Im very interested to see whats in those old boxes of yours !! Good for you, for keeping all the old books and stuff. Idont have the room. Have a good day, I await the info. eagerly !
Hello
I was wondering if my mental illness is part of Seasonal affective disorder or is in addition to it
I have generalized anxiety disorder and Major depression too and was wonder if that is part or in addition to it
J P Ward
Dear JPW, Im not a Doctor, but I can tellyou that your Deep Depression /Anxiety wouldnt be helped by Winters Grey but it certainly doesnt help but doesnt CAUSE it.
I have a friend who is a severe Bipolar 1 and has been hospitalised twice in the past 6months. Shes totally unaffected by light or Sun. So there you go ! I say to her, hey wasnt the sun great yesterday and she goes was it? or I'll say wasnt yesterday a 'dogday' [Irish expression we use for a really opressive nothing goes right grey, wintery day] and she wouldnt have noticed. Some of us are more sensitive, definitely people in northern Countries do suffer S.A.D.which is just like an animal hibernating, we want to stay in bed, sleep, have no energy, in the past people would have gone with the seasons more and we dont now. hope this makes sense.
Hang in there with me ladies, I am still looking. I have gone through old bags, and I really need to find that info for you guys and myself also. In doing all of this we are planning a huge 4th of July family cookout, and it is hotter than 40 hells here in NC. So stick with me, I'm coming and still looking. In the meantime, enjoy the holiday!
sherry/smomdukes
Tks Snomdukes for going to the bother of looking up the old stuff for us !! youre a trooper. New York doesnt sound so bad, at least u guys have fans and buildings built for the cilimate? Here the Global warming has come hard and fast, were now getting non stop rain and today and yest.Thunderstorms, violent and flashflooding with roofs being hit be lightning or washed away, flooding up to peoples Shoulders. Its scary ! So maybe not so bad over there. EVERYONE ON THE SITE HAVE A GREAT 4TH JULY CELEBRATION..Im a yankee Doodle Dandy.... u lucky lucky thing...have a great day take it slow and stay hydrated, also during v hot weather, forget about the no salt rule,you need salt so go eat some pringles or whatever ! Be happy today and will be thinking about u all, thanks again Snomdukes for going to all the trouble of looking in bags for the info. 
U Me ..lipsticks just a front !!
If you have SAD, it can exacerbate an underlying depression . Sad however supposedly goes away in the late spring when the days are longer and more sunshine is available. This year may have been an exception because of the long spell of bad weather in the Northeast and incredibly hot temperatures everywhere so, making it impossible to be outside. Your physician could help you figure this out.
Hello Judith
I think I don't have SAD because I am depressed all year round.
I dunno, i just think I cycle thru phases very fast(daily)
People take my sarcasm the wrong way.
It is my way of dealing with depression.
Lately i've been trying to stop.
But the physical pain keeps making the emotions come up
Jon Pat
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Anit life grand! When you are blessed with an autoaumune illness & depression, heat only adds stress to the mix. I live in NC where you have heat & humidity. But right now we are only having to deal with the heat humidity is giving us a break. The best way to handle this for us is to do whatever is nesessary to try and stay cool. I suffer with MS and heat is most definately not my friend. I am an africian American and I at one time use to lay out every summer and get my tan on, yea you are reading right "black girl tanning." Not anymore, it would take a crane to get me out of the sun now, I probably would not be able to move. I still tan but only for very short periods of time now, I try and use good sense!
In order to stay cool I would sugest eating lots of Edith fruit popsicles, they are real fruit, drink plenty of water, avoid heavy meals, they really could makee your stomach feel funny. Avoid long periods in the sun, some medications do not recommend long periods in the sun, read your medication labels carefully. Too much sun can make you irrtable. But the sun is a good source of vitamin D. The sun will help your moods, and make you feel better. It is a natural enegry boster. Always if you are going to spend long period of time out in the sun, use sun block, that goes for black folk also, I have been burnt badly thinking we won't burn, oh but we will, I am living proof, I even burnt my eye lids, how dumb was I 
. Have a good weekend sherry/smomdukes
Greetings all from Rainy Rainy Ireland, We used to get a temperate Summer, nice hot days and maybe 1 or 2 thunderstorms during the summer months. now,for the last 3 summers, we had continious grey [dark] clouds a sort of oppressive steel grey with thunder. Everyone nearly went out of their minds ! Now weve the recession and people who could [I havent been away on hols in years] can no longer escape the weather by going to Meditteranean. Anyway,were having these flash floods now [due to Global warming] as well as the warm wet summers, we used only get sheet lightning, a flash, now we're getting really bad storms with blue fork lightning, practically unheard of when I was growing up and until the past 3 year sor so, the soil temps have gone up so things are moving quickly re Global Warming. It does effect my mood. firstly ive a terrible anxiety/ocd where I read weather forecasts, if theres a forecast of thunder stromrs Im just a bag of high anxiety which I try to hide, the grey skies make me very depressed, regardless of season, having R.Arthritis aswwell, the humidity being so high makes me lethargic too. I think humans and animals are barometers of the weather its a very happy person who can keep whistling when the weathers awful. I think having a Depressive illness, one is more likely to be sensitive to light changes in the sky. Love to all on the Site
Since you live in a northern European country, you must have gray rainy dark winters as well. So you probably have very little relief from the lack of sun. Do you find yourself craving carbohydrates, feeling tired and depressed most of the time. I suppose moving to the south of Spain might be an answer but if you can't do that, try to eat low or zero fat carbs like potatoes, bread and oatmeal to kick start your serotonin. This brain chemical as I mentioned in my blog will take away those winter/summer blues. Also on another note, be sure to take vitamin D supplements bedcause there is now research showing that people who live in northern countries are really deficient in vitamin D during the winter. And that is bad news for your bones.
Thanks Judith for your advice. I read that book, 'Potatoes not Prozac' more or less said the same as you. We need a certain amount of Carbs. nowadays were being told to cut down drastically, any of the Slimming Clubs [worldwide ones here in Ireland too and supposed to be dieticians/Docs that have written diets] anway... Ive found that by eating a small amount of Carb.Protein regularly I dont have cravings for Sugar. Also I was so depressed and had such bad anxiety yesterday, that I got up on my Exercise Bike and did 25mins. Hard push! I defin.felt better afterwards, I watched a Soap as I did it on TV to make the time go quickly. Im interested in the VitD, I agree with u that we notrthern Europeans would be lacking but I thought VitD was unsafe to take as a supplement ? V high rates of suicide in Scandanavia during winter when theres little or no light. Have a good weekend and thanks again.Rosemary