I think I have summer SAD

[balguire]

I've been having lots of problems recently. Over the past couple of
months, I have felt like there was no point in doing anything. I
stopped eating because I wasn't that hungry and nothing sounded good
to eat. I didn't want to bother with cooking. I lost about 10
pounds. I can't sleep at night unless I'm drunk or absolutely
exhausted. I end up staying up until 3:00 some nights just watching
movies.

Last year I didn't have this problem, but I was unemployed and got to
sleep until noon, and never went anywhere until the sun was almost
down.

I remember back to years past when I had problems with depression, and
I'm starting to see a pattern. It's always in the summer.

Brian

[Saskia]

Hey Brian it does sound like you have Summer SAD.  Take care of yourself and look into getting help (medication, herbs or whatever for helping you sleep or with the depression) if you feel you need to.  It's really important to get some sleep at least.  It can be very isolating and hard to live with when it gets as bad as you have it--I was in a similar situation two summers ago..feel free to email me/the group anytime.  

[Sandi]

Hi Brian,

Sounds like you are on the right track to me, too.

I take tyrosine and phenylalanine. 500mg each, 3 times a day, between meals.
I am taking them this summer and took them summer before last. It took a
couple of weeks to really help the first year, and I started feeling MUCH
better after the first week this year. For some it can take longer.

They are amino acids, precursors to the happy chemicals which are created in
your body. This year I am also taking melatonin at night, but haven't been
taking it consistently.

I don't know about dosage for other people with these. My doctor (a
naturopath) got me started on them. I kind of get the impression that this
is pretty standard dosing. I don't know if you need more if you are a lot
bigger. I was about 100 pounds when I started 2 summers ago. I'm about 130
now and the dose still works fine. I suggest Googling it, though.

Best of luck to you, and hang in there. It WILL get better!!!

Sandi
luna...@centurytel.net
Real Food for Health and Pleasure blog
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"If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you
disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is
compromise."
~Robert Fritz

[john zehrung]

Hi Brian, Do you use a sleep sound machine ?  --  you know,  ocean waves,  rain,  waterfalls,  etc.  If not I most highly recommend such a device.  I just know I can't sleep without mine.  It's on all night long. Don't know where your live,  but I'm in the LA area close to the harbor and ocean.   Much cooler than other places in SoCal.  Guess I'm pretty lucky,  but man do I welcome the marine layer (overcast) in the morning,  as opposed to the bright, sunny days that those idiotic TV weather people tell me Im gonna' love.  Glad I don't own a gun;  I'd have shot my screen long ago. Well,  at least the days are now getting shorter.  Good luck to you, john lguire <balg...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Saskia]

I agree with John in trying alternative ways to sleep--I tried melatonin but it didn't work for me (tho it works for my brother). 

If you live in SoCal I second John about moving to the coast.  I finally acknowledged that my Summer SAD was bad enough I needed to make the move (less space, more $!) but I wasn't living, my life felt stalled, and my band-aid attempts to mitigate the Summer SAD (which affects me at relative intensities for 6-8 months of the year here) simply weren't cutting it.  I'm in Santa Monica now on a street lined with dense green trees, by a park, and it's 10-12 degrees cooler on average rarely going above 80--I feel like my life has been saved and I can try to start being happy again. 

In the meantime the wave machine sounds like a great idea and while I'm now "cooler" I still have days I need all the help I can get!  I'm still taking late night walks...they're so meditative and good for a cool down before bed.

Saskia