Fatigue

[firenze11]

Or mozy on down to Aust for some sunshine

Ah, that would be amazing, perpetual summer!

You can move to Texas where we have 300 sunny days a year. Although Hawaii sounds better.

I've been thinking about moving back down to the southwest, it might end up being better for my health/sanity. Winters here are just too much snow and gray! Snow is pretty for the first couple days, then I start thinking "Make it STOP!" I should really try snowshoeing or something. I used to love snow in MD when it would happen every once and awhile.

Hey Firenze, have you always been in Montreal?? That's pretty far north. I had some issues with feeling very low energy when I lived in Paris in winter, which is the same latitude as Montreal. For comparison, New York City is the same latitude as Madrid.

I haven't always been here, I was actually born in New Mexico so maybe my body just really needs more sun. I just moved up to Canada from the States about 6 years ago and since then I've been having problems in the winter. I just realized the past 2-3 years I've been going to my doctor in December/January asking her to do some blood tests because I'm so tire. It's only this year that I realized I wasn't anemic or something else and started looking into SAD. I never thought of the latitude thing, but this is certainly much further north than I ever thought I'd be.

I can see the language thing adding a little bit of stress into my life. I'm trying to improve my French, so it's another thing that my brain is focusing on a lot. Although, I feel lucky that I can pretty much just speak English when I need to.

And regarding the lights, the doctor told me I needed to get one that is 10000 lux. Apparently regular rooms are like 100 lux, so it's way brighter, helps mimic what the sun does, and the spectrum they use helps to reset the circadian rhythm. I have one on the way so I'm keeping my fingers crossed it helps.

Also, just as a side note, I was a bit shocked by my appointment. Even though I'm not experiencing a mood change/the depression side of SAD, he told me that he preferred to put people on antidepressants between October and March. I had done research beforehand and everything said light box first and foremost along w/ exercise, eating well, etc. I was just really surprised that drugs would be his first choice. . .maybe it's because he's a university doctor? I don't know. I was also surprised that most insurance companies wouldn't cover the light therapy but will cover medication. Hm. (I know the medication works wonders for many many people and I'm not against it for the right situation, but it just felt very wrong for me and my situation).

Whew, that's a long one! Thanks for all your help, advice, experiences!

[Aggie_Ama]

Who cannot want to come back to the Southwest? I want to move all over Texas and even into New Mexico. Too bad I don't have a willing nomad at home!

Any chance you can go to another doctor? I have had too many friends get put on anti-depressants as a first choice and regretted it. Sucks about the light not being covered, it seems like a nice option at least for my friend.