winters coming ...

[Sean]

winters coming ...

Not here, it isn't.

Source: resident of southern hemisphere.

 

[Dechi]

I've lived with M.E for more than 30 years and throughout this time have tried many therapies and supplements etc with limited results.

I'm posting here as I'm seeking some advice:
My symptoms have always got substantially worse in the winter (for reference, I live in London, England).
There's a point each autumn (which varies sometime between October & November) when as though a switch has been flicked I will wake up feeling heavy limbed and over- fatigued and that's it I know from then until next April/May I will be running on M.E time, everything will be a struggle.

As I'm getting older this pattern is become more pronounced and like the characters in Game of Thrones I dread the onset of winter.

I'm curious, do other people experience this and if so what do you do about it?

Is it possible that in addition to M.E I'm experiencing S.A.D ?
I've tried using daylight bulbs, 5htp, St. John's Wort, L theanine, exercise, and so on but the pattern remains the same.
This winter I'm thinking about taking Prozac or similar. In the past I've always tended to avoid drugs like these but as I know the next 6 months are going to be hard work I'm open to anything.

Your thoughts/ advice appreciated. Thanks.

Yes, I have the exact same problem, at the exact same time of the year. I'm in Canada and I was attributing this to our harsh winters and lots of snow. Even though I have someone shoveling for me, I still have to do a minimum and I think this is seriously making me worse. At a certain point, I can't even have a conversation for more than a few minutes or I get really confused and feel my head will explode. I started being depressed and having suicidal thoughts in march, and it lasted until recently. Anxiety was also high.

This year I am trying to find ways to have less shoveling to do.

 

[Hip]

I fall into depression every winter, but intend to get by without meds.

That may well be seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also called winter depression, which is caused by lack of light. Light sensors in the retina (called retinal ganglion cells) detect ambient light levels, and signal to the brain. In people with SAD, once the ambient light levels fall below a certain point, low mood and depression occurs.

The remedy is simple: use artificial light to increase ambient light levels in your eyes. SAD can be eliminated simply by 30 minutes daily exposure to bright light at around 10,000 lux (or equivalently, 5,000 lux for one hour a day, or 2,500 lux for two hours a day, etc). You can buy SAD lamps which will provide 10,000 lux of light (but you have to sit close to these lamps, because the lux level falls off the further you are away from them).



On eBay, you can buy cheap light meters that measure ambient lux level for around £10. These are very useful tools in ensuring that your eyes are exposed to sufficient lux levels in the winter in your home.

For my own SAD, what I do is shine several spotlight lamps onto the white wall behind my computer monitor. That way, while you are using the computer, you are getting lots of bright light into the peripheries of your vision.

I use my light meter to measure the lux level at the location where my eyes are positioned when I am using the computer, to ensure that the light entering my eyes is at a sufficient lux level.

 

[Hip]

This study on seasonal affective disorder (SAD) in ME/CFS patients is interesting: they found that:

a subgroup of patients with CFS shows seasonal variation in symptoms resembling those of SAD, with winter exacerbation. Light therapy may provide patients with CFS an effective treatment alternative or adjunct to antidepressant drugs.

 

[ukxmrv]

I find bright lights (and that includes ones for SAD) make me feel worse and cause headaches and nausea - especially in the morning when I am at my lowest. Later in the early evening I can tolerate this a little better. Sunlight can have a similar effect on me but only in the mornings. The SAD lamps lamps taken in this way don't diminish the winter blues for me. They seem to drain me instead.

Last Winter was my first on a Vit D supplement and I felt a lot better.

The time change I dread each year. Often don't start to feel better until we switch back into BST.

Double whammy effect maybe for some people?

 

[Hip]

I find bright lights (and that includes ones for SAD) make me feel worse and cause headaches and nausea - especially in the morning when I am at my lowest.

One thing you could try is lower light levels, but for a longer period. So for example, instead of 10,000 lux for 30 minutes, you could try 500 lux for 10 hours.

At my computer desk, with the spotlights shining on the white wall just behind, I get a light level of only around 150 lux at the point where my eyes are, but I find that for me, this is enough to keep SAD at bay (but that's because I usually spend most of the day at the computer, so I probably get 8 to 10 hours at this 150 lux level).

Even when I am sleep cycle inverted (awake at night and asleep during the day), and so get no natural light in the depths of winter, I find that exposure to 150 lux for most of the day (or night in my case) prevents SAD occurring.

 

[Mij]

My worst months start in early spring. I refer to it as my 'spring relapse' and attribute this to allergies. I may not get the typical allergy symptoms but my immune system is on heightened attack mode for anything and everything going around.

 

[arewenearlythereyet]

I think I'm suffering from MVD

Multiple variable disorder

 

[NelliePledge]

This winter I'm thinking about taking Prozac or similar. In the past I've always tended to avoid drugs like these but as I know the next 6 months are going to be hard work I'm open to anything.

i was on Prozac for 12 years for ongoing mild depression it took me over 6 months to come off it gradually when depression ended. I had heard from people who had really struggled to come off it so decided to go very slowly. That worked ok for me without any bad effects but might be a bit more complicated to be on it for just part of the year if it takes you quite a long time to come off it to avoid withdrawal problems. Also may be not relevant for you but I think it contributed to substantial weight gain over that period.

 

[Seven7]

I have the same in the fall. I read somewhere that autoimmune diseases tend to relapse in fall. WHen I crash in fall, my neighbor with Chron's does to. Is interesting the patterns. I wonder if only the autoimmune people tend to do that.
Note: I have other 2 autoimmune POTs and Colitis. But is ussually my cfs that acts up.

 

[Wishful]

For those who feel worse in winter, and get worse with bright lights, maybe it's the sunlight reflecting off the snow...unless your winters are snowless.