Hi,
thanks you both for your advice, those links will keep me busy..! Quitetone, you have hit the nail on the head, when you said, I am in a constant half asleep half awake mode. I get the odd hour and it can be anywhere (usually after about two hours of wake) of feeling normal, then in a switch I want to snooze. I dont actaully often go into a real sleep, its a sort of cat nap thing, I have to have quite, lights off, but my brain doest actually go into sleep.
At the moment I have a few days of migrain so cant handle the light at all. And I dont want to talk to anyone, I have had the phones turned off for three days. I know tomorrow I will make myself put them back on. I just hate being this person.
However, whats really starting to bother me, is will I be like this every winter for the rest of my life? In my younger days, I use to start to go on one big party from my birthday to christmas so I used to put it down to late night and a wild life...? From 35yrs old I got quiter in my ways and noticed I still felt like I had been out going wild drinking gallons and it didnt make sence. I have noticed I am allergic to wheat as I loved wheat-a-bix and used to live on them, once I cut out this food, the hangover part of my feelings stopped.
Have either of you sorted out the problem and can lead a normal life? It totally devistates me, (heck im crying) in the winter. I am very positive and achieve great things in the summer, I am trying to start a new business, as I am a photographer too but its so hard as I have to schedule any meetings at like 4.00pm... and my brain sometimes just doesnt want to do anything but be a couch potatoe, when my passion and heart wants to run wild and be creative and sucessful. The most I can achieve is making sure with effort I am up about 3.00 even if I dont sleep proper till 9.00am, and it takes two hours to wake up and feel normalish. I do business things then at 8.00pm I make myself go the guy for two hours. I feel normal when I come home and I am alive from 8.00pm to about 2.00am then I start to feel sleepy but wont sleep till 6.00am onwards. I do force myself to do these things and its the most I feel I can do.
Also when I have gone abroad in the winter within a couple of days I am back to normal. I have recently completed a degree in photography and want to take my masters but I know till I have this SAD sorted out I have no hope of getting to classes never mind the mental work load that goes with study. My third year of my degree was hell trying to get to at the start of winter, and so I may be ok next winter?
Its getting to me this winter thinking I will be like this each year. I have come off venlaflaxine which was for a bad time I had in my life a few years ago, ( a dodgy boyfriend, and my PA stole half my business, nearly lost house because of him), I was on them last winter and it didnt really make any difference to my health. I dont feel anti-d's is the answer.
I will spend sometime trying the vit D's, one of my friends is very knowledgeable in these matters so I will ask him all about the vit d-s and let you know how I got on.
I will try two hours of the light as last year I had a stronger light box and the more I used it the better I felt, although my bodyclock was messed up, it was about 1.pm I averaged getting up. Not so bad I can hack that!
As far as anti-d's go, here is a bit of advice for anyone, I have read lots about ppl having bad problems getting off them. It took me about 18mothns, but I did it real slow. I opened the capsuls and worked out what 1mg was and reduced them real slowly buy taking out 1mg then if I felt funny, I would go back to the does I felt ok on, then leave it for a while, then tried again in a month or so later. This worked I had no side effects apart from the odd day I had taken too much out too soon.
I am very glad I have finally gotten off them!
SO please let me know if you guys are having a normal life now! I found this site today,
www.apollohealth.com there is lots about this new light box, very scientific and the top lite box is $399, and there is a test there which tells youwhen you should use the light so its doing you good.
Many thansk and sorry if I have been a real downer in this message!
Regards,
Gailxx