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Seasonal grays

sewmuch

sewmuch

Member
So here I am again, the time of year I dread (loathe, hate). Nov through late Feb. Just to endure. Just got over nasty intestinal virus, cleaned up the bathrooms yesterday, and my elbows are hurting me, like I got tendonitis. I think TMS is making an appearance, and I am not as worried about the physical pain, I am worried about the mental aspect and compounding of the next 3 months, which of course impacts physically, which impacts mentally, etc etc.

In past years, I have tried all the tricks. Get out in sunshine everyday (the main issue but very hard to do in the humid Mid Atlantic when we have 10 days of gray weather at a stretch). Get proper rest and nutrition, get regular exercise, limit alcohol, take yoga, do charitable activities, listen to upbeat music you like, do something special for yourself everyday, take extra vitamins (have had recent physical and no deficiencies like Vit D), get out and socialize, plan a vacation, watch or read comedies etc. I even got a full spectrum light I sit under everyday.

Last year, when starting to recover from TMS, I felt so good so the winter was not as hard. I even made a little list of reasons I hated this time of year - no sunshine, cold, damp, dark, inescapable holiday gluttony, consumption, and mounting expenses, obligatory family gatherings that I did not look forward to and could not avoid, and on top of it, my work crunch time is Dec and Jan. I also tried to mitigate those with the things in the previous paragraph and anything else I could do to make things easier.

Now here I am, not feeling good physically or mentally and wondering how to successfully navigate the coming weeks. So wondering if anyone has any suggestions or readings to help deal with this so the TMS symptoms don't continue to creep back in.

Thanks and no offence to those who love this time of year.
 
I have a similar thing with summer. I HATE it. I have gotten heat exhaustion so many times that heat can bring on a trauma-like reaction in me. This summer, knowing about TMS, it was not so bad. I didn't even have heat exhaustion once (for me, this is huge). If you think about the emotional feelings or the fatigue as another TMS symptom, you can work on them the same way you worked on physical pain. It sounds like you had success in eliminating symptoms of pain.

Apart from the weather, the holidays can be really triggering for people. In the past, I would discount my feelings or force myself to feel "good" because the holidays are supposed to be happy, fun, etc. Now I just continue working on accepting feelings no matter what they are there. If they are happy, that's great. If they are sad, that's OK. Either way they are moving on soon.

Maybe you are putting TMS-style pressure on yourself to feel a certain way about the holidays and winter?
 
Sewmuch, maybe since you don't get enough sunshine in winter, take extra Vitamin D. I take a daily 2000 gelcap.
I order it from Puritan's Pride.

Watch old funny tv shows... Carol Burnett, Lucy, etc.

Laugh, even if there's nothing to laugh at. You're not alone with the winter blahs.
 
Last year I remember watching this clip about Seasonal Affective Disorder. The doctor who is in it is actually a TMS physician, John Stracks, MD. It doesn't really get into TMS all that much, but it is really interesting how the changing of seasons can affect our health. This reminds me of a blog post Howard Schubiner wrote called the Role of Triggers.
 
I've met people with SAD who swear it's real. My daughter told me yesterday she feels depressed in winter and does not like the cold anymore. She is 14 and tells me she is moving to CA. She's been saying this for two years. I find the weather affects my mood as well, however, I am working on being present and take things as they come. I wouldn't enjoy spring if there was no winter. :)

It's been a few tough days for me and the sun has been shining! Go figure...
 
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