Grey days bother you? Get your Vitamin D checked (Portland: buy, live in)

[Sprightly]

Hi all, so I just found out at the height of summer that I am deficient in Vitamin D, so no doubt it's even lower in the winter. Deficiencies in Vitamin D can lead to many problem and has been linked to depression and especially of course winter depression. It turns out that direct sunlight on your skin without sunscreen and not through glass is the only way for you body to make Vitamin D and getting it through food alone is not a realistic option given the amount needed. So I encourage all of you who "crave" the sun in the winter - go to you doctor pronto, get checked!

[Raelyn28]

I was told this as well by my Dr. when I lived in the Portland area. Although expensive there are these lamps that you can buy for the winter time and if I still lived in the area I would probably invest in them. I am not sure what the name is for the lamps/lights but you could google it.

Originally Posted by Sprightly

Hi all, so I just found out at the height of summer that I am deficient in Vitamin D, so no doubt it's even lower in the winter. Deficiencies in Vitamin D can lead to many problem and has been linked to depression and especially of course winter depression. It turns out that direct sunlight on your skin without sunscreen and not through glass is the only way for you body to make Vitamin D and getting it through food alone is not a realistic option given the amount needed. So I encourage all of you who "crave" the sun in the winter - go to you doctor pronto, get checked!

[sayulita]

I have a friend who bought one of those lamps and she swears it has made all the difference in her outlook and energy level. I think they are called "ultraviolet"???

[Topaz]

Vitamin D really matters. Some researchers think that low levels of it put you at risk for heart disease. Also for women, poor prognosis in recovering from breast cancer.

[Steve97415]

While Vitamin D is important, sufferers of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) are generally NOT deficient in Vitamin D. The depression is caused by low serotonin production as a result of an insufficient amount of light falling on the retinas. The high-output lights used to treat SAD do nothing to increase Vitamin D levels. So the combination of variables is a bit confusing.

1. Low Vitamin D can cause depression.
2. Light insufficiency can also cause depression even when Vitamin D levels are within the normal range.
3. Vitamin D deficiency should be treated, but doing so will have no effect on people afflicted with SAD.
4. Light therapy helps some patients afflicted with SAD but not others.

[Sprightly]

Here is a study showing Vitamin D positively affecting depression in SAD

" 1999, in an even more interesting study, vitamin D scientist, Bruce Hollis, teamed up with Michael Gloth and Wasif Alam to find that 100,000 IU of vitamin D given as a one time oral dose improved depression scales better than light therapy in a small group of patients with seasonal affective disorder. Gloth FM 3rd, Alam W, Hollis B. Vitamin D vs broad spectrum phototherapy in the treatment of seasonal affective disorder. J Nutr Health Aging. 1999;3(1):5–7. All subjects in the vitamin D group improved in all measures and, more importantly, improvement in 25(OH)D levels levels was significantly associated with the degree of improvement."

You can also check the same article where they discuss why the often quoted study showing that Vitamin D did not help SAD sufferers is flawed - the dose was too small to be effective. Here's the link for both: Vitamin D and Depression

Steve, do you have any links about the intensity of light hitting the retina issue? I'm very interested in this as well - I want to not be depressed this winter! I do have a "bright light box" which does make a difference when I use it - 10,000lux for 30minutes, but honestly I find it a pain in the rear to use and if popping some Vitamin D would work I'd be glad. I do think my box doesn't give off UVB as a safety matter so it doesn't help with Vit D production.

[angelbug]

Originally Posted by Sprightly

You can also check the same article where they discuss why the often quoted study showing that Vitamin D did not help SAD sufferers is flawed - the dose was too small to be effective. Here's the link for both: Vitamin D and Depression

This is a really interesting thread to me. I succumbed to a pretty severe depression about 2 years ago, to the point where I discarded my previous disdain for antidepressants and found total relief with one that worked really well for me and had no side effects that I was aware of. About a year ago, my doctor just happened to measure my Vitamin D levels and they were so low that even 25,000 IU capsules taken once a week barely boosted them into the normal range, so now I take 50,000 IU once a week. Last winter I was feeling so good I decided to try going off the antidepressants and I've been perfectly fine without them for almost 8 months now. I wonder if the original deficiency caused the depression in the first place and whether the Vitamin D I'm taking now is why I'm doing fine without the meds?

btw, I live in a very sunny area and bike to work 15 minutes each way, walk the dog for about 30-60 minutes a day, and don't use sunscreen except on my face (I have the freckles on my arms to prove it ), and my Vitamin D levels were still in the basement. Apparently as we age some of us don't make it as efficiently as when we were younger. I would imagine many people in the PNW suffer from deficiencies. I've even read that a lot of children do because mom slathers them with sunscreen every moment they're outside.

[Sprightly]

Angelbug, I'm guessing your sunny location isn't in the PNW? I'm glad you are feeling so much better and it's enough to make you wonder what's really going on especially when antidepressants are in the mix too. Do you get any side effects from taking such a high dose? I take only 2000IU a day right now, but I keep hearing of people taking much more.

[JLR29]

Originally Posted by Sprightly

Here is a study showing Vitamin D positively affecting depression in SAD

" 1999, in an even more interesting study, vitamin D scientist, Bruce Hollis, teamed up with Michael Gloth and Wasif Alam to find that 100,000 IU of vitamin D given as a one time oral dose improved depression scales better than light therapy in a small group of patients with seasonal affective disorder. Gloth FM 3rd, Alam W, Hollis B. Vitamin D vs broad spectrum phototherapy in the treatment of seasonal affective disorder. J Nutr Health Aging. 1999;3(1):5–7. All subjects in the vitamin D group improved in all measures and, more importantly, improvement in 25(OH)D levels levels was significantly associated with the degree of improvement."

I looked at the study and there were a few problems with it. First it is really, really small as far as medical studies go, only 15 patients. This is a little weird for a disorder that is relatively common. Second, Nowhere could I see that the study was blinded, which means there is a definite chance of placebo effect, which is possible with something as subjective as depression measures. A more appropriate study would be Vitamin D vs. NO Vitamin D ( I do not think this study has ever been done). Lastly, while the association between depression scores is reported as significant, the r-squared number of 0.26 means only 26% of the difference in depression scores is accounted for by Vitamin D levels.
Vitamin D deficiency is definitely an underreported problem. Low vitamin D is associated with Heart disease, osteoporosis and growth problems in children, but there is no good evidence that it is tied to depression. Vitamin D levels are tied to UV exposure, so lower UV exposure is associated with lower vitamin D levels. Decreased UV exposure is associated with Depression in some people. It does NOT necessarily follow that low vitamin D levels cause depression. Much more study needs to be done. I do not think that anyone should leave this discussion thinking that Vitamin D is a cure all for depression. If you have depression symptoms, you should work out a plan with a health care professional.
In the meantime, A bigger, blinded, placebo-controlled study needs to be done. But Vitamin D is cheap and likely no drug company will fund it.

Just my two cents, however.

[sayulita]

Cheap? I checked out a bottle the other day. It had either 100 or 200 tablets at 1,000 units each. It was $20! I put it back on the shelf. Glad I don't have SAD.