Got back from Manila last week after a stressful couple of weeks. Mrs Rs mum is sick. So it was a lot of driving and hospital visits. Not much relaxation. Plus a few late nights with drinking and some drugs.
So basically it’s a perfect storm of
come down from stress
lack of sleep from the flight
jet lag / body clock due to time zones.
I’m sick and have a cold
I havent been exercising…
These are all my triggers for depression.
On top of that. Mrs R stayed in Manila. Will be there for a month. So I’m on my own with less stimulation/support.
Trying to do all the right things to get my shit back together.
walk every day
exercise properly
sleep properly
eat healthy
But it’s a hard grind
On top of that I’ve got a big deadline for.my course this sunday. Not looking good.
I get depressive bouts when I hit similar combinations of triggers (like poor diet + stress + lack of working out) and I’m convinced they’re all correlated, like when I don’t exercise I’m more likely to eat poorly, when I get lazy and eat poorly I’m more likely to feel stressed, etc. Hopefully controlling the things you can, like you laid out, can help you get over the hump a bit and move you in the right direction.
I’m finding out that daily d3 supplement in addition to meds is making a big difference for me - lots of people prone to deficiency working from home, at least me, I barely ever go outside. my stuff always seems seasonal, worsening in the winter and improving in the summer - altho this year I had a summer spell, which happens sometimes.
anyway all this to say is I’m learning a lot of it is d3 deficiency for me.
i hope someone finds this helpful but some thing I’ve been doing lately to try to combat depression has been to feel grateful for something every day. Can be the tiniest thing. Lately it’s been super easy because I can walk and carry objects in my hand again, like today I took out my own trash - you have no idea how grateful I felt at that. helps depression a lot. also trying to put myself in someone else’s shoes at least once a day seems to do a lot for me.
I was only prescribed those when I was diagnosed with the deficiency. After that, I try to just take tablets daily. it’s not a large dose but your body tends to use what it needs, and piss out whatever you don’t need. As long as you’re taking something, I think it helps no matter what.
It’s not really true that you piss out what you don’t need because D is a fat-soluble vitamin, but you have to take massive doses for it to be a problem. Toxicity has been observed at doses above 40,000 IU per day continuously for months. While the US government has a conservative recommended upper limit of 4,000 IU per day, doses up to 10,000 IU are almost certainly OK, particularly if you’re not doing it for like 6 months straight. If you feel you might be deficient it would be fine to dose at 10,000 IU for a few weeks.
Edit: If you’ve been given some very conservative dose like 600 IU and feel like it’s doing you good then I would certainly recommend taking higher doses for a while, like a few thousand IU instead, there is no downside to doing this other than paying for the tablets.
I thought meds/stress and genetics as well as being out of shape is the main culprit for low D3? And changing your diet or taking supps that get you a few hundred IU wouldn’t move the needle if you’re that deficient? My wife was deficient after a surgery and the common reccomendation then was sleep/sun and exercise. This was 2010, but I don’t think it’s changed to taking nature valley pills or eating liver instead of turkey sandwich.
for me I am in excellent shape and my bloodwork was perfect except for the d3 deficiency. I took some crazy dose like 50,000 IU for a few weeks and then switched to daily OTC d3 and made an effort to go outside at least a few times a week and it’s made a noticeable difference.
Yeah, I mostly posted because I was curious what the consensus was these days. I specifically remember being told that d3 of any IU wasn’t going to be as beneficial as sunlight and exercise but i this doctor was old school so who knows.
Gotta admit I am struggling. My job isn’t great right now. I’m in the worst downswing of my life at the table. Politics is an endless avalanche of the most awful cancerous parts of humanity.
unsolicited advice is often criticism but admitting you dont feel great is a good first step, try to get some sunlight and do some activity that gives you joy, unplugging sometimes is really cleansing
Is your job poker? I was poker pro for 7 years (during the easy years) and in hindsight, I don’t think it is a healthy way to earn a living. If poker is just a hobby, I would give that shit a long break.