Beating the winter time blues in NYC

I don't suffer from any problems except surgery in my mouth. I hibernate most of the time. However, I will admit that I hate cold weather. I love the summer. That is my favorite time of the year.

@hhusted you will have no arguments from me about that for I too love the summer..heat, humidity et al.

@Uptowngirl: I'm glad we have that in common. It's nice to know you share a common interest with someone else, even if that person is a friend.

I know someone who goes on Prozac every winter because of SAD. It seems really extreme to me, but apparently he feels he needs it.

@Uraniumfish: That is the key word "feels." He really doesn't need it, but he was brainwashed to believe he does. He probably yelled at his doctor long enough that the doctor gave in and gave him what he wanted.

Yeah, I do find it a questionable practice to take drugs to get you through the winter. I mean, are you so ill-equipped to deal with life that you have to medicate yourself on a regular basis? What does that say about your ability to deal with something really sad or tragic that might happen to you?

You don't typically have to yell at a psychiatrist to get them to pass out meds. Also, Prozac can take weeks to kick in. Winter isn't exactly that long...probably the placebo effect. I do think that some people really need such drugs, but if you don't need them all the time, it doesn't seem likely you'll need them just for winter?

Also, for the record I took that test to see how depressed winter was making me, and it looks like I have a mild case of the winter blues. :( Oh, well.

@NeverSleeps I am due back in NYC next month but seeing the freezing temperatures in NYC its making me reluctant to get back on that plane. My husband is amazed he thought I would be overjoyed at the prospect of going home .. which I would be but I dont look forward to the snow etc which usually plagues NYC in February.

@uptowngirl It's the lack of sunlight that kills me - the sun sets so early! And of course no one wants to go outside when it's a mere 18 degrees outside, making intervals where you do experience a little sunshine much more short lived as you hightail it from point a to point b.

I don't necessarily think that going on drugs is in order; but seasonal depression is very well. You tend to isolate yourself more when it's cold. And, most people are deficient in Vitamin D to begin with and you get almost none during winter months which is hugely impressive upon your serotonin.

@Uptowngirl: Are you coming back for good or just for a temporary time.

@Everybody: Based on what my doctor told me, winter can be harsh on the body because sunlight produces vitamin D. When people can't go out because of the cold, they don't get adequate amounts of vitamin D. This is what can cause depression and anxiety in some people.

@hhusted I am coming back for a home visit.. was so hoping to come in the summer.. if the weather is bad like it usually is in February I will be largely confined to my apartment ..not fun

@Uptowngirl: I hear you. It would be good to come back when on vacation, to a place that is nice and warm so you can get out and enjoy yourself while here. Because once the time has ended and you have to go back, you feel like you didn't accomplish as much as you hoped for.

@uptowngirl Yick - I think February may be the worst month of all! But at least you can enjoy a romantic V-day out with the husband at a fancy NYC restaurant?

@BroadwayBK just changed my ticket ..my friends have been sending me pics of the snow and telling me how awful its been..and I keep remembering how passengers were stuck on a Cathay Pacific flight for 11 hours during the December snowstorm. In fact both JFK and Newark were closed again yesterday. I rather wait until March..maybe the weather will let up then

@everyone according to the meteorologists NYC is going to get snowier before we see spring..
bah!
http://www.amny.com/urbanite-1.812039/oh-snow-winter-has-more-plans-to-unleash-icy-wrath-1.2642993

Mild winter blues seem so normal, it's just a fact of life that you slow down a bit in winter and pick up again with the warm weather. That doesn't seem like cause for drugs, just cause for a little extra wariness in making sure you get your vitamin D. Just don't get the drug thing, really don't.

I agree, Uranium. Although, I do get acupuncture in the winter to spruce up my qi a bit.

@JenMac Yeah, I go to the sauna in winter. Helps with circulation and immune system, I rarely get sick any more.

I go to the sauna all year round, but it does get much busier in the winter. Obviously.

Does anyone try and eat foods that are fortified with vitamin D in the winter? Take supplements?

@NeverSleeps have never really done anything special for winter..except drink copious amounts of hot liquids. The attitude in our home has been - so its winter just deal with the snow, cold , slush whatever but having moved to NYC from the tropics I have always complained bitterly about the cold. My home visit for NYC has now been booked for early March and I actually went on to accuweather.com and started checking on the extended forecast for March.. doesnt seem too bad.

I take Vitamin D supplements. I keep saying I need to go to the sauna. Does it really help that much?

@JenMac Yes. I waltz out of the sauna, into the freezing tundra, without a care in the world. Do you feel a difference between the winters you spent without supplements and now?

@uptowngirl It's hard to imagine how March can't be an improvement on this.

I've found a solution to my SAD: going to the gym! Somehow getting up at 7 am and heading to the gym down the road tricks my body into thinking I'm active because I'm outside in summer! And I've been eating a lot of summery foods (carrot salads, sauteed spinach, Greek food, etc!) It's almost working, although my pale skin reminds me that tanning-time is a long way away

Apparently eating fish - for the amino 3's - is really supposed to help cure the blues. Or make a vast improvement.

@BroadwayBK that sounds good I love fish and if its going to make me feel good during winter then I don't mind consuming it..

@ajadedidealist if you love Greek food you must try( if you havent already) Agnanti in Astoria. It overlooks Astoria Park and serves delicious home style Greek food.. I absolutely love the place..
http://queens.about.com/od/allrestaurantreviews/gr/Agnanti.htm

@Uptowngirl: March is so unpredictable. It can snow or rain. I've seen the month of March with one snowstorm after another. On the other hand, I've also seen the month of March as a warm month. So it really depends on weather conditions. Based on the fact there is La Nina in the Pacific Ocean, I have a funny feeling we will see bad weather till April.

@hhusted you're right its a transient month for sure and i am hoping that the accuweather.com for NYC in March are right.. for I really detest the snow and the slush.

@neversleeps: I would love to not be sick for once since I've been back in order to test the Vitamin D supplement theory. I'm gonna try the sauna stat.
La Nina isn't really making much sense this year. It's supposed to be a cold storm. It has been abnormally warm and dry for a La Nina year (save December) in California so who knows what our March is gonna be.

@JenMac: You've got a point there. With the weather, you can never predict it.

@JenMac I'm a big proponent of sauna. I took it up when I lived in Europe - my first winter there was brutal and depressing, and it seemed I was always sick. After I started doing like the locals and going to sauna starting in the fall, I haven't had a cold for years. Years!

Ok, alright! Im going to the sauna tomorrow!

@JenMac Yeah, you should make it a regular thing... I haven't been sick since I started giving the sauna 20 minutes of my time post-workout. Very good stuff!

Ok, so I sauna'd today after the workout -- is 20 minutes something works up to? Because I made it 10 before I really thought I was gonna lose my cool. Don't get me wrong, I like it. I just take it for very long. Is that normal?

@JenMac Try taking a break after 10 mins and pop in the shower or plunge pool (depending on what kind of facilities you have at your disposal). When you feel recovered, go back for another ten.

@JenMac That's totally normal. You shouldn't force yourself to stay longer than you can stand. If you go to high-heat saunas like the Russian and Turkish Baths, it's actually dangerous to stay in longer than 15 minutes without a break or a cool shower in between. Lower heat saunas as the ones typical in most gyms are okay to stay longer, but you should definitely work up to it.

And I agree with the recommendation that it's good to make sauna a regular thing. I personally LOVE the luxury of sauna after a hard workout anyway.