Last year I was trying to carry on without brain meds of any kind. To do this I had to be incredibly careful with my diet — almost no refined sugar and no caffeine, sufficient amounts of protein, and plenty of greens (don’t know why, but they help my concentration). I did great during the Spring, a bit less well in the summer fog, a lot less well once the days started getting shorter, and then I CRASHED COMPLETELY when daylight savings time ended. Losing an hour of daylight played hell with my mood, and with all the effort that was required to barely hold my mood together, I had nothing left for concentration.
So in November I started taking zoloft again. It turned out that I only need 12.5 mgs, which is not that much, to keep my mood at a reasonable* level. I still couldn’t concentrate, so by January I started taking Vyvanse. The anxiety that had bothered me all autumn vanished within half an hour of taking my first dose. Within a few days,I felt pretty much like I did during the previous Spring, when I could set my mind to do something and actually get it done.
Now here it is, autumn once more. My mood is fine, thanks to that tiny dose of zoloft, but my motivation is shot to hell, and in spite of the meds, I just want to eat all the food in the house and hibernate.
I decided to go back to stimulants because the amount of sun that happens is just not up to me. That being said, I know friends and family members who’ve gotten great results for depression by using sun lamps. It’s not the same as a full day of natural sunlight, but it’s enough to get them through the worst of their low winter mood. So this year I’m going to try light therapy for my ADD. I’ll let you know how it goes.
*where “reasonable” is defined as “not bursting into tears because, ya know, my cats are going to die some day.”