Devoted readers might have noticed that I have conspicuously failed to get many posts up in recent months. This is not due to my dominant traits of laziness or procrastination, it is down to the tragically sunless winter and spring that London has just endured.
I don’t like it when it’s cold. I hate it when it’s grey. BUT, I don’t actually have Seasonal Affective Disorder. Unfortunately, Mr. Beheld does.
A Finnish Locum at our GP’s recommended a daylight lamp, explaining that Mr Beheld has symptoms of SAD, which is common in Finland. No-one recognised this to be an underlying cause when he was first diagnosed with the frankly terrifying Transient Osteoporosis. People think of SAD as manifesting in depression and lethargy, and Mr Beheld is a cheerful, active man, so it didn’t seem to fit. It was assumed that he fell victim to Transient Osteoporosis when long hours inside, working at a computer, caused him to become Vitamin D deficient.
Transient Osteoporosis is extremely rare in young (or even middle-aged) men, and so we (that’s me, Mr Beheld and his Consultant) all believed that once he had suffered through agonising months waiting for the fracture in his hip to mend itself through a combination of time, Vitamin D supplements and glugging pints of full-fat milk, the Transient Osteoporosis wouldn’t come back again.
It seems that we under-estimated the importance to his previous recovery of a business trip to LA … we knew that the clear skies and Californian sunshine had helped, but we hadn’t realised just how much. Sadly, no Californian clients require his physical presence at the time of writing. So on grey days, Mr Beheld dutifully soaks up some artificial daylight via a Light Box.
And while he hobbles around in a great deal of pain, I scurry around doing more than I’m accustomed to in the way of school runs, housework and shopping. And therefore, less than I’d like to in the way of blogging. However, I’m not writing this post as an explanation for why this site has been so quiet: I’m writing it to emphasise that for some people, Vitamin D is a life-changing supplement.
Regrettably, Mr Beheld stopped taking Vitamin D tablets when he got the all-clear last time. Understandable: they cost money, he hates taking tablets, and it was thought to be a one-off occurrence. However, the moment he began feeling twinges of pain this year, he turned to Vitamin D again. Thanks to Catherine at John Bell & Croyden, I discovered the Better You DLux Vitamin D spray that you see in the picture at the top of the page. It retails at £7.00 and contains 100 doses, so will see you through just over three months. Mr Beheld finds it far easier to remember to take a quick blast of this every morning, and finds the spray far more pleasurable to take than the tablets prescribed by the GP.
I am still devoted to my Inner Me Vitamin D tablets, and you can read more about them here. They cost £4.00 for 30 tablets, so one packet lasts for roughly one month. I think they’re wonderful and I credit them with keeping my lazy, winter-hating self motivated through the last few difficult months.
Many of us are used to feeling down, tired, achey and a bit miserable in the winter months, but it might be a good idea to evaluate – or have a doctor evaluate – if this is just regular had-it-up-to-here-with-winter feeling, or something more serious. And maybe consider a Vitamin D supplement, just in case? Can’t hurt, could well help …
You can buy Better You D:Lux Spray in store and online at John Bell & Croyden and Inner Me Vitamin D tablets at the Inner Me website And (if your budget stretches to it) you could always buy a flight to LA!
