Goodbye Winter Blues!

This has been our 3rd Danish winter, and it has been, by FAR the hardest winter yet. Back in December I started to have all sorts of very uncharacteristic things going on with me. Naturally, I had lost a lot of energy because of the lack of sun and along with that came a bunch of other things. Out of nowhere doing easy tasks like doing my hair or makeup became very difficult and VERY stressful. I would actually have to stop and breathe because I would get so irritated that I just COULDN'T do it. Denmark was becoming my enemy because I was agitated that there was no sun, it was so dark, there were so many low thick clouds, everything cost so damn much, the taxes were ridiculous, Danish seemed impossible, and the people all seemed so rude. (Which they can be, but they don't mean to be! There is no word for "please" in the Danish Language!!). There is a LONG list of stuff that was going on with me ranging from social withdrawal to a strange strong craving for bread and carbs. My symptoms were strongest around Christmas through the very start of January and then they cooled off, a lot, but they were still very much there, just not as extreme.

My number 1 priority in life above all things is my health. For me personally, I couldn't be the wife, daughter, sister or friend that I am without it. There is a huge story behind why we are both this way, but I'll save that for another time. (Please save all comments telling me that health is a stupid 1st priority to yourself. thanks.)

So several weeks ago I went to the doctor to make sure there was nothing physically wrong with me, though I had a suspicion I knew what it was and as it turns out, I was right. (Don't get your hopes up, I'm not pregnant) The doctor was incredible. He was so nice and young too and made me feel very comfortable talking about all of this, which wasn't easy for me to do, because I don't open up easily on such a personal level to people, especially someone I just met. We talked for a little while and after deciding I was most likely suffering from a mild case of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) he wanted to do some blood work on me as he suspected I was low on vitamin D as that is a common symptom of SAD. A week after that first appointment I was feeling even a little better, maybe I just needed to get it off my back to a Doc? I went back for my blood test results find out I was EXTREMELY deficient in vitamin D. They also tested my liver to make sure my body was processing the vitamin D I was getting, properly. Which it was. GOOD. :) And everything else they tested me for was great. YEA! Not surprisingly the deficiency was due to the lack of sun. The doctor told me that he could test anyone on the street and they would be low on vitamin D as this is very common. He gave me two prescriptions. One was for vitamin D pills to take twice a day and the other was for an injection. Yup, I got a prescription for an injection. That was a big difference from the states!! I had to go to the pharmacy and order my injection, then they called a week later to say it was in. I picked it up and made another doctor appointment which was for today. This morning I made my merry way back to the doctor with my injection in hand for him to stick it in my ass and give me a big 'ol dose of vitamin D. Before he did, we talked some more. I told him I have been feeling SO much better in the past two weeks. This is probably because of the newly found sun and my vitamin D pills. He told me that I didn't REALLY NEED the shot if I was feeling better, but HE really felt I needed to have it because I had one of the lowest levels of vitamin D he had seen all season. WOW! I was all for that, plus I paid 360DKK ($70) for it, so I better be getting it!! ;o) He mentioned to me that it was quite rare for someone with light skin to be as deficient as I was. I do have dark skinned blood as half of it is Mexican, but as for my actual skin color, I'm without a doubt as Michael call me, "The Whitest Mexican".

Vitamin D Injections

I go back in a month to get more blood work done and hopefully, those Vitamin D levels will have gone WAY up. If they haven't, I'll get another shot. I was also advised to start taking vitamin D pills next winter around November to hopefully avoid this again. I agreed wholeheartedly.
Like I said this is our 3rd Danish winter, and this is the first time I have ever experienced this and it really caught me off guard. Thankfully, in the past couple weeks I have started to feel really good again and like my old self. I have a month and a half of vitamin D pills left, and that should get me to spring as a happy person and by then, it will be sunny sunny sunny! Denmark and I are starting to patch things up and we are slowly becoming friends again, but we are taking it slow.