Here is my new video about Hypothyroidism and the winter blues on Youtube!
REPOST FROM FEB 2011
Here it is March 2014 and I am thinking “Wow, I’ve been feeling kind of blue lately.” It’s the yearly seasonal thyroid drop, which always happens around early March and goes until May. Late winter through early spring can be hard for those of us with hypothyroidism. Even when we are on good thyroid medicine! It reminded me of my blog post from last year on this exact topic. Sheesh, even I have a hard time seeing my own symptoms!
Apparently thyroid function drops in the late winter/early spring months which creates a low-grade depression for many of us. It feels like SAD (seasonal affective disorder), general depression, or just a heaviness. I know it’s not SAD because I still have it even when I get plenty of sunlight. And I know it’s not traditional depression because it lasts only a few months, and it’s always around this time of year.
So this is a reminder… to help get through the winter blues many of us need to increase our thyroid medicine about 1/4 pill just for a few months. (I might add, who wants to take anti-depressants and gain weight?!) For me the depression starts around now and sometimes lasts through May. When I start to feel light and buoyant again I know I can ease back to my normal dose of thyroid medicine.
5 comments
Join the conversationZella Brown - May 10, 2012
Lizzy, I have the same problem like you have. I am in deep depression in early spring and I don't know what exactly can help me to fidht it. Having read your post there is a hope to overcome it. Thanks! I will try it out.
Dan Brown - May 28, 2012
Late winter is the worst for me, too. As a former adrenal fatigue sufferer, it’s so important to know that others are going through this and have found a way to get better. I’ll try the dessicated thyroid compound as you suggest. Here's another site with good info:http://www.adrenalfatiguenomore.com
katty - August 14, 2012
Thanks so much for this post! I read it in summer and knowing the blues hit me in late winter, and it hits me hard, I bookmarked it. It is that time of year in Uruguay where I live and I have now started with 1/4 pill more. It's only my second day. If it helps, you'll be my hero!
Lizzy - August 29, 2012
Good good!! I hope it helps!! xoxo! Lizzy
Tracy - September 3, 2012
This is the first I've seen this written about, and it's wat I was looking for. I started to suspect thyroid issues last year in March, when I suddenly gained 10lbs in a month (on a low carb Paleo diet that had worked great for 6+ years), had extreme fatigue, dizziness, depression, puffiness and gut issues. Being celiac and still having some gut issues now and then, I assumed it was related to that and did SCD very strictly for awhile and felt better (and lost the 10lbs).Same thing happened again this March! Like clockwork. Except this time, the symptoms aren't going away. Thyroid tests showed my FT3 to be in the toilet. The past month or so I've had far more good days than bad, but the weight and puffiness still there, headaches… I've posted questions all over the place about thyroid levels fluctuating, with no real answers (other than possibly having Hashi's, which I suspect). This explains why March seems to be the start of real trouble for me.Do you have any links to more info on this? I'd love to show them to my ND.