Herbal tea and paleo eating

[muck_a_luck]

So, I'm now on day 1 of my paleo eating experiment. Gah. My diet is so horrible. I always get inspired to eat better at Lent, but Lent is a terrible time for me to be changing my diet because of the whole SAD thing. The idea of paleo eating appeals to me, so I'm going to try it now, before SAD. I'm hoping the idea and structure of the diet will be as inspirational as Lent seems to be. And maybe if the carbs have been out of my system long enough by the dark time, it won't be such a bad impact. This should break my cookie addiction (again). Though I guess I will always be a recovering cookie addict. I'm also attempting (again) to like herbal tea. I'm taking three bottles of iced tea to work - Lemon Zinger, Tension Tamer, and Honey Vanilla Camomile. Gonna try to consume all three bottles, plus water today to really cut back on the soda.

Meanwhile, my ficathon piece is still not done, and it was due yesterday. :(

Comments

*wanders by*

[rydra_wong]

Passing question -- do you take a vitamin D supplement? My recent reading is turning up some references to it being potentially useful for dealing with SAD, and it seems like one a lot of paleo folk like to supplement with.

I mostly fail to like herbal teas, but I love strong ginger tea and jasmine green tea.

Re: *wanders by*

[muck_a_luck]

I started taking a vitamin D supplement right at the end of last SAD season. Hoping to see an impact this year. I'm also about to start taking St. John's Wort. I think my SAD is mixed up with hormonal stuff, and a friend swears that St. John's Wort saved her when The Change started blowing up her relationships. I'm not there yet, but I have been promised by my GYN that things are gonna get worse before they get better. I had a long chat with the GYN's nurse this morning, and I think that will start this weekend. Also, looking into a REAL therapy lamp for this winter. If this winter is as bad as or worse than last, I think we will be turning to the heavy guns next fall and start taking some prescription stuff the GYN offered. Last winter was really, really bad.

I think ginger tea is probably where I'm headed. That idea appealed to me most, but where I was shopping there wasn't one that was strictly ginger. Wondering if I should just boil a little ginger in the water, then ice it. Maybe squeeze in some lemon or lime.

Re: *wanders by*

[rydra_wong]

I've found some nice teabags which are ginger and lemongrass.

But you can just grate the ginger, pour boiling water on it, and leave it to steep. And it's lovely with lemon.

If this winter is as bad as or worse than last, I think we will be turning to the heavy guns next fall and start taking some prescription stuff the GYN offered. Last winter was really, really bad.

*nods* My sympathies. My depression isn't seasonal, but as you've probably gathered, I am familiar with the really really bad mental places.

Hopefully you won't have to go down the prescription road. But if you do, depression and fucking_meds are excellent for support (depression is good for support whether you're on meds or not).

Incidentally, I've heard good things about Wellbutrin/bupropion as a med for SAD. It's unusual in that it doesn't have much of a withdrawal syndrome, so may be easier to go on and come off on a seasonal basis.

(Some SSRIs can require a lot of tapering and/or sometimes do wacky things if you go off them then try to go back on. Which some doctors do not know.)

Re: *wanders by*

[muck_a_luck]

I will file away with my other thoughts about what to do. I have been fortunate to be a very healthy person in my life overall and have never had to cope with long-term medication issues, or particularly serious medications. I would really love if light therapy and vitamin D would carry me though. :/ I'm not really a "natural medicine" person, either. Even the St. John's Wort idea has me kind of not liking it. It's not that I'm scared of medicines. I take ibuprophen and tylenol and pseudofed for the slightest symptoms, but the idea of fiddling with brain chemistry long-term. Well. You've been there, I imagine you know what I mean. Brains. Just a pile of stupid chemicals. With the occassional electrical impulse, I suppose. *sigh*

Re: *wanders by*

[rydra_wong]

the idea of fiddling with brain chemistry long-term. Well. You've been there, I imagine you know what I mean.

OH HELL YEAH. No-one wants to go the antidepressants route unless they have to (speaking as someone who found out the hard way that I very much have to).

You have the fun possible side-effects, you have the meds roundabout to find one that works well for you, if you don't find it on the first try, etc. etc. etc.

I think it's extremely smart to check out the alternative options first, especially the supplements and light box, because the research I've seen says they have a pretty good chance of being effective with SAD.

On the other hand, if it turns out not to be enough, it's worth knowing that for most people, depression is extremely treatable with meds. They can be a pain in various ways, but they're there and they're pretty effective and it's not a "failure" if you find you need them.

Even the St. John's Wort idea has me kind of not liking it.

Well, St. John's Wort is a med, ultimately. It's a herbal one, but it's an antidepressant all the same (with some good evidence for being effective in mild-to-moderate depression at least, and a relatively low rate of side-effects, AFAIK).

ETA: Sorry for the lecture; it's a subject I'm prone to tl;dr about.