Hi,
For the past 5 years I have spent a lot of time indoors as I work from home, and due to my busy lifestyle I have been unable to get out into the sunlight.
This worsened towards the middle of 2004 as business really stepped up and sometimes I would work 7 days a week, unable to get out. In addition to this I live in a country that is overcast 75% of the time so it is hard to make it back up on those days that I don't have to work!
This has resulted in a number of symptoms that I have attributed (I have not been to the doctor about this yet) to vitamin D deficiency and hypocalcaemia. These are not really the main subject of this post but I shall include them anyway as maybe someone who knows more than me can lend a helping hand: Popping sternum, sternum discomfort when twisting, neck discomfort and mild headache, until I "pop" my neck, and of course the obvious "prison palour"....to solve that, though, I think I will take my family for a couple of well-deserved weeks in the sun.
Anyway, back to the main subject. I used to smoke 40 a day, so nerves were never a problem. To remind you, I have probably been steadily losing vitamin D and calcium since about 2000, so 2002, when I quit smoking, was 2 years into this already. Since I quit smoking, I have had really quite horrible irritability (which at first I thought was just the process of quitting, but it never went away!) and quite bad jumpiness. For example I shout at my family when they close doors noisily, move about too much when I am trying to work (wooden floorboards), make the slightest noise when I am in front of the TV, computer, etc. I have resorted to wearing earplugs at the moment because I really hate having to be so grumpy towards my loved ones.
I know what has caused my bone/other problems and I am taking calcium, vitamin D and magnesium supplements to try to restore my bones/sternum to normality, although progress has been slow. I did notice a massive lifting of depression (oops, I forgot to mention I have SAD too!) when I started to take big doses of vitamin D, but the only major problem still remaining is the irritability and nerves. Also I feel a little like I am getting flustered and ahead of myself at times which is no good for a professional like myself.
I have moved my desk to look out of a big window so that I can get the sun in my eyes while I work. This really improved my mood for a few weeks but I can not rely on sunlight in a country like this where the weather is so unpredictably mediocre....so can any of you wise people offer any suggestions? Maybe some of you have gone through a similar experience.
Thanks for reading :-)
For the past 5 years I have spent a lot of time indoors as I work from home, and due to my busy lifestyle I have been unable to get out into the sunlight.
This worsened towards the middle of 2004 as business really stepped up and sometimes I would work 7 days a week, unable to get out. In addition to this I live in a country that is overcast 75% of the time so it is hard to make it back up on those days that I don't have to work!
This has resulted in a number of symptoms that I have attributed (I have not been to the doctor about this yet) to vitamin D deficiency and hypocalcaemia. These are not really the main subject of this post but I shall include them anyway as maybe someone who knows more than me can lend a helping hand: Popping sternum, sternum discomfort when twisting, neck discomfort and mild headache, until I "pop" my neck, and of course the obvious "prison palour"....to solve that, though, I think I will take my family for a couple of well-deserved weeks in the sun.
Anyway, back to the main subject. I used to smoke 40 a day, so nerves were never a problem. To remind you, I have probably been steadily losing vitamin D and calcium since about 2000, so 2002, when I quit smoking, was 2 years into this already. Since I quit smoking, I have had really quite horrible irritability (which at first I thought was just the process of quitting, but it never went away!) and quite bad jumpiness. For example I shout at my family when they close doors noisily, move about too much when I am trying to work (wooden floorboards), make the slightest noise when I am in front of the TV, computer, etc. I have resorted to wearing earplugs at the moment because I really hate having to be so grumpy towards my loved ones.
I know what has caused my bone/other problems and I am taking calcium, vitamin D and magnesium supplements to try to restore my bones/sternum to normality, although progress has been slow. I did notice a massive lifting of depression (oops, I forgot to mention I have SAD too!) when I started to take big doses of vitamin D, but the only major problem still remaining is the irritability and nerves. Also I feel a little like I am getting flustered and ahead of myself at times which is no good for a professional like myself.
I have moved my desk to look out of a big window so that I can get the sun in my eyes while I work. This really improved my mood for a few weeks but I can not rely on sunlight in a country like this where the weather is so unpredictably mediocre....so can any of you wise people offer any suggestions? Maybe some of you have gone through a similar experience.
Thanks for reading :-)