Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Winter slump / SAD

So he wasn't terribly allergic to anything. The only ones that were confirmed were grass and dust mites. She gave us instructions on modifying his room and advised us to give him Zyrtec as needed. So while it is good information, I don't think it explains what has been going on with him. I suppose we'll see once we make the changes.

Where we are (southern BC) in the winter it's dark by 4:30ish (ugh). I think I've suffered from SAD in the past. Interestingly this is no longer the case and I've often wondered if it's because of the time I spend in front of a computer screen?

My kids seem fine. We walk outdoors a lot, though (thanks to the relentless ADHD motors! lol) and I also give them Vitamin D drops. The fat solubility issue is solved because I add the drops to their protein shakes, which contain fat-laden milk.

Try the zyrtec for a week or two. (Helpful tip, by the way, is that Costco has the generic in quantity and at low cost.)

That's really the only way you'll know if all of this is tied to sleep issues that can be the result of a dustmite allergy.

CCN, we have definitely not found that screen time is helpful-- if anything, just the opposite. Maybe it's less of a problem because you're out and moving around more because of your kids?

I was out shopping for allergen and dust mite proof mattress and pillow covers and ended up getting one of the natural light lamps someone mentioned. While I was looking at them two random people walked by and highly recommended them so I figured why not.

A couple of good examples of what is going on:
He had some experiment going in the backyard involving food in Tupperware. He was trying to see what mold grew on what food or something like that. A raccoon ate his experiment and he became a sobbing mess. It took a lot of talking about scientists making unintentional discoveries (raccoons can open Tupperware and will eat moldy food) and redesigning his experiment for next time.

His teacher told him blood that had oxygen was red and blood that didn't have oxygen was blue and this is why veins look blue. Independent study revealed this is all false. Cue huge sobbing melt down about not being able to learn from a person who doesn't know things.

These things four months ago would have been a bit disappointing but now they are overwhelming. Plus his attitude towards school has gotten bad in the last month or so. He thinks it is boring. It isn't level of instruction. The math worksheets, spelling tests, etc. are all appropriately challenging, he just thinks math worksheets and spelling tests are boring.

Boring school....yes my ds6 is depressed with this also. Just wanted to add to this complex mood situation: just as allergies can suppress moods, so can allergy meds. My ds gets very moody/tearful/irritable on Zyrtec and ESPECIALLY Singulair. So we have to deal with him not feeling good WITHOUT allergy meds but also not so much WITH.

Light is an amazing natural antidepressant. Even daylight filtered through clouds is helpful with mood enhancing vs only incandescent light. I hope you see success with the lamp. Please let us know.

A good friend of mine has been discussing vit D deficiencies. I think we may start drops in addition to our gummy vits.

Ugh. And here we are again this year. I thought the special light and more free time with friends in after school care would help but apparently not enough. Cold weather and short days have meant little outside play the last few weeks.

DS6 is now an emo mess. Crying over every little bump in the road of life.

Maybe go to Hawaii for Christmas?

I think I just need to make exercise in the outdoors a priority. We could walk to school three days a week. It would take about 45 min. We could make taking the dog to the park a daily after school activity.

Any other tips?

KJP, we definitely noticed a downward trend in DD over the past four days-- when it has simply been too icy out for her normal routine to be SAFE.

She was back to it this morning, and much better this afternoon.