Magnesium and vitamin D supplements have helped me a lot with this. I'm taking the naturally calm brand for the magnesium and Vegan Ddrops (in a green box). I'm not big on supplements but without the sun you can't really get decent vitamin d.

Cardio and backbends in yoga have also helped. We tend to slouch a lot when feeling down so the backbends will definitely help physically as well as emotionally.

At least try getting blood work to check all your levels to rule out any possibility of one of those things adding to you feeling tired and down.

Hope you feel better soon! January/February always seem like the worst months for this.

I've got a girlfriend in Chicago and she has been telling me about your winter there, just brutal so far this year!

I'm going to ditto what others have already said about getting blood tests, unless you've had them recently.

Definitely test for TSH, Vit D, and B12. If you are low in any of these they will definitely contribute towards the symptoms you're describing. It's good to rule these out.

Your numbers to shoot for should be:
TSH: between 0.4 and 2.5
Vit between 30 and 55
B12: greater than 580

The B12 amount the U.S. recommends is lower than this, but other countries have set the lowest amount at 550. Below that and it can act like depression.

edited to add: Always follow the advice of your Medical Doctor. My advice is my own opinion, which is worthless to everyone but me, LOL.

I'm taking 100ug of vitamin D3 (most supplements are D2 which has been shown to be useless to humans) and a time release B complex along with grazing on fruit and vegetables throughout the day.

I don't think I've known a tougher year for SAD than this one but this has got me through.

The other thing that I've tried which have worked in the past is using a full spectrum light box.

http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/pages/product_detail.asp?pid=4732

If there's something in there that is animal sourced then let me know because I haven't spotted it

The Nordic naturals claims to be vegan but is actually not. Any D3 that claims to be vegan is not.

A lot of people say D2 doesn't work but it does. It has been working very well for me. Taking D with magnesium is better because it's one of those things that help each other absorb.

This is from one of Don Bennets articles

"D2, D3, and "Vegan D3"

For a long time there have been two types of supplemental D; D2 and D3. This could be a whole article in itself, but let it suffice to say that D3 is the effective form of supplemental D. The reason D2 is marketed is because it is the vegan form of supplemental D (D3 is made from the lanolin from sheep wool), but like a lot of products that are marketed to the health conscious and vegan crowds, D2 doesn't "do it"; D2 doesn't raise your D level to where it needs to be in order to be effective in helping to prevent degenerative disease. You'd have to consume an impossible amount of D2 to get your blood level to 70 ng/ml. D2 (ergocalciferol) has lower bioactivity, poorer stability, and shorter duration of action. So when this information became better known, there was a demand for a vegan D3, and the industry was only too happy to oblige. The problem is, there is no such thing as a truly vegan D3. D3 products that claim to be vegan are made from mushrooms or lichen, which would define them as vegan, but it is non-vegan D3 that is "fed" to the mushrooms or lichen. So "vegan D3" is made from a non-vegan source. One company that manufactures a "vegan D3" supplement even admits this in their product description, but is of the opinion that their product is vegan. While I applaud their honesty, I don't agree with their opinion."





He's not so correct about the D2 though. It also has to do with absorption issues as well. Much more complicated subject. Another point on the absorption externally would be not to wash exposed areas of the skin with soap 48 hours after exposure. So if your outside for a decent amount of time in the sun than only wash your special bits with soap and avoid arms/legs ect. and just use water for those.