Light therapy for Winter

I don't know about you, but I struggle so much more with fatigue and depression once the nights draw in and darkness envelopes us from 4pm.

For endo warriors already battling pain and reduced serotonin levels, a light box can be a really useful aid to help combat the winter blues if you struggle with them. If you are dealing with pain and fatigue anyway, it can often be hard to make you sure get out enough in daylight hours to get the right amount of Vitamin D from sunlight before the evening draws in again all too quickly.



I am currently using a compact Litepod to help me in my mission to combat the darkness, and for the first Winter in years I feel as though I have an extra powerful tool in my armoury to stop fatigue from totally taking over.

Seasonal Affective Disorder, also known in abbreviated form as S.A.D, affects women more than men and can be heavily influenced my lifestyle stressors such as having children, menopause, and of course living with endometriosis.

The lack of light in the winter can greatly affect our emotions, bringing a variety of symptoms including:

• low mood


• irritability


• lack of energy


• lack of interest in socialising


• sleep problems


• craving for carbohydrates

Sound familiar? I tend to crave stodgy food, become much more tired than usual and my battle with depression becomes more difficult in Winter.

Our bodies are designed to work with the natural rhythms of the seasons, going to bed when it becomes dark and getting up when it is light - unfortunately our modern lives don't allow us to do this.

Using a lightbox is a really effective way to increase our well being, and to help deal with pain and the winter blues.

This from the Litepod website:

Light affects a small area (suprachiasmatic nuclei) deep in the pineal gland in the brain. This area responds to light, when there is less light it sends a message to your body to produce more melatonin (the hormone that causes hibernation in animals) and it makes you sleepy. However, when there is plenty of light it sends the signal to produce serotonin the ‘happy hormone’ which makes you lively and dynamic.

The lack of clear light/dark signals can also lead to disturbances in sleep patterns and this too can be helped with bright light therapy.

Using a lightbox is very easy; have it beside you on your desk while you work, on the counter top as you cook or prepare breakfast, on your table as you do hair and make up to absorb some of the rays to help raise serotonin levels.

The Canadian Consensus Guidelines for the Treatment of Seasonal Affective Disorder comments: ‘Several qualitative review s of literature (Blehar & Lewy 1990; Lam et al 1989; Rosenthal et al 1988; Tam et al 1995; Weesson and Levitt 1998) have concluded that light therapy, administered by fluorescent light boxes with illumination exposures of greater than 2,500 lux is an effective treatment for SAD, with response rates of 65-90%’

Have you tried light therapy? Do you struggle with more fatigue and depression in Winter?

This post also appeared on Project Endo.