This past winter, a blood test determined that I had an extreme vitamin D deficiency. I also had a delayed sleep phase
disorder. My doctors prescribed light
therapy and vitamin D supplements, which I have been taking since February. I found that they help me
tremendously. I no longer have fatigue, shortness of breath, muscle weakness, daytime sleepiness, or insomnia!
Circadian Rhythms
We all have a biological
clock that controls our circadian rhythms, which affects things like our body
temperature, appetite, alertness, and sleep timing. For some of us, the genetic makeup of our circadian timing
system causes our bodies to deviate from the typical pattern. For as long as I can remember, I have
had abnormal circadian rhythms that led to me feeling the most energetic right
around the time that everybody else is going to sleep. I have also always been ridiculously
tired in the mornings (basically, any time before noon). I usually managed to get by on very
little sleep during the weekdays and then I would sleep until the afternoon on
the weekends to make up for it.
But over the past two years,
my sleep patterns had got even worse. It was at the point where, on a daily basis, I would not sleep the whole night and still be wide awake
at 7:00am when I needed to wake up at 8:30 or 9am. Then I would crash in the late morning and not be able to
function throughout the rest of the day on a normal schedule. I desperately needed to find something
to help, because I couldn’t do the things that I wanted
to do at the times that they needed to be done. I followed people’s advice, such as not consuming any
caffeine or sugar, but I still found myself awake all hours of the night.
I ended up going sleep
specialist, who told me that I had a delayed sleep phase disorder, causing me to operate about 9 hours behind everyone else, both in falling
asleep and waking up. She
recommended for me to try light therapy (typically used to treat S.A.D.) which
involves sitting in front of a bright light that mimics natural outdoor light,
minus the harmful UV rays. I
honestly thought that it sounded like a gimmick at first, especially since I
didn’t see how light therapy could possibly work for both S.A.D. and sleep
disorders, but I was willing to give it a try.
Light Therapy
I was shocked to find that, after
getting a light and using it for only two weeks, my circadian rhythms
automatically adjusted. I was
finally sleepy at night and energetic during the day! Since I need to be exposed
to the light for 30 minutes every morning, I chose to go with the visor, rather
than the light box, so that I can move around and do daily activities
(getting dressed, breakfast, or driving to wherever I am going) at the same
time.
I have found that if I skip two or more mornings of using the light, I tend to slip back into the late sleep/wake patterns, so I really try to use it every day. I now generally sleep from about 1:30am to 8:30am, which isn’t perfect (the sleep specialist said that I will always be a night owl because that is how my body is naturally) but it is much more reasonable than before.
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I look really silly wearing it, but Ryan loves the hat. He says that when he is bigger,
he wants to wear a light hat like mommy. Ha! I hope that he never needs to!
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Vitamin D
I originally hoped that the light therapy used for circadian rhythms would also help to bring up my vitamin D levels, but since there are no UV rays involved, it does not
provide any vitamin D. While I do go
outside daily (especially now that the weather is gorgeous!) and eat foods that contain Vitamin D, it just isn’t enough for
me, personally. I think that it
would be for some people, but all of our bodies are unique and process things
differently. So, at the
recommendation of my doctor, I now take an additional vitamin D supplement every day.
Since I hate taking lots of pills (bad memories from chemo) I opted for
Carlson’s vitamin D drops along with Carlson’s liquid fish oil for the added health
benefits. I also started taking Magnesium, since it works together with Vitamin D. I have never really taken
vitamins before in my adult life (except prenatal) but since I have started
taking these, my body feels younger, less achy, and more energetic.
Why Vitamin D is essential…
Vitamin D can help our
bodies in various ways: increasing muscle energy, reducing
muscle fatigue, promoting calcium absorption, reducing inflammation,
encouraging bone growth, regulating cell growth and cell activity, helping the
immune system, protecting against osteoporosis, diabetes, heart disease,
rickets, and hypertension, reducing stress, reducing depression, strengthening
hair and teeth, improving brain function, and aiding in weight loss. Furthermore, vitamin D may
even play a role in the prevention of certain types of cancers.
According to this article, “Strong evidence indicates
that intake or synthesis of vitamin D is associated with reduced incidence and
death rates of colon, breast, prostate, and ovarian cancers. More than 1000
laboratory and epidemiological studies have been published concerning the
association between vitamin D and its metabolites and cancer. Long-term studies
have demonstrated the efficacy of moderate intake of vitamin D in reducing
cancer risk and, when administered with calcium, in reducing the incidence of
fractures.”
This article states that, "Though the relationship
between vitamin D and breast cancer remains unclear, a growing body of research
currently supports vitamin D deficiency as a risk factor for breast cancer" and "vitamin D deficiency has
been shown to promote the growth of human breast cancer cells in the bones of
nude mice, suggesting that vitamin D might promote cancer growth by altering
the bone microenvironment.”
I also found it interesting how this article says that a "variation in VDR (vitamin D receptor gene) may be associated with breast cancer risk." Maybe that explains why some of us are prone to having low levels of vitamin D?
Regardless of how little or how much protection vitamin D can offer me from a cancer recurrence, I still think that it is important for my overall health to make sure that I am getting plenty of it. Foods that contain vitamin D include: eggs, cod liver oil,
mackerel, mushrooms, catfish, herring, tuna, salmon, sardines, fatty fish, and fortified dairy products. However, a healthy diet alone often isn't enough to fulfill the daily requirements of vitamin D.
So we should make sure to spend lots of time outside this summer and try to get an extra dose of vitamin D!
