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[ideagirl]

Can D be taken on an empty stomach?

No idea. I always pop the pill with breakfast, though breakfast is typically just a smoothie left over from last night.

How many IU's are you getting? Like I said, it was with the 1000IU's that I noticed the ZAP! come back. I'd already been taking 400IU/day just as a multivitamin, but apparently it wasn't enough, given my latitude and my total lack of outdoorsiness--the blood levels were still distinctly low.

[psychdiva]

Can D be taken on an empty stomach?

No idea. I always pop the pill with breakfast, though breakfast is typically just a smoothie left over from last night.

How many IU's are you getting?

1000IUs.

[ideagirl]

Perhaps I should also add that I'm actually getting more than 1000 IUs, because after getting the 1000 IU pills, I didn't stop taking what I was already taking--I just added the 1000's on top. So I think I'm getting about 1400 IU's per day--either that or 1600 IU's, I forget which. Through google-fu I found that toxicity occurs somewhere over 2500 IU's per day, typically over 5000 IU's (the range may depend on how big you are/how much you weigh).

[tenured_cat]

As others have said, I don't notice feeling healthy until it goes away. The best feeling in the world is when it comes back. For me, over the years that has meant primarily absence of chronic pain (various areas, but my back is always lurking for a chance) and, after a stroke, being able to actually walk fast again (after about a month) and write (although my handwriting never needed an excuse). And, right now, the absolute absence of work-related depression.

Feeling good means catching myself doing a Ministry of Funny Walks impression, while humming X-mas songs. In the house. Alone. And the cats don't tell :)

Have to go now to check how much Vitamin D I'm getting ...

[anthroid]

Re: Vitamin D: I take about 900 IUs a day--about 300% of the RDA.  I turned 50 last fall, if that matters.  That comes from a multivitamin and from my calcium supplement.  I take a small aspirin, a multivitamin (for women 50+), glucosamine, calcium +D, fish oil (about 2000 IU), and a super B complex.

I feel good just about every day.  My hair is fabulous (due in large part to the B complex).  Yes, I have aches and pains and various complaints and feel sad sometimes, but most of the time I'm fine.  I think I'm probably just a positive person and I ignore bad things much of the time.  That's both bad and good.  But feeling good feeds on itself.  I exercise often, I try to eat well (though I don't always get there), and I look, to quote a song, to the sunny side of life.  I focus on what works rather than worrying about what's wrong.  Acting "as if" you're cheerful gets you about three-quarters of the way to feeling cheerful, IMHO, and in my experience as a therapist.

[msparticularity]

Acting "as if" you're cheerful gets you about three-quarters of the way to feeling cheerful, IMHO, and in my experience as a therapist.

This was my big breakthrough. It sounds obvious, I suppose, but it was definitely news to me. After years of therapy, and lots of big changes in my self-care, I was able to realize that maybe my brain had fallen into a certain "groove" and that that was based upon a lifetime of dysfunction. So I began thinking, "Okay, what would a normal person do now?" And then I would do that, instead of what my internal sense of things was suggesting to me.

Presto. Magic.

[psychdiva]

Acting "as if" you're cheerful gets you about three-quarters of the way to feeling cheerful, IMHO, and in my experience as a therapist.

Agreed, but it's hard to act "as if" you're cheerful when you're in pain.

[anthroid]

Acting "as if" you're cheerful gets you about three-quarters of the way to feeling cheerful, IMHO, and in my experience as a therapist.

Agreed, but it's hard to act "as if" you're cheerful when you're in pain.

Sure.  If it was easy, everyone would be disgustingly cheerful and the world would be a very boring place.  But Ms. P gets it exactly right--it is possible to reconfigure your synapses.  I hope you are able to feel better no matter how you get there, Psychdiva!

[cccheel]

Start weight-lifting. Not the heavy, raging body-building type, but dumbbell free weight lifting. You will notice an amazing difference. You'd be surprised how much of an effect your physical health has on your mental and emotional health.

I feel healthy because I feel strong. When I lift my bookbag filled with books and can do so without straining or hurting my elbow or back, it just feels nice. It also helps build confidence.

A lot of women don't touch weights or they use tiny dumbbells because they are afraid of getting big; well, unless you are lifting really heavy weights, you won't get big, you'll get toned. Cardio has its place, but in my opinion, the best thing you can do, besides eating healthy and getting plenty of rest, is to begin lifting weights. Just make sure you do it the right way so you don't pull something. You will be amazed how different you feel after just 2-3 weeks. Hope this helps.

[msparticularity]

Acting "as if" you're cheerful gets you about three-quarters of the way to feeling cheerful, IMHO, and in my experience as a therapist.

Agreed, but it's hard to act "as if" you're cheerful when you're in pain.

Sure.  If it was easy, everyone would be disgustingly cheerful and the world would be a very boring place.  But Ms. P gets it exactly right--it is possible to reconfigure your synapses.  I hope you are able to feel better no matter how you get there, Psychdiva!

I also want to reiterate that this approach did not work for me until I was out of the deepest pit of despair. (I think I talked a little more about this on the medication-resistant depression thread.) What this CBT-like technique did for me was help me not slide back into old, destructive thinking/feeling habits--and it's been close to 10 years now. Also, and maybe vitally, I was only able to think this way after I (accidentally, but that's another story) got treatment for the anxiety that was complicating my depression.

[anthroid]

Start weight-lifting. Not the heavy, raging body-building type, but dumbbell free weight lifting. You will notice an amazing difference. You'd be surprised how much of an effect your physical health has on your mental and emotional health.

I feel healthy because I feel strong. When I lift my bookbag filled with books and can do so without straining or hurting my elbow or back, it just feels nice. It also helps build confidence.

A lot of women don't touch weights or they use tiny dumbbells because they are afraid of getting big; well, unless you are lifting really heavy weights, you won't get big, you'll get toned. Cardio has its place, but in my opinion, the best thing you can do, besides eating healthy and getting plenty of rest, is to begin lifting weights. Just make sure you do it the right way so you don't pull something. You will be amazed how different you feel after just 2-3 weeks. Hope this helps.

This advice rocks.  Being strong in the way described is really powerful.  I completely agree.

Now, it does need to be pointed out, again, that I come from a very positive place.  I am an optimist and I tend to see good things, rather than bad things, from all events.  I get blindsided now and then, but not all that often.