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7 Ways to Treat and Manage Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) & Chronic Pain

It’s the holiday season. That means Christmas lights are shining and the sun is hiding — at least for those who live where winter is a season. Reduced sun exposure can lead to a drop in your body’s Vitamin D levels and contribute to a form of clinical depression known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD). […]

Nerve Pain and Diet: 7 Things That Can Cause It and Make It Worse

Nerve pain is a symptom of many diseases and illnesses and has multiple causes. Inflammation makes nerve pain worse. In addition to keeping a healthy body weight and remaining active, eating healthy can reduce chronic inflammation and nerve pain (and pain in general). Let’s look at seven foods to cut down on or avoid altogether. […]

7 Ways to Treat and Manage Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) & Chronic Pain

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Nerve Pain and Diet: 7 Things That Can Cause It and Make It Worse

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7 Ways to Treat and Manage Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) & Chronic Pain

/in Chronic Pain, Depression /by

It’s the holiday season.

That means Christmas lights are shining and the sun is hiding — at least for those who live where winter is a season.

Reduced sun exposure can lead to a drop in your body’s Vitamin D levels and contribute to a form of clinical depression known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

Here are some effective treatment and management Options for SAD:

1. Get Your Chronic Pain Treated

Medical experts think that depression and chronic pain share the same neural pathways and are fundamentally linked.

So, if you suffer from chronic pain, your risk for depression is higher.

Chronic pain can affect you psychologically by making you lose sleep, reducing your mobility and functioning, and cutting down on your time with loved ones.

Seeing a management specialist (an expert in treating chronic pain) who can prescribe medications and treatments may be the best way to address your chronic pain problem.

2. Try Phototherapy or Light Therapy

Sunlight can potentially affect your mood for the better, and light that mimics sunlight can, too.

With phototherapy or light therapy, all you have to do is wake up and sit next to a device that emits at least 10,000 lux of white light for a half-an-hour to forty-five minutes a day.

It typically takes a couple of weeks to start working and can be a compliment or alternative to other therapies and antidepressant medication.

3. Try Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a form of “talk therapy” based on the theory that psychological problems are due to wrong ways of thinking and learned behavior patterns.

Cognitive Behavioral therapists train patients to better handle psychological problems by teaching them how to change their thought patterns.

4. Take Melatonin Supplements

At the chemical level, SAD happens due to interruption to the body’s production of hormones, including the hormone melatonin.

Melatonin helps regulate your body’s internal clock (or circadian rhythm).

Taking a melatonin supplement may help regulate your sleep pattern during the short winter days.

5. Take Vitamin D Supplements

Research suggests there’s a link between Vitamin D deficiency and depression.

The body has one way of producing Vitamin D on its own: The skin must have sun exposure.

The alternative for getting enough Vitamin D is through diet and supplements, and it’s hard for many people to get enough Vitamin D through diet alone.

Taking Vitamin D supplements can help increase Vitamin D in your body and decrease SAD symptoms.

Medical experts have suggested the upper limit for dietary Vitamin D intake is 4,000 IU or 100 mcg for adults.

6. Get Some Winter Exercise

It’s easy to be less active when it’s cold outside – unless you live somewhere with tons of outdoor winter activities like Aspen, Colorado.

Signing up for a local gym or heading outside for good old-fashioned walking, running, or hiking can keep SAD away by helping you feel better and sleep better. You can also do yoga for general anxiety or stress online to improve mental health.

Also, resistance or weight training can increase your testosterone levels, reducing depression and anxiety.

7. Take Antidepressants

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), fluoxetine, and bupropion are the most commonly prescribed antidepressants. These medications work to reduce depression by increasing serotonin levels in the brain.

But if you decide to take antidepressants, it’s critical to know the risks:

Antidepressants can cause withdrawal symptoms when you stop taking them suddenly or miss several doses.
Teenagers and adults under 25 may have increased suicidal thoughts when on antidepressants.

Seasonal Affective Disorder Treatment in Texas

If you have SAD or think you may be experiencing symptoms, please don’t hesitate to call Texas Pain Physicians. We can help you.

Give us a call today at (972) 636-5727 or book an appointment online.

Nerve Pain and Diet: 7 Things That Can Cause It and Make It Worse

/in Chronic Pain, nerve pain /by

Nerve pain is a symptom of many diseases and illnesses and has multiple causes.

Inflammation makes nerve pain worse.

In addition to keeping a healthy body weight and remaining active, eating healthy can reduce chronic inflammation and nerve pain (and pain in general).

Let’s look at seven foods to cut down on or avoid altogether.

1. Fruits and Veggies Grown with Pesticides

For decades government agencies and experts recommended eating lots of fruits and vegetables.

Then the internet happened, and people started learning that organic or natural, non-pesticide-grown foods are healthier and safer.

Eating food grown with pesticides that leach into the soil and skin of fruits and vegetables during the growing process adds toxins to your body, increasing inflammation (among other potentially harmful things).

How much food with toxic substances should we eat? None, if possible.

2. Refined Sugar

It can be hard to avoid eating and putting in recipes, but eating a lot of sugar can spike your blood sugar levels.

Elevated blood sugar levels can damage your blood vessels in the long run, which, in turn, can damage your nerves.

Try to snack on fruit and use natural sweeteners, such as stevia and sugar alcohols.

3. Trans and Saturated Fats

These are the “unhealthy fats” you can find in many meats and dairy. Eating them can increase your risk for type 2 diabetes and worsen nerve pain by increasing inflammation.

Some healthy fats include avocados, raw sunflower seeds, chia seeds, salmon (organic or natural), and grass-fed meat.

Also, oils like extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil have no saturated fat and provide health benefits.

4. Salty Snacks and Food

Fast food and processed snacks like chips, crackers, salted nuts, jerky, in general, can damage your body in the long run.

So can processed cold cuts and most canned food.

Consuming a lot of salt can block blood flow and cause tingling and numbness in your hands and feet.

Sticking to unprocessed, unsalted, or lower-sodium snacks and natural or organic cold cuts and canned food can keep you out of the danger zone.

5. Refined and Enriched Grains

Refined grains include white flour, white rice, and white bread.

‘Refined’ means the nutritional value is removed, leaving your body to digest nothing but empty carbs and refined sugar.

However, many refined grains are also enriched, a process that adds vitamins removed during refining.

But these grains still lack other essential nutrients like fiber and antioxidants — and they spike your blood sugar.

Whole grain rice, flour, and bread have fiber and antioxidants and take longer to digest, so you won’t want to eat as much.

6. Alcohol

A drink or two is fine for most people, but too much for too long can damage your nerves.

A neurotoxin, alcohol can cause nerve damage leading to numbness in the hands and feet when it’s abused.

7. High-Mercury Fish

Cans and pouches of tuna are convenient, and they’re also toxic if you eat them too often.

Also, some fish on menus and in grocery stores have high mercury levels.

Try to eat tuna only once in a while, and it may be good to avoid ever eating swordfish and mackerel, which are even higher in mercury.

Low-mercury and nutritious alternatives include salmon and sardines.

Our Locations

PEARLAND - HOUSTON
2243 Park Ave,
Pearland, TX 77581

(281) 616-3314
|
(972) 666-1504

IRVING
7200 N. State Highway 161, Ste. 200
Irving, TX 75039

(972) 559-3501
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(972) 559-3529

MESQUITE
910 N Galloway Ave, Ste 302
Mesquite, TX 75149

(972) 301-8897
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(972) 997-1299

NORTH DALLAS
10 Medical Pkwy Plaza 3 Suite 106
Farmers Branch, TX 75234

(972) 636-5727
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(972) 666-1504

PLANO
5068 W. Plano Parkway ste 170
Plano, Texas 75093.

(972) 636-5727
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(972) 666-1504

ROCKWALL
3013 Ridge Road, Ste. 101
Rockwall, TX 75032

(972) 636-5727
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(469) 264-5192

STONE OAK - SAN ANTONIO
1202 E Sonterra Blvd, Ste 101
San Antonio, TX 78258

(210) 546-1410
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(210) 546-1419

SOUTHLAKE
241 W. Southlake Blvd., Ste 140
Southlake, TX 76092

(972) 301-8896
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(972) 997-1298

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS
8221 Mid Cities Blvd, Ste 100
North Richland Hills, TX 76182

(214) 666-8077
|
(469) 640-6400

WAXAHACHIE
600 Ferris Ave
Waxahachie, TX 75165

(972) 497-2655
|
(214) 238-5242

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Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

7 Ways to Treat and Manage Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) & Chronic Pain

Nerve Pain and Diet: 7 Things That Can Cause It and Make It Worse

7 Ways to Treat and Manage Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) & Chronic Pain

Nerve Pain and Diet: 7 Things That Can Cause It and Make It Worse

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

7 Ways to Treat and Manage Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) & Chronic Pain

1. Get Your Chronic Pain Treated

2. Try Phototherapy or Light Therapy

3. Try Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

4. Take Melatonin Supplements

5. Take Vitamin D Supplements

6. Get Some Winter Exercise

7. Take Antidepressants

Seasonal Affective Disorder Treatment in Texas

Nerve Pain and Diet: 7 Things That Can Cause It and Make It Worse

1. Fruits and Veggies Grown with Pesticides

2. Refined Sugar

3. Trans and Saturated Fats

4. Salty Snacks and Food

5. Refined and Enriched Grains

6. Alcohol

7. High-Mercury Fish

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