Can Seasonal Changes Affect Your Sleep and Health?

Here’s a transcript of our video!

Good morning. Hi, I’m Javier and I’m Gretchen and this is, we have no clue what to call it because with the new name, it’s

Good Morning with LiveWell.

Good morning. Good morning Live Well. We’ve been tossing up names by next episode I’m sure we’ll have something. But anyways, I’m, yes, good morning. And it’s been a while since we’ve had you on video.

I know.

Yeah. Yep. So, um, yeah, it’s, it’s been that crazy. She’s like really active with the chamber of commerce and then doing these other things and uh, yeah, this woman keeps busy stuff. Yay. Um, so a lot of things have changed with our name change. The new live signage is up and you live while website is 99% up. Um, our furnishings, we’re offering furnishings now. So those are kind of, those are set, uh, kinda turning through that learning to hold furniture game. Um, gosh, when have we breathe?

Speaker 3: (01:07)
Um, at the end of each sentence we take a quick breath. That is very true. Yeah. That’s about it. Yep. God carries us through. There was no example better than that one. But yeah, it’s the total truth. We wouldn’t be able to, to make it without that foundation,

Speaker 2: (01:22)
the whole faith and knowing that we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. So today we want to talk about because of the time change and the whole seasonal change and everything, um, something that is near and dear to your heart because this affects you a lot. Yeah. So you want to tell them what it is and give them a little bit of background.

Speaker 3: (01:41)
Well, let me just say, I truly love fall. That is my favorite time of year is the cold months, but it’s also the worst months for my health. So, um, some things are still good about it and some things I still suffer with, but I can say as far as energy and everything, as far as depletion of my vitamin D and my sleep cycles and my allergies, like everything is hit.

Speaker 2: (02:09)
All of that hits within like the past two weeks, well, maybe three weeks to the next three months for her. And, uh, I know that the first time that I went through it with her was a couple of years ago and it was insane because, um, she, uh, she went into almost a depression because of light. And I’m like, what do you mean by light that the sun’s up? But no, evidently some people are really, really, really affected by this, right?

Speaker 3: (02:35)
Yes. Yeah, about three years. It’s been three years, my gosh. Maybe two years. Okay. I’m going to say it’s two years, but yeah.

Speaker 2: (02:42)
Yeah. So that way she’s not that, that’s exactly what this says. I don’t want to admit that I’m just getting Golder. That sits up in two years. Yeah.

Speaker 3: (02:48)
Well, I was very active in the gym and I was running and Bobby and I were just living it up and very active. And in the process I fractured my hip and that’s, I found out that the reason I suffer from sleepiness so much throughout the day as well is because I have an extremely low vitamin D. I’m so in the process of figuring out options and stuff, I tried a lot of the synthetic vitamin DS, um, including prescribed from my doctor. I was taking actually 50,000 milligrams a week and after two years I didn’t notice any change in the way I felt. I was also addicted to taking one energy drink a day and I would take that after lunch because that’s when my body would crash the hardest. And having to stay alert at the computer desk was impossible. So with all these things against me, um, I found out light therapy is something that’s used commonly in the Northern areas and I decided to try it myself. And I’m not saying anybody should try this because I’m just, again, I’m trading when negative for a negative because everyone knows a tanning bed has so many cancer risks.

Speaker 2: (03:50)
Yeah, she did. She, she went to the start tanning because she’d seen the likeness between these light boots that they have up North and what we have down here with the tanning beds. So yeah. So she started tanning and I mean, I hate to say it, but, uh, it worked for her. It really did. Cause I, I’m, I’m totally against the whole tanning thing. Um, but it worked for her as far as cheering her up and bringing the energy back. Um, so the name for all this is called seasonal affected depression. Yeah. S a D and it does affect a lot of people. Um, and it affects a lot of people this time of year. Uh, mainly because the days are shorter. Um, and a lot of us don’t get out and get enough sunlight as it is. Yeah. Yeah. So that, that is one that, that’s just one factor of what happens during the seasonal changes. Another one is the allergies. Tell them how bad your allergies have gotten.

Speaker 3: (04:49)
Well, in springtime and fall time, those are my nemesis times of the year. Um, obviously things are either blooming or they’re dying off and in the process, even in the fall when you have a lot of the deciduous trees losing their leaves and stuff like that, you also have certain plants that are blooming. So your molds change. Um, your pollen counts change, everything changes. So for me, um, either when it’s blooming in the spring or is dying off in the fall, I am really affected by it. So it causes my breathing to take effect. Um, one for being outdoors. Again, biking, running, walking, whatever. Breathing in general is kind of a needed thing. So my breathing and stuff has like an asthmatic tendency, so I have to carry an inhaler. Um, but also, um, I noticed my allergies affect my sinuses. I usually have sniffy nose there for awhile and it’s not just because of cold air. Again, it’s the allergen issues, but it affects my sleep.

Speaker 2: (05:46)
So in my, and in my research, what I found was that, um, of the seasonal effected allergies, um, there is actually a, um, you would think that it’s like 50, 50 for people. But honestly, there’s more people that are affected by allergies in the fall than there are in the spring, which is crazy to me because you would think more things, more things are alive and awake during the spring and especially here in the Southeast because, um, or Southwest. Southwest, yeah. Southwest. And the Southwest. Um, I mean we have a lot of wind during the spring, but evidently the fall is when heavier allergies hit. And that’s because everything is falling down and, and there’s so much dust in the air. So of all this, so we’ve given you two negatives. So let’s give you a couple of sleep positives. Number one is the fact that that two, during the fall time, winter time, you get to sleep easier.

Speaker 2: (06:45)
And why is that cold? Yeah. Yeah. So, um, yeah, because remember, during the summer we’re struggling against, I mean, I know down here we’re struggling against 90 degrees to a hundred degrees and everything. Yeah. Higher. Yeah. And at night it hardly cools down. So yeah. So we’re looking at a, we struggle against the heat at that point and we lose a little bit of sleep because the heat, because remember, you have to have optimal temperatures to sleep. Um, and now we’re looking at some nice nights where we get to snuggle and get underneath like 10 blankets. And I’m not afraid to admit that I love my Sherpa and maybe wear some Sherpa socks and flannel sheets are Portuguese. Flannel sheets are amazing. Yeah. If you get a chance to check out this, it’d be a shameless plug. But if you do get to, uh, come into the store and check out our sheets, check out the Portugal Portuguese flannel sheets.

Speaker 2: (07:39)
She just put ’em on the bed last week. They’re awesome. They are so awesome. No, my breathtaking moments when you first touch your sheet when you get into bed. Yeah. We normally use a 10 sell sheets and uh, those state cold, those they’re really cold and during this time any other ice. Okay. So commercial aside. So anyway, so yes, the lower temperatures will, um, they, they, they allow you to fall asleep much faster. So fall, winter is much better for sleep. I mean, you also consider the link that time you have with cold air. Lack of light. Yeah. Yeah. So naps are easier, um, going to sleep and staying asleep is easier to, yeah. Yeah. Generally it is. Um, it’s a lot of years here to relax during these times. A year. So that is, that’s definitely one more positive or one big positive. Um, for me, the loss of your, your, this, this is, this is like where we differ. For me, I hate losing the daylight because I, you know, I have lots of chores to do but it’s also easier to relax. So yeah. So yeah, so that’s, that’s a positive negative on me. It’s a negative on her. It’s a positive. So whatever, that’s the way we have it written. The show notes is as a positive cause she wrote this show notes so it says positive loss of productivity and then I underlined loss of productivity is not a positive.

Speaker 3: (09:05)
He’s totally not telling the truth right now anyways when it comes to like exercising in the morning, I do miss the fact that we have a liberal light to add a little bit of heat to the temperature factors cause you go out there, you have like a bunch of walk in, ask them. I was out there on that scenic extension because you have to bond the love so much. There’s no bushes and trees and stuff to block the air breeze. And you’re right by the mountains so it just comes right down at you. So it’s cold. But I have to say I do love, we have a fire in a fireplace now and we get to cuddle and I get to use my shirt wear blanket and my fluffy warm socks and I get to wear my plan. Oh pajamas. Oh there’s so much to it. And the smell of a campfire.

Speaker 2: (09:49)
So to recap, there are positives and negatives. There are positives and negatives to the whole seasonal change. Right now you are looking at, yes you are gaining in the rest and sleep department. And I really, really, really hoped that a lot of you are taking advantage of that because there’s a lot of us that, let’s face it, we’re not sleeping enough. So use this time of year to catch up for the time where you maybe, I don’t know where you have to speed up.

Speaker 3: (10:14)
You know, I need to throw in one thing. Big thing, and I think it affects moms more than it does dads. But another thing is, is the stresses added from shopping. The holiday stress alone starts to creep up on you in the fall time. And if any of you women could take a note or two, what I would tell you is to really write down the priorities to your gifts. If it’s not a priority to them, like they really need it for a reason. Mark it off, stop stressing over getting an a number of gifts or a topic or even a cost of a gift. None of that matters. I mean, when you’re a kid and you look back, there’s very few gifts you can recall that were Whoa, wow. Moments that you recall. It’s usually the events that occurred during the hallways, the people you were with. Those are the things that are memories. So

Speaker 2: (10:57)
I do, I think that’s a good topic for our, maybe our next one because the holidays are coming up. So plan on it. So next episode will be holiday stresses and how to deal with them. Hey. Gotcha. Yeah. So okay, back to the recap because we have to recap because we’re running long. So yes. So take advantage of the extra sleep, take advantage of the cooler nights. Take advantage of the time you get to snuggle, which is a big for me because I’m a snuggler so, and um, and the other parts are make sure that you’re, um, taking care of your allergies because if they’re getting bad this time of year considered buying some over the counter stuff that they’re getting really bad, go see your doctor there. You know, there’s, there’s all kinds of allergy allergy medication now that doesn’t put you to sleep.

Speaker 2: (11:41)
It, you know, basically controls your allergies and doesn’t put you to sleep. That’s important. Um, and as far as dealing with the seasonally affected depression, right? Yeah. Right. As far as dealing that go see your doctor, go, go read up on it, research on it. It is real. There is no reason to feel guilty about any of it. It’s, it’s just a shame. Right. Exactly. And it, it’s, it’s part of just being human. This, this kind of, this kind of stuff happens. Uh, it affects different people differently. And that’s why we’re so great because we’re all different. But so anyways, um, until next time, uh, we can’t even say, remember when you sleep while you live. Well, um, just remember us at live. Well, we hope that you sleep well. Yeah, there you go. There you go. Uh, until next time, have a wonderful day and bye bye. Bye.