Is Vitamin D curing me of depression/ASD, or am I bipolar?

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I was severely depressed from August until mid January, and I may have had a lower grade depression for a time before August, 2012. It's hard to say.

But it seems that, now, I've entered what could be a mild manic mode, which has increased over the past week. Suddenly, everything is easier, including studying, socializing, and even Tae Kwon Do moves. My mood is also (often) pretty elevated. I have been sleeping ok, however, for 6-8 hours every night with the exception of last night.

Another part of my history: previously, I rarely went out in the sun and never drank milk (this has been going on since I was 23 years old and moved to Manchuria). But, during Christmas, I started taking 3000/iu of Vitamin D/day and, for the past two weeks, lying out in the sun by my university's nice pool several times a week (I live in a warm climate). I also recently upped my Vitamin D dose to 4000/iu a day, after reading that this was the maximum safe dose according to the FDA.

My father also claims my shoulders and neck were previously very hunched over, and had been getting worse, and that I am now standing up much straighter -- and that I move through space a lot more naturally now. My friend's girlfriend, who saw me at a party last weekend, told him that I'm much more expressive and reciprocal when I talk than when she saw me last (October 2012).

So did I have what could have been years of Vitamin D deficiency, including beginning stage Rickets, or am I developing bipolar disorder like my brother? How would I figure this out without going to a psychiatrist -- who would likely default to bipolar and prescribe medication (and I'd also have to disclose being diagnosed with bipolar to the State Bar, not something I want to do)?

Sorry for my blatant disregard of punctuation rules. I make up my own. lol

Ride it out.

If it's nutritional, then your body will hit a peak and stay there. If it's bipolar, your body and mind will swing back down.
But obviously, you did have something nutritional going on and you changed that. It could be both.

But vitamin D is not enough to swing you out of a severe depressive state, so I wouldn't worry. Think of it as something good, not something to over-analyze.

I know that's hard. I'm an analytical autistic myself.

If you live in a warm sunny latitude you will not need Vitamin D supplements. Also what you are taking sounds like a lot every day. Your body can store it for a while. I live in a northern latitude and take 5000iu every 4 to 5 days. It seems to keep my mood level in winter.

Maybe you had a period of depression and have no recovered and the relative change is noticed by you and others. I think mania involves a mood that spirals out of control and a euphoric state of mind that the person doesn't always notice.

If you have a lot of racing thoughts and are feeling invincible then it may indicate mania.

Is this so even for those who aren't out in the sun much, or at all?

I think it'd have to be pretty extreme, and is pretty unlikely for someone who has any kind of life. I do know that there was a case of a kid kept locked in a chicken coop for years who had rickets due to lack of sunlight (as well as severe psychological issues, of course) but I seriously doubt you got so little sunlight that you were risking Vitamin D deficiency.

I think vitamin D deficiency occurs mainly in winter months for people living far from the equator. I live in northern England and during winter months we get very weak sun so I take it during winter only.

If you never go out in the sun then maybe you need to take a supplement.

Are you prone to seasonal affective disorder? It's a known problem--seasonal depression. And, yes, vitamin D supplements can help.

The other treatment for seasonal affective disorder is sunlight. You can get a full-spectrum light box to sit next to; or you can spend a lot of time outdoors, or close to a window, or both. Most people feel some relief within a week of starting treatment with light therapy.

If those aren't enough, antidepressants or cognitive therapy can help; but if it's mild and not yet causing suicidal ideation or interfering with your ability to go about your daily life, it should be okay for you to treat it with sunshine. Light boxes can be had by prescription, by the way, and since they are such a safe treatment, most doctors won't mind prescribing one to somebody with the winter blues.

SAD? Maybe. I'm variously depressed enough all times of the year that I might not notice.

I showed up as mildly Vit D deficient on a routine lab test in the summer of 2011 and just ignored it; that was coming off a summer where I sometimes walked a mile to work and did a lot of social stuff, though usually in the evenings. My sun exposure during Fall 2011 to January 2013 was nearly 0. And, like I said, I don't drink milk. Could the problem have simply gotten worse?

All I can say is that I started feeling dramatically better after 3 weeks of taking Vitamin D supplements and getting additional sun exposure. If it's a coincidence, it could be bipolar disorder entering a manic phase. If not, I hope my symptoms continue to get better.

My parents claim I was nearly neurotypical in the summer of 2009 when I came back from nearly 6 months of military field training out in the sun -- and that I regressed after I spent the next two years in South Korea and Manchuria. Was it the field training itself, or something like Vitamin D that explains this?

Doing physical activity in the sun is good for pretty much anyone. It sure didn't hurt.

Vitamin D could definately be helping. Its helped me a bit as well. What has really catapulted my mood a lot better recently is Calcium PHOSPHATE. The darkness in my life has been chopped in half.

Check these out: http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2009/apr ... n-D_01.htm

jsut google vitamin d and autism there is a whole stack of articles there about it. Mainly it is associated with maternal low D levels. Once an autistic child is born, can it be reversed with lots of vitamin D? who knows....

I have to take 5000iu Vitamin D daily. When I switched just to a regular multivitamin, my levels were low again. Granted, I'm a hermit most of the time in a wintery climate.