Vitamin D helps if you are dealing with S.A.D (seasonal affective disorder). Basically, our brain gets to go into a state akin to hibernation. Unfortunately, modern life isn't compatible with this. The effect is tiredness and low mood.

SAD seems to be triggered by low vitamin D, low exposure to sunlight, and the cold. The exact trigger levels vary from person to person.

If you've not tried it yet, a daylight lamp could help a lot, combined with the Vitamin D, it trucks the brain into thinking it's still warm and bright outside. You want a hot in the morning, as well as one in the mid to late afternoon.

Failing that, accept your need to hibernate, and plan it in. It's not ideal, but not fighting it will also help your mood.

only by test results. mine actually fell, so i need more. i dont think it has immediate effect as other vitamins.

Here in the dark North I take - during winter only - 50µg daily. I never take it before going to sleep, but tbh I have no idea if it would even make a difference. Sometimes I feel a bit of an effect - like eating something rich in Vitamin C after a day without vitamins. But all in all, I don't think this alone will improve your mood.

I don't notice feeling any difference tbh.

@droning_in_my_ears

SAD person speaking, supplements are not a replacement for Sunlight, I think the supplents do work.
But it's missing other effects that direct & indirect sunlight has on your entire body.

Vid D is synthesized in the skin by cholecalciferol & UVB light to create usable Vit D for immune, bone & calcium metabolism health.
If possible, walking in the forest/woods, really any green spaces due to reflective properties of the color @ 9-11am sunlight for max effect 20 mins daily.

I can't say they improved my mood much, so there wasn't a great deal to notice, but I have noticed a distinct lack in extreme lows since I started taking it.

The trouble with mood-altering and mood-stabilising medications (and behaviours if you count things like exercise) is that they can affect perception not only in the present, but about past thoughts and behaviours too, so spotting any obvious change might require some effort.

Case in point, it took me a long while to notice that I haven't been having the crushing lows, and part of me still believes that it's not the Vitamin D that's responsible.

Curious why nobody has mentioned that if you take vitamin D you really need to take vitamin K along with it to help with the absorption.

It probably depends if you’re getting enough. The best way would be if your doctor tests your levels. My doctor initially prescribed me to take like a 50,000 IU dose once a week with dinner or something like that, but I found it hard to remember. I asked about switching to something daily and took an over-the-counter pill every day, which became a routine and harder to miss. After another test we doubled it so I take two pills every day and now an in a better range. But there were months in between the tests, so I think it takes time to really have an impact.

Honestly I didn’t notice a difference in my day-to-day until I stopped taking them in March. That was a noticeable adjustment. But when I start taking them in November it’s a gradual change and I don’t notice it

I live in the PNW where the winters are brutal for sun. I was really deficient, so I noticed in an hour. I had more energy and could think clearer. I take the drops.

It's not fast, unfortunately, but I was prescribed a high weekly dose by my doctor and it did seem to help eventually. The long time it takes means I'm left wondering if I feel better because of the vitamins, or something else, but I do feel better.

https://www.drugs.com/medical-answers/long-vitamin-d-work-3555995/

Research has found that vitamin D insufficiency resolved with 12 weeks of weekly high-dose vitamin D.

Unfortunately, when your D is really low, you should up the dosage to get a noticable change, but too much vitamin D can be dangerous so I wouldn't recommend it without finding out what your levels are. When I was checked both my vitamin D and iron were low, which is why I was sleeping constantly and still feeling fatigued.

About 2 weeks after starting on vitamin d for my massive deficiency, I noticed I wasn't an unstable moody bitch nearly as much. 2 years later and I'm very normal emotionally now.

If you have an underlying psychiatric condition like depression then bringing your vitamin D levels to normal might improve your mood and it might not. When I got put on a vitamin D supplement after the doctor caught how low I was my biggest improvement was my energy more than my mood, but being tired all the time will make you feel like shit too.

People have already mentioned you should make sure you’re actually deficient by going to the doctor, but it’s also important to determine why you’re deficient. If you know you just don’t ever get sunlight, well, mystery solved. But if you do then vitamin D deficiencies can also be caused by things like intestinal disorders.

If the issue is not getting enough sunlight, check out the Sunbeam app. I have it as a safety thing because the UV here is godawful, but it also gives you a timer based on the current UV strength for how long you need to stay outside to get your daily vitamin D. Because it’s winter it’s like 40 minutes where I am today, but in the summer it can be as low as 5-10.

Smoke up a cheeseboigah and all will be forgiven 🙏

Guess that'd depend on how muchos needed/taken and how well it's absorbed. Far as I've ever seen the seasonal affective disorder (usually what people look at for D-ficiencies) tends to be a subtle shift rather than a solid good/bad moods.

It only took me 4 days to get kidney stones

Afaik, people in industrialised countries are likely to be vitamin D deficient. However, any vitamin supplements should ideally only be taken if a doctor has told you you do have a deficiency. But I get that this is hard to accomplish in some places and it's easier to just try on your own so no judgement, just saying.

What makes you think you're deficient? Because a generally bad mood may just be the expected reaction to the Current Global Situation™.

They don’t do anything. Go outside more.