Coming from the East Coast, where it was sunny all the time, to Washington state and its gloomy winters was quite a struggle for me. I did not grow up with the gloom, so every winter I have become sad because I missed the sun and its warm rays on my face. Little did I know was that I was lacking a certain vitamin: Vitamin D. I am here to share with you what happens when you lack Vitamin D in the winter, from a personal perspective.

Last winter was quite the rocky road for me. I became really sad, my whole body ached, I was extremely unmotivated, I did not want to do anything other than lay in bed all day, and I lost my appetite for any kind of food, even the food I really loved (it was just really bland to me and tasted off). I started to become an emotional roller coaster.

It got so bad that it started to scare my boyfriend, and it made my mom worry. My boyfriend did not know what to do to make me feel better because it wasn't something he could fix. He tried everything to try to make me feel better, especially on the one night it got really bad. What really scared him the most was my crying fits. I would start crying, stop, and then start crying again; he didn't know what he or I could do to stop my crying. My mom felt helpless because she was across the country and couldn't be here to take care of me.

Only a pill could fix it and make me feel better after I took it.

I went to my doctor this past December and told her how I had been feeling lately and she sent me to get my blood tested to see where my Vitamin D levels were at. Sure enough, I was really lacking that Vitamin D. I then got in my car and went to the store, bought the 1000 IU Vitamin D pills and started taking them regularly. After about maybe a few weeks, I was back to normal.

If you did not know already, we get our Vitamin D from the sun and from the food we eat. We can also get it from a pill or two. In the summers when the sun is out all the time, we do not need to take the Vitamin D pill because we are exposed to it all the time, but in the winter, when it starts to get gloomy, we really need it the most. God, how I cannot wait for the summer and the sun to be out all the time.

It is crazy how one little pill can drastically change your mood. More so, it is insane how it can make feel 100% better and happier at the end of the day. So my message to you is to be aware of yourself and your body. Take Vitamin D in the winter months to avoid what I experienced this past winter. Do it so that you do not scare your family and significant others with crying fits. I know I have learned my life lesson with Vitamin D.