Hi, Virginia. You wrote "Thinking about getting a light box that simulates dawn to combat how bad I feel in the winter months."

There are so many reasons why a person might feel bad. Some problem might be causing you not to sleep. Solve the problem, and sleep will come. Or it could be turned around, and lack of sleep might be causing you to have problems.

I know one thing for sure - if there's a problem like this which is long-term, hard to diagnose, and not immediately life-threatening, then there are any number of people ready to sell you some over-priced, unproven remedy, usually at a high price.

Here's a true story from me. When I was in my 40's, I used to wake up miserable every morning. Body hurting and brain cloaked in gritty, gray fog. When the alarm went off, I would sit on the edge of the bed, rocking back and forth in misery.

So what caused it? Was it mental illness, secret hatred for my husband or job, eating non-organic foods? No,it was that one of the openings inside my nose was so tiny it did not take in air.

As the doctor explained, when we sleep, the two holes inside our noses 'take turns.' We breathe through one for 20 minutes while the other closes with a little flap. Then we roll over, change holes and breath with the other.

Since I could not breathe with one of them, I never rolled over - never changed position - all night long. Naturally, I woke up with muscles tired and hurting. A good doctor diagnosed the problem, I had a simple operation, and I felt much better right away.