Someone upthread mentioned biofeedback. We did that with my D for migranes and daily headaches and it was very helpful. Basically the therapist hooked her up to various monitors and then taught her various relaxation techniques. Because of the monitors you get feedback on what exactly works for you to relax your body and you can start to train your body to relax automatically. In our case it wasn’t covered by insurance.
“Worst that happens is I’m out $30.”
remember as long as you are not harmed by it …even if the benefits are a placebo it is a benefit. you did mention that you talked to your doctor about it first so if you got a thumbs up… $30.00 is worth a try.
I have a friend who is very very smart and she has gone for acupuncture. she says that she realizes there is really zero benefit from a science perspective but she receives a placebo effect benefit and even if her rational mind says it is silly her insomnia responds to her taking “action” it is good. (if that makes sense)
http://cim.ucsd.edu/clinical-care/acupuncture.shtml
Oh, I think there’s more to it than the placebo effect.
@zobroward yes… which is why I said “worst that happens is I’m out $30.”
While I’m interested in the science behind this (thanks, conmama!), as long as it works I don’t care whether it’s placebo or I’m actually getting some biochemical, “real” benefit.
With something as subjective as pain, I have a hard time trying to figure out what would be “placebo” and what would be from something like acupuncture. It’s not like you can really test whether or not there are “real” changes within the body with regards to pain. Sure, there are a few proxy methods but in someone like me where the pain isn’t always from a “real” stimulus, I don’t think there’s any way to test.
exactly, if it works and does not cause harm (placebo or not). amen!
A really good book on Chinese medicine that you can probably get from the library is “The Web that Has No Weaver”. It provides the underlying philosophy and a sense of how it’s a completely different but holistic viewpoint on medicine necessitated by the prohibition on dissection and internal medicine derived from ancestor worship. Nonetheless, a pretty advanced system of logic evolved and in some cases is very effective at treating things that don’t have a simple diagnosis in western medicine, especially chronic things like you are experiencing. It’s not a panacea though.
The effects of acupuncture are very real and they are being studied by scientists. My sessions can sometimes be very intense and so relaxing that I fall asleep.
Romani - I have been watching the following blog for years as writer and I both struggle with the after affects of mast cell activation syndrome and her emphasis is around histamines in foods as they relate to inflammation and reactions. http://healinghistamine.com Anyway she mentions this in her latest blog. (she is from France so some of her shopping options are different than ours)
She was talking about post surgery pain killers and said “I chose to forgo the latter in favour of a natural edible THC preparation extracted from organic leaves which managed the pain 100% for me.”
I tried to google it, but kept coming up with pot references. Maybe what ever this is would help you through your pain and possibly someone on CC will know what it is.
Hope you are coping.
Thanks, kajon. I will check this out.
Ok so I figured I’d update now that I’ve gone.
I used a groupon and the place had really good reviews so I was excited.
The reviews were all for a female doctor and I got a male one. Ok, no big deal.
The first thing he does after looking through my paperwork stuff is tell me to stop taking birth control. Because hormones are bad. Or something. (Mind you, I take it A- because a pregnancy is REALLY not needed right now and B- I have ovarian cysts.)
So then he starts poking me and talking about UTIs (which I don’t have) and about how bacteria builds up in my bladder… or something. After the needles were in, he put a heat lamp on my back (which felt really good!) and left for like 20 minutes.
When he came back, he gave me an herbal supplement and told me to take 30/day for the first week and then to drop down to 20 afterwards. (!!!)
Then, we were done and he said he was going to China for 3 weeks and I could make another appointment if I wanted.
Very, very weird experience and I won’t be going back. I will probably try at least one other acupuncturist before making any kind of judgment about acupuncture since I didn’t have any problem with it, just with the doctor.
Many alternatives, including acupuncture, some diets, supplements, etc, can get pooh-poohed for decades, then one day the med community is touting it. Then, over time, all the conflicting reports show up, it works/it doesn’t, it’s safe, it’s toxic. Hard to sort through. Same is now happening with the idea of anti-inflammatory diets.
I worked for an acupuncturist, for a bit, when the girls were in school, I was between professional jobs, and a friend needed a favor. That guy was an a-hole (it’s why my friend asked me to do it, to spare him.) But I can’t deny how many of his patients, intelligent folks, swore by the treatments. One issue can be that some suggest a long course of treatments, which runs up costs.
So maybe try it again, find a highly recommended practitioner.
So sorry you’re going through this. Full disclosure, my husband is an acupuncturist/herbalist, in practice for 20 years, and I had some acupuncture myself before he switched careers. While nothing works for everybody, Chinese medicine is tremendously effective for many people, and I doubt it’s the placebo effect - after all, this has been continuously practiced for a few thousand years. There are jerks in every profession, so please don’t let this first experience put you off. Maybe you can get an appointment with the woman who got the good reviews. Also, the treatment is sometimes covered by insurance (not sure if this was discussed in the thread already). I couldn’t tell from your post if your guy is also an MD but sometimes it’s better if they’re not. Medical doctors can get an acupuncture license with only about 1 tenth the hours of study that a non-MD is required to have. In NY, at the time my husband was licensed, an MD or chiropractor only needed 300 or 400 hours, but hubby’s program was four years full time. GOOD LUCK.
Romani–sorry you had a bad experience. I think finding a good acupunturist is like finding a good doctor–it takes me testing of the waters. If I were you, I might see if I could get an appointment with the woman you wanted to see initially. Good luck.
I would talk to your doctor about a good quality Tens unit (the cheap ones they sell online or at drug stores don’t work very well), specifically find one that is dual channel (which means each of the electrodes are a full circuit ie the postivie/return are connected to that electrode, allows it to be used with multiple pads without fear of current disrupting the heart). You might be able to even get one paid for by insurance.
The other thing I second is to look into the anti inflammatory diet, people like Dr. Weil promote it. My wife and I have been eating by it pretty much for the past month or so, and I have noticed that the joint pains and such I have been having over the past several years I assume are arthritis are feeling better, not totally gone, but definitely seem to feel it less. There are variations of it it seems, but what we are eating is a relatively low fat diet that is based mostly in vegetables and things like soy and beans (some of the recipes are surprisingly good, my wife made a macaroni salad with no mayo that was loaded with protein, low fat and pretty low calorie, I went crazy over it). I would highly recommend tryng it, it also has benefits for other things reputedly like as helping with heart health and fighting off cancer:).
I will try another acupuncturist. I don’t think I’ll go back to this place for a variety of reasons.
I’m sure it’s a complete coincidence but I’ve been in excruciating pain all day in the area where they did all the needle pokes (lower back, pelvis, hips). The joints hurt, not the skin or anything.
I am so sorry you got a dud. Mine puts all her needles in, then sometimes the lamp. She comes back in every 5-7 minutes to see how I am and then she touches the needles…it’s doesnts hurt, feels tingly. I’m there 30 minutes. She also puts on very soothing music and I go in and out of sleep.
Have you tried low dose naltrexone? I am considering this for non-arthritic hip pain that hasn’t been helped by other approaches.
I was trying to learn about your pain sensitization condition and found a video by the Mayo clinic at the bottom of the page.
Frankly, what you are going through stinks like stinky cheese.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/pain-rehabilitation-center/overview
@snowball city
Yeah, that’s pretty spot-on lol.
Is it just me or does it seem like there should be some sort of “care plan” when I have a consultation with them?
I may not have been following closely enough- who is "them’?
Oops sorry. I bumped this up because I had actually met with the acupuncturist today (post 88). It was a bust but I want to try again with someone else.
I’m wondering if the next time I meet with someone whether or not I should expect a care plan- like I should come back X times every X weeks or whatever.