Acupuncture: My Second Visit To Culver City

I just wanted to give an update to those of you following my acupuncture visits.

It was another early morning for me, on a Saturday, to which I’m not used to. Of course, to the average person, 11 a.m. is not early. But I’m working part time right now and my hours do not require me until later in the day. This is a farther drive than my work, so it’s even earlier than I’m used to getting up. Since I would normally sleep in on the weekends, getting up at 9:30 to make it to the 11 a.m. appointment is not easy for me. I’m hoping I get used to this. And for those of you that don’t understand why I would need so much sleep, let me explain it like this: My body works hard at destroying what it can during the day. It tries to damage my joints, ligaments and organs. So sleeping is a chance to undue some of that damage, or if nothing else, give my body some time to rest from RA’s damaging effects. So yes, because I’m a natural night owl, waking up with to the loud “BEEP, BEEP, BEEP,” is fairly hellish.

But I’m on a quest. And that quest is to find out if I can stop the inflammation in my hands and feet. And if the answer is acupuncture then GREAT, and if it isn’t, then I’ll keep looking. I think Michael is a talented physician and if nothing else, he’s very sympathetic and caring. When I first sit down for evaluation, he takes a look at my hands and feet, and without hesitation, touches the inflamed joints trying to feel for any improvement. He asked me if there was any change in my joints after my first visit. I told him that for about one hour, my joints in my hands, not feet, were stiffer and more painful but after that hour, they seemed to have less inflammation than normal. He told me this can happen and not to worry and this is part of the natural healing process. Knowing this already, I wasn’t worried. I know from all the supplements I take that getting more inflammation at the beginning of a treatment can and often does, make you temporarily worse. So the fact that this had made me worse for only an hour, I thought, “Piece of cake”. Again however, he chose to only do acupuncture on my hands and feet, in fear that I might experience what I had the very first time I visited a different physician, which ended up in a three week flare. He wants to take things slow with acupuncture so that not only do I get improvement, but don’t have to deal with unexpected inflammation.

Again, two needles on each hand were placed in the raised parts of my palms. And again, needles were placed in my feet but in slightly different spots. I experienced pretty near the same thing as the last time…. Pain and inflammation seemed to increase during the treatment in my hands. My feet again, for one reason or another, did not experience any pain or inflammation. This time I was surprised that the inflammation in my hands lasted only about a half an hour (after treatment) and for the rest of the day I experienced less inflammation and more relief than my average day. My feet seemed to be unchanged. I do have a couple of spots on the outer parts of my feet…the bunions that are inflamed ever since RA began. So I have no idea why these spots aren’t “awakening”.

I believe in giving everything a good shot and at $25 a session, I can’t refuse this kind of opportunity. I plan on sticking with this for at least one month, if not two, depending on my finances. I hope sometime soon that I can share with all of you, a story of amazing relief from the acupuncture. But if that doesn’t end up happening, then if nothing else, I’m relaxing, truly relaxing for that hour each time I visit. I have a good feeling however, that I will experience tremendous relief from this, so I’m keeping my hopes up! If anyone has a story to share, please do!!

Gene Varient in Parkinsons Affects B6 Metabolism

I found this article interesting and thought all of you might appreciate it as well.  Here is the link.  (click here)

2nd Shot at Acupuncture

This morning I drove half an hour to try Acupuncture again.  I had tried it once before for $50 at a Korean venue located near Hollywood, California.  That experience had been very relaxing.  The needles for the most part, didn’t hurt and I was hopeful that this could reduce inflammation in my Rheumatoid Arthritis.  At the time, I was taking Methotrexate and Prednisone.  Soon after my appointment, I started to flare up.  At that time, I knew nothing about how alternative medications can and often cause an exacerbation of symptoms.  My flare lasted three weeks and I did not go back.

In hind-sight I realize that my flare was just the healing process when using natural therapies.  It was just an average day and I felt like looking into acupuncture again because it’s something I wanted to try once more in the future.   Before I got to far into my research, I came across an acupuncturist who was offering services “at an affordable sliding scale”.  For me, I hadn’t even considered going back anytime soon.  My full time job has gone down to part time and I’m currently looking for more work.  But with services being offered for as low as $25, I took it as a sign that maybe I should go in for treatment.  After all, I don’t HAVE to have conditioner for my hair for a couple of weeks.  I could just survive on saved bottles from old visits to hotel rooms of both shampoo and conditioner.  I could cut back on spending for groceries, etc.  Reducing inflammation in my hands is top priority for me, so why wouldn’t I figure out what I could do to make it happen?  I decided it was worth the tighter squeeze in my budget to give acupuncture another shot.

I told Michael, the acupuncturist, about my previous experience.  He decided we should take it slow.  For this trip, he inserted needles only in my hands and feet.  He said that acupuncture is sort of like, “stirring up the mud in the water” and it gave me a clear vision of a shallow muddy pool being stirred up until it was a thick, murky brown.  I also told him that I had been taking conventional RA drugs when I tried acupuncture before and that now I was on supplements to control inflammation.  He felt that perhaps this time I would not flare up like I did because I have already spent so much time detoxing my body.

The visit: My experience before was in a large building, set with a receptionist, several doctors on hand, ringing phones, a waiting room, and when I went in, I had a diagnostic machine that claimed to tell me which organs in my body were not working correctly.  To this day I wonder if there was any truth to that.  Since that had been my first and only visit to acupuncture, I was surprised but not disappointed to arrive at a quaint town-house and I settled in to a cozy room.  It was personal, lovely and I felt confident that Michael knew exactly what I was trying to accomplish.  The needles were chose carefully.  Just a couple were inserted into the palms of my hands and a few to each of the tops of my feet.  Michael told me the needles in my palms were points specifically found to reduce inflammation in arthritic hands.

Next time we would do more, but for now, no need to stir up the mud in the water too much.  As I lied there, I could feel some activity happening.  My feet weren’t changing in sensations, but my hands were stirring up the mud.  They started to become a little stiff and I could feel pain starting in on my wrists.  I was amazed that just two little needles on each palm could have such a big effect.  (My hands generally don’t feel pain but used to before my change in therapy).  I was worried that I’d have very swollen hands and wrists for the rest of the day.  I took some deep breaths and told myself, “give into the process”.  I finally relaxed, settling into a comfortable state, listening to the beautiful music and enjoying the ambiance.  When the experience was over, I set up another appointment for next Saturday and drove back home.

I was a little more swollen on my way home, just in my hands.  But as the day progressed, the swelling ceased, and my hands feel a little less inflamed than usual.  It could be a placebo effect since I know that acupuncture usually doesn’t work this quickly.  Still, I’m happy about my experience and excited about the prospect of fixing the tail ends of my inflammation once and for all.  Maybe THIS will really work.  In the meantime, I plan on telling all of you everything about it!

My first journal entry on Daily Strength: Aug 8, 2007

To those of you who wake up every morning in pain, or sit for a few minutes and have trouble getting up……or feel weak, tired…. depressed…….. or have people who don’t really understand……… to those of you who keep trying everything you can to get rid of your flare, hoping to just get back to your normal self……….. and to those of you who are saddened that you can’t do the things you use to do……..like pick up a child, or open up that bottle of water, or take off your bra. Yes, there are days I can, but plenty of days that I can’t. And to those of you that read online things like, “arthritis is possibly caused by poor diets, lack of exercise, unhealthy lifestyle…etc.” and get frustrated because you exercise everyday, eat healthfully and always have, etc…………………

I can relate………and, I want to hear from you!!!

I’m certainly not going to loose hope that I can’t get back a semi normal lifestyle. Plus, with medical advancements, you just never know.

But for now, I continue on my journey wanting to hear from all of you……..in our quest to improve the life we have and to share with each-other R.A. which I truly believe no one understands until you have it.

For instance, I love to exercise and I always have. When I exercise I do feel better. But during a time when I’m not having a flare……..I still can’t do….say… yoga. There are just simply things I can not do. I can’t bend my wrists like I use to……and I’ve lost a lot of strength. When I’m not in a full blown flare, I excersize as much as possible while I can. When I am going through a flare (which I am now) and just so you know, I’ve been on prednisone for 8 months………and now I’m on methotrexate for the first time as well as still on the pred. I’m having of course nausea and hair loss. It sucks and I’m not sure I really want to be on this medicine. At first I thought I did, but I just don’t know anymore…….even though I don’t have any better ideas. But anyway, exercise baffles me. Because now that I’m flaring again hard core, I’m still going to the gym. When I get there it takes all of my effort to get myself moving. But once I start moving, it gets a bit better……and continues to improve slightly (never like it use to) but enough that I’m feeling more confident and happy. The moment I stop…..like literally take a step off the elliptical, I feel as though I’m right back to normal again, meaning pain and stiffness, and it takes all of me to get myself out of the gym and back in the car. Sometimes I have to pull on my legs to get them up on the elliptical.

How many of you have tripped on your way into the shower because it’s too hard to lift your legs? Or how about…..how many of you have worried about your driving skills now that it’s difficult to turn your head and the steering wheel? Any of this sound familiar?

On my last day to drink for a long time which was Sat when I went to this amazing wedding. I drank too much of course, champagne, etc. I exercised that day already so I could feel better in the evening. I took prednisone and plenty of pain killers. I know, I know, terrible on my liver. I didn’t start Methotrexate until last night which was on Doctor’s advice………he knew I’d be bingeing on sat. Anyway, my point: So there I was at the wedding, tipsy, dancing, and having a great time…..the most limber and energetic I had been in a while. And a woman I know who is a friend of mine and knows of my R.A………we were walking partners and with my last flare I had to stop the early mornings… Anyway she said, mockingly, “Your rheumatoid isn’t bothering you now is it?” and it felt so……….you know, like you must be faking this sort of thing.

O.k. now you heard me vent. Ahhhh, this is what a journal is all about.