Acupuncture All the Time, Please
Yesterday was day one of acupuncture, and while it's only been one one hour session, I have to admit, I think it is making a difference.
I've had acupuncture before. Once in awhile I get a spasm thing in my upper back, located just off the left shoulder blade. The first time it happened, I literally could not move. I was awake all night in pain. That's some serious pain-- the no sleeping kind. Partner had to practically lift me out of the bed, and when the sun came up in the morning, we went to urgent care. "No," I told the nurse, "pain killers aren't touching it." She thought I meant Tylenol; I meant Vicodin. I still get the spasm every now and then, and probably need something in my neck adjusted. But since I am pretty fearful of the chiropractor, I have no idea how it will get fixed. It's probably a hold-out injury from years of playing front-row rugby. The scrum (pay attention to the first three seconds of that video) can wreak havoc with one's neck. (If you looked at that list link, I played either loose-head prop or hooker my entire rugby career. See how my head was locked in there. Ouch.)
In any case, a few days after visiting the urgent care clinic, my father referred me to acupuncture. Apparently the anesthesiologists at his hospital had undertaken some training in acupuncture to add to their arsenal of pain management skills. I went twice to these guys. They also used acupuncture with electric current, and it was pretty phenomenal. This is apparently called "electroacupuncture." At one point, it felt distinctly like someone was stroking the inside muscles of my back. And that felt damn good, I can tell you.
Yesterday's trip to the acupuncturist was a little more traditional. We don't really know that I have problems with fertility, so to speak, since I have never tried to get pregnant, so she's not giving me traditional fertility acupuncture. I do, however, have some serious problems with getting stressed out and as I've noted before, my GERD is back with a vengeance. I've always had stomach issues, so the acupuncturist is treating those and trying to get my mind quieted.
Getting the mind quieted means a needle at the bridge of my nose, which I thought would be rather unpleasant, but it wasn't it at all. In fact, it's probably the one needle I consistently did not feel. I am almost sure I could feel my energy moving around while I was in there, and when I left, I was totally exhausted. I felt like I couldn't drive, like I should take a nap in the parking lot. Everything seemed to be moving very fast. But it felt good, and later in the evening, I perked right up. So much so that I thought I wouldn't be able to sleep again, that insomnia was back as an unwelcome house guest. But, wrong-o! I was asleep in minutes and slept, unbelievably through the night. Straight until 6:45, which is my usual waking time. It felt great.
So far, I believe. I loved it. I loved it so much, I'd consider walking around with those little needles poked into me, but that would probably defeat the purpose. I am looking for excuse to continue seeing this woman after (if) I get pregnant. But then again, I've only been once. Maybe there's some drug on the needle I don't know about? I don't want to be too excited too early. But so far, I can't complain. (No GERD this morning either... Hm...)
I've had acupuncture before. Once in awhile I get a spasm thing in my upper back, located just off the left shoulder blade. The first time it happened, I literally could not move. I was awake all night in pain. That's some serious pain-- the no sleeping kind. Partner had to practically lift me out of the bed, and when the sun came up in the morning, we went to urgent care. "No," I told the nurse, "pain killers aren't touching it." She thought I meant Tylenol; I meant Vicodin. I still get the spasm every now and then, and probably need something in my neck adjusted. But since I am pretty fearful of the chiropractor, I have no idea how it will get fixed. It's probably a hold-out injury from years of playing front-row rugby. The scrum (pay attention to the first three seconds of that video) can wreak havoc with one's neck. (If you looked at that list link, I played either loose-head prop or hooker my entire rugby career. See how my head was locked in there. Ouch.)
In any case, a few days after visiting the urgent care clinic, my father referred me to acupuncture. Apparently the anesthesiologists at his hospital had undertaken some training in acupuncture to add to their arsenal of pain management skills. I went twice to these guys. They also used acupuncture with electric current, and it was pretty phenomenal. This is apparently called "electroacupuncture." At one point, it felt distinctly like someone was stroking the inside muscles of my back. And that felt damn good, I can tell you.
Yesterday's trip to the acupuncturist was a little more traditional. We don't really know that I have problems with fertility, so to speak, since I have never tried to get pregnant, so she's not giving me traditional fertility acupuncture. I do, however, have some serious problems with getting stressed out and as I've noted before, my GERD is back with a vengeance. I've always had stomach issues, so the acupuncturist is treating those and trying to get my mind quieted.
Getting the mind quieted means a needle at the bridge of my nose, which I thought would be rather unpleasant, but it wasn't it at all. In fact, it's probably the one needle I consistently did not feel. I am almost sure I could feel my energy moving around while I was in there, and when I left, I was totally exhausted. I felt like I couldn't drive, like I should take a nap in the parking lot. Everything seemed to be moving very fast. But it felt good, and later in the evening, I perked right up. So much so that I thought I wouldn't be able to sleep again, that insomnia was back as an unwelcome house guest. But, wrong-o! I was asleep in minutes and slept, unbelievably through the night. Straight until 6:45, which is my usual waking time. It felt great.
So far, I believe. I loved it. I loved it so much, I'd consider walking around with those little needles poked into me, but that would probably defeat the purpose. I am looking for excuse to continue seeing this woman after (if) I get pregnant. But then again, I've only been once. Maybe there's some drug on the needle I don't know about? I don't want to be too excited too early. But so far, I can't complain. (No GERD this morning either... Hm...)
posted by Katie at 9:12 AM
3 Comments:
Kristin saw an acupuncturist for her high blood pressure and swears by it. Depending on your stress level during pregnancy, you might want to see one occassionally just to help you be calm and keep your systems on track.
I have a strange love and fascination for my acupuncturist. He's a huge Korean guy who got me walking again and is now treating my housemate for her chronic bowel disease. I love watching him work - on someone else! He puts the huge needles right into her bowel which is pretty amazing.
When I was getting my lower back treated I would get really strong emotional reactions to it. According to my chakra book people store anger and resentment in their lower back. I used to either feel calm or sob hysterically and he would just gently chortle under his breath at my huge reaction to it. I'm so impressed with his work I'm getting some information about the Bachelor degree in Acupuncture!
Glad to hear you're sleeping. I have insomnia problems too. I'm going to try getting an electric oil vaporiser and using lavender and clary sage in my bedroom and seeing if that helps.
That's awesome! Acupuncture did wonders for my various back troubles, but didn't make a big difference with GERD (but my GI doc keeps changing my diagnosis on that one anyway, so who can blame acupuncture?). I'm so glad it's working for you.
Just reducing the stress level in your life seems like justification enough for going every 6 weeks to two months even post (hopeful) PG!
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