Acupuncture seems to be working

Murrmurr

Murrmurr

SF VIP
Location
Sacramento, California
I'd been going every week to get 8 tiny needles stuck in my backside, including my hips, the backs of my knees, and my ankles. Then I just lay there for 20 minutes or so under a heat lamp. After the first 2 treatments I didn't notice any results. Well I woke up really hungry after the first one, which is a good thing cuz I hadn't felt hungry for months and I lost about 15 pounds. And I wasn't overweight to begin with. But, while I wolfed down my bacon, eggs and toast, I wasn't sure that feeling hungry had anything to do with the acupuncture. The treatments were prescribed for pain, so I can reduce the pain medication, or even not have to take it at all.

So anyway, the second day after the first treatment, I wasn't hungry again. But after the second treatment a week later, I was. And I stayed pretty hungry all week. I was cooking again and absolutely devouring at least one hot meal a day. When I saw my regular doctor after the 3rd acupuncture treatment, I was all excited because I'd put on 3 pounds.

Maybe I was too distracted by the loss and recovery of an appetite to notice that I also had significantly less pain after the 3rd acupuncture treatment. I didn't even realize it until I went to fill up my daily pill dispenser one morning and saw I'd forgotten to take the evening dose the day before. The evening dose is the one I usually need pretty desperately because I'm most active in the afternoon.

You have to fill out this form every time you go in for your acupuncture treatment. It asks about your pain level and where it hurts and all that, and it has a couple areas where you can "explain" your answers. So last week, before my 5th treatment, I wrote down that my pain was reduced by a solid 40%. Dr. Yoon got all excited about that and scheduled all my subsequent appointments with the chief acupuncturist, Dr. Gocke (fortunately, she asked me to call her Christine).

Yesterday, for my 6th treatment, Christine stuck in 10 needles. The 2 extra ones went in the calves of my legs. Interestingly, the right calf, the one that gets these frequent, extremely painful cramps...that needle hurt. So Christine and I talked about that. She said she'd noticed excess neurological impulses in that area and chose to stick pins in it, and I told her that I normally get those horrible leg-foot cramps 3 to 5 times every night, but now they only happen maybe twice in a week.

So here's the overall improvements after my 6th week of acupuncture treatments:
Currently, lower back pain reduced by a good 50%
My appetite keeps getting better. I've gained back 12 out of 15 pounds
Excruciating leg/foot cramps down from 3 or more per night to like 2 per week (Christine recommended magnesium supplement)
Easy-peasy bowel movements
I walk better; posture is great, spring in my step, knees take the impact really well

And I just feel good. Really good!

I'm scheduled for weekly acupuncture treatments for another 6 weeks. Meantime, most days I'm fine just taking 1 or 2 pain pills a day instead of 3. The goal is zero pills.
 

Keesha said:
This is fantastic news Murrmur.
It’s great that you were open to alternative treatments. Happy healing.
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Thanks, Keesha.
I forgot to mention, Christine asked if I was sleeping better and it wasn't til I got home that I remembered that lately I feel sleepy at around 6 or 7pm. So sleepy that if I sit in the recliner, I doze off for about 2 hours. That's not so good because then I'm wide awake until after 2 or 3am, so I'm gonna talk to her about that. But I am sleeping better at night.

I wasn't 100% sure about acupuncture, maybe even a little skeptical, so I'm kind of surprised at the improvements. I mean, I thought maybe it was partly (if not entirely) mental, you know? Like, if you believe it'll work, it will. I've been proven wrong. For me, it definitely works.
 

Acupuncture is a very powerful traditional method successfully used for healthy healing for centuries. Apparently it helps bring blood and energy flow to areas in the body that need healing the most which creates balance. There’s always room for the placebo effect but this IS an alternative healing method with incredibly high results in improvement.
You’ve just reminded me how great this can be. After quarantine I will find a good acupuncturist.
 
Murrmurr said:
I'd been going every week to get 8 tiny needles stuck in my backside, including my hips, the backs of my knees, and my ankles. Then I just lay there for 20 minutes or so under a heat lamp. After the first 2 treatments I didn't notice any results. Well I woke up really hungry after the first one, which is a good thing cuz I hadn't felt hungry for months and I lost about 15 pounds. And I wasn't overweight to begin with. But, while I wolfed down my bacon, eggs and toast, I wasn't sure that feeling hungry had anything to do with the acupuncture. The treatments were prescribed for pain, so I can reduce the pain medication, or even not have to take it at all.

So anyway, the second day after the first treatment, I wasn't hungry again. But after the second treatment a week later, I was. And I stayed pretty hungry all week. I was cooking again and absolutely devouring at least one hot meal a day. When I saw my regular doctor after the 3rd acupuncture treatment, I was all excited because I'd put on 3 pounds.

Maybe I was too distracted by the loss and recovery of an appetite to notice that I also had significantly less pain after the 3rd acupuncture treatment. I didn't even realize it until I went to fill up my daily pill dispenser one morning and saw I'd forgotten to take the evening dose the day before. The evening dose is the one I usually need pretty desperately because I'm most active in the afternoon.

You have to fill out this form every time you go in for your acupuncture treatment. It asks about your pain level and where it hurts and all that, and it has a couple areas where you can "explain" your answers. So last week, before my 5th treatment, I wrote down that my pain was reduced by a solid 40%. Dr. Yoon got all excited about that and scheduled all my subsequent appointments with the chief acupuncturist, Dr. Gocke (fortunately, she asked me to call her Christine).

Yesterday, for my 6th treatment, Christine stuck in 10 needles. The 2 extra ones went in the calves of my legs. Interestingly, the right calf, the one that gets these frequent, extremely painful cramps...that needle hurt. So Christine and I talked about that. She said she'd noticed excess neurological impulses in that area and chose to stick pins in it, and I told her that I normally get those horrible leg-foot cramps 3 to 5 times every night, but now they only happen maybe twice in a week.

So here's the overall improvements after my 6th week of acupuncture treatments:
Currently, lower back pain reduced by a good 50%
My appetite keeps getting better. I've gained back 12 out of 15 pounds
Excruciating leg/foot cramps down from 3 or more per night to like 2 per week (Christine recommended magnesium supplement)
Easy-peasy bowel movements
I walk better; posture is great, spring in my step, knees take the impact really well

And I just feel good. Really good!

I'm scheduled for weekly acupuncture treatments for another 6 weeks. Meantime, most days I'm fine just taking 1 or 2 pain pills a day instead of 3. The goal is zero pills.
Click to expand...

Continued good luck to you .......... I had my first acupuncture today @ my scheduled therapy . Ten needles in each lower leg & tops of the feet.
 
rgp said:
Continued good luck to you .......... I had my first acupuncture today @ my scheduled therapy . Ten needles in each lower leg & tops of the feet.
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They always ask if I want to lie face up or face down and I've always said face down. The pain is in my back, so it seemed logical to me. But now that I know more about it, and I'm curious, I'm gonna go with face up next time.

Best with yours, rgp!
 
I have had acupuncture for tendonitis in my elbow a number of years ago. It was great and did help me. I have also used acupuncture before my cochlear implant (head) surgery on my right side. The difference from the pain and recovery from the first side (left) done, was amazing. For my shoulder pain - I decided to go with physiotherapy and the shoulder is getting better.
 
IrisSenior said:
I have had acupuncture for tendonitis in my elbow a number of years ago. It was great and did help me. I have also used acupuncture before my cochlear implant (head) surgery on my right side. The difference from the pain and recovery from the first side (left) done, was amazing. For my shoulder pain - I decided to go with physiotherapy and the shoulder is getting better.
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Did the tendonitis return? I'm wondering if I'll have to keep getting treatments for the rest of my life and I'm pretty sure that if I finally get off the pain medication, it'll be practically impossible getting it prescribed again if I need it down the road (it's an opioid).
 
My wife had a neck injury from a car accident and after several months of pain after she'd been to several doctors she finally tried acupuncture. The first treatment took away a lot of the pain, the second treatment took away the rest and the third and final treatment had her feeling less stiff. She never had to return for treatment for her neck but did have treatments for other things a few times over the next 20 years. It worked very well for her.
 
Murrmurr said:
Acupuncture seems to be working

I walk better; posture is great, spring in my step, knees take the impact really well

And I just feel good. Really good!

I'm scheduled for weekly acupuncture treatments for another 6 weeks. Meantime, most days I'm fine just taking 1 or 2 pain pills a day instead of 3. The goal is zero pills.
Click to expand...
@Murrmurr - glad to hear, sounds like you're gaining back mobility too...awesome!
 

Acupuncture​


I've thought about having it several times, but then, putting all those needles into me would release all my wind, I'd deflate like a balloon, and besides, I've already got an orifice to let my wind out. :)
 
Today I'll be going in for my 8th acupuncture treatment.

My lower back pain is 90% gone for, I'd say, 80% of the time during the day and almost 100% of the time during the night. The extremely painful leg-foot cramps that woke me up 3 to 5 times every night don't happen at all, so I'm sleeping much better. All night.

When I get out of bed in the morning, I have some pain and stiffness in my back. The pain is maybe only level 3 or 4, but I take my morning meds to "stay ahead of the pain" (doctor's orders). Depending on how active I am, I don't need another pain pill until about 3 or 4pm and I usually don't need another one later on. But even when I'm active, like if I vacuum and mop or go outside to play, my pain level doesn't ever get worse than level 6 or 7, and it goes away completely if I just sit down for about 15-20 minutes. Completely goes away.

One tiny drawback is that, now that my back pain is totally tolerable, the pain in my neck seems more acute. I have a bad disk in there and a little bone spur and arthritis. But the neck pain really isn't all that bad, just very annoying. And I'm gonna mention it to my acupuncturist today. She can't treat it yet, because the insurance approves only one issue at a time, but she can request separate treatments.

I can totally recommend acupuncture for pain.
 
Murrmurr said:
Today I'll be going in for my 8th acupuncture treatment.

My lower back pain is 90% gone for, I'd say, 80% of the time during the day and almost 100% of the time during the night. The extremely painful leg-foot cramps that woke me up 3 to 5 times every night don't happen at all, so I'm sleeping much better. All night.

When I get out of bed in the morning, I have some pain and stiffness in my back. The pain is maybe only level 3 or 4, but I take my morning meds to "stay ahead of the pain" (doctor's orders). Depending on how active I am, I don't need another pain pill until about 3 or 4pm and I usually don't need another one later on. But even when I'm active, like if I vacuum and mop or go outside to play, my pain level doesn't ever get worse than level 6 or 7, and it goes away completely if I just sit down for about 15-20 minutes. Completely goes away.

One tiny drawback is that, now that my back pain is totally tolerable, the pain in my neck seems more acute. I have a bad disk in there and a little bone spur and arthritis. But the neck pain really isn't all that bad, just very annoying. And I'm gonna mention it to my acupuncturist today. She can't treat it yet, because the insurance approves only one issue at a time, but she can request separate treatments.

I can totally recommend acupuncture for pain.
Click to expand...
This is great news Murrmurr. It sounds like you found a good acupuncturist. Your recovery is inspiring. It’s good that you are open to trying alternative therapy.
 


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