Acupuncture

[in_parentheses]

For everyone who asked about my acupuncture experience

Comments

[ex_colorwhe]

yAt!

[beah]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing this, I've been thinking about acupuncture for various things myself. Maybe I will see if my insurance covers it.

[hilariarex]

I also seem to have a general digestive grumpiness that might be IBS, or might not be, depending on which doctor I talked to. Several thousand dollars of expensive tests turned up nothing. What did you end up trying? I go through periods of being fine alternating with periods of being on 70 jillion otc medications.

also... how in the world do needles help with your intestines?? what is the theory there?

[hilariarex]

sorry-- didn't mean for that to come out sounding super-skeptical. What I actually meant is that I don't know how acupuncture works. I might be interested in trying it as well, though needles wig me out, but due to uneven health insurance since leaving school I haven't been able to see any doctors about it.

[in_parentheses]

Heh. No, it's cool -- I freely admit that it doesn't sound like it makes sense. My acupuncturist isn't into explaining the mumbo-jumbo of it, but from what she's told me, there are "patterns" in Chinese medicine -- kind of like humors, it sounds like. Mine is one that tends to get "clogged," bogged down in things -- so from a Chinese medicine perspective, my digestive issues and depression are connected. It sounds nuts, but I actually found that comforting; I think that *is* an accurate assessment of my personality's downsides, and I loved being treated as a whole person whose body fits together, rather than a collection of unrelated symptoms and parts

[in_parentheses]

Oh, and as to what I ended up trying... At first I thought it was my birth control that caused the problems, so I tried a variety of other pills and patches. I'd get better for a little while, and then it would come back. I went off birth control entirely, and that still didn't help. (I never went back on; I've become kind of a hippie nutjob about taking pills in general.)

I kept endless food diaries. I gave up dairy, wheat, and processed sugar for a week each. I panicked that I might have celiac. I didn't notice any food-related patterns, though. I went to a gastroenterologist, who spent most of my appointment on the phone with another patient. She then looked at me and said, "You have IBS. Eat more fiber." So I did, and that didn't help. At which point it occurred to me, "Huh. Acupuncture?" And now I can eat at restaurants without being miserable! La!

[leighjen]

There is a Community Acupuncture place above the pizza/beer place we went when you were here last year. It is set up on a sliding scale and everyone is treated in a common room. I have been wanting to try it to see if it could move my depression but was leery of trying it since no one I trusted ever tried it. So thank you so much for review. :-)

[in_parentheses]

You're welcome! I hope it helps. :)

[noradannan]

How did you go about finding an accupunturist? I have problems finding good healthcare providers in general, but I don't know how to really start finding a good one. I'm holding out vague hope that my insurance will cover accupunture soon, but I have a couple of things I'd like to try it for anyway. Thanks for talking about your experiences.

[in_parentheses]

I don't really have any more detailed advice about finding someone good, unfortunately. I really just ran down the list of insurance-approved acupuncturists in my area, called a couple who said they specialize in IBS, and saw the one who could give me an appointment soonest. I can absolutely recommend her, but you probably don't want to come all the way to Davis. :) Good luck!