Acupuncture

[tilly]

Has anyone ever tried acupuncture for their wide spread fibromyalgia pain ... I am thinking about giving it a go ..

are there any contraindication with POTS? ... my therapist say's it can lower your BP? ...

I have had pain injections and physio therapy but they have not really helped as the pain and stiffness are a constant feature, presenting at differing rates depending on what you are doing for instance sitting to long at a desk ..

standing or walking anything where you over exert can trigger a worsening of the problem ?..

Along with seizing up where by you can literally not move with out the aid of someone or something to hold on to until you become mobile again ..

It is a vicious circle ?.

i also have more than my fair share of my back going .. it sort of snaps and then i am left totaly imobile for some days untill a gradual progression on to crutches it can take two to three or more weeks before i am back to a decent level of mobility .....

I also have spondylosis throughout my spine and again injections have not helped the only way I cope is by pacing myself and massage .......

any tips gratefully received ....

[vemee]

I tried it but it did not help with pots. It did take away the pain I was having in my shoulders.

[ladyt]

hi..

I have dys/pots. And for the last couple of mnths i have gone to acu. I have tryed a lot of difrent alt,treatments during the years, like healing (from difrent people), homopathic stuff, cranio sarcal terapi etc etc etc.

They only sort i have had some effect from is ostiopathi and acupuncture.. the acu i didnt notise much in the beginning. But my period is better. And my pain in lower stomac is generall lower now.

My goal whit acu is pain controll, better sleep and a period that is not so hard. I am not all there yet, but the effect have been positiv enoufh to continue whit the treatment.

last time i did gett the best effect pain wise. The time before, i got the worse effect. I think the treatment lowerd my bp etc, and my pots was worse for more than a couple of days.

U are supposed to be tierd after the treatment and can feel bad the day of the treatment and maby the day after. last time i was very very tierd and pre magrain after the treatment. the day after was better (i had to take sleeping aids and strong pain killers the day of the treatment). and the days after that pain wise very nice. But not pain free.

i will continoue going, and hope i will gett even better resoult. Ust keeping mey peroid in a better place i gess is worth it. Even thou it dificult getting there and back.

If u try acu i would take my time to find a competent acu.terapist. And maby go very easy whit a few neddels in the begining ust to se how u react to them.

i whanted to gett full value for my money (and a bitt impation), so as many needels she could use. I dont think that was the wises thing. last time she used fewer needels, and i got the best resoult actually. It migth ust be a coinsident, but..

Dont no if this reply is of any halp to u but...

best of luck

[potsgirl]

Hi Tilly,

I have a friend with POTS/CFS/Fibro and she swears that acupuncture really helps her Fibro pain. You need to find a good acupuncturist who knows Fibro and the right way to treat it, and I think it may well help you. I'd give it a try, anyway, and let us know what happens.

Cheers,

Jana

[pat57]

I highly recommend it for muscle tension. FM - can't say.

[roseannecl@gmail.com]

My experience was not so good with accupuncture. I hate sharing it as it might be totally unrepresentative and I don't want to scare you.I had accupuncture once a few years ago and I had a very bad reaction to it. I only went once and I had a half hour session. Within around 3 hours of it I was feeling very nauseous and light headed and shivery. I was really thoroughly ill. I went for it for CFS and for severe POTS,NMH and NCS. I had quite a high heart rate while I was at the session and the lady who did it said she could do one needle to help with this but that she would only be able to do this once as it woudn't work again.

I don't know what it did but it definitely did something. Normally my resting pulse wouldve been anywhere from 100 to 130 , even 150 after eating at that time.My BP was always low at this pulse. After the accupuncture however my pulse fell of dramatically and my resting pulse became 45 to 55 but my BP didn't rise at all and I felt atrociously ill. It continued for around 6 weeks . I felt like my body had had its engine removed which I always thought would be a good feeling but it really wasnt. I couldn't respond physically to anything...conversation, even hearing some very bad news about a relation. I was very upset about my relation but my body just wouldn't rise to the occasion to let me get upset. My pulse continued along at 50bpm at highest during those weeks and I couldn't eat or talk for more than a min or two to my mum not to mention get out of bed or near a shower. I felt really deathly. It was a nightmare!

I rang the accupuncturist who told me this was the healing crisis and a very good sign but I felt like I was going to die after it so I never returned for another session.

I don't mean to put you off but that was my experience. Obviously its not a universal POTS experience but I always appreciate hearing good and bad stories so I hope you don't mind me sharing it.Good luck with it if you do try it.

[extern14]

I have POTS and have done acupuncture before but I never tried it for POTS. It really helped with by lower back pain and the broken bones in my heels. It's wonderful for pain relief and think would be very helpful to you. Let us know how it goes.

[flop]

I've previously had accupuncture from a physiotherapist for back pain and it was very effective.

I am currently seeing a Traditional Chinese Medical practitioner - having accupuncture and taking herbs. I can't say that I have noticed a dramatic change in my POTS overall but certainly after the sessions I feel tired but fantastic. The day after accupuncture is the best day of the week for me, I seem to have much more energy.

I must admit the practitioner I see thinks that I am a total nightmare case - I have so many problems that can't all be treated at once, he described my body as "in a state of chaos". Also, unlike pain, it is hard to tell if POTS is improving or not week by week to let him know which treatment patterns worked best.

Flop

[tilly]

Thanks for all of the tips and input, they are very much appreciated ...

To quote a few words from flops posting .... ( "I have so many problems " " body is in chaos" ) ...... I can relate to that .

I do not know where to let them start, I feel like a wreck ..

my arthritis plays up so much especially now it is damp and cold here ... the spinal instability causes me a lot of problems it is very much a balancing act to get through the day with one thing and then another, quite a struggle .......

I have become more disabled since the Pot's took hold of my life ... I feel as though every thing has been accelerated .... I do not expect a result from acupuncture for the pots .. but hope I get some pain relief in my spine .... I will let you know how it goes ......