Has Anyone Tried Alternative Medicine?

[autumnleaf]

I was just wondering if anyone has tried any alternative medicine and what was the outcome?

[ellepee]

This has been something many people have been trying to get me to do for awhile. As no relief has come from my western doctors, I'm constantly hearing stories of how accupuncture and other things have changed people's lives. Personally I've always been a little skeptical and kept putting it off until recently.

I actually tried rolfing (http://www.rolf.org/) It was an interesting experience and although I tend to feel better right after, the effects are not long lasting. I'm thinking about giving accupuncture a try next. So many swear by eastern medicine so I guess it can't hurt, I'm just still going to keep on seeing all my western doctors.

Let me know what method you end up trying and how it goes.

-Elle

[Ernie]

HI,

I get a massage every second week and it helps with muscle pain.

[desiree942]

I've had really positive results at times from accupunture. After my first session I was able to stand and walk like my old self, the best day I'd had since getting POTS. Since then the results are good but not as dramatic and in between seeions I revert to feeling symptomatic. I get medical accupuncture from a board certified internist who practices western and eastern medicine. I've also felt good from massages! Probably anything that calms the nervous system is helpful.

HI,

I get a massage every second week and it helps with muscle pain.

Elle - I was having Rolfing the year prior to getting POTS and my 1st pre-sync episode happened the morning after having a rolfing session. The weird thing was that the rolfer called me that morning at work and asked how I was feeling. This was not something she'd ever done before....pure coincidence? I told her about the episode and she said it sounded lke my nervous system. 2 years later I still wonder if the rolfing in any way provoked things. I wouldn't be able to tolerate it now. And I hear it's probably not great for me now that I know I have joint hypermobitity.

I was just wondering if anyone has tried any alternative medicine and what was the outcome?

[lthomas521]

It depends on what you mean by "alternative." Most of the things that help me are available without a prescription (thiamine, salt, licorice, pressure stockings). Does that make them "alternative"? Licorice is an herb, but it is also a drug that was originally suggested to me by a nephrologist. So is it "alternative," or is it part of "Western medicine"? From my perspective, the real question is the quality of the evidence that supports any particular intervention.

[MomtoGiuliana]

lthomas--I agree 100%! Katherine

[StaceyYount]

I see an Traditional Chinese Medicine Practioner every week. And I find that though acupucnture has not cured me or helped me walk better yet according to their theory for a disease to get this advanced it must have gone very deep into the system. It has helped with my nausea and eating and I always have more energy the day after acupucnture. We also get treated with the herbal prescriptions. My doctor has a PhD in Chinese medicine and the herbs they use have been used for thousands of years and each formula is made individually. I had hoped one treatment and ohhh i am better but slowly it has helped and I think it will jsut continue to help me improve.

[kmpower]

Hi. Thank you for a good question.

I think we can hardly go wrong by taking advantage of the healthiest foods, supplements to our diet as indicated by laboratory testing and/or clinical symptoms, exercise to tolerance (even if you can only have someone else massage you), thinking positive, etc.

No medication can fill a vitamin deficiency. Is it alternative to take a needed supplement?

I agree that the definition is vague, but the reality is that we are meant to live as much in tune with natural processes as we can. Therapies which support nature might be really helpful in any given situation.

OLL

[autumnleaf]

Old Lady Lighthead, I totally agree with you about vitamin deficiency.

lthomas521, I would consider the thiamine, salt and licorice alternative treatments.

I'm mainly interested in orthomolecular treatments...

I've been trying a few thing and they have been really helping me. I've been taking ginkgo and it has helped quite a bit with dizziness and feeling like I'm going to faint. It has also helped me with energy and leg pain.

I think the reason ginkgo has worked so well is because of the mode of action. If you read the pharmacology section on this webpage, it will explain it better than me.

http://www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/medica...ct02/ginkgo.htm

I've also been taking B-12 shots, niacin and magnesium in addition to multivitamins. These things are all helping me, too, mainly with energy and leg pain.

I really want to find something that will work for the leg pain. Everything I listed helps, but doesn't take it completely away.

I've been reading about methylation here: http://www.enzymestuff.com/methylation.htm

I'm pretty sure I'm over methylating, so I'm going to try taking l-histidine.

[MNsue]

I have worked with a natrual path doctor for 11 years on and off. She was not able to cure me however, she has really helped my diagestive issues over the years. She was trained in western and alternative medicine. A real plus for me since I use both.

I also agree that you want to work with someone that keeps up on the most recent studies, and looks for each ingredient to make sure it works with you current drugs.

If the doctors don't really know what is going on with my body, I go to her for a second opinion. She was the one that noticed my BP dropping and got the ball rolling to do a tilt table exam after 15 year of this issue.

I live in MN and we have a natural care center in one of our hospitals. She works there. I think it is a great combination.

Ask around. Find out about the amount of training and type of training they have had.

We are tricky patients to work with, you want someone good.

Rhonda

[Lukkychrm42]

I love getting massages when and if I happen to have an extra $100 lying around, but it has to be a good one, because sometimes thy won't pay any attention to my joints, just the long muscle, and in massage school, I was taught to spend a lot of time on joints, because that can help a lot more since the muscles originate and attach there. (My point was that if you don't do much with the joints, it won't help with the pain!)

Otherwise, I do naturopathic care for colds and the flu and things like that, especially since I can't have the stimulant OTC symptom helpers.

I love getting massages when and if I happen to have an extra $100 lying around, but it has to be a good one, because sometimes thy won't pay any attention to my joints, just the long muscle, and in massage school, I was taught to spend a lot of time on joints, because that can help a lot more since the muscles originate and attach there. (My point was that if you don't do much with the joints, it won't help with the pain!)

Otherwise, I do naturopathic care for colds and the flu and things like that, especially since I can't have the stimulant OTC symptom helpers.

As far as the POTS and all that go, exercise is all-natural if you can tolerate any and don't overdo it. But as for herbs or other treatments REPLACING my meds, I wouldn't necessary trust the quality and regulation of the couple of herbs that can act as vasoconstrictors, and I'm not sure how other natural remedies would help with the tachycardia. I have heard some good news about biofeedback, though- I think for pain.

[ode_to_fantasy]

I've started accupuncture from an amazing woman. (I've only gone once, but tomorrow is my second appt)I was really skeptical at first, thinking she would tell me to never go to my dr again and such, but she actually told me that she wouldn't treat me if I wasn't also going to a Western Medicine dr. She said she'd treat me homeopathically, but she wanted me to do research myself on all the things she was wanting to give me, and talk to my regular drs about them. That totally set me at ease. I can't say that the accupuncture helped much that I noticed, I still have a hair trigger for passing out, but I had so much more energy afterwards. Iwent out with my friends for the rest of the day, and stayed up until midnightish, that night. I will definitely be seeing her more often

[masumeh]

I can't really say I've "tried" the type you mentioned, but I've had several run-ins with alternative medicine. My father is currently corresponding with a doctor who treats with herbals, but when I spoke to him, I didn't feel he had a clue. He just called me "a car without gas" and admonished me for not eating breakfast. Several years ago, a close friend brought her trusted homeopathic medicine practitioner friend to visit me in hopes of being helpful. She examined me by messaging my head with smelly oils and I vomited. Then she reverted to examining me by my feet, which she claimed corresponded to various parts of the body. She also had a "theory" with no answers. But she recommended minerals as a blanket treatment. At least she was a nice person and much more sympathetic than the other dude. I'm living in Saudi Arabia right now, and my husband's friend here suggested an ancient Arabian treatment which is similar to blood-letting from the back of the neck. It's called "Hijamah". I don't think I'll go there either though. The best alternative medicine I've found is prayer and patience...of course, that one is not for everyone since not everyone finds comfort and solace in religion. But, truly, the doctor merry-go-round, whether alternative or mainstream, just seems to wear my energy down without any benefit.

[calypso]

I get fairly regular massages (monthly or every 6-8 weeks), and these tend to quiet down my nervous system as well as help with any aches and pains I have from the muscle weakness that I developed as part of POTS.

I have taken a slew of various herbs and supplements, from bovine adrenal glands ground into vitamins to amino acids, Co-Q10 and concoctions from an acupuncturist. The only ingestable thing I have found benefit in is cod liver oil, which is practically mainstream these days -- most people I know are taking some form of omega-3 fatty acids.

I also find aromatherapy helpful in acutely stressful situations or when my nervous system is running on overdrive. And I can't say enough good things about yoga and meditation, which are good for anyone -- including people with healthy bodies in balance.

I agree that the whole Eastern/Western thing is bizarre these days. So many people are taking advantage of treatments that have Eastern origins that they are hardly alternative. I guess if you define "alternative" as not wanting to immediately pump my body full of pharmaceuticals, then I am pro-alternative. Of course, there are prescribed meds out there that I have functioned well while on, and I'm not shunning those.

Amy