Has anyone tried acupuncture to relieve SS symptoms? I've had friends who have used this to relieve pain with regard to other ailments, with much success. Just wondering.
acupuncture relieves a lot of SS symptoms for me.
I'm lucky to have a college clinic nearby.
I have found acupuncture to be helpful, but be careful. The last practitioner I went to over did it and I went into a flare and felt poorly for a full week afterwards. Find someone knowledgeable that you trust. The woman I currently see takes treatment slowly with me. I find it helps with sleep, pain and overall wellbeing.
Hey girlfriend!
Yes, it helped even before I knew I had it, but not at first!
My first was an American man, who was so soft spoken and gentle, but shot me off the table repeatedly! Man, talk about getting worked over, I bet they heard the screams for miles! It was just like Mom of 3 describes!
The second were oriental masters, one a man who had been a Physician in Vietnam, and a Chinese master Acupuncturist, both were herbalists as well. BUT the Chinese who owned the practice was into 'Ceragem Beds' and these eventually ramped my back pain up to an epic crash! When I refused the bed and just had the acupuncture done, and took any herbal concoctions, I felt much better.
Then my Chiropractor who knows a little about it, decides to just put a few needles in me, I don't think he hit enough of the other meridians to balance me, and man, did that crash me, so should I return, it will be to another master, and I will dictate exactly what my treatment will NOT be!
I have had the invasive tests, pain management injections into the nerve root of the spinal cord, and they could either never get me numb or wait until I was numb, all of the untrasound treatments at the DC to the point where I got that I just could not stand to be touched! Oh, and lets not forget all the car rides to get there! I've had to sleep with my feet on a roll pillow so that the back of my legs don't touch the sheets, and it's not fun!
The less people touch me, poke me, push me, or push on me, the better I am! Too much of a good thing is just TOO MUCH, so please take care, go slow and easy, and know when to say "NO"!
You may not be as sensitive as I have become, so you may be tolerant of things I am not. I could never tolerate TENS, again off the table and in tears on the lowest setting possible, but it really helps everyone else? I think I'm in need of a rewire! Don't let me scare you away from this, just take it easy, and choose wisely!
Let us know how it goes!
Wishing you well,
SK
Mom of 3 said:
I have found acupuncture to be helpful, but be careful. The last practitioner I went to over did it and I went into a flare and felt poorly for a full week afterwards. Find someone knowledgeable that you trust. The woman I currently see takes treatment slowly with me. I find it helps with sleep, pain and overall wellbeing.
Good to know. I may look into this. Thanks
SK said:
Hey girlfriend!
Yes, it helped even before I knew I had it, but not at first!
My first was an American man, who was so soft spoken and gentle, but shot me off the table repeatedly! Man, talk about getting worked over, I bet they heard the screams for miles! It was just like Mom of 3 describes!
The second were oriental masters, one a man who had been a Physician in Vietnam, and a Chinese master Acupuncturist, both were herbalists as well. BUT the Chinese who owned the practice was into 'Ceragem Beds' and these eventually ramped my back pain up to an epic crash! When I refused the bed and just had the acupuncture done, and took any herbal concoctions, I felt much better.
Then my Chiropractor who knows a little about it, decides to just put a few needles in me, I don't think he hit enough of the other meridians to balance me, and man, did that crash me, so should I return, it will be to another master, and I will dictate exactly what my treatment will NOT be!
I have had the invasive tests, pain management injections into the nerve root of the spinal cord, and they could either never get me numb or wait until I was numb, all of the untrasound treatments at the DC to the point where I got that I just could not stand to be touched! Oh, and lets not forget all the car rides to get there! I've had to sleep with my feet on a roll pillow so that the back of my legs don't touch the sheets, and it's not fun!
The less people touch me, poke me, push me, or push on me, the better I am! Too much of a good thing is just TOO MUCH, so please take care, go slow and easy, and know when to say "NO"!
You may not be as sensitive as I have become, so you may be tolerant of things I am not. I could never tolerate TENS, again off the table and in tears on the lowest setting possible, but it really helps everyone else? I think I'm in need of a rewire! Don't let me scare you away from this, just take it easy, and choose wisely!
Let us know how it goes!
Wishing you well,
SK
Hey SK,
Thanks for the input. There is a Chinese Acupuncturist in my area. I may go and talk to her.
Sounds like you've been raked over the coals. But you are right................we do all have the final say in our treatment. The key being, what treatments are available to us. Wish I had more time to get into this.
all the best..................
I go for my first treatment next Wednesday. I used acupuncture treatments 15 years ago for neck injury from car accident and it was the only thing that worked. Doctors had tried to severe my nerves in neck area 12 times and I was at my wits end but the needles did their magic for me. So excited to see if it can help this time!
I started acupuncture 6 weeks ago. I've tried acupuncture in the past for other ailments and did not have good experiences. This time, I am using someone I met through my chiropractors office. She is excellent and is treating the "whole me", not just the symptoms of the day. I am noticing that the dry eyes are under much more control..which is amazing given we are also in high allergy mode with tree pollen. I had a flare of plantar fascitis that was resolved with acupuncture. So far...I'm very happy.
I did acupuncture for about a year, twice a week for the first three months and then once a week for the remaining 9 months. I found that deep massage therapy gives me more relief and I read somewhere (as we all do, always reading something that will bring relief) that massaging the neck regularly is helpful in giving relief to the autoimmune system. Does anyone know more about this?! Anyway, it's the best thing I have ever done for my painful body and the results last for about a month, then I go back. Thai is the best!
It's interesting that Sjogren's is so common in China; do you know why that is?! The clinical trial that I posted on this site was done in China. BTW- I was seeing the foremost Chinese Medicine Doctor here in SF and he has herbs at his location, but he never got the formula right (well once and when I told him it seemed to be working he changed the formula!) Then he could never get it right and I started feeling worse. I really wanted all of it to work, acupuncture, herbs, and reflexology. I would try it again if I could find a trust-worthy specialist in the field locally!
We have to wonder if the severe air pollution in China could be a factor. Or toxins in the food supply. It really makes you think.
Kaz,
You make a very important point about making sure the acupuncturist understands clearly that our autoimmune system needs to be made "quiet" or "still" instead of making it stronger. My previous Chinese Medicine doctor is Chinese, maybe there was a communication problem because most of his patients are Chinese and his command of the English language was not bad but not great and possibly some of the subtleties escaped him,; no matter how much I tried to explain in the simplest manner. I will look for another specialist in this field with whom I can communicate with more clearly.
Kaz said:
I have had great success with acupuncture for both my MS and Sjogrens side. In fact so much so that I am in my 4th year of a Masters degree on this side of things as I want to be able to help others. When it comes to autoimmune diseases it is better to see a tradtional chinese medicine trained acupuncturist as opposed to a chiropractor or doctor as they tend to use what is called dry needling. This means they needle where the pain is to release spasms etc. This is fine if one purely has musculoskeletal issues but not for whole body autoimmune issues. They DO NOT learn the channels of the body, which is related to meridians.
There also are some good chinese herbs that are used for Sjogrens to give more moisture, especially for the lungs. Especially for in periods of flare ups. However, one has to ensure that they take a list of current medications and dosages so that the practitioner can evaluate about any possible reactions. Sjogrens is quite common in China. Actually in their hospitals they have a clinic just for it where people go for acupuncture and also herbs.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3434676/In Chinese medicine a person is evaluated by history and also tongue and pulse to help determine underlying cause. A practitioners will treat the stem of the problem (current symptoms) but also look at treating the root of the cause. It is important with acupuncture they do not try to increase to Qi too much as this will cause issues as some people on here have stated. We do not need our immunes strengthed perse, we need them quietened down because it is overactive. Less is the best approach with autoimmune disease when it comes to needling - not too many needles. One needs to see how a persons body reacts to the first treatment (or few treatments).
This is an EXCELLENT documentary on acupuncture and truly worth watching, especially to the end as you will be blown away with the power of just what one needle can do and how they mapped and measured this with MRI technology.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41vm87qq1KUAcupuncture is very powerful but please do not confuse dry needling and traditional acupuncture as these are very different. Dry needling is generally a few weeks course, sometimes not even that, and is only for musculoskeletal using points known in TCM as ashi points. In TCM these basically translate to sore/tender spots. They are not channel points but are used as extra points at times.
Hi All,
Is there anyone out there who could do a little research as to why Sjogren's Syndrome is so prevalent in China? The more we know the more we are able to make specific changes and create real awareness based on facts; people don't know about Sjogren's, so when we, who suffer from this or any other autoimmune disease, are knowledgeable and can speak about it with authority, people will listen and understand.
dancermom said:
We have to wonder if the severe air pollution in China could be a factor. Or toxins in the food supply. It really makes you think.
It looks like it may be the genes, SGoddess: http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v45/n11/full/ng.2779.html
Still, there must be a trigger to "activate" the disease.
Kaz, agreed Big Pharma doesn't look for cures unless it means taking a pill daily that would be a win-win for them and "trickle-down effect" would be we would benefit too. So let's take that off the table. What is the conclusion or solution?
A lot of the triggers are known, but are not necessarily avoidable. How do we avoid getting a virus, for instance? What is needed is a way to "neutralize" the trigger and "deactivate" the disease. I suspect in the future that gene therapy will be the way. But yes, the pace of research is very slow. Someday I hope research will be government funded and not dependent on for-profit motives. Good conversation, all.
Good info, Kaz.
Most excellent, this shows that there are many people working on getting us more relief than just topical treatments. Last month I posted a report about laser treatment being used in Brazil and Europe very successfully. Is there any way to find out if this treatment is being done State side?!
Vitamin D and its forms in the body are fascinating molecules and as well as the calcium link it acts as a hormone and as an immuno modulator but it is very controversial and not well understood and several advocates including the Marshall protocol people border on "extremism#
It is interesting that a large # of a.i. sufferers have low vitamin D levels but we don't know if it is cause or effect and do not understand the interconversion mechanisms of the forms of the molecule in the body and how their feedback mechanisms work
Not convinced about the hormone hypotheses - why do men and pre pubescent children get it?
The only possible link there would be the presence of maternal or sibling cells in the sufferers body possibly triggering a response. There is good evidence that cells can cross the placental "barrier" in both directions and that your body may contain cells from your mother any siblings born before you or even any of your mothers maternal line ancestors!
These cells can live for many years and we do not have a clue what effectsmthey may have on physiology or the immune system.:(