Adventures In Acupuncture VI

This is part 6 of an on-going series of articles about the use of acupuncture in treating the effects of multiple sclerosis, especially blindness.  See Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, part 4 here, and Part 5 here.  The standard Western medical approach gave no hope for recovery, and the use of life-long drugs (with distasteful side-effects) offered a ‘possible’ protection from further attacks.

We're back!

Took a two-week break due to work and travel demands, but started up again this week with two sessions on Tuesday and Thursday.  Ideally, I'm supposed to have three sessions per week, according to the sin she, but as you read this, I am wheeling to Cerebon in central Java.

With this week, I have passed my personal milestone of 10 sessions, which other information on the net have told me is a point where things start to get interesting.  It's also different because the sin she has taken a more aggressive approach.  She's added some traditional herbal medicine, as well as turning up the amperage both literally and metaphorically.  But first, let's assess where we are at this self-imposed milestone:

• As far as unqualified success, the two treatments I had that included sinuses were, without a doubt, effective.  Within minutes of starting, my sinuses literally snapped open, my sense of smell increased, and I haven't had a problem since.
• The leg spasms have stopped and I am regaining sensation in the middle three toes of both feet, left more than right, but both improved.
• Color vision is greatly improved, with blue/yellow being the strongest, but also gaining red/green, which were both just gray before starting.
• Night vision is up and down.  Sometimes I can clearly see cars, people and details with color, sometimes just yellowish floating lights and little else beyond 10 feet or so.
• Improved brightness overall, though sometimes its similar to over-exposed film: I can see darker areas better than lighter ones.
• Peripheral vision is greatly improved, and if I cross my eyes, I can combine the best part of both eyes for greatly improved vision, however detail is very hard to perceive, given that peripheral vision doesn't pick up much in that regard.
• The inside half of my right eye, which was completely black, or dark grey to be exact, can now see high-contrast objects and movement against a contrasting background.
• Marked increase in balance, with a related improvement in gait and terrain navigation.

Overall, I'd subjectively say that I have gone from 20% normal vision to 30%, with good improvement in color perception, though still lacking in detail and clarity in my central vision.  Other than vision, there seems to be marked improvement in pain, muscle and sensory problems.

Miracle cure?  No, not yet, but I committed my self to at least 3 months worth of treatments, so the jury is still out.

Viable alternative treatment?  Yes, for some things, acupuncture appears to work quite well, while for others, the progress is somewhat more muted.

There seems to be a distinct split between sensory complaints and things like spasms.  The senses, especially vision, are very sensitive and delicate.  I didn't really expect to receive a miracle, and I am happy to have any improvement at all.  My ability to focus at a distance is greatly improved, and if my eyes were nothing more than near-sighted, I'd be willing to bet that my dependence on glasses would be reduced at this point.

Before starting, I had to hunch over my laptop to see clearly.  At this moment, I am sitting back about 3 feet from the screen, and can clearly see the text, or any other part of the screen, though I have to focus directly on an area. One of my problems has been that I couldn't clearly focus on more than a very small spot in my central vision.  To see the computer screen, I had to carefully scan the entire area and try to build a complete picture.  Without color or contrast, I had a very difficult time to find buttons and text boxes on unfamiliar websites.  That is improving, albeit slowly.

As far as the new addition of traditional herbal medicine, here's what I can tell you:

The sin she described the whole thing to me, but my vocabulary was hopelessly inadequate to catch all the specialized terminology.  Nevertheless, I consented to it, as the parts I did catch led me to believe that it is an systemic treatment for nerve problems.

The treatment consists of cotton balls dipped in a reddish-brown concoction that reeks of eucalyptus oil.  The sin she measured off 8 points on my back: two on either side of L1, two inside the lower shoulder blades, two under the shoulder blades, and two near the locations of my kidneys.  She poked a needle at each location, then taped the poultices over each.  I had to wear them for 5 hours, and then rub each spot with alcohol after removing them (you will need someone to help you, unless you are a contortionist).  

The poultices had a strange effect.  I felt somewhat disjointed from my body, as if I was floating slightly above myself, especially when I was walking.  It was somewhat disconcerting.  The effect wore off by the next day.

I was not allowed to consume anything cold, spicy or containing fish for 24 hours.  At one point, late at night, I wasn't thinking and drank some chilled water.  Within minutes I had what was like a sustained hiccough (best I can do to describe it) that caused a slight discomfort in the area of my stomach.

I haven't noticed much of anything else, in terms of effect from the herbals.  For the sake of this report, I will get more information on the contents of the treatment.  I am scheduled to receive it every Thursday going forward.  One thing I know about traditional medicines and such is that those wanting immediate and spectacular results will be disappointed.  These non-allopathic modalities are cumulative and take some time to be effective.

If I took the time to graph it out, homeopathic treatments would be a slowly rising curve over time, while allopathic modalities would rise quickly then level off with only minor increases over time.  For that reason, western medicine is unparalleled for trauma and first-aid, but is inadequate and even dangerous over time.  Another key difference is that western medicine tends to attack symptoms while forgetting to fix the underlying problem.

So while homeopathic remedies are not for those looking for quick fixes or who are in the throes of ADHD, the things I have read is that over time, the traditional route tends to repair roots causes, though often doesn't give immediate relief from symptoms.

As far as concomitant treatments, I am continuing the vitamin/mineral regimen mentioned in a previous post, with the addition two weeks ago of 1 oz. Goji berry juice each morning along with fresh carrot juice, as well as Omega-3 fish oil and ginko biloba (all standardized major-brand dosages).  Oh, and healthy doses of red wine and beer on weekends, of course.  Helps with the stress-reduction part of the treatments.

A note on the whole 'needle' thing - it's getting easier to tolerate.  There is some pain associated with them, but usually when the sin she misses the nerve and hits muscle.  When she hits the nerve, there's no pain, but a strange 'pinch' sensation, except for the two on the back of my head, which send chills completely down to my toes.  Even the four needles around my eyes don't really hurt.  If you look closely at the photo, you'll see that the needles directly under my eyes are pushed completely in, so that they are literally under my eyeballs.  The two that are placed on either side of the bridge of my nose do the same at the tops of my eyeballs.  It is somewhat uncomfortable when she mashes my eyeball up or to the side to avoid sicking the needles into my eyes, but for that, I'll suffer a bit.

The electric thumping is rather annoying at first, but if I relax and drift off, I hardly notice it after a few minutes.  It does cause a little numbness in my cheeks and lower jaw, which passes within minutes of finishing.

I'll try to get a more accurate description of the poultices and what they are supposed to be doing for my next report.  I won't have a Saturday treatment this week, so we'll pick up again on Tuesday.  I'll also be posting some resources for those suffering from MS, as well as information on alternative treatments and coverage of recent discoveries that lead to a viral cause for MS and my theories on the matter.  Can you say 'chicken pox?'

Did I mention that my insurance covers all of t1his?  All recognized traditional, herbal and alternative treatments are re-imbursable here.  Try that with Obamacare!  And I only pay $5-$10 per session, with the higher amount including the poultices.