Adventures In Acupuncture X

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Well, it's been a few years since I updated everyone on my adventures in controlling/curing Multiple Sclerosis.  If you'd like to catch up, just search the archives for "acupuncture" to find the last nine installments.

What brought this up was the fact that past articles have been getting some attention lately and reminded me that I should give folks whatever information I have accumulated over the past seven years to use and/or pass on to others similarly afflicted.

To briefly summarize, on 1 April 2009, at 4:39p, I had a sudden wave of powerful flu-like symptoms come over me, to where I barely had the energy to climbs a flight of stairs.  I lay down for a few minutes, hoping it would pass.  When I opened my eyes, everything was washed out, as if overexposed.  Overnight, the situation deteriorated into complete and profound blindness, not to mention an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion and other milder symptoms.  Keep in mind that in the previous 48 years, I had never had any indication that I might get struck with Multiple Sclerosis.

I spent the next week in the hospital getting mega-doses of prednisone, a rather powerful corticosteroid, to reduce swelling around the optic nerves.  I spent the next five weeks at home popping piles of pills (lovely alliteration that) and around week 3, my vision started to return a bit at a time, which was joyful, but the steroids were causing extremely painful burning in my legs, to the point where the slightest touch on my skin sent waves of pain throughout.

By the time I was weaned off the steroids, I had regained about 20% of my vision.  I went from being an award-winning director/cameraman/editor who could tell the difference between every single chip on a PMS color chart, to seeing the world as an Impressionist painting in gray-scale.  At this point, my right eye is nearly blind and my right ear screams most of the time.  My left eye and ear are a bit better.  I have also lost feeling in the middle three toes of both feet and my sense of balance is shot to hell.

So, in the last seven years, in addition to retasking my skills and talents, I have been seeking various treatments and possible cures for my condition, and sharing the experience with readers who might be able to help others with the information.

The series of articles began with my first experience with acupuncture.  My thinking was the since my optic nerves (and likely auditory as well) were literally dead in the centers, perhaps stimulating the nerves directly would offer some relief.

I underwent twice-a-week treatments of 15 minutes each for three months.  Each treatment involved inserting hair-thin needles in the various nerves of my face and head, including directly under my eye balls, which was a bit disconcerting.  The needles were then connected to a "thumper" that sent a mild electric pulse directly to the nerves.

This is actually not very painful when done right.  If the needle goes directly into the nerve, there is no pain and the pulse feels like someone tapping you.  If it goes into the muscle, it stings like a wasp and the pulse makes the muscle twitch rather painfully.

The net result was that I gained significant brightness at the end of each session, though not much clarity, and the effect faded over 48 hours.  I did, however, regain a significant amount of color vision, which has persisted now for seven years without fading.

There was some benefit for hearing and touch, as well, though it has slowly gone down over the years.  I should probably try another round of acupuncture to see if I can gain anything at this late stage.

Very long story short, over the past few years, I have had an increase of burning sensations in my toes and occasionally hot, stabbing pain at various nerve endings.  Additional problems included leg cramps and insomnia.  I had resigned myself to these issues as just part of the progression of the disease, until one day I stumbled across an article on magnesium deficiency.

Turns out every one of my complains are symptoms of magnesium deficiency.  I immediately started taking 200 mg twice a day (morning and evening).  Within two days, I began sleeping better, the leg cramps stopped and the burning, stabbing pains have gone down to much more tolerable levels.  After two weeks of steady intake, I have much more energy and better concentration thanks to better sleep.

Lesson Learned: don't accept anything as being incurable.  It may have nothing to do with other health issues, so always investigate possible cures.

Another ongoing experiment is the use of radio frequencies, as pioneered by Rife, Lakhovsky and Tesla.  One of our long-time readers and correspondents came to visit us two years ago, just as I was coming down with back-to-back typhus, amoebic dysentery and dengue fever.  Needless to say, I wasn't much company, but he was kind enough to make a "permanent loan" of two RF generator units from Russia.

I have been using them anywhere from two to five days a week, and have programmed them for various types of therapies.  I sadly cannot report any miraculous healings, but I can say that since I started using them, I haven't had so much as a head cold.  I have also noted a decrease in joint pain, a legacy of many injuries over the years, especially in my knees and wrists. I can't lay everything at the RF alter, since I have also been taking chondroitin and glucosamine for several years, but I do (subjectively) feel like there has been an improvement since using the RF generators.

I have done some research on a number of elements and minerals, as they pertain to treating MS.  I have focused on dietary sources, as I thinkthe natural minerals are more easily absorbed and effective than in supplements.  I have also found a number of suggestions for foods to avoid, which can be summed up in this article.  According to the list, I think the saturated fat warning is bullshit, because the problem is the fat layer around nerves that act as an insulator, and I won't stop eating steak for any reason.  I don't drink milk except in coffee.  I don't drink sodas, especially avoiding artificial sweeteners like the plague all my life.

One thing I have found, at least for me, is that I cannot eat cassava root.  This may not be an issue in North America and Europe, but in much of the rest of the world, it is as common as potatoes.  If I eat any amount of it, within 30 minutes my sight dims, I get a headache and muscles start twitching uncontrollably, which last for about 24 hours.  You'll need to do your own tests, but I won't touch the stuff with a 10-foot pole.

My final addition to the list, at least for now, is 75% or higher chocolate (aka-dark chocolate).  To many people, this is quite bitter, but I actually prefer this form of chocolate to the sweet, buttery confections.  Eating a few grams for me reduces the random aches and pains I've come to expect with MS, and produces a pleasant relaxed feeling.  I keep some next to the bed for sleepless nights and it generally helps quite a bit.

So that's it for now.  I am continuing my inquiries, especially into stem cell treatments.  I am rather excited by the reports of success in treating nerve damage, particularly to the optic nerve.  Should the opportunity arise to give it a try, I would find it very hard to resist at this point.  I would do just about anything to be able to drive a car and take decent photos again.

Head's up!

PS: I swear Drudge reads my blog.  Articles keep popping up shortly after my posts go live.  Take for instance this one on chocolate being the new party drug.  Not only that, but if you read down to the bottom, you find out that raw chocolate is high in magnesium.  Well slap me silly.  I had no idea...

A Tourist And His Money Are Soon Parted

Into the great wide open
Under them skies of blue
Out in the great wide open
A rebel without a clue
-Into The Great Wide Open, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Years ago, my second wife and I came up with an international symbol for 'tourist,' hold the left hand in front of you with palm up and with the right hand, pantomime handing out loads of money while smiling wanly.

It seems to be a given that tourists are simply prey, waiting to have their bones plucked clean by every passing carnivore. It's the reason American slang refers to 'tourist traps.' Entire nations spend billions of dollars to lure unsuspecting tourists to popular (or at least centralized) locations, where they can be easily fleeced.

Some prime examples include things such as the Eifel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, Red Square, the Glockenspiel, and of course any red light distrct you care to name anywhere in the world.

Things are no different here in Indonesia. They have what I call harga bule (foreigner price) and harga biasa (regular price). The foreigner price is guaranteed to be a minimum of 200% to 300% higher than the regular price. Things are generally so cheap in Indonesia that tourists think they're getting a deal, and in some ways they are. But the fact remains that tourists will pay more for everything, always.

Take for example the Eifel Tower. For all intents and purposes, it is the skeleton of an unfinished building with a grossly over-priced restaurant on the mezzanine level, and for a price, you can ride to the top and see, what else, Paris. In fact, you get a much better view as part of your ticket price while on final approach to Charles de Galle airport. Continuing with the Paris theme, you can pay to see Notre Dame, or you can go out of the city and visit thousands of similar late Gothic cathedrals for free with fewer tourists. The only thing missing is the bubious myth about a hunchback and his unrequited love.

Heck, while you're in Paris, you can visit the Statue of Liberty's twin for free, sitting right there on the bridge over the Seine river. No crowds (no one knows about it), no charge and no New Yorkers.

Some things, like the Louvre, St. Peter's basilica in Rome, the Grand Canyon, and the like, are just worth the price. So don't get me wrong. There are things worth paying for, although standing on a glass platform over a mile-deep hole in the ground with no visible means of support in NOT on that list.

When it comes right down to it, though, my best travel experiences are all from places far outside the well-trampled tourist paths.

For instance, there was the night Richard Nixon died. I was with my buddy Larry in the middle of nowhere in Bavaria, in a village that consisted of a guest-house, a couple of other buildings and a square. We spent that night drinking copious amounts of beer, snorting snuff, telling jokes, and generally having the time of our lives. The gang leader was a forty-something man named Ignatz. He kind of looked like Santa Claus on his day off, had 12 children and sat that the head of the table like Falstaff as master of ceremonies.

There was getting stuck near some Mayan ruins where tourists never go on the road between Belize and Guatemala. Once we got the Guatemala, we drove down a road with opposing sides of a civil war on either side of us.

There was standing on the dike in the Netherlands with the strange sight of the ocean on one side, and the tulip fields on the other, the the ocean was higher than the land.



There was sunbathing in the top of a tower connected to an ancient castle in Ireland while watching some people play lawn bowls down below us. Having to swim for my life after getting trapped by high tide at Dover. Getting bucked off a bus with two goats in the middle of a God-forsaken desert in Liberia. Sitting in an opium den in Bombay (now Mumbai...again).

None of those experiences would have been possible had I stayed on the well-trodden paths. You really gotta get out into the hinterlands to get the stories no one else can tell. And one of the advantages is prices are lower and you are less likely to get robbed.

That's the thing, if there are mobs of tourists, then there are people preying on them: pickpockets, con artists, souvenier salesmen. Prices are higher, also. And all of that only buys you a story thousands of other people can tell. Getting away from that, out in the backwoods, costs less, fewer predators and you get stories that likely no one else can tell. You see things that few foreigners will ever see. You meet people who might just turn into life-long friends.

There's a book in my Amazon store (right column) called 'Blue Highways.' It's all about the philosophy and practice of taking the roads less travelled. There's another book there called, 'The Journeyer,' which is an incredible fictionalized account of Marco Polo's voyage. Both those books inspired my travels from an early age. Both extoll the virtues and adventures of getting on the main road and getting out into the great unknown. I know this kind of travel is not for everyone, but if you feel drawn to it, then these books will push you over the edge to get out and do it.

Every single regret I have in my life occured when I was at home. There is not a single moment I regret from traveling. One of the single best decisions I have ever made was to backpack around the world when I was 18, between high school and university. Books can teach you scads about the theory of life, but travel teaches you the roll-up-your-sleeves-and-get-your-hands-dirty version. It puts a little perspective on things. Sometimes it puts a lot of perspective on them. Your day-to-day problems seem a lot smaller when you're 10,000 miles outside your comfort zone.

When you're watching static discharges from the peak of a volcano on a cool, cloudless night somewhere in the jungles of Indonesia, the electric bill just doesn't seem all that important.

And you'll never get that experience out of a book.