Adventures In Acupuncture V

This is part 5 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, and part 4 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.
This is week five of acupuncture, and I've received a total of eight treatments.  At this point, I seem to have reached a plateau, with incremental gains, but noting Earth-shattering.

The sin she has gotten more aggressive, and we are adding a third treatment each week.  Now I will be going to the clinic on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, though this coming week, I will be out of town on Saturday.

By 'aggressive,' I mean that some of it is very uncomfortable, and even downright painful.  My wife, who had been considering using acupuncture for her own complaints, has had second thoughts after watching me.  The really difficult part is that the more tense you are, the more difficult it is to insert and seat the needles correctly.  I don't particularly like needles in the first place, and having them jammed into various parts of my body and wired to a 'thumper' (what I call the battery pack that delivers current to the needles) challenges my ability to relax.

The two needles that are placed into the back of my neck, just under the base of the skull, are dug in so deep that they cause my eyelids to flutter and a 'twinge' that I can feel from head to toe.  The two that are placed on either side of the bridge of my nose are pushed in until I can feel them touching my eye balls.  The ones above the outside of my ankles are downright painful, if I move my feet at all, even to wiggle my toes.

I know what the sin she is doing, and what the theory is behind it all, which is why I chose acupuncture as a modality.  It doesn't make it any easier to tolerate, though.  But, I am receiving some benefit from it, so I will persist until my immediate commitment of three months.

You may be asking yourself, why have I chosen do submit to this?  Well, to answer that, it may be instructive to go back and look at what's wrong, and then see my reasoning.

Multiple sclerosis is an auto-immune disorder, in which the immune system suddenly decides that the myelin sheath on the nerves is an invader, and so attacks it.  Current theory is undecided as whether it is genetic or environmental.  In my studies, I have come to the conclusion that one is genetically susceptible, but there is an environmental trigger.

In my case, I have come to the conclusion that the trigger was aspertame.  I have made exhaustive lists of everything I ate and drank in the week prior to the attack.  The only thing that wasn't part of my regular diet was Mylanta, which I was taking for a particularly sour stomach.  I almost never use things like Mylanta, but I was desperate for some relief.  Listed on the ingredients is aspertame, which normally I would not eat at all, since most of what I eat is meat and vegetables that are fresh and unprocessed.

The reason I blame aspertame is because it is a powerful neuro-toxin produced by E. coli.  I am convinced that ingesting large amounts of it too quickly will cause problems for just about anyone, much less those predisposed to multiple sclerosis.  There are others, such as MSG and improperly cooked cassava root, which are both common in foods here in Indonesia, but I avoid both and I didn't have any in the week prior to my attack.  (As a side note, I have accidentally eaten cassava/singkong twice in the past couple of years, and there is a strong effect on my eyesight within 12 hours)

At any rate, after the body attacks the nerves, it leaves scars called 'sclera.'  The sclera block the signals from the nerves, and so cause various problems with the senses and motor control.  The senses are the easiest to notice, at first.  When your sight, hearing and touch are profoundly affected, there's an immediate feedback.  The motor control is a bit more insidious.  It creeps in year after year until one is bed-ridden or must use a wheelchair to get around.

Some people have particularly aggressive forms, in which they have frequent attacks and deteriorate rapidly.  Others may only have one attack, but then suffer a long, slow deterioration over many years.  The disease seems to strike primarily over-40 folks, with a preference for women, though statistically only a small number.

My attack felt like the onset of a very bad flu.  I felt extremely weak and tired, like my limbs weighed hundreds of pounds.  I laid down for no more than five minutes, and when I opened my eyes, everything appeared vastly over-exposed.  Within 24 hours, my world had gone black.  The textbook treatment is heavy doses of steroids to reduce inflammation of the nerves and restore as much as possible.  After that, the only options for treatment in Western medicine are to pop pills for the rest of your life in the hopes that they will prevent future attacks.  However, there are no guarantees, the pills are rather expensive and the side-effects are quite undesirable.  I opted not to go that route, and instead seek alternative means to control, and possibly cure, the situation.

After quite a bit of study, and a certain amount of intuitive reasoning, I decided to go with acupuncture, combined with a vitamin/mineral regimen, and various herbal supplements.  I had read a number of papers and testimonials concerning the efficacy of acupuncture in treating MS, and intuitively, stimulating the nerves seemed like a reasonable means to restoring them.  Everything I found, though, said that acupuncture worked best when combined with other modalities, which is why I have focused on the vitamins, herbs and reflexology, which is a form of non-invasive acupuncture.

With that said, I have now finished eight sessions of acupuncture.  I have noticed some rather amazing effects, though from an outside observer, it may not seem like much.

Previous to treatment, I was only able to perceive the color blue with any certainly, and even that was not very strong in my central vision.  After three or four sessions, I noticed colors starting to come back across my entire field of view.  The first one to reappear was yellow, which is the compliment to blue.  That meant that my blue cones were being re-invigorated.  Lately, the colors red and green are increasing, as well.  That implies that the red cones are turning on again, as well.  The colors are increasing across my entire field of view, and not just in the peripheral areas.  My night vision has improved the most, to the point where I can make out details and colors at night, which is a major advancement.  Previously, I could only see with any certainty for about six feet around me.  After that, all I saw was lights floating in black velvet.

I am perceiving more detail at greater distances, as well.  Things I can see sharply have moved out from about six feet to more than 20 feet.  I can see individual leaves on trees, up to a point.  I can see more detail further ahead, which makes walking much easier.

I still have problems in dynamic situations, where things are changing rapidly.  Crowds and traffic are particularly disorienting and exhausting.  I also still have problems with people's faces.  A lot of what we read from people, as far as recognition and other information, requires a lot of detail.  People that I know very well are easy, but I rely on a lot of other information, like voice, body shape, hair style, etc.  Some people are more distinct than others, as well, and that helps in some cases.  In any case, I still have a hard time reading emotions using facial characteristics, and I have to scan someone's face constantly, since I can only clearly see an eye, or the mouth, at any one time.

My sense of balance has increased and I feel more stable when walking or doing things that require a strong sense.  Carrying loads up and down stairs is one example where I have a particular problem, with regard to balance.

When it comes to acupuncture, there is a definite hyper-state immediately following treatment, which tends to stabilize over the following 24 hours.  Then there is a sort of tapering off over time after that.  The sin she wants to increase the number of treatments for that reason.  Apparently, acupuncture requires raising the activity in the nerves and keeping them in a hyperactive state in order to be most effective.  By moving to three sessions per week, she can keep the nerves at a super-active level with no more than 48 hours between treatments.

A couple of things I can highly recommend acupuncture for include sinus problems, aches and pains, and apparently weight-loss.  I have met a number of folks at the clinic who have attested to dramatic weight-loss using acupuncture.  In my own experience, I know that one treatment can cause my sinuses to literally snap open in a matter of minutes, and my sense of smell increases dramatically.  Also, if I tell the sin she about some pain (say...lower back) then she adds an extra needle or two, and the pain goes away almost immediately.  For those suffering from various chronic pains or sinus problems, I highly recommend acupuncture.  For those seeking to lose weight, you may want to investigate this further.  I can only offer what these folks have told me.

It's tempting to say that these effects are psycho-somatic, and I have gone to some effort to eliminate subjective variables, by using things like color bars and alignment charts to verify that I am actually receiving a benefit, and not just causing myself to think that I am.

And so the process continues.  I'm not really sure what the outcome will be, but I can say with some certainty that acupuncture does have an effect, and for some things it's rather dramatic and immediate.  I am seeing (pun intended) some benefit with my vision.  I somewhat of an up and down process, but more colors and greater detail are objectively proven.  Whether I will be able to drive again, or resume my work with cameras remains to be seen.  Those activities require a great amount of visual acuity.  At this point, I'm happy to walk down the street without falling in a hole.

More as things develop...

Adventures In Acupuncture IV

This is part 4 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.  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.

This week covers only one session, since I went to the farm yesterday, instead of getting a treatment.  I'll chalk it up to an adjuvant treatment, since fresh air, peace and quiet are always rejuvenating.  


At any rate, last Wednesday, I reported to the sin she that I was starting to get good color, but my central vision was still quite cloudy.  Indeed, my peripheral vision is coming back nicely, but I'm still having issues with my central vision, which is the part of the retina that actually focuses on things clearly.


Prior to treatment, I had tunnel vision.  I could see very sharply in a small area of my central vision of the left eye, but there was no color and everything around that one spot was foggy.  Then in the peripheral vision, things cleared a bit and colors were still visible, though muted.  It appears the red cones were most affected, since I have been able to see blue fairly clearly, but red has been missing, and so has green for that matter, which is a combination of red and blue.


Immediately following last Wednesday's treatment, I had rather vivid colors in the peripherals, and I was regaining colors in the central vision, as well.  I could see certain saturated reds and could detect green in trees and grass.  The green wasn't strong, but if you haven't seen it in two years, any amount is pretty startling.

Using my trusty SMPTE color bars, I could clearly see the blue and yellow bars.  The cyan was a bit weak, but I could detect it.  The red and magenta were a little more problematic, but that i could see them at all was a major milestone.  I can clearly see the green bar in my peripheral vision, but if I look directly at it, it becomes light gray again, as does the magenta.  The cyan is pale but visible in my cental vision, as is the blue.  The red is pale, but detectable.


As far as resolution, this is a mixed blessing.  I seem to be losing the tunnel vision effect, but in a way that is somewhat maddening.  Instead of one clear, sharp area in my central vision, I now have several, like balloons of clarity in a sea of fog.  As I had spent two years adjusting to the old way of seeing, which allowed me to see about half a word at a time using 12-point font at arm's length (so sharp in fact, that I could see individual pixels without my glasses).

Turning to my SMPTE alignment chart, I am able to resolve more detail overall, but it is broken up into different sectors.  If I squint just right, I can kind of blend all the sharp areas together to get a larger picture.  In the clear areas, I can easily see the smallest lines of resolution with clear separation.  In the foggy areas, they just blur together so that I can tell there are black and white lines, but I can't clearly make out the distinct lines.  In other words, it's like being out of focus so that everything kind of blurs together.


The last treatment varied from the previous ones, in that the sin she poked a needle into the nerve on the center-line at the rear of my head, and again at the base of my skull, right at C1.  She didn't leave the needles in, just poked several times, as if sensitizing the nerve.  She also put two needles on either side of the bridge of my nose just in front of the eye socket.  She also added two new ones just above each ear on the sides of my head.  In my legs, she moves the ones that had been in my feet to a point outside the shin bone about three inches below the knees.  I had the usual ones in the web between the thumb and forefinger.  


As for the electric pulse, which is always wired to the needles in my head and neck, the dose was a bit lower, but the rhythm of the pulse was much faster this time.  The session lasted about 30 minutes, as usual.


Overall, it's a bit uncomfortable, but not overly painful.  As I've explained before, I can tell when the sin she hits the nerve, because there's a sort of electric pinch feeling.  If she just hits muscle, there is a little bit of pain, which is how she knows she missed.  The ones I find most annoying are directly under my eyes and in my temples.  They are both a bit painful and annoying if any of those muscles twitch while the needles are in.  Which, of course, means that this is the time when everyone wants to ask questions.  Kind of like when the dentist has his hands in your mouth and wants to make small talk.  Smiling is especially undesirable.  


I am starting to see a pattern with acupuncture.  There is a kind of time release aspect in which the overall benefit of each session takes about 24 hours to kick in, although there is usually an immediate difference, as well.  There's also a slow fade over several days, so that it's like blowing up a balloon and then slowly letting the air out. Another way to think of it is three-steps-forward-two-back.  The baseline keeps advancing, but it's incremental with a hyper-state immediately after a session and for the following day, then a slow slide back, though not all the way back.


Some of the definite benefits so far (six treatments) are that the twitching muscles in my legs have stopped (blessedly), more color vision and across my whole field of view, brighter and less foggy vision, and increased night-vision.  The incidental complaint about stuffy sinuses was completely remedied and I have a very acute sense of smell now.  The tinnitus comes and goes, though the volume seems to be dropping a little over time.


I've added ginko biloba to my vitamin regimen, at 60 mg two times a day.  I've identified a good manufacturer of goji extract, called Master Goji, which I will start taking soon, as well.


There are a few things I must avoid.  I can not eat cassava root, called singkong locally.  I must avoid MSG, especially in large doses.  This morning, my wife bought bubur ayam, rice porridge with chicken, from one of the street vendors this morning.  It was delicious, but turns out it had loads of MSG, which is playing havoc with my eyes today.  Finally, I must avoid aspartame like the plague.  I'm convinced that aspartame was the trigger that led to the initial attack two years ago, and if I even smell the stuff, I get headaches and my eyes go dark.  That crap is banned from my house.  Wine also seems to case minor prolems, though beer and booze are OK, thank God.  Could be the sulfites.


One interesting side note: health insurance here covers acupuncture, reflexology and herbal treatment.  Guess when you are outside the influence of Big Pharma, you are allowed to take advantage of any form of health care you want.  Try that with Obamacare or any of the Euro versions of socialized health care.


Until next week, keep your needles sharp!