What I find most personally satisfying about treating people with fibromyalgia is seeing them get their lives back; from being debilitated with daily pain and fatigue, to seeing pain resolving, so they get their fun back!
Sailing, cooking, sewing, painting whatever floats your boat, our hobbies bring more sparkle to our days. That might seem like an unusual thing to talk about in a post about health, but most of us want more from life than just surviving. And for many with this condition, life can get whittled down the the utmost basics: eat, sleep, work, shop, laundry, email, lather, rinse, repeat . Even work life can get dwindled down.
Many patients have suffered quietly for years before they realized what acupuncture could offer them. In this post, I will share some acupuncture insights on the development and treatment of this condition from my own experience.
Many folks with fibromyalgia did not even get the validation of a fibromyalgia diagnosis from the outset. It’s the ultimate gas-light. Instead they might have been told that there “seems to be no physical cause” of their pain. In other words, it’s psychological, all in your head. These patients have been diagnosed with depression, sometimes even manic depression/bipolar disorder. And that’s not to say that a mental health issue can’t run concurrently with fibro, but it’s unfair to be told that your pain is basically imaginary.
It’s helpful to understand that from an Eastern medicine perspective, any disease that goes on long enough starts to affect all acupuncture channels of the body. We could call this a domino effect. This certainly holds true for the fibro patients I have worked with. This is why my first treatment strategy is to open all 12 main channels. I then combine this with channel points that have a dual function as pain-relieving points.
What I have also seen with this strategy, is that a large percentage of patients start to relax deeply and have an emotional release during these treatments. They shed tears of what might be rage for all the lost time in their lives when there was no relief, or even validation, and tears of renewed hope that they had found a method that works for them. I have had some beautiful moments of bearing witness to these initial releases.
What is often the case for people with fibro and what is often at the root of the imbalance is a parasympathetic nervous system weakness or “low parasympathetic tone”. These patients have lived through incredible stress, and sometimes trauma. Their sympathetic nervous system got locked on overdrive. In other words, it’s like a fight or flight reaction happening for
hours and hours, for days and weeks on end. When the sympathetic system is switched on, the parasympathetic system, also known as the “rest and digest” system is turned off, or dimmed. So we have a very stressed out person that isn’t recovering because they can’t eat or sleep properly. Sheesh!! So this is my second strategy of treatment, balancing the parasympathetic system which is fed by the Pericardium channel, while also regulating the sympathetic system through the Triple Energizer channel, to get it out of overdrive.
When people aren’t resting, sleeping and absorbing nutrients well, it means the repair work that should happen every night during deep sleep is not completed. This means tissues are left un-repaired. When disrepair goes on for long enough, these unhealed tissues cause pain. Added to that, the excess cortisol production from the over-activated stress response, which starts depleting the adrenals. At first there’s too much cortisol being released, causing wake-ups during the night. Then when adrenal burn-out sets in, there’s not enough cortisol. Cortisol is a natural anti-inflammatory and pain reliever, so depleted cortisol from weak adrenals can mean pain is felt more intensely than before. Now there’s lower pain tolerance. And worse, once pain sets in, it’s hard to find a comfortable sleeping position – another cause of lost sleep. Sometimes cortisone shots (steroids) are given but the results of this are temporary (2 months sometimes) and comes with significant side-effects (bone loss).
This is the third part of my fibromyalgia acupuncture strategy, supporting the adrenal-thyroid axis. When the adrenals are fatigued this can create tiredness throughout the day and especially first thing in the morning when we are reaching for coffee and in late afternoon when we crave a salty snack or a nap to keep
going. This fatigue shows up in every fibro patient I have seen. The adrenals system nourishes the thyroid gland so adrenal fatigue can lead to low thyroid. Here you can start to see the domino effect, a cascade of hormone-related symptoms throughout the body. Often I will have to treat both the thyroid and the adrenals to get energy levels back up. These patients can feel tired after an acupuncture treatment and this is entirely normal and expected. This happens because a healing response has been triggered by the acupuncture: the body wants to sleep to complete the tissue repair that got started. This healing process requires rest to complete so the full effects of the acupuncture are often felt after a good night’s sleep, and in some cases a couple of days.
For this reason it’s ideal to get to bed early or by 10-10:30 on the night you’ve had acupuncture so that body can use the prime tissue repair time (11pm – 3am) to get the healing work done.
Healing from fibromyalgia is a long process but it does respond amazingly well to acupuncture. It’s really rewarding to watch people progress in their healing and get their lives back, enjoying their days without having to think about pain.
I look forward to bringing you or someone you love that relief and add sparkle to your days. Call Kingsville Acupuncture now at 519-800-4903.
Warmly,
Cynthia McGilvray, R.Ac.
.
Systemic Lupus Erythmatosus (SLE) is an auto-immune disorder in which the immune system attacks its’ own tissues leading to chronic inflammation. Several or
gan systems may be affected such as kidneys, heart, skin, blood cells, joints, brain and skin. Western medicine explains the cause of lupus as essentially unknown but beyond that is believed to be a combination of genetics and environment where some people have a genetic predisposition to developing lupus and then various environmental factors such as sunlight, medications (anti-biotics, anti-seizure meds, blood pressure medications) can be the triggers that set off the lupus symptoms. Commonly used Western drugs such as NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), corticosteroids, anti-malarial drugs and immuno-suppressants are used to manage symptoms. Although these drugs may be able to control flare-ups to some extent, there are often side-effects with long-term use.
ive increase in Heat caused by a lack of Yin which shows up as low-grade fever and night sweats. Yin involves all the body fluids including blood and sinovial fluids. A Yin deficient tongue may be peeled (geographic, or cracked) and the pulse may be superficial, thin and fast. Since women are considered more Yin, and require a greater amount of blood and body fluids for healthy body functions (think of how women’s bodies must replace menstrual blood lost each month) , this helps explain why SLE tends to affect women more than men.
“opens” to the eyes) causing a lack of moistening fluids (Liver Blood) to the eyes resulting in light sensitivity and dry eyes. Hair loss is also indicated because in TCM hair is considered a surplus of Liver Blood. Discoid (small round) rashes are another symptom of Blood Deficiency as it is the function of Blood to moisten the skin so the lack of Blood causes red flaky rashes.
The goals of acupuncture treatment with Lupus will depend on how the individual presents. In general, points will be used to clear the Heat/Fire and strengthen Yin and Blood of the affected channels and organ systems. This is achieved by selecting the correct acupuncture points that will do those jobs. Each acupuncture point has its own functions and indications so the treatment will be tailored to the patient’s unique presentation. The treatment for Lupus tends to be longer than other conditions because Yin Deficiency takes a long time to develop and so a longer time to remove. With persistent treatment as well as the guidance I offer in self-care including diet there should be a lessening of flare-ups as well as better energy and quality of life.
reduce pain, strengthen immunity and get relief using natural therapies. A word of caution: if you are experiencing the shingles rash, pain or unusual symptoms in your face, eyes or ears, this symptom that can have serious consequences such as damage to the eyes or ears leading to loss of vision or hearing. Please visit your doctor immediately.
spine waiting for another opportunity. When the immune system is down, the virus may then reactivate, this time as shingles. Since the virus lives at the nerve root in the spine, it tends to affect one or multiple dermatomes or areas that the affected spinal nerve controls. Prior to the outbreak, the immune system could have been weakened by chemotherapy, radiation, HIV, fatigue, organ or bone marrow transplant, physical or psychological trauma or a very stressful life event. Shingles also tends to affect those over the age of 50 more than younger people.
for months, sometimes years. Getting started with acupuncture soon after the pain starts will cut down the amount of time the pain goes on for. Some patients have been told to try various rash ointments that are intended for another purpose such as eczema or psoriasis, but with little success because the pain is not about the skin. It is caused by the infection at the nerve. An excellent remedy for this type of nerve pain is St. John’s Wart oil rubbed onto the affected area.