November 02, 2014

Acupuncture

I may not have blogged already about treating my neuropathy with acupuncture. Someone in my support group mentioned this as a viable alternative and I decided to check it out. I'd tried acupuncture the second time I was on Abraxane and it did seem to give some relief. (Unfortunately, Dr G tried Taxol and it brought the neuropathy in my feet back, raging, after only one dose.)

This time I am seeing Dr Gregory Rudolph at Swedish Pain and Headache Services. He's an MD as well as a licensed acupuncturist.

The treatment goes in six visits - four that are one week apart, and the last two which are two weeks apart. He uses acupuncture needles plus mild electric stimulation.

After the first visit, I didn't notice any difference.

On the second visit, in additional to needles on the top of my feet and shins, Dr Rudolph placed one needle in the ball of each foot and a small, gold stud in each ear. Evidently the ear is a microcosm of the body and this was supposed to help with pain management. I don't know which point was responsible - the ear or the ball of the foot - but I could barely walk that week and the pain/numbness/tingling felt out of control. I was miserable.

I told Dr Rudolph about this on my third visit. I wanted to avoid the ear studs, since placing them was painful to me and I hadn't brought along my lidocaine cream. We agreed to try it the next time with me using the cream. He did not place any needles on the bottom of my feet.

For the fourth visit, I was prepared and used the lido cream about 30 minutes before my appointment. Dr Rudolph placed two gold studs in each ear, but hadn't told me in advance where the second stud was to go, so that area was not treated with lido cream. Given my lack of discomfort with the numbed ear, he agreed that the lido cream worked and put the second stud in a spot that would also work for pain management and where I had rubbed in the lido cream. Again, he did not put needles on the balls of my feet.

That was last Thursday. All four gold studs are still in place. My feet don't feel any different. Dr Rudolph had asked if my energy felt different. Since I spent all of Friday and much of Saturday in bed, I can't say that I have better energy. Different - as in fatigue - just not better.

I start another cycle of Abraxane tomorrow and will get acupuncture again on Thursday. We'll see how it helps!

2 comments:

  1. I gave up on acupuncture after my acupuncturist asked why my lymphedema hadn't resolved itself... She had problems treating me and not using my arm. She just didn't get it.

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  2. Hey I am very pleased to know about your treatment of neuropathy with acupuncture. It’s good that you got it treated successfully. My grandfather is also having neuropathy and I would like to take him to a professional center of acupuncture in Mississauga. Thanks for this great share!

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