Guest guest Posted December 20, 2004 Report Share Posted December 20, 2004 Victoria, I don't know my exact TCM diagnosis. I know that she told me that my tongue was pale with a white coating, swollen, and had teeth marks along the edges. I don't know about the pulses, but she was mainly treating me for migraines. At first, she started out slow because she did not want to raise heat to the head and cause a migraine. As we progressed, she did points in the ear and also sent me home with little magnets to stick in places near the heels of my feet. With the fibro and myofascial pain syndrome, all my trigger points hurt if even lightly touched. I have especially bad points outside my right knee, right hip, right shoulder blade, left upper side of neck, low back, and slightly behind and above both ears. My breathing greatly improved when I started taking Singulair two years ago. That is when I learned the difference between histamine and leukotrienes. I've been doing lots of research recently on mast cells, how they release both histamine and serotonin, two hormones that are very prominent in my Western diagnoses. Talk about Wind! I live in Southern California in San Diego. We have Santa Ana winds every fall and winter. The barometer can go from 29.70 up to 30.40 in just a few hours. When it goes up, I get a migraine. I quit having periods last year by taking birth control continuously to control pelvic pain and endometriosis. That stopped the menstrual migraines. I stopped eating aged cheeses, chocolate, bananas, or drinking red wine to see if they were " food triggers " . They weren't. My neurologist tried five different kinds of anticonvulsive medications (i.e., depakote, neurontin, gabitril, zonegran, and topamax). None of them prevented my migraines. The pain management specialist is a TCM practitioner. He had me try Migrelief (Feverfew, Magnesium, and Riboflavin). I took it twice a day for nine months, but still no improvement. Finally, my neurologist ordered a sleep study. The results were not surprising. They showed interrupted sleep with abnormal brain wave activity. Basically, I have periods of wakefulness throughout the night and don't get the restful sleep where the body repairs itself. He's adjusted my meds to 2 mg of Klonopin (an anticonvulsant benzodiazepine) and 16 mg of Zanaflex (a muscle relaxant). For the last two weeks I have been getting six to eight hours of sleep a night, waking refreshed and ready to go. Before, I would lay in bed for 12 to 16 hours just to get two to three hours total of sleep per night. The neurologist is hoping that with the improved sleep will come a reduction in my migraines. So far, that is true, except for the Santa Anas. Any thing over 30.25, and I get a migraine. I try to hold off taking any triptans because the insurance only gives so many pills per month. I end up waiting until the pain is so bad I can't function. Then I take the triptan and go to sleep, hoping the migraine won't be there when I awake. I am hoping to return to work next month. I have been on state disability for almost a year and feel so much better that I think I am ready. Do you know any TCM practitioners in my area? I would really like to stop taking the prescription medications I am on and deal with my deficiencies and excesses to balance my body. Thank you for your time and information. Karen in San Diego Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 21, 2004 Report Share Posted December 21, 2004 <snip> > Do you know any TCM practitioners in my area? <snip> > Karen in San Diego Hi Karen, I commend you on taking a proactive stance with your health. Did you realize one of the better schools to study Chinese med. in the USA, Pacific, has a campus in San Diego? If seeing one of the faculty members as a private client is beyond your means, they have a student clinic. I mention student clinics to everyone as an avenue of very affordable therapy. If a school doesn't have a student clinic one can usually access low cost or free care from an advanced student trying to earn hours doing case studies. Penel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 22, 2004 Report Share Posted December 22, 2004 Penel, Thank you for the information regarding the TCM school and being treated by a student. I will Google TCM schools in San Diego and see what I find. Karen hyldemoer wrote: > > > <snip> > > Do you know any TCM practitioners in my area? > <snip> > > Karen in San Diego > > Hi Karen, > I commend you on taking a proactive stance with your health. > > Did you realize one of the better schools to study Chinese med. in > the USA, Pacific, has a campus in San Diego? > If seeing one of the faculty members as a private client is beyond > your means, they have a student clinic. > > I mention student clinics to everyone as an avenue of very affordable > therapy. > If a school doesn't have a student clinic one can usually access low > cost or free care from an advanced student trying to earn hours doing > case studies. > > Penel > > > > > > Post message: Chinese Traditional Medicine > Subscribe: Chinese Traditional Medicine- > Un: Chinese Traditional Medicine- > List owner: Chinese Traditional Medicine-owner > > Shortcut URL to this page: > /community/Chinese Traditional Medicine > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 22, 2004 Report Share Posted December 22, 2004 Karen: if you don't find a San Diego practitioner, and don't mind the drive to LA, try Nancy Zhang in West LA. She's on Westwood Blvd. near Pico. Nancy is a Chinese doctor who has practiced in Santa Monica for over a decade, she helped me quit smoking. You can find her ads in the alternative monthlies. Best regards, jack --- Karen Peterson <kpeterha wrote: > > Victoria, > > I don't know my exact TCM diagnosis. I know that > she told me that my > tongue was pale with a white coating, swollen, and > had teeth marks along > the edges. I don't know about the pulses, but she > was mainly treating > me for migraines. At first, she started out slow > because she did not > want to raise heat to the head and cause a migraine. > As we progressed, > she did points in the ear and also sent me home with > little magnets to > stick in places near the heels of my feet. > > With the fibro and myofascial pain syndrome, all my > trigger points hurt > if even lightly touched. I have especially bad > points outside my right > knee, right hip, right shoulder blade, left upper > side of neck, low > back, and slightly behind and above both ears. My > breathing greatly > improved when I started taking Singulair two years > ago. That is when I > learned the difference between histamine and > leukotrienes. I've been > doing lots of research recently on mast cells, how > they release both > histamine and serotonin, two hormones that are very > prominent in my > Western diagnoses. > > Talk about Wind! I live in Southern California in > San Diego. We have > Santa Ana winds every fall and winter. The > barometer can go from 29.70 > up to 30.40 in just a few hours. When it goes up, I > get a migraine. I > quit having periods last year by taking birth > control continuously to > control pelvic pain and endometriosis. That stopped > the menstrual > migraines. I stopped eating aged cheeses, > chocolate, bananas, or > drinking red wine to see if they were " food > triggers " . They weren't. > My neurologist tried five different kinds of > anticonvulsive medications > (i.e., depakote, neurontin, gabitril, zonegran, and > topamax). None of > them prevented my migraines. The pain management > specialist is a TCM > practitioner. He had me try Migrelief (Feverfew, > Magnesium, and > Riboflavin). I took it twice a day for nine months, > but still no > improvement. > > Finally, my neurologist ordered a sleep study. The > results were not > surprising. They showed interrupted sleep with > abnormal brain wave > activity. Basically, I have periods of wakefulness > throughout the night > and don't get the restful sleep where the body > repairs itself. He's > adjusted my meds to 2 mg of Klonopin (an > anticonvulsant benzodiazepine) > and 16 mg of Zanaflex (a muscle relaxant). For the > last two weeks I > have been getting six to eight hours of sleep a > night, waking refreshed > and ready to go. Before, I would lay in bed for 12 > to 16 hours just to > get two to three hours total of sleep per night. > > The neurologist is hoping that with the improved > sleep will come a > reduction in my migraines. So far, that is true, > except for the Santa > Anas. Any thing over 30.25, and I get a migraine. > I try to hold off > taking any triptans because the insurance only gives > so many pills per > month. I end up waiting until the pain is so bad I > can't function. > Then I take the triptan and go to sleep, hoping the > migraine won't be > there when I awake. > > I am hoping to return to work next month. I have > been on state > disability for almost a year and feel so much better > that I think I am > ready. > > Do you know any TCM practitioners in my area? I > would really like to > stop taking the prescription medications I am on and > deal with my > deficiencies and excesses to balance my body. > > Thank you for your time and information. > > Karen in San Diego > > > > > > > > ===== aetheric Aetheric Studies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 23, 2004 Report Share Posted December 23, 2004 Karen Peterson <kpeterha wrote: > Thank you for the information regarding the TCM school and being > treated > by a student. I will Google TCM schools in San Diego and see what > I find. There may be two or three, if I recall correctly. sue Mail - Easier than ever with enhanced search. Learn more. http://info.mail./mail_250 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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