Not a Panacea but a Propitiator

For about six weeks now I've been taking acupuncture therapy to address some of my MS symptoms. My initial report? Check the title of the post. I'm discovering that it's not a cure all...as if I ever thought it might be one...but it does seem to offer some short term benefits.

I was looking for an alternative to very high dose steroids to address the chronic and often painful and distracting symptoms of MS. The steroids have the benefit of covering problems with a great deal of energy...like pouring jet fuel into a fire...if you have enough energy to fly wide open...you're distracted from noticing all of the aggravations of pain. The downside of high dose steriods are almost too myriad to go into. Suffice it to say that since stopping them in December, 2006, I've lost about 30 lbs. and my blood pressure has dropped to the point that I have discontinued medication for high blood pressure.

The reason I decided to try acupunture is simply this...if you've ever seen a movie where a character is dying and someone who loves them slaps them hard and the face and shakes them while yelling, "Stay with me! Stay with me!"...that's kind of like what acupuncture seems to do to the nerves. The filiments stimulate them...jar them a bit...slap them around some...yell at them to keep going just a while longer.

So Thursday I'll be back in Doc Moore's office describing where the worst of the burns, pinpricks, spasms, aches, buzzes, burns, vibrations, cramps, are so she can decide which nerves to slap around a bit.