Acupuncture

Recently, a few of my dear friends ganged up on me and somehow managed to persuade me into trying a new doctor for treatment of my chronic Lyme disease. This doctor has degrees in both Eastern and Western medicine, and, although he came highly recommended to me, the thought of going to even one more doctor sounded like about as much fun as getting a root canal. But a tiny little voice inside of me said, "Go." So, I went.

"Can you stick out your tongue, please?" Dr. L. asked. After a brief peek at my lovely lengua, the doctor told me with a concerned look on his face that I had blood clots. Yikes! "And you have very poor circulation," he went on. I suppose that may have something to do with why I always feel like I'm in Antarctica even in the summer time. 

Dr. L. did acupuncture on me and I was literally bouncing off the walls for six glorious hours. And that's all it took to convince me that this is a doctor who can really help me. I've been seeing him twice a week for two weeks now. And I feel amazing! I expected that he would tell me to stop taking antibiotics and that they are killing my body. On the contrary, he believes that there is no way you can heal from Lyme without antibiotics!

I will be seeing Dr. L. in conjunction with my regular LLMD (Lyme literate doctor). I've tried acupuncture for my Lyme disease in the past (with a different acupuncturist) and really didn't notice much of a difference, but I cannot believe the difference in my body from only two weeks with Dr. L. My energy is back and I can function again. I'm able to fall asleep at a normal hour and have been able to wake up easier in the mornings, for the first time in years!! And--drumroll, please--I haven't had any of my seizure-like episodes since seeing Dr. L.!

 A normal visit with Dr. L. entails acupuncture, laying on an acupressure table (heavenly!) and jade hot stone therapy. He highly recommended that I get an acupressure mat to lay on at home, which I did (thanks, mom!), and it makes a big difference. Dr. L. has seen big improvements in his Lyme patients who lay on spiky acupressure mats, like the Spoonk or the Nayoya Acupressure Mat. (I, personally, chose the Nayoya mat and neck pillow, and I really love it, but it definitely takes some getting used to! You're laying on hard plastic spikes and you have to build up a tolerance to it. It really does help my pain levels, though.)

I also have seeds (yes, you read that right!) taped to my ear to help me locate six acupressure points in my body. I am supposed to stimulate the acupressure points at least five times throughout the day. I feel like a Chia Pet!

I am very blessed to have a darn good trio of doctors working to get me better--my Lyme doctor, my acupuncturist and my neurologist. I am in good hands and I feel in my heart that these three are going to give me my life back.