Some of you know I had really really bad day a few weeks ago. At lunch i slipped on something oily in our cafeteria, And broke my ankle. That night I lost my balance on crutches and hit my head, a laceration with 9 staples. I seem to be healing right on target.
The odd, but somewhat great thing is, is all my usual Lyme/fibromyalgia/ inflammation and pain is almost completely diminished. Now part of that may be I have been moving less and sleeping more. But my joints, my headaches, and my gut are as normal as they have been in a decade. Also, my insomnia seems to be gone. I stopped taking ambien at first because I was afraid to take it with pain meds, but haven't had to take even though I haven't taken any pain meds for weeks.
So what I'd love to hear you all discuss is if my real injuries have given all those cytokines a real job to do... So they're leaving the rest of me alone! And if this is the case... Is there a way to retrain them... Or even trick them? Isn't that sort of the theory or acupuncture? What if this tricking was what causes people who cut to do it? What if they found a way to repurpose inflammation? I'm not saying that cutting is therapeutic, but possibly an insight into why people harm themselves...
But mostly, talk to me about acupuncture and your experiences with it for inflammation? Success?
Posted by Razzle (Member # 30398) on :
I've never had acupuncture help reduce inflammation. However, it can help with symptoms.
Homeopathy, on the other hand, has been very successful for me for certain things.
About cutting - typically, people who do cutting (& other forms of self-injury) are doing it as a form of control.
It is an emotional/mental thing, and I don't believe anyone who self-injures does so with the thought of 'distracting' or 'redirecting' their immune system.
Posted by Kudzuslipper (Member # 31915) on :
Hi Razzle, good point. I didn't actually mean that a person literally harmed themselves to effect inflammation... Wondered about more of a side effect that might perpetuate the behavior. Kind of a just thinking moment (i just read a book where the main character cut herself) perhaps I should delete that part.
Posted by BoxerMom (Member # 25251) on :
There is plenty of anecdotal evidence of opioid drugs and opioid agonists putting ME/CFS into remission, so you are definitely onto something.
I don't think your cytokines are being redirected. I think the actual pathways that perpetrate them are interrupted by pain meds.
Take advantage of this shift by piling on the natural anti-inflammatories!
Acupuncture is great, but since most people don't get daily acu, be sure to take your fish oil, turmeric/Curcumin, D, C, herbs, etc.
Posted by lpkayak (Member # 5230) on :
i know i always feel really good far a week or sao after surgery. i used to think it was cuz my body was slow to let go of the heavy duty pain meds and sometimes cuz iv abx kell some stuff. i never feel a herx tho. just feel better---less pain...what i remember was normal many years agao...but i dont reall know what it is
Posted by Kudzuslipper (Member # 31915) on :
So boxer mom, you think it was the two days of Vicodin that sent me into remission? I hated the Vicodin and switched to my normal tramadol. But have not even been using that unless I overdo it. Doing all but curcumin. For sme reason it made me feel worse.
Posted by LymeNut (Member # 40314) on :
All I can say, and I speak for a few other moms, that when our kids are sick with a cold, flu, or vomiting, the Lyme/autism symptoms decrease significantly.
Posted by BoxerMom (Member # 25251) on :
These illnesses are so complex. It's hard to believe two days of Vicodin would make such a huge difference. But it's not impossible either.
I'm sure the extra rest and sleep are helping. Maybe eating better if not so busy?
As for colds/flus, yep, I've noticed that, too. Immunity, inflammation, it's all tied together. Some events do seem to shift our cytokine cascades.