Homeopathic Help

    • Anonymous
      October 3, 2006 at 2:00 pm

      I know we have discussed accupuncture and alternative med’s in the past, but has anyone seriously considered hemeopathy or gone down that road. My mom keeps insisting that I should go, but I’m not sure what they could do, maybe relieve fatigue or pain? Any thoughts?

    • Anonymous
      October 3, 2006 at 6:30 pm

      Our son has CIDP and since he’s only 2, we have not tried anything like you are saying. I personally would try anything once or twice. My mom has RA and she was considering the acupunture.

      Lori

    • Anonymous
      October 3, 2006 at 9:59 pm

      Dell’s mom,

      One of my mother’s best friends has RA and has regular accupuncture treatments. She says it really does help.

      Ali,

      For what it’s worth, one of my cats has frequent (several times a week) bouts of pancreatitis, for which he is on daily metronydizol.

      In addition to this conventional prescription medication, the vet has given us some homeopathic pills to give to the cat whenever he starts getting an especially bad attack of pancreatitis. This actually does relieve the immediate problem.

      Not that I’m comparing you to a cat ๐Ÿ˜‰

      Suzy Q

    • Anonymous
      October 3, 2006 at 10:05 pm

      SuzyQ

      Thank you so much, glad to hear that:p

    • Anonymous
      October 3, 2006 at 10:07 pm

      Oh I meant to say that someone on the forums, quite a while back said that accupuncture didnt seem to help long term, but gave slight short term relief. Cant remember who it was though. :confused:

    • Anonymous
      October 3, 2006 at 10:21 pm

      Ali,

      That must have been one of my posts. I did try accupuncture and got some short term relief, but nothing dramatic.

      However, my older cat (16 yrs old) gets accupuncture once a month for his arthritis, and it has helped his mobility tremendously. My vet recommended this (she had it done for her own dog), and I was amazed at how much it helped. Uh oh, now everyone on the forum knows how nutty I am about my cat….:eek:

      SuzyQ

    • Anonymous
      October 3, 2006 at 10:29 pm

      SuzyQ,

      I nearly wet my pants laughing so much! Sorry, I know how much animals mean to people, it just sounded so funny.

    • Anonymous
      October 4, 2006 at 8:37 am

      Hi Ali,

      You must be careful with taking any homeopathy medications, as they can stimulate your immune system. As far as acupuncture, try it, it might help you

      There has been so much discussion regarding alternative treatments and meds on the old forums, what a shame we don’t have that anymore to re-read
      and see what everyone had to say about this subject. The one thing I can recall is that many said certain things did not work for them. But they gave it a shot in case something would work for them. All you can do is try it if that’s what you want to do. ๐Ÿ™‚

    • Anonymous
      October 4, 2006 at 9:00 am

      Donna,

      That was my concern about going to a homeopath, but I thought maybe I was being too cautious. I do remember last year something being talked about, but couldnt quite remember what. When I think long and hard about it, the explanation of post-gbs, which if I read correctly in part says what I copied and pasted below, then I dont think there is much that can be done for a ‘permenant’ recovery.
      [QUOTE]
      ……..collateral sprouting is very effective at restoring strength to a muscle but the efficiency of the muscle suffers – the muscle must work harder to achieve its goals. Thus, fatigue may result even when there appears to be full restoration of strength. On the sensory side, even a small number of damaged sensory axons may be sufficient to generate spontaneous discharges that are registered as pain or discomfort.
      [/QUOTE]
      and
      [QUOTE]
      However, many decades after GBS, recovered muscles once weakened by the disease may again grow weak. This is a slow process that occurs over years, and may at first escape the patient’s notice. It is likely that this delayed weakness is the effect of the normal gradual age-related nerve cell loss on muscles that have a reduced reserve nerve supply from earlier GBS. The same phenomenon has been observed after poliomyelitis (“post-polio syndrome”) and other forms of acute nerve injury.
      [/QUOTE]

    • Anonymous
      October 4, 2006 at 10:54 am

      I have been stewing about the possibility of trying deep tissue massge and acupuncture for my Post GBS symptoms. I have taken Cymbalta and had weight gain issues, I am unsure if I want to try other drugs. I have an appt. with my PCP to discuss going to another neuro, adding physical therapy, alternative modalities and finding out more about clinical studies to join. I will keep you posted as I have exhausted myself in search of relief and continue to decline weekly.

      What I think is interesting is that on the Post Polio thread, there was lots of info on how 20 -25 years post and with lots of physical activity, Post Polio takes a nose dive. So many similarities to me that it is depressing. As a Type A personality, married to a Type A, I have a hard time balancing. And going at life full force has been my modus operendi for 25 years. How do slow down now?

      Post GBS knocked me on my butt last summer and now I am facing a worsening of symptoms as are a lot of other Post GBS’ers. I definitely would love it if someone at the Symposium would address this and underwrite a clinical study, because as time passes many more will be Post GBS and we need to know what to expect. And what helps…

      I will see what my PCP says this week and add things we agree on.

      Let you know….,

    • Anonymous
      October 4, 2006 at 11:30 am

      Natalie

      I have just always seemed to have problems with my back and neck, deep massage helps me out a lot! it is definitely worth a try.

    • Anonymous
      October 5, 2006 at 10:09 pm

      Sorry for my lack of knowledge (GBS in 2005) but what happens if the immune system is stimulated?

    • Anonymous
      October 5, 2006 at 10:38 pm

      Natalie,

      I really do understand what you mean about having a hard time balancing. Those of us who are classic Type A personalities have a very hard time with this disease. We are used to going full tilt until we can’t go any more every day.

      I didn’t choose to slow down, GBS made the choice for me. Now I sometimes wonder if my lifestyle pre GBS contributed to my immune system malfunction.
      No way to know for sure, but just my instinct.

      It may bring you some confort to know, that I now actually enjoy (most of the time) having a slower paced life, so you can learn to adapt. Since we don’t have a choice, we might as well enjoy the benefits of being able to “stop and smell the roses”.

      Keep us posted on what you find out about alternative types of care.

      Best wishes, Suzanne

    • Anonymous
      October 6, 2006 at 10:31 am

      Dear MaidenManitoba:

      GBS is an auto-immune disease in which the immune system is boosted to the point of self destruction. The last thing any of us needs is to push our immune system closer to the point of having GBS. If you have allergies, arthritis, Lupus, Crohn’s disease or any other auto-immune disorder, then your immune system is overactive and you should avoid immune boosters.

      Lee

    • Anonymous
      October 6, 2006 at 1:44 pm

      Natalie, have you thought about chair tai chi? i am reading a book about it as we type. it has brought to mine alot of maybe this or maybe that will work for me. it is very interesting and there are a couple moves that you can do for those days when you can’t do the full program. so far i have used it just a few days and i felt my muscles and body responding to it -in a positive way. now i just have to recoup from working too much outside yesterday to do the tai chi again. in this book there is also a section on accupuncture and accupressure. here’s the name of the book-T’ai Chi in a Chair by Cynthia Quarta. on the front it says- easy 15-minute routines for beginners, get stronger and healthier without leaving your living room.
      i have to try it so i can say i have tried everything-i’m keeping my fingers crossed! i am also in the backward decline stage right now-i hate admitting it, but i am. i just saw my physio dr and he said i’m in that 1-2% of people with the chronic gbs-remitting/relapsing type. in short the only way i can keep myself from going into dfos is to either have muscle stimulation therapy or continuous aquatic therapy-which i can’t afford to do. i asked him if tai chi would help-he said anything you do could help, its just a matter of how much is enough and how much is too much-trying to avoid another paralysis event. so i’m up for trying anything and everything.

      i hope you can find something that will be of benefit to you. take care.:)

    • Anonymous
      October 6, 2006 at 3:31 pm

      Cheryl,

      I’m sorry to hear that you are having more problems. I really admire your fight to find things to help your body fight this disease. You’ve been through so much, but still manage to keep such a great attitude. My prayers and thoughts are with you.

      Best wishes, Suzanne

    • Anonymous
      October 6, 2006 at 11:55 pm

      Thanks for the respone; I appreciate all the information I can get. I’m pretty much on my own as my GP doens’t really have alot of knowledge on GBS.

    • Anonymous
      October 7, 2006 at 2:35 pm

      Well, I’m gonna ‘wade right in’ on this one! With these auto-immune diseases it’s not because the immune system is “to healthy”. It is sick and has over-reacted in the other direction. We want to do everything we can to bring the immune system back into health. Fresh fruits, vegetables and grains will help facilitate that. Donuts and candy bars won’t help (how I wish . . .:p ) I personally believe in complimentary practices. I would not be alive today had I not researched and tried on my own. Traditional medicine does not have ‘all’ the answers. Infact, they predicted that I would not live 5 more years and I’m at 11 yrs. ๐Ÿ˜€ I am currently doing acupunture and wishing I had done it sooner . . . Remember, since each body is different in composition and was ‘hit’ uniquely with these diseases we won’t all get the same positive reponses from all therapy. This ‘life path’ is a ‘trial & error’ journey ๐Ÿ™ ๐Ÿ™‚

    • Anonymous
      October 11, 2006 at 11:11 pm

      be careful using accupuncture with CIDP- we used it on my husband’s feet and he couldn’t walk all one night- and had more pain- remember, it ill be putting needles into demyelinated nerves. I thought it a good idea until we tried it……Sigrid

    • Anonymous
      October 12, 2006 at 9:50 am

      Suzanne, I just ordered T’ai Chi in a Chair by Cynthia Quarta off amazon. It sounds like something I can do. And hopefully not over extend myself. Thanks for the heads-up. Also I had a great massage yesterday and less pain today. And I’m going to try acupuncture next week. I had great success with it when I had Shingles in the 90’s. I am willing to try anything as long as I know it won’t hurt me. Keep the ideas coming!

    • Anonymous
      October 13, 2006 at 8:27 pm

      [quote=supersij]be careful using accupuncture with CIDP- we used it on my husband’s feet and he couldn’t walk all one night- and had more pain- remember, it ill be putting needles into demyelinated nerves. I thought it a good idea until we tried it……Sigrid[/quote]
      This is correct. Acupuncture can achieve great success when used with sore muscles or muscles in spasm, but it shouldn’t be used for [B]nerve pain.[/B] I’m assuming your husband’s feet were like mine – tingling, burning, stabbing pain. That is nerve damage and only time will heal it. :rolleyes:

      Anyway, I just wanted to add to the discussion and emphasize that acupuncture will not help burning nerve pain. For painful muscle spasms and muscle contracture that irritates the joints though, it is a Godsend!

    • Anonymous
      October 13, 2006 at 11:55 pm

      birdie welcome home!! we’ve missed you. hows everything down there? ya doin ok? glad your back!:)