acupuncture to help anxiety

[kattchi]

hi everyone,

im so so pleased to have found this place! I suffered from anxiety really bad afew years ago when i was on the pill but i got loads better when i came off it and started taking vitamin B. Alas, my anxiety has reared its ugly head again. It happened about 3 months ago out of the blue, and had been awful to deal with again. more so this time in some ways because atleast before i knew the pill was causing it, this time i dont know what it is. It did come on at a time when i hadnt been taking the best care of myself, no exercise, eating badly as id been moving house etc, so i think in some way its my bodies way of telling me i need to look after myself more (you could have just given me a cold body, id have gotten the hint, but thanks!)

anyway, since it came back this time, ive been trying hard to look after myself and beat it. Lots of supplements (vitamins, amino acids etc), exercising, eating better, cutting down on rubbsih food and alcohol etc. Ive also been to the docs and am hopefully starting a course in CBT next week, and today i finally got round to trying acupuncture.

Ive wanted to try it for afew years now, and took the plunge today. Im jsut wondering if anyone else has any experiences of it?

The practitioner was excellent, we spent an hour talking about my symptoms and lifesyle and she took my pulse, looked at my tongue and prodded and poked me to see what treatment could help, then the needles came out. She did 2 "clearing treatments" that are supposed to clear blockages apparently, they were quite relaxing, but also quite draining. Tonight, i dont know what effect it may have, but i do feel very very tired, pretty exhausted really, which she said is common, as its kind of like having a detox. im hoping tomorrow i wake up feeling better. Ive got another appointment on monday so fingers crossed i see some imrovement in my anxiety.

Has anyone else found acupuncture to help with anxiety at all? ill keep people posted if it seems to work for me! fingers crossed!

[rejanette]

I got acupuncture as well in the past and it's seems to help a lot... Well the first times i was really tired and got to sleep pretty well at night it's amazing how it relaxed you and how you feel after... I hav done it for one motnh and it really helped a lot.
Rejane

[northstar]

kattchi it is such a pleasure to see someone so proactive in taking care of themselves and doing all the things that will help you feel better! you're doing fantastic work, i hope you're proud of yourself :D

like you my body seems to want to force me to be really healthy lol, so i too have to watch how i eat, keep bad things at a minimum, exercise, B vitamins and all that stuff - but once i stick with it i'm fine, if i let things go downhill too far then i'll start to feel bad again. sometimes i feel jealous of the people who seem to be able to eat and live however they want!

i tried accupuncture too and found it great. i went to a couple of sessions with a practitioner who gave me lots of advice. during my troubles it was one of the only times that i felt good! i hope you've found the same and woke up feeling great the morning after :)

[kattchi]

Thanks,

i just know that my anxiety isnt going to go away on its own so im trying to do everything i can think of to beat it! I get what you mean tho, its so annoying that other people can lead such unhealthy lifestyles and not have any problems from it, when i end up feeling like im losing my mind!

i still dont feel great after the acupuncture, but it was my first one. I felt very tired yesterday and quite weepy, feeling a little better today but still have some underlying anxiety. Ive got another appointment tomorrow where were going to start treating the anxiety properly i think (as the first session was a cearing one) so hopefully that will start to make a difference. Its good to know that other people have found acupuncture helpful, gives me hope that it might help me.

[kattchi]

hey, just thought id add an update for anyone who is interested. I had my second acupuncture appointment last night. The first set of points the woman did made me feel quite relaxed, but the next lot, eeek i got a massive wave on anxiety and felt quite scared, but then she did some points on my wrists and i felt okay again.

Im still not sure if its helping or not, i guess time will tell. I must say that yesterday and today i have been feeling a lot less anxious though. it could be the acupuncture, or maybe the amino acids and magnesium ive started taking, or a combination of everything im doing to sort myself out. Im just glad im starting to feel a little bit better. I dont feel anywhere near as on edge or sick as i have been feeling, and i have been coping with my irrational fear thoughts a lot better and have managed to sort of out think them when they try and start up in my brain.

fingers crossed i keep improving. Got another acupuncture appointment next friday so ill let everyone know how it goes

xxx