First Acupuncture

My very first acupuncture appointment was today, and it was certainly a doozy. I guess I thought to myself that I knew what to expect, that I had expected some very serious and obvious change in my lungs and congestion, and I'm having a a harder time dealing with the fact that I am not completely healed than I thought I would.

The atmosphere was amazing. I took my shoes and socks off, and I went into a room where there were 3 other patients under blankets, looking peaceful and pretty close to asleep. I knew there would be other people there, and I found myself less anxious about it than I thought I would. The reason this is done this way, is that it's been proven through studies that people heal faster when in groups, than when alone. It's the same reason chemotherapy is done in groups. Anyway, Everyone looked peaceful, and I didn't feel anxious about it, so that was good.

My acupuncturist started off by putting 4 needles in my face, about 5 -7 in both of my arms and legs, and then put a blanket over me to let me rest. The needles actually hurt more than I thought they would, and my right arm started tingling almost immediately. Putting about 20 needles into me right away was very weird, but after they were in I could hardly feel them (except for the tingling).

At first, I felt amazed. My congestion cleared up, and considering I didn't take any Advair this morning, my breathing was surprisingly nice. However, after only a few minutes, my chest began to tighten, I started to wheeze, yawn uncontrollably, my congestion came back, and on top of all that, I was feeling very, very anxious, and considering how peaceful the atmosphere was, I could not relax or calm myself down.

The acupuncturist came over and asked me how I was doing, when I explained to him how I was feeling, he put another needle in my face (not even quite in my face, but rather right on my widow's peak), as well as a couple in my wrists, and some in my feet, and more on my legs. He also gave me what he called a "Happy tack". It's a small tack he put in the cartilage near the top of my right ear that he told me I could leave in for up to a week. It's connected to my sympathetic nervous system, and should keep any other anxieties at bay.

After the extra needles and the 'happy tack', my anxiety had dissipated within the minute, and my breathing became easier. I still felt wheezy, which I found very disappointing, and I continued to feel wheezy until i came home and took my Advair, but I'm trying to remind myself that all things worth having take time. I knew there wouldn't be obvious effects immediately, but I'm still finding it hard to accept, I thought at least my lung capacity would be a little higher, but it's hanging out where it normally is. My next appointment is only 2 days away, so we'll see what other things happen.

On the bright side, it's not as if nothing happened. I had been warned about 'healing responses', which include a lot of different experiences, one being extreme exhaustion. After the appointment was over, I was feeling okay, then after about half an hour, I juts got so tired I could do almost nothing productive. I thought maybe my sleepiness was due to a lack of coffee, but even as I was filling up my pot for coffee, I was feeling an overwhelming urge to just lie down on the kitchen floor. I ended up taking a long nap before my coffee had even finished brewing, and when I woke up I was still feeling as if doing anything besides sleeping more was too overwhelming. And when I finally did manage to get up and moving, I felt confused and disoriented. I was trying to make dinner, and was just having the damndest time comprehending my recipe.

Healing responses are good, though. It shows that things are happening, and that something, somewhere, in my body is moving forward towards something healthy. So maybe I shouldn't be so concerned with not feeling as though things are improving, as long as something is happening, right? Right.