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Thread: acupuncture as treatment for headaches

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    Default acupuncture as treatment for headaches

    Has anyone been successful using acupuncture for headaches? As my daughter's prednisone has been decreased(she's currently at 10mg), her headaches have significantly increased. Icing her face helps a little, but none of the OTC meds do much. Even the Excedrin Migraine has been ineffective.

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    I have not tried acupuncture for headaches. I have found it to be useful for my general health. For a weggie you have to be very careful that the practitioner is a very good one that understands WG. If they do not, they may stimulate the immune system and cause a flare. It has happened to at least one person here.

    I recently went for acupuncture and talked to my acu-doc about this. He said this is because many American trained acupuncture practitioners are trained only in acupuncture. He should know- he teaches it here in Seattle. He was trained in China where traditional Chinese medicine is taught along with western medicine.

    A couple of months ago I had very bad headaches after getting Rituxan. Excedrin, that normally helps my headaches, was not helping. On a whim I stopped at my Super Supplements store to see what they had for headaches. My expectations were very low but I was willing to give anything (within reason of course) a try.

    I was steered toward one product called MigraLief. I tried it and was amazed that it was very helpful. I like too that it wasn't just more man-made chemicals for my poor liver to have to deal with. It contains Feverfew, Magnesium, Riboflavin and Puracol. Chronic Migraines & the Superior Efficacy of Puracol Feverfew?

    I am concerned that icing her face helps a little. It sounds like sinus pain rather than classic headache. What is her history with sinus pain? Does she irrigate with saline? Does she use budesonide or other steroid in nasal rinse?

    This was very helpful to me and was helpful in my reduction of oral steroids. Currently I do not use budesonide because my sinus's are not inflammed. An ENT can scope the sinus and look for inflammation.

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    How much is she reducing her preds at a time ? If you try to wean down off them too fast they will give you terrible headaches,body aches and any symtoms depending on the person. She should try maybe even lowing it by about 1/2 to 1 mg at a time for a few weeks. Some of us are stuck where we are because the adreanial glands have shut down. I , myself can't get below 5 mg. without getting ill. Good luck to her.
    Life isn't about how you survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain !

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    Anytime I started icing my face it was a sign of a flare up in my sinuses.

    I have interviewed two acupuncturists who strongly discouraged me. Stating that it could trigger a flare up. As mostly acupuncture serves to stimulate the immune system. Something we need to avoid. I even had a bad flare up after having cranial massage.

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    This is very useful information and I thank you all. Never occurred to me it could cause a flare up, but it makes sense as I reflect on this.
    In response to Debra, her doc had reduced her 10 mg at a time, each over a month period. So, she went from 40 (which she had been at since dx in January), to 30 this past August, to 20 in September, and now 10 a week or so ago. Think my daughter is encouraging it because of the weight gain. I just ordered her the book about how to deal with prednisone that I read about on this forum. Maybe that will help.

    Thank you again. I will share all this with her. This forum is the best.
    Wish I had helpful info to share on the forum; hope you all don't mind that at this point, I'm mostly just getting info from all of you to support my daughter. It is SO very much appreciated.

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    WG mom.. it is alot easier to reduce at higher levels but when you get down to about 10 mg. it can cause many side effects as many of us can tell you. Good luck to her, I hope the headaches stop and she isn't having a flare. Good luck
    Life isn't about how you survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain !

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    I am interested to read this thread since I have just started acupuncture. I will ask about the effects on the immune system when I go this week. I think I did notice my sinuses feeling more open during the session. I usually cannot go more than 10 minutes without blowing my nose..but I did not need to at all during the 30 minute session. I also told her of my decades long back pain....kind of as an aside as it is the least of my problems these days. Well....I am coming off pred, and my breathing is going downhill yet again. BUT...although my wheezing is certainly getting worse...it has moved and is not as deep down in my chest. At least so far, I do not have the elephant sitting on my chest. Yay!

    The dramatic, irrefutable improvement,however, has been with my back. I'd become so used to back pain that I no longer really paid much attention to it. Having it 90% gone is amazing! Kind of like that old joke...."Why are you hitting your head on the brick wall?". Answer: "Because it feels so good when I stop!"

    Of course, because I do NOT have WG, I don't have to worry as much about the immune system effects. I personally feel that my immune system is under active...so maybe it will work for the respiratory issues.

    I start Xolair shots in a week. Wish me luck. lots of asthmatics have found it to be very helpful. My ENT thinks it won't help. Asthma specialist thinks it will. So...a six month trial for me. A once a month injection with a two hour stay to be monitored in the office for the first three months...epipen at the ready in case of anaphylactic shock. Good times!
    Jacquie (aka Lifelong Booknut)

    Updated status: "Honorary Weggie"

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    Quote Originally Posted by me2 View Post
    I was steered toward one product called MigraLief. I tried it and was amazed that it was very helpful. I like too that it wasn't just more man-made chemicals for my poor liver to have to deal with. It contains Feverfew, Magnesium, Riboflavin and Puracol. Chronic Migraines & the Superior Efficacy of Puracol Feverfew?
    I don't get migraines a lot, I get them [very] rarely, so taking medicine that I continually need to shell out money for isn't logical. Do you know of a product that will kill migraines when I get them? Any off the shelf drugs don't do anything to stop a migraine.

    This medicine is targeted towards migraine headaches, which are completely different from other types, and you mentioned that the drugs you normally used for headaches didn't work, so it very is possible that you were having migraines, not regular headaches like cluster/sinus, etc. In other words: Just because something works on a headache, does not mean it will work on all types of headaches, as regular headache medication has no effect on migraines. Has anyone told you they've seen this drug/medication work on regular headaches? I do get regular headaches a lot(sporadically), and always keep a bottle of extra-strength tylenol close by, just in case. Would be great if I could stop them altogether.
    Last edited by B_in_Florida; 12-05-2014 at 07:09 PM.
    Just call me "B".
    ---
    "How's it going?"
    "Like crap."

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    Hi B,
    The person at the store told me that he had people who came in and said that this product worked for migraines. We didn't discuss people with regular headaches. I wasn't thinking real clear- I had a headache.
    I just grabbed at it out of desperation to give it a try. My headache was "caused" by a Rituxan infusion. Or maybe other drugs. I rarely get headaches and I don't know what type they would be called. I only have my own story.
    I know things that work for some things and some people won't work else where.
    I thought it might give somebody else desperate something to give a try.

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