She'll feel those needles and pins

And now, a word about acupuncture: on the advice of Mrs. TG, I started going for acupuncture treatments during the first trimester to combat, among other things, incredible nausea. Since then, I have gone faithfully, first once a week and then once every two weeks. And I have to say, the results have continued to be, well, remarkable.

As my loyal band of readers know, the husband is a pharmacist, meaning his is the world of Western medicine. Which is not to say he is against Eastern practices; he just comes to the table with a certain reserve about them and sees their value only in conjunction with standard therapies. Which, in reality, is my view as well. I figure, why shut yourself off from one kind of treatment or the other if you have both at your disposal? So he has been very supportive of my going, as long as I have also kept up with my doctor's recommendations, which I have, just as faithfully.

But, I have to say, in all honesty, the acupunture treatments have been both more immediate and more successful than any of the drug therapies I have tried (except for daily aspirin therapy, which I am not willing to give up as an experiment, the threat of another stroke being, well, too gosh darn terrifying). Consider the evidence:

--I started taking an anti-nausea drug before starting acupuncture, but it really didn't have enough time to do anything. So one could argue that the drug could have kicked in just as the treatments did, and I'd be hard-pressed to tell you which was actually doing the lion's share of the work.
--However, let's talk about the tinitus, which I have had since the stroke and which got worse after a bad head cold during the first trimester. The ear/nose/throat doc said, essentially, too bad, and sent me on my way. One acupuncture treatment later, and the noise subsided for good, for the first time in years.
--The first trimester was also plaugued by a mysterious "knot" in my digestive system. The gastroenterologist said, essentially, curious, have some prilosec (which I didn't take), and also sent me on my way. One eastern treatment focusing specifically on that region later, and the knot was gone.
--The early second trimester, during which we were buying the house and starting the semester and preparing to move and being pregnant, was extremely stressful. And I am not the best one for dealing with stress. Several intensive treatments and discussions about meditative techniques later, I was able to move in as close to a zen-like state as I've ever achieved, a real accomplishment for my Type A self.
--And, most recently, the end of the second trimester has resulted in heartburn of an insane kind, which is virtually untouched except by consuming massive amounts of Tums. Went to see Polly the acupunturist on Tuesday and have been almost heartburn free since then, except for Tuesday night, when I had one last awful bout, which, as the husband pointed out, was most likely "the law of the cure" at work (the theory that after a treatment the symptoms get much worse and then disappear). See, he's paying closer attention than I am!

The upshot? Get thee to an acupuncturist, if you haven't already. It is sooooo worth the new-agey music and the occasional incense!