Question:
I've had two acupuncture treatments for my depression and stress.
After the second one, I felt so mentally tired I was hardly
functional. I was physically tired for days... Is this normal? My
problem is with depression, energy, and stress...
Answer:
What other treatment are you using for your depression? I don't think that acupuncture has been shown to be effective for
depression.
Are you under the care of a qualified mental health professional? If
not then I suggest that you find one who can evaluate you to see what
might be of help. There are conventional antidepressants as well as
natural herbs that have been shown to be effective with certain
depressions. Some people have depression due to lack of enough
daylight (SAD) and get helped by sitting under lights of certain
wavelength.
It MAY be that the practitioner was using too many points, chose them
improperly, or retained them too long. Chances are, the practitioner left the
needles in you for over 30 minutes. Less time with the needles MAY be a remedy
for that side-effect, but the point selection and diagnosis **MAY** need to be
re-evaluated. If your problem was with energy AND you have chronic insomnia, your reaction is
not that uncommon. Tell your practitioner what happened and that you do NOT
want to leave feeling like that again. Acupuncture sometimes makes people *FEEL* better. Good suggestion. Bear in mind that Gianna may be self-diagnosed with
Depression. It may be a case of ennui, the blues, etc OR it could be a
serious, diagnosed/diagnosable case of depression. Chinese herbal medicine is, IMHO, more likely to help with Depression & Fatigue
than Acupuncture. IMHO, acupuncture is better for stress than the herbal
formulas. YMMV. Good points and suggestions. Acupuncture and Chinese herbs may be a useful
complimentary therapy for Ginna's conditions if they. It might actually be a
good primary or sole therapy if Gianna's condition is not severe and the
depression is sub-clinical. Of course, I have seen a qualified professional and have been
"officially" diagnosed. Unfortunately, antidepressents caused so many
side effects that I and my psychiatrist have decided to look for
alternative treatments. How many antidepressants did you try? Which ones? What side effects
did you get? Did you try St. Johns Wort? Have you tried omega-3 fatty acids like
flax oil/fish oils? Light therapy?
Do you exercise regularly? Are you eating OK? Problems with sleep? Yes, he left the needles for
longer than 30 min. I think he was targeting my stress and my
insomnia, but not my other symptoms. I am not sure I'd like to try
this again, and see if other points might help... You are welcome! I think you are correct in that he was targeting the stress,
placing too high a priority on that. In your situation, acupuncture for the
stress & insomnia & herbs for the fatigue would, IMHO, be a good approach. I wish it were as easy as that! I'm not an acupuncturist and couldn't really
make a good systemic diagnosis over the Internet, so you'll need to have a
trained herbalist help you with that. If you need help finding an
acupuncturist well trained in herbal medicine, try using this link to find one
near you. http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/locator/
