reputable practitioner?

[nicky]

hi,

i would like to hear your opinion on wether you think my practitioner of tcm seems reputable. i haven't had any experience with tmc yet so i am rather insecure.

i went to a center for ctm because i had heard about the benefits of akupuncture on labour and as i have had only positive experiences with alternative medicine i decided to have akupuncture to prepare for the birth of our baby.

i went to the practitioner a week ago when i was 31 weeks pregnant. i had read that one should start akupuncture 4 weeks before birth - this practitioner wanted to start right away. he checked my pulse (no other examinations) and prescribed my sth. sounding similar to 'shenmaiying' which is quite a common mixture of herbs to strenghten heart and lungs, i believe, it contains 4 herbs one of which is ginseng. we then made an appointment for akupuncture for this week.

i had my first appointment yesterday. however, when the practitioner had put 3 needles into the top of my head, i felt i was going to faint, and almost did - really weird. he took the needles out immidiately and i felt better right away. he said i was probably anxious about needles (however, when i have blood taken at the doctors i don't really mind, i even watch...). he said a massage would suit me better and got the lady practitioner to do a 30 min. massage. they said i should take the herbs until the birth of the baby and have a massage once a week. they also said i should try akupuncture after the birth to regain strength. as i'm a student they agreed on a discount.

what do you think? does this all sound like a common procedure to you?

thanks for your help. nicky

[zachsan]

i don't see how massage could hurt, but i would wait to take any more herbs or have any more needles stuck into you until you ask a medical doctor about it.

that's just me, though...

[zachsan]

then again, i don't suppose i would be pregnant.

[doc]

I've had some experience with these TCM herbs. I've taken a few. You can read about my experiences, scattered here and there, in the Journals and in the TCM section. Personally, I would suggest that you don't take any of them while you're pregnant. Some of these medications that they formulate have high doses of real pharmacologic agents, the effects of which on an unborn child remain to be seen. The only thing that you should be taking while you're pregnant, are vitamins, unless you have some sort of complicating factor, and your physician has prescribed otherwise. As I see it, taking any sort of medications without proper medical advice can be detrimental to your baby's health.

Anything that is going to cause your blood pressure to drop can be harmful to your baby. Acupuncture does have real effects in most people; because of the release of beta endorphins in the brain, a state of pseudo narcosis can result, with tremendous relaxation. It will lower your blood pressure; getting "relaxed" in one of these states, in the wrong position, can result in your uterus compressing your inferior vena cava, with resulting further drop in blood pressure. The effects of this beta endorphin release on the further release of estrogen and progesterone is unknown to me, I really don't think it's been studied. What effect it could have on your pregnancy is therefore also unknown. There's no reason why you should be experimenting with it. I'm not sure there are any benefits to this. I'm also not sure if there's any harm, if it's done properly. Personally, I wouldn't mess with it. I can't see how it would change anything.

Massage should not be a problem, unless you've got someone that thinks agressive massage of your abdomen is a proper thing to do. Again, caution is advised.

Be careful. People will try to sell you things, under the pretense that it is for your own good. Then, when things fall apart, they're nowhere to be seen, or, have nothing to get compensation against. Don't mess with your baby. And follow your physician's advice.

[daodejing]

The reaction you describe is a fairly common phenomenon among acupunture patients in the U.S., we call it "needle shock". It doesn't mean the acupuncturist was a bad one, it can result from a number of things such as hypotensive patient, or just a patient who is very insecure or anxiety prone about acupunture.

You can receive acupuncture at any time during or after pregnancy, and even during labor to ease the birth process and help dilate the cervix. There are several points which we aren't allowed to use on a pregnant woman, because they can sometimes influence a miscarriage in a high risk pregnancy, but don't worry about that because any licensed acupuncturist will know not to use those points on you.

In your case, and this is just blind guessing because I don't honestly know your case, I can only presume you experienced needle shock as a result of a weakness in heart blood coupled with nervousness about being needled for the first time. The acupuncturist saw that you were starting to go into needle shock, and he reacted appropriately.

It's all cool is what I'm trying to say. Don't let doc scare you. Follow the regimen of herbs they've prescribed to you, and be completely honest with your acupuncturist/herbalist about any herbal supplements you're taking that were not prescribed by your acupuncturist, as well as prescription medication.