Alternate treatment
#174368 - 04/27/05 10:12 AM
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Have someone tried alternate treatmnent for IBS, like chinese medicine. I am going to see a doc for accupenture and herbal medicine for IBS. I hope it helps.
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OO keep posting how that goes! i was curious about chinese medicine myself. i found a home remedy of essential blended oils that mix into tea to treat over-indulgance, which is probably the equivilant to bloating when we eat tiny meals. good luck~ 
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VEGAN ASHLEY~IBS/C
www.myspace.com/dutchflowers
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I tried accupuncture for about a year. It really helped for a while, then not. In fairness, there were special circumstances when it stopped helping: I was cutting back on my accupunture schedule AND I got a hideous intestinal bug. Unfortunately, when I visited the accupuncturist once I got the bug, every needle she set made things worse. It took me months to get over the bug and by that time I had no interest in returning to the accupuncturist.
My Family Practice physician, who has some training in accupuncture, believes it could be helpful and has suggested I try it again. One of her suggestions was that I try sessions at a local accupuncture school: the senior students will do accupuncture for less than an independent practitioner.
As for herbs, a couple of years ago I read an article that said some studies had shown relief of IBS symptoms following treatment with Chinese herbs. I didn't keep the article, so I can't give you the reference. I did look for more information on the Internet, but didn't find it then. It might be out there now. Please remember that herbs can have side effects just like Western medicines: if it's strong enough to help, it can be strong enough to hurt.
Good luck with this. Please do post how it goes - maybe your story will inspire me to try accupuncture again.
Oh, and one more thing. I loved the way I felt once the needles were set. 
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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I sure will let you know if it makes any differrence. I don't have much faith in alternate treatment.. but i got to try it to find out.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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One thing you'll want to keep in mind with acupuncture is that it favors certain types of IBS over others.
Just as IBS can manifest with diarrhea, constipation, bloating, pain, heartburn, etc... so can it be caused by a variety of issues.
Lining up the cause and the treatment is essential according to traditional Chinese medical theory. Biomedicine does the same thing, but because IBS is so vaguely understood, they don't talk about that too much.
In particular, I find (I'm an acupuncturist) that the stress induced type of IBS issues respond best to acupuncture. If your digestive complaints aren't aggravated by stress then herbal medicines may be more effective.
In either case, herbs can do a wonderful job of addressing your situation, but try and avoid cure-alls that don't differentiate your particular type of condition.
If the herbal product being promoted is 100% effective, run away. That's marketing. A phenomenally effective IBS medication (herbs or drugs) would be good in 80% of the patients who take it. If someone is selling something that is 80% effective, not only is that a very effective herbal blend, but the the marketing has integrity. If the marketing doesn't have integrity, how much quality and ethics do you really think that they're putting into their products?
Also, because Chinese medicine likes to address the underlying cause along with the symptoms, a good Chinese herbal formula will seek to determine that cause such as "aggravated by stress" or "worse after eating". That sort of thing. For the record, those two examples I just gave would require two different formulas, though they could be taken together in some circumstances...
Okay, I'll get off my soap box here. 
-al.
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Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.
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aggravated by both stress and after eating, I would most like be helped by both accupuncture and herbs? I would need both in order to find some relief? Would an accupuncturest be able to address both approaches?
Does accupuncture really help GI problems? I have read mixed opinions on this treatment. There is much more supportive evidence for hypnosis.
But I've seriously considered accupunture, and honestly would have tried it by now if it were 1. cheaper, 2. my insurance covered it 3. there were more scientific evidence that it worked.
BTW, I'm mainly Constipated, pain, bloat, and gas everyday! And spasms.
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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How did it go? Did it help? Maybe you aren't posting anymore as I haven't seen any recent posts. Hope you check in with us!
Inquiring (and desperate) minds want to know!
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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