I just started acupuncture 3 weeks ago and it has been wonderful for me. I have gotten the first instant relief from my sypmtoms coupled with normal positive feelings.
I go to an acupuncturist who has been practising for many years and has his practice set up so that it is affordable - $30 for a 1 hr 10 min session. If you go again in the same week your second appt. is $25 and if you go a third time that appt is $20. I have been going twice a week.
He's had experience treating people with PTSD, panic attacks and OCD. It's not any surprise to him what I'm dealing with and he's totally open to hearing my physical as well as emotional sypmtoms. (Finally someone in this health care system who wants to hear the whole thing, not just one part or another). He's started by treating my insomnia and anxiety.
I get two solid days of significantly reduced symptoms - some anxiety, some sleep problems (mostly shorter sleep) but so much better than "usual" that it's a relief. It's great to feel normally happy, calm, content, peaceful and happy with who I am. I have more attention for others, sleep much more peacefully and feel rested, can plan and do things without feeling like it's a huge challenge, don't have negative ruminating go on and don't feel to so grim. I can feel when it starts to creep back in after the second day.
He's also taught me an acupuncture point tapping routine that includes saying a positive affirmation then naming the negative feeling while tapping. It reduces the negative feeling and can be repeated for remaining feelings. The routine takes about 1 - 2 minutes to do. I've found that after a couple of rounds if I have remaining feelings I can identify them more specifically (it usually starts as "anxiety" then becomes the specific fear that's behind the anxiety). It helps me to know what the core of the feelings are. I think this will help me in therapy and I write these down so I don't forget.
If I make the time to do it and keep with it the feelings are either gone or greatly reduced. I had a major upset last week and thought about taking a pill. I did the tapping once an hour or so as I worked through all the different things that kept coming up. I stayed much calmer and later realized that I hadn't thought of taking medication again.
Besides the relief I've gotten I feel that acupuncture is pushing the PTSD back to the core trauma and out of all the other parts of my life it's seeped into. My bodily energy is stronger and my sense of exhaustion isn't so extreme when it comes over me.
I want to keep going long enough to know how far I can go with this. I think it's a good addition to therapy for me.
Just some info on my PTSD - I had a single trauma eighteen months ago in which my 12 yr old son was shot and almost died in front of me before help arrived. I was diagnosed with PTSD 5 months later. The only medication I've taken is a small dose of Xanax every 7 - 10 days. The small dose works well. I've considered Zoloft, esp. when I was first diagnosed, but I've been able to manage things so I have coped without it (and suffered a lot of ongoing symptoms). I've improved with therapy over the last 14 months. I give massage and am attuned to Reiki, I use it with my massage routine. Having practiced massage therapy and Reiki I've been led to try the acupuncture, esp. once I found someone I could afford to go to.
