[Pixel22]

Yesterday Dr. Susan Love was on the FB page of the Neuropathy Association. There was a discussion and she answered many questions. After writing her famous book about breast cancer, many years later, she contracted leukemia herself. As part of her treatment, she was left with PN. If you have access to FB, you may want to read some of her responses to questions.

The acupuncture suggestion she made several times was of interest to me. In searching the threads here, I have found very few people that found it helpful, so I was unsure of trying it. It is not covered by my insurance company. Finally, I decided it wouldn't hurt and my Neurologist gave me little guidance except for taking Nortriptyline and possibly acupuncture. She gave me a list of providers that was apparently old as many of them had left their practices or the phone numbers were out of date. I finally tracked one down and spoke with her on the phone and made an appointment.

The first two visits, nothing happened. By the third visit, I was considering stopping the treatment because it simply wasn't doing anything. That day was a particularly bad day. My toes had that bone deep pain that you only know if you have PN and it is unrelenting. It was difficult for me to walk from my car to the front door. I had not slept well in a long time. When I left the treatment, I noticed the pain relief in my toes. For about three hours I felt wonderful. Then the pain came back in a huge wave for about another three hours and after that, it settled down to a pain I could tolerate. Much less than what I usually have. I slept better for a few nights too. Yesterday I had my fourth treatment and I didn't have that huge swing of "after-pain," but I most definitely have gotten some relief.

For anyone who has not tried acupuncture, I really believe it is worth a shot. I have no idea at this point if it will continue to get any better or last, but I really wasn't expecting much, so I have been pleasantly surprised. It goes to show once again that just because it doesn't work for one person, it may work for someone else, so it's best if we try things for ourselves sometimes rather than rely only on the experiences of others.