Why I chose acupuncture
For those of you who haven’t read the first 2 parts please go here. Just briefly, due to a busy life, stress and pushing myself too hard I ended up fatigued and my poor bladder went into meltdown with a painful cystitis attack. Although the original infection cleared up quickly my beleagured bladder was left weakened and it was very uncomfortable for a while.
I find acupuncture works very well for me in the menopause so I decided to get a course of treatment to help me get my balance back.
How the treatment helped
After 6 treatments I feel like a new woman and this has not only benefited and strengthened my urinary tract but I feel better in myself too. Acupuncture works on many levels both physically and emotionally – it is what is called a holistic therapy and the acupuncturist not only looks at the physical problems but also how you feel about yourself, your life and your emotional state. We know that how you feel emotionally can play a huge part in how well or badly you go through the menopause, and unfortunately conventional medicine seems to ignore this angle when dealing with menopausal women (apart from offering anti-depressants as a cure-all!).
How it also benefited my nervous system
One of the added benefits of this treatment is that my nervous system seems so much calmer and stronger, which is wonderful!
What really hit me in the beginning of the menopause was how much my nervous system just seemed to crash. Beforehand, I was a very calm person, rarely got angry or upset and I was, I suppose you could say, a ‘positive worrier’ in that when problems arose rather than worrying about them as such I tended to try and solve them.
It was such a shock when I suddenly realised that my nervous system had a life of its own and I felt no longer in control. It was as if it were a separate being which just did as it wanted to. I could be sitting quietly or doing something mundane and all of a sudden this worry or fear or flood of irrational thoughts would take over and then my heart would race and I couldn’t do anything about it even though I knew that my fears were groundless – I had been taken over by an alien, or at least that’s what it felt like!
And then, when the palpitations started that was awful – mine kicked in when I got into bed. Suddenly, my heart would start racing painfully and also seemed to miss beats, and the first time it happened I honestly thought I was having a heart attack! Sleep was totally out of the question and it would take at least 30 minutes to calm down. I did guess that this was part and parcel of the menopause but I got it checked out by the doctor just in case it was unrelated. Luckily, she confirmed this.
Once I knew it wasn’t serious I upped my magnesium and tried really hard to relax more and stop running round like an idiot, which helped a lot. But my nervous system still gets out of control occasionally and it really isn’t a good place to be.
However, since the acupuncture I have noticed that I am much calmer and more relaxed and when I do feel myself slipping I can actually get back in control by deep breathing and just stopping what I am doing for a moment or two. Also, because my nervous system is less stressed during the day my sleep has improved as well, so all round benefit.
I would just like to say a big ‘Thank You’ to all of you who read my Blogs and wishing you all a happy 2015, just REMEMBER TO RELAX!
