Pain Free Blog

Bipolar

2009-08-28T10:55:06Z

Bipolar Disorder - Intense excitement and extreme depression

This disorder means alternate periods of excitement and depression. Minor excitement in the office or working places looks energetic and good. This person may suffer depression in the home. When this symptom is minimal, nobody pay attention how this may develop to serious problem. When this bipolar develops to intense excitement (mania) and extreme depression, the person may lose the job and destroy family and friends' relationship, and marriage and lead to suicide.
Many use drugs which are generally expensive and have lots of side effects. When person has a sensation of mood swing, person tries to increase dosages. The response time sometimes take a few weeks to be effective. In the meantime, patients become very anxious and acts dysfunctional.

According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), we notice two significant functions which are intense excitement and extreme depression. These two functions are generally shown at pulse. One side pulse is strong and the other side is weak. If the pulse is too strong, we try to sedate strong function and make it to normal level. If the pulse is too weak, we try to tonify and bring up to the normal level. This simple idea works very well. Strong pulse means excessive yang and weak pulse means deficient yin. We try to make these two forces balance each other.

This theory is based on relations of 5 zang (liver, heart, spleen, lung and kidney) and 6 fu (gallbladder, small intestine, stomach, large intestine, urinary bladder and triple jiao) organs. It is an art to find which is excessive and deficient. According to TCM, the mind belongs to heart. Western science believes in brain. When anyone asks where the mind locates in the body, we point our chest where the heart locates. This is a interesting point medical fields miss. Sleeping disorder such as less sleep also relates with heart. We can say that maniac act comes from heart and brain. We treat heart with acupuncture points related with heart. We select acupuncture points leading and entering to brain. Depression comes from kidney. Depression usually leads to anger, and we also treat liver. According to my experience depression is relatively responded faster than mania. There are a lot more to discuss, however this theory is very complicated to understand to ordinary person.

The effect of acupuncture is very fast and don't have to wait for weeks like medicines. Patients feel immediate response. Some may feel during treatments or next day. Most patients who take acupuncture treatments don't increase any dosages. Some report they feel better than before without increasing dosages. We also advise patients to take medicines while acupuncture treatments. Please note that acupuncture doesn't interfere with any medicines. Some patients ask me to lower dosages or stop taking medicines. My advice is that before deciding; consult with their physician who prescribes medicines.

It is ideal to treat this disorder during depression period. This person may refuse any treatment during mania as a patient believes that he/she is the best in the world and nobody can be better than them. In some severe case of mania, we need family help and their consent. The family can arrange that MD gives an injection of sleeping and acupuncture treatment can be given during sleeping.

Call now at 718-228-1972 to make an appointment.

What does a fluttery feeling in your heart mean?

2009-06-17T14:21:55Z

Almost feels like it speeds up for a couple beats or skips a beat, nothing particularly interesting or exciting is going on at the time either. This has been going on for years by the way I am wondering if it's anything bad.

Also sometimes when I am about to take a deep breath it feels like my rib caught onto my lung or something so I have to exhale, and inhale very slowly to get it "unstuck". I really don't know what is going on there or if it is a rib or what but it hurts like hell. Or I have to lift my arms up and inhale slowly.

Your heart has irregular pulse as valves such as tricuspid valve or mitral valve are not functioning properly making murmur. There could be other issues, too.

According to statements, you might have dysfunction of lung and kidney. Difficulty of inhale comes from kidney function and exhale from lung. There are good herbs which can be treated for your symptoms. When you get acupuncture treatment with herbs, you would get better and faster results. Try to find local acupuncture clinic.

Should I see an endocrinologist?

2009-06-17T14:18:49Z

I am a 40 year old male who developed chronic asthma two years ago during a house renovation. It may or may not be related to this, buy I have been on corticosteroids for about 1.5 years to treat my asthma. During that time, I've started feeling depressed, irritable, and noticed a significant drop in my libido. My last blood test we checked my testosterone and it came back as "Low" for my age. I am in very good health otherwise--gym, diet, etc.

I mentioned my "issues" to my GP who says, "We can give you Lexapro for your depression, and if you have sexual side effects we'll give you Viagra!" I'm like, when do the drugs stop!!! I am trying to taper of the corticosteroids (First Advair, now Pulmicort) to see if that will help me. I don't know if these drugs have messed with my adrenals etc. and if that has had any effect on my testosterone production and if seeing an endocrinologist could shed any light on to this. I'm feeling a little wary of my GP and her zealousness to prescribe drugs for everything. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Asthma is related with lung. Libido is related with kidney.

I suggest trying deep breathing to find which organ involved. Do you have a difficulty of breathing in or breathing out? This information will tell which organ involved. There could be more issues to be discussed. You can email me.

You can treat asthma without steroid, but by natural way. If you suffer asthma for 1.5 years, I believe a few acupuncture treatments would make you breathe better without steroid at all. There is no better way to treat chronic symptoms than acupuncture. If there is phlegm, acupuncture will remove phlegm. If there is any obstruction in bronchial tube such as stagnation, acupuncture will remove obstruction.

Whenever anyone takes steroid, kidney is damaged and bone is softened as a side effect. Your libido may be your age or kidney damage. Kidney is an organ recovering slowly according to my experience. However it may be not difficult to get back your libido as you are not that old.

If you want to get rid of all drugs, acupuncture could be a best alternative.

about my period

2009-06-17T14:13:56Z

Never in my life was I not on time with my period... unless I was pregnant. Now I have it every 3 weeks instead of 4 weeks. Why is it changing? Should I worry? I'm 47

There are two reasons for early period. One is heat or damp heat (profuse, dark-red, thick flow or with clots). The other is qi deficiency (light red, thin menses flow with shortened cycle, lassitude, and dislike of talking). All acupuncturists know this very well. Premenopause or menopause leads to delayed period most cases. Her age is close to menopause, but symptom is different. Go to acupuncture clinic soon.

11 weeks postpartum bleeding

2009-06-17T13:27:25Z

I am now 11 weeks postpartum. When I was 7 1/2 weeks post partum my bleeding had slowed to almost a hault. Then suddenly two days later I woke up in a puddle of blood. The bleeding was so bad that I had to wear 2-3 pads, at the same time, and change them every 1/2 hour. My ob/gyn did not seem to think it was a big deal and prescribed me a pill to take, for 10 days, to stop the bleeding. All it did was slow the bleeding down. At 9 1/2 weeks the bleeding finally stopped...for 3 days. When it started back it was brown and jelly-like. I saw my ob/gyn who prescribed me birth control pills in order to regulate my cycles. A little history: I will be 39 years old in July. I have been pregnant 12 times (8 misscariages). I have 3 boys (18, 13, and 4) and now a little girl (born last March). With my daughter I had my tubes tied. All of my babies were c-sections. Does anybody have a clue as to what is going on with my bleeding? Thank you for your time.

Get lotus and make juice and drink. 12 oz each time twice a day. Bleeding will stop within 3 days. In the mean time, find the acupuncture clinic and get treatment.

Anybody have any idea why my face turns red

2009-06-17T13:23:44Z

It looks like I have a bad sunburn. It goes away after a couple of hours or by the next day. My blood pressure is fine so it is not that.

It means YIN deficiency, especially kidney. If you are female, you may expect hot flash soon. You also have dull lower back pain due to kidney yin deficiency. This begins in the afternoon and more at night. Of course night is yin and day is yang. This means you need immediate attention not to accelerate aging process. See nearby acupuncture clinic and ask also herbs.

Anyone have a bipolar spouse?

2009-06-16T09:13:55Z

Anyone out there have a bipolar spouse? I have been married for 10 years and it has been a tremendous struggle. I have now separated from my wife who refuses treatment. Her rages are incredible, and the roller coaster ride is something akin to torture. Anyone else have some experience with this illness? Thx.

When she is angry or in fear, she will refuse any treatments. Wait until she calms down or depressed and suggest or give treatments. Acupuncture is very good for bipolar. The success rate is different with acupuncturists. The problem is her anger or emotion may be changed anytime, even during treatments. I suggest one method which is MD injects for sleeping pill and an acupuncturist give treatment during her sleep. Once she gets better with acupuncture treatments, she looks forward treatments. Some patients refuse regular treatments due to lots of side effects of medicines. Acupuncture is almost no side effect.

Women Needs Help/Advice ASAP!!

2009-05-18T00:54:44Z

Maybe someone in this forum can help me... I am 21 years old, and I have never had regular periods. I have one every thrre or four months or so. It has been like this since I was 15. I had a baby 9 months ago, and my periods are still being irregular, but it never really bothered me much. My doctor put me on birth control pills a month ago to try to regulate my period. I started bleeding heavy and having blood clots four days after i started taking the pill. I bled for three weeks, so i called the doctor and he brought me in. He told me that he thought my walls of my uterus were thick and that he needed to perform a hysteroscopy with a D & C on me, and that would stop the bleeding immediately. I went through the procedure on wednesday of last week and my bleeding was stopping the next morning. All of the sudden that night blood started flowing really heavy again. I started getting sick on Friday, so I called the doctor. I was still on the pill, but he asked me to come in for an emergency visit. He looked at me and said I was bleeding more than I should be and that my blood tests showed I was too low on iron and i needed to take supplements. He also switched my pill to a pill that is 2x stronger than the pill i was on before and said that my bleeding would be stopped by Monday. Well, today is Monday and I am still bleeding heavy and there is no sign of it slowing down any time soon. That makes this bleeding to be going on for almost a month!! I am starting to quesiton if my doctor really knows what he is doing. I am supposed to go back next week and he said he would stop the pill for a week and allow me to have a regular period! Why? I have been bleeding for a month! I don't know if he knows what he is talking about and i am considering taking myself completely off the birth control. I was much happier off the pill because i didnt bleed so much! Any advice?? I dont know what to do at this point. Thanks for reading!

First of all, I congratulate that you have a child. Many people suffer due to infertility on that condition. Delayed menstruation is due to coldness in body or Qi deficiency (meaning weak energy). Without diagnosing you such as color, any kind of pain before, during or after periods and other examinations, it is difficult to give you proper advice to you. You might have cold hands before taking birth control pills based on irregular periods since 15. After taking pills, you experienced blood clots. This might be ok for you. The problem is continued heavy flow. I guess pills may change your body warm, especially inner uterus.

Birth control pills may be very harmful to most women in my opinion. I don't know how they work, but whatever against nature will be eventually not good for woman body. Eggs supposed to be moved toward fallopian tubes every month are accumulated in the fixed place like ovary. These may turn to tumor or even cancer. I don't know any study made for this purpose. Of course this short period should not be concerned for tumor. Anything supposed to be moved must be moved properly, if not it will cause problems in the future.

im 27 and i think i have a swollen prostate

2009-05-18T00:48:06Z

what would cause a swollen prostate at my age?

When liver organ contracts, testicle becomes swollen sometimes. Prostate itself is nothing got to do with liver. Don't diagnose by yourself unless you are a professional.

how long b4 ur stomach empty again after u eat a meal-with-meat

2009-05-18T00:43:28Z

Normal person depends on different foods. Juices take a short time and meat longer time. Most foods stay 3-4 hours in stomach for digestion except alcohol which is absorbed in the stomach.

Here is the problem. Some have cold, normal or hot stomach. Some could argue all stomach temperature is same, but it is not true. Another example is that someone who has headache might notice head is warm or hot. If stomach is cold or gastroptosis, food staying is longer. If stomach is hot, digestion is faster and food staying is shorter, making hungry easily.

Let's assume someone eat too much. We acupuncturists make stomach temperature cooler. Food will stay longer making less hungry. Western approaches are to operate stomach which means gastrectomy. Which one is more economical, a few acupuncture treatments or gastrectomy? We also try to find what make stomach warm or hot and eliminate that cause. Which one makes more sense to you?

How does acupuncture cure cataracts?

2009-05-18T00:40:32Z

The person that posted that it can cure cataracts won't answer.
Anyone know how this so called cure works?

I feel I am obligated to answer this question. I didn't have a patient to come to cure for just cataracts so far. However I had a patient who was 87(?) years old. Her left eye was covered 100% by white and cloudy and right eye was about 80%. Her eyes dripped lots of tears. She continued to wipe tears with tissue. Her main issue was unable to walk. She was aided to treatment table, as she couldn't walk. She was treated to strengthen tendon, not for her eye. I noticed her right eye's white was removed partially and remained by 60% after treatment while she was on the table. According to acupuncture theory, tendon and eyes are governed by liver. She walked out without my help after treatment. I experienced many times I didn't treat some specific issue, but also patients reported they become well not only main issue, but also other issues. She never came back after the treatment, so I can't say definitely that yes, acupuncture can cure cataracts. But it is possible according to my experience. I looked some text books for this question. The book says yes. One interesting thing is that one of the points for cataract in the text book is the same spot doctor use for injection for anesthesia.

pregnacy makes change color.....

2009-05-18T00:34:30Z

I am pregnant and my nipples and vagina lips are turning from a light pink to brown is this normal?

It is natural. It is one of old ways to tell whether woman has been pregnant or not and also virgin or not. Once the color is changed, it won't change back to light pink again. Of course, stopping period is No.1 symptom for pregnancy.

genital area problem

2009-05-18T00:32:01Z

I noticed many questions around genital area. Some are sure that problems are nothing got to do with sexual disease. Many experience itchiness, red spot, swelling sometimes, slight dull or sharp pain etc. around genital area without any special reasons. Fungus is bothersome to women more than men. This issue could be related directly with genitalia. This issue is difficult to discuss and show to strangers, even to doctors.

When women clean after urination or stool, the direction for cleaning must be from front to back. This will prevent any bacteria or germs' infection on genital area, especially urethral and vaginal orifice. It is important to change sanitary napkin often during periods.

Even though everything was done right, it could happen to any person. The cause is some kind of blockage around genital area. There are two useful acupressure points. These will help minor and acute problems.

1. on the dorsum of the hand, between the 1^st and 2^nd metacarpal bones, approximately in the middle of the 2^nd metacarpal bone on the radial side

2. directly below nipple, in the sixth intercostals space

Press this point with thumb. Acupressure is less effective than acupuncture itself as acupressure could not reach deep and only 2 points can be used simultaneously. This information doesn't help for VD. Person involved with VD must see MD and tell sex partner(s) not to spread further.

Gag / vomiting issue

2009-05-18T00:29:01Z

I have been having an issue with gagging and vomiting for around 2 months now. Around 10-15 minutes after eating, I get a gaggy feeling. Sometimes I vomit, but many times I am able to avoid it. I don't have an upset stomach when this happens. My abdomen does get sensitive to touch when I am feeling this way. That is about the only other symptom that I have. It is generally much worse in the morning and is less likely to occur as the day progresses. The only thing that I have found that helps consistently is ginger. I took Nexium for 20 days straight and that made no change. I have been to the Dr and had bloodwork done, HIV/STD testing, a CT scan, an endoscopy, a stomach emptying study and gall blader testing. The endoscopy shows that I have gastritis, but all of the other testing has been normal. If anyone has any suggestions that would help me to narrow down the cause, it would be GREATLY appreciated. I have a very fast metabolism and have lost 25 lbs in the 2 months that this has been happening.

THANK YOU in advance for any help!!!!

Ginger is extremely effective in redirecting rebellious stomach qi downward and is the imperial antiemetic to treat all patterns of vomiting according to our text book. You choose the right one. I suggest continuing to eat ginger.

I watch two sentences.

1. My abdomen does get sensitive to touch.

2. I have a very fast metabolism and have lost 25 lbs in the 2 months that this has been happening.

According to these statements I suspect you have some kinds of excessive heat in stomach. Heat might be from gastritis. I can't diagnose you personally and make a conclusion. Some are contradictory to each other. Vomiting may prohibit in eating, but fast metabolism etc. Fast metabolism might be related with thyroid.

Are you male or female? How old? Do you prefer to drink cold, warm or room temperature water? Do you have a pain if you try to push abdominal area? Do you want to drink more water these days?
More about me. 2009-05-13 05:14:20 Thank you for the information. I am male, 38. I prefer cold water. The sensitivity in my abdomen is only when there is pressure applied. Even when I feel like I am going to gag, my stomach is ok if no pressure is applied. I have about the same appetite for water now as I did before this started. Ever since I was a little kid, I've had a very fast metabolism. About 4 years ago I started lifting weights and eating more. Very gradually, I went from 155 lbs to 210 lbs. Right now I am around 185. I have thought about checking out acupuncture since my Dr has not been able to find anything wrong with me. I'm not sure how to go about finding someone good.

You might have some heat in your abdominal area. Cold drinks are preferred due to heat. This heat causes fast metabolism. In my opinion it may be a beginning of diabetes. Medical tests would not show any abnormality or in board line many times.

One of old books I have describes that this can be cured. This book suggests some herbs prescribed by herbologist. Some Korean acupuncturists may know about this. I applied this to many patients and have been successful most of times. I personally mail this herb to patients who live out of states.

Reducing weight is very necessary for your case. Exercise is very important. Long and fast walking everyday is highly recommended. Try to find acupuncturists who are specialized in Korean four needle technique

Exercise and aging

2009-05-18T00:23:28Z

Did you find that Arnold ever looked younger for his age?

What about professional athletes?

Mike Tyson, Kobe Bryant or David Beckham don't look younger than their ages.

No, they look just as old as they are.

So this exercise hype is partly just that, hype.

Exercise is really good for our body, health and longevity. I believe your observation is right. Professional athletes do exercise a lot, but their average life is not longer than normal people. Why?

When I was in the army, our trainers said that a drop of sweat during training would be worth a drop of blood in the real war. I don't know this kind of expression came from American camp or Korean camp. I am a Korean. This might be a metaphor, but it can be used in a real sense.

Do you see any person who tears a lot without a sad story and wipe out tears always? This person suffers with liver according to Traditional Chinese medicine. Do you see any person who sweats a lot during meals? Especially with spicy food? This means a suffering in heart yin. Sorry for difficult terminology.

Excessive exercise cause sweating. A little sweating may be good which means enough blood circulation in the body. In my opinion obesity person needs 10-15 minutes in more exercise after sweating to eliminate unnecessary by product accumulated in the body. I personally stop exercising less than 5 minutes of sweating. Any excessive is not good, either exercising or whatever it is. Moderate is the best. Excessive exercise means excessive sweating. Excessive sweating means lots of blood loss causing heart weakness.