BAD CHI, BAD BAD CHI

Today, at work, I was thinking I need to do this until the first of April:


Because of my Seasonal Affective Disorder, all I want to do is this:

(But with a blanket or two.) I'd like a cozy little nest in a tree trunk somewhere, while January, February and March go on without me:

I was so tired I could hardly stay awake. Gosh, all I could do was yawn:

I have no ambition, no desire to do anything. I can barely drag myself out of bed in the morning and get myself to work. I'm just sleepwalking through my life. You could say I'm one conked-out kitty;

One droopy doggie:

Then, I had my first appointment with an acupuncturist/herbalist late this afternoon for my carpal tunnel syndrome. After an evaluation, I was also told I have spleen deficiency, according to traditional Chinese medicine. No wonder I'm so tired, have no energy and am cold all the time. So after my free consultation, I decided to go for it and have my first treatment for both problems.

My decision was based partly on my liking and trusting the acupuncturist/herbalist. A local guy who graduated from Bismarck High just four years ahead of my daughter, he studied Chinese medicine for three years in the Twin Cities. I especially liked the fact that he made no promises. He's helped some people a lot; some, not so much.

The insertion of the needles hurt not at all or very little. I had eight needles in each upper limb; not sure how many went in the legs and feet. I also had electrodes applied to the base of my fingers.

After the needles were all in, he turned on a warming lamp for my feet and turned off the lights. The darkness, the gently pulsing electrodes and the soothing music nearly put me to sleep. All in all, a very pleasant experience.

I'm going back on Friday and Monday, and by Monday I'll also get some herbal extracts or supplements.

A new staffer at the clinic also offers Tai Chi and Qui Gong to help get the chi flowing. I plan to have a consultation for that as well. Maybe I won't have to hibernate through the winter after all.

OH, MY ACHING HANDS

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I KNEW I SHOULDN'T HAVE TRIED TO COOK!

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I overdid it this Christmas with all the cleaning and cooking I did, and now my hands are screaming in pain. It didn't help that Dan's knee started to swell up on Christmas Eve day and by Christmas Day he was in excruciating pain. I ended up cooking Christmas dinner. It's been a long time since I've handled a full blown meal like that (Dan usually wears the apron in our family.)

I am now at the point where I am starting to drop things, and I can't open a Coke bottle. I am having trouble writing. and I can't make a fist. I can't believe that my original symptoms started in late September in my left hand and now both hands are compromised. It’s like the right hand “caught it” from the left.

Aleve, ibuprofen and Celebrex aren’t working anymore, physical therapy is only briefly helpful and I have no vacation or sick time built up for surgery (not that I want that anyway.)

It's obvious something needs to be done. The first option I will explore is cortisone shots. If the doctor won't approve them for me or if they don't help, I am ready to consider alternative medicine. I'm not giving up on Vitamin B6 yet, but one website says I should have been taking 300 mg a day for the past three months. What??? My vitamin bottle says that 3 mg a day is 200% of the daily requirement. Can anyone say toxic?

That's the trouble with doing one's own research on the web. It's so confusing. Should I order something called Carpal Tunnel Solution? The testimonials sound good. But wait a minute, it costs $160.00 for the 28-day, two-hand “pack”. That’s pretty spendy.

How about herbal medicine? There’s an enzyme found in pineapples called bromelain. Maybe I should just eat a lot of pineapple. I do like pineapple but would probably end up hating it, like my Hawaiian college roommate who worked a summer in a pineapple canning factory. I could, however, take bromelain and herbs in supplements.

Shall I try accupressure, acupuncture, massage or chiropractors? I have never been a believer in chiropractors before, but maybe I should start now. There’s Hellerwork (deep-tissue body work) and Feldenkrais (movement re-education). Both sound German and painful.

Ultrasound, fluidotherapy, paraffin wax dips? Been there, done that, don’t work. Splints, ditto. Rest? Out of the question. Therapeutic touch and magnetic therapy? Therapeutic touch “does nothing”, and magnetic therapy “has no benefit for people with carpal tunnel syndrome”, pooh poohs Mayo Clinic.

The new Balloon Carpal Tunnel-Plasty? Is it even done here in Bismarck? Biofeedback, diet, laser therapy, hydrotherapy, yoga, hypnosis? Aack, too much research. I don’t have the time and money to fool around with all these remedies. Let’s hope the cortisone shots work. I am impatient, I know. I want a solution, now.

If anyone out there has found success with any of these methods, please write and let me know.

I keep telling myself I could have cancer or another terrible disease. But the fact is, I don't. I have carpal tunnel syndrome and when I feel my hands like dead weights at the end of my arms, all I can think is, I DON'T WANT THIS ANY MORE!

(Below - ad for Carpal Tunnel Solution)

(P.S. Dan's knee is fine now.)

CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME

I went to the neurologist on Thursday after being diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome by my family doctor. Thank goodness my co-worker, who had severe CTS in both hands, didn't tell me before hand what they do (No pun intended!). I was given electric shocks and had needles plunged into my arms!

I was pretty brave through it all, although those last jabs to the thumbs really got to me. I was telling Dan about it afterward and he told me that when he had these same tests done on his "dropped hand" a few years back, he got to a point where he told the doctor, "Enough! No more shocks." So I guess I am braver than he is.

So, it turns out I have mild to moderate CTS in my left hand and very mild CTS in my right hand. I knew I didn't have a severe case in my left hand - people who do have pains shooting up their arms to their elbows, but I thought it would be at least a definite moderate in my case. I mean, I have a great deal of hand pain in the mornings, my fingers tingle as if they'd been "asleep", I feel like icy-hot liquid is rushing through my hands, and my fingers are numb (except for the little finger - see in the drawing how that nerve doesn't go to to the little finger, and to only part of the ring finger?).

My doctor doesn't recommend surgery for now and hopefully I will never need it. I will wear a splint at night, take NSAIDs and have hand therapy starting Tuesday. When I made my appointment at the Bone and Joint Center the receptionist told me she has CTS too and that Vitamin B6 helped her a lot. This made me very happy because Lila at Indigo Pears told me about B6 right after my diagnosis and I've been taking it for several weeks now, so I have a head start.

All this misery happens because the median nerve leading to the fingers has to travel through a very small, rigid space at the wrist. It is surrounded by bones on three sides and a tough ligament on the fourth. The nerve has to share this cramped space with tendons. Because of irritation and swelling, the space sometimes becomes just too small and the median nerve gets squeezed and pinched. It becomes very unhappy and reacts badly!

Of course, knowing me, I had to do a lot of research on the Internet when I found out I had CTS. One of the things that upset me is that CTS is often a precursor to diabetes. I don't have diabetes but my family history is rampant with it. Another interesting thing, which I learned from my neurologist, is that people who have had tennis elbow are prone to developing CTS. I did have tennis elbow in my left arm about 10 years ago.

People are on both sides of the fence regarding whether or not CTS is caused by repetitive movement. I type all day long - did I do this to myself? However, a 2001 study by the Mayo Clinic found that heavy computer use (up to 7 hours a day), did not increase a person's risk.

Or, I could have done this to myself by sleeping on my hands, which I like to do. However, it may just be genetic. Women are three times more likely than men to develop the syndrome just because their carpal tunnels are smaller, and mine may be even smaller than normal.

But enough dwelling on how or why it happened. Now I concentrate on fixing it. I'm glad I don't have a "surgery-happy" doctor and can try these alternative therapies instead. CTS can get better, I'm told.