Recovery is a Journey
The Wonders of Acupuncture
How can thousands of years of Chinese medicine be
wrong? Acupuncture has existed for centuries, yet many discount the
power it possesses. With all of our manufactured prescription
painkillers, anti-anxiety, and anti-depressant drugs; it is difficult
to believe that something else, other than medication, might work just
as well or even better. It is my personal belief, based on my own
results, that acu-detox can be as, or more, effective than conventional
medicine.
I have been a struggling heroin addict for
almost eight years of my life. I have been receiving methadone
maintenance for the last three years. I even tried Suboxone for a few
months, until it began interacting poorly with my seizure medication.
It was at this time that I found myself waking routinely with what I
can only describe as terrible withdrawal symptoms.
At three a.m., like clockwork, I would awake with searing pain in both
of my legs, arms, and my back. My equilibrium would become off-balance,
while nausea kept me in the restroom until I'd arrive at the clinic for
my next dose. Restlessness consumed me and the thought of what I knew
was to come every morning did not keep me very motivated. Just when I
was about to give up hope of remaining clean and sober, I was saved.
Sitting in Rick's office one day, I reported the
ongoing discomfort and all around frustration I felt about my
predicament. It was at this time that I found out about acu-detox. I
did not even know it existed! Rick explained to me that he had wanted
to get certified for this treatment and that he was finally doing it. I
became curious, intrigued, and hopeful. Maybe I did not have to give up
so easily. We arranged for me to begin the acupuncture treatment as
soon as he became certified and I became the guinea pig. As I sat in
the cushy black chair I prayed that it would work. I began with clean
my ears with sterile alcohol pads. The only place on the body where
tiny stick pins are placed is on the ears. There are five pins placed
on the ears. There is one for each energy channel, the sympathetic and
the shen mein, and one for the kidney, liver, and lungs. Some might
think, "Needles, yuck!" However, if you are a patient of this fine
facility, nine times out of ten you have already been poking your body
with syringes for years. What is the big fuss over a few pins? The fact
is that it just feels like a little prick of the skin, then it is gone.
The more often you repeat this procedure, the more your ears get
accustomed to the sensation and the less you feel. All that is left to
do is close your eyes, relax your body (never crossing your arms or
legs), and wait for the pain to recede. A little music always helps me
relax a bit, and Rick is more than happy to oblige. The pins are left
in for a minimum of thirty minutes. Personally, I also take this time
to meditate. You notice your breathing slowing down and becoming
steady. After the process is completed there is a sense of peace,
balance, and clarity that was nonexistent before. You might also notice
that one ear may feel the pins a bit more. This is in correspondence
with the side of the body certain organs, muscles, etc. are hurting or
I need of therapy. Neat, hugh?
You might be wondering how you can tell if
acu-detox is working for you. It really depends on your level of
discomfort and pain. After trying this treatment for the first time, I
went home with none of my body aching. Later that night, I slept the
entire night through. There was not one incident of waking in the
middle of the night with those terrible withdrawal symptoms I was
experiencing before. When I awoke, not one spot on my body was sore or
uncomfortable. I know that acupuncture did that. One must not think
that this procedure is a cure all and end all. The treatment works best
when done on a regular basis. I get acu-detox once a week, sometime two
or three times a week, depending on how I feel. The cost is only seven
dollars a session, about one tenth of what it costs at a conventional
acupuncture clinic. The benefits greatly outweigh the cost. I urge each
and every one of you to try this treatment at least once. What have you
got to lose, except the pain, the craving, and the anxiety? If you
don't like the results, you will never have to do it again. Take it
from the guinea pig, it works!!!
Lindsay S.
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Give the World the Best You Have
Sometimes we feel lazy or bored, and then we
don't do our best work, if we do any work at all. Perhaps we are
daydreaming instead of listening closely to what a friend is trying to
tell us, or making "pie to the sky" plans for our lives without a hint
of how to accomplish those plans. It could be we are in a relationship
that we are halfheartedly dedicated to, or a job that we only work at
as hard as we have to without being fired.
Is it any wonder that we feel bored when we act
so lazy. Vincent Peele said, "Enthusiasm is the essence of life." How
true! A passive recovery, just like a passive life, will be boring and
doomed to failure, or unhappiness, or frustration, or fear, or disgust,
or hopelessness.
Please don't wait for an engraved invitation to
become an active member of life. You will be waiting, forever.
--Rick B.
Online Prescribing Results in
State Criminal Charges
More than half of the country's state medical
boards have disciplined a physician for Internet prescribing. Rarely
does a state's law enforcement agency charge a physician with a crime
related to prescribing via the Internet. Federal officials file most
criminal charges for Internet prescribing. But states could find
criminal charges a more attractive option for reining in largely
unregulated Internet pharmacies. Medical boards continue to crack down
on the practice of Internet prescribing, especially of controlled
substances.
American Medical News, Oct. 9,
2006
"The mind has great influence over the body,and
maladies often have their origin there."
Moliere 1622-1673
"Argue for your limitations, and sure enough,
they're yours.
"
Richard Bach
"Everything that irritates us about others can
lead us to an understanding of ourselves."
Carl Jung
HERE NOW
The procedure is called auricular acupuncture. It is helpful for a
variety of issues that affect those with addictions.
Please see your counselor.
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Mothers Against Meth-Amph. |