Day 4: Bye Bye Happy Pulse

I had an acupuncture appointment this morning. I started going in October so I am going on my 4th month of treatment. Overall I like it, but honestly if it wasn’t covered by our insurance I am not sure I would pay $85 per treatment. But research shows that it can help with infertility and conception so I am giving it my best shot and keeping an open mind.

When I first started going back in October, I am pretty sure I had some really bad Qi going on. The acupuncturist didn’t come right out and say that at the time, but I hear it in her comments now that things are flowing more smoothly.

A typical appt goes as follows: she welcomes me in, we sit and talk for about 10 minutes. This is my chance to talk about where I am at with my cycle, and how my body feels in general (pain here, bloating there, etc). She then decides on my treatment plan for the day (which acupuncture points need attention) based on what I tell her in those first 10 minutes as well as an examination of my pulse and my tongue. She inserts the needles, sets up the heat lamp on my feet, puts on the calming music, turns down the lights and lets me rest for 45-60 minutes.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, pulse diagnosis is important for two reasons – it can give very detailed information on the state of the internal organs and it reflects the whole complex of Qi, Blood Yin, Yang and every part of the body.

Over the past couple of months she says has seen a noticeable improvement in my pulse. In fact, last week she was thrilled with my pulse. “It’s a happy pulse” she exclaimed! This week, the happy pulse was gone and while it was still relatively relaxed, there was a ‘tenseness’ in it. She described it like taunt string. She thought could be from the disruptive sleep I got this week (something I told her during our discussion).

This diagnosis led to a few new acupuncture points today including a few at the top of my head to “calm the brain.” Ironically, today was one of the few occasions that I didn’t sleep during treatment as my mind was racing. I guess my brain wasn’t in the mood to be ‘calmed.’

Pill Count: 6 | Shot Count: 0