Here are some ideas I had in response to your questions (by number):
1) Try tennis balls--put two tennis balls in an mateless sock, tie the
sock tightly, and lay on them (one will touch on each side of the
spine) for ten minutes once a day (more as needed). This hurts, but
seems to be releasing tension that stores in the muscles around my
spinal cord right where the intersection between the affected spinal
cord and the unaffected spinal cord. My back from T5 down is very
stiff and doesn't move freely.
6) I love my chiropractor (definitely look for someone you trust). When
I first started going about two years ago, I was so stiff she couldn't
get any of my spine to move hardly. Over a year or so, she got
everything a lot freer, so she could "crack" (like knuckles) most parts
of my spine more or less regularly. I was thinking that maybe I was
indulgent to keep going every week until she got sick, allowing very
few sessions over the last 3 or 4 months. When I saw her a couple of
weeks ago, my spine was back to being very stiff, with very few
sections able to crack. Fortunately the tennis balls help with some of
the tension that builds up. (The tennis balls are a form of
craniosacral therapy, a very gentle system of adjustments that are done
to keep the fluid around the spinal cord and brain moving correctly,
which I believe allows better healing.)
2) Rather than numbness, I tend to have pain. What has helped is chi
gong and inner smile meditation, which is "smile" energy directed to
different organs and body parts. I think these would work with
numbness too, because the idea is to get the energy flowing.
Blood sugar: I have low blood sugar that affects asthma and allergy and
have followed a diet for years. High protein is a myth, but regular
meals (and snacks) of complex carbohydrates and some protein seem to
work better. Avoiding refined sugars takes away most of the problems.
Fresh fruit and limited fruit juice are fine. If you alter your
schedule (stay up late, for example), be use to have a small snack.
Correctly regulating thyroid would be something I'd look at for the heart
palpitations, also coordinated with the blood sugar situation and
female hormone fluctuations. I had heart palpitations and nervousness
from asthma medication and when I tried to take those "natural" weight
products that contained dangerous doses of ephedrine (epinephrine--can
never remember which). My office mate regulates her thyroid now (was
on synthetic stuff) with a homeopathic kelp product--one or two drops
under the tongue per day, which can be regulated according to your
reactions. She has NOT, however, had part of her thyroid removed. I
also just saw that there was research proving a higher incidence of
asthma attacks among women right before and during the beginning of
their menstrual cycles, which I had already figured out.
My knee also sometimes feels like it's about to give out, although it
hasn't. I couldn't run or hop, etc., but as I've improved I can after
a fashion, and Mimi is running distances (hi, Mimi).
MY OWN QUESTION TO THE GROUP: I have pain in my left knee on the inner
side at the back where it bends. My doctor is having me try
strengthening exercise for a couple of months to see if that helps,
otherwise it looks like it may just be neurological. However, this is
the same knee that buckles now and again. Anybody have a way of
distinguishing spurious nerve messages from physical issues?
I was cathed every six hours in the hospital, had to learn to do it
myself (actually better than having it done by someone else), and left
the hospital still cathing until I reached a point where I was
consistently under a certain amount of urine collected. I still have
problems of interrupted flow regularly (particularly in the morning),
when I have to relax and wait to complete the urination. I just had a
physical, and my primary care physician wants me to try Kegel exercises
for two months (I am also still occasionally incontinent), at which
point she'll give me a referral. I am definitely able to wait longer
now than I could when I first was diagnosed (five years), and have more
time to "make it" once I get the urge. I used to be incontinent in the
morning frequently when I first got out of bed, but now almost never,
although I do get up in the night sometimes. Now I can usually let the
cat out en route to the bathroom, but even that small detour used to
spell disaster.
Best wishes,
Aurore
ableck(AT)nas.edu