Getting to the Point

Well, I sort of feel human again.

**FRANTIC KNOCKING ON WOOD.**

After the aforementioned terrible sick days (bolting from work one morning and taking a sick day: see previous entry), I reached the end of my rope. I was lying on the couch in the I Quit The World Is Ending kind of mood. Desperate for some relief. Every time I stood up, I got dizzy and faint. I felt wildly sick to my stomach. No food appealed, but I felt hungry. I had to talk myself into eating a few crackers or something starchy or carb-laden, then would feel OK for approximately two minutes, then cycle back to feeling thoroughly rotten. I had a perma-horrendous taste in my mouth.

Then, I started to cry. Because I didn’t feel like I could take much more of this feeling. Because someone had said, not unkindly, “Wow, fourteen weeks in and you’re not feeling better by now?” So of course I waltzed right down Bad Thoughts Avenue: Jesus, no, I’m not. And I should be, you’re right! And what if I’m THIS sick for nine months? I cannot do this. Game over.

But crying even proved to be too difficult, so I gave up on that and went back to the listless lying about in the sunroom, watching the Olympics. Then my brain started clicking. What ELSE could I try? I tried hard candy, ginger (which gave me some relief), carbonated beverages, Saltines by the bed. I tried sleeping it off. I tried doggie snuggles. I tried calling my mom. I tried reminding myself that women have done this for millenia. I tried whining. No dice.

But I hadn’t tried acupuncture. Friends, this is where a teeny-tiny ray of light began to peek its way down the dark, dark Bad Thoughts Avenue.

Then I remembered: I had a LivingSocial deal for two treatments!

I moved faster than I’d moved in days. I got up, called the clinic, and begged for an appointment that afternoon (it was already 1:30). Luckily, she could fit me in.

I’d never had acupuncture before. I believed that it provided a lot of relief to people, but hadn’t really thought about investing in it until now. I wish I had about 12 weeks ago.

After a brief consult, in which the therapist kindly said that acupuncture treats nausea particularly well and that she ahd worked on many pregnant women successfully (and that I should have called sooner), she got to work. I laid back in a recliner while she stuck my hands, wrists, inner forearms, ankles, feet, and backs of my knees with needles.

I know if you have’t done it, you’re wondering: but does it REALLY hurt?

From this wussy girl to you: No, it does not hurt. Not one bit. Not even a little. Some of the places she needled me registered more like a very quick pinprick, but I wouldn't call the sensation painful. Some I didn’t feel at all. AT ALL. Even though I watched them go in.

Then she snuggled me up in a blanket, and told me to sleep until she returned. So, in the dark, with some tinkly spa music playing…I thought to myself “Eh, I’m not tired but I’ll just relax…” That was my last thought. So, it’s also entirely possible to fall asleep with thirty needles sticking out of your body and face.

She woke me 45 minutes later, and I felt…refreshed. But that could have been the nap. I reserved judgment, and drove home.

By the time I got home, I felt …. HUNGRY. In a way I hadn’t felt hungry in weeks. WEEKS.  I ate about a half a box of Triscuits with some cheese, and then ate a full dinner (warm vegetables! Pork chop!). I still felt dizzy and weak, but I was eating!

I went to bed early. When I woke up the next morning, I felt…normal. As normal as I’d felt in a long time, anyway. I still had the hiccups/burps. But I was upright! And showering! And getting dressed! And putting makeup on! And I didn’t have to lie down in between! I went to work and worked all day.

WHAT.

I know.

So now I’m all cult-y. You guys. It works. If you are having any kind of chronic problem, or pregnancy symptoms (it also works for headaches and sciatica and other things, she told me), and you don’t want to medicate, or can’t medicate, or you’ve always wanted to try acupuncture, or whatever: get thee to an acupuncturist.

I went back for a second treatment that Friday. I was starting to feel woozy again, but nowhere near where I’d been earlier in the week. And once again, a few needles, an hour nap, and voila! Almost-normal Katie!

I was supposed to go back this week for more, but I honestly have been feeling so awesomely decent I didn’t think I needed it (she told me to “listen to your body and call when you're ready”). I do want to go back this weekend, possibly, or early next week.

Now, some of this might be the final bits of the first trimester wearing off. But I’m telling you that within 12 hours I felt like a different person. Like, I actually felt like a person instead of a trash heap.

Now, some people have asked about expense. It runs the gamut. I actually went to a place that is considered “community acupuncture” so it’s done in one big room, with recliners spread about. So no spa room. But most of the points you need to access are on your limbs. So you get good treatment. My place has a sliding scale from $15-$40 a treatment, which is considerably less than a spa or Chinese medicine clinic. But it might be a good way to start out and see if it works for you. The “group” atmosphere didn’t bother me at all; the first time, I was alone. The second time, there was one other woman in there with me and we were across the room from each other; I couldn’t even see her. It's also dark in there.

To, to encapsulate: it doesn’t hurt (I promise! And sometimes you can feel this energy radiating from the needle, which is kind of rad), it can be affordable, and I felt a very real relief from it. I highly recommend it. I mean, if you’re already considering it, what can trying it hurt? I’m just saying, I think it saved me from jumping off the roof of my house.