Hello all, Im curious if anyone has had any good results with alternative combined with there required treatments? I have had accupuncture in the past, but not for my avm. I notice if I have a massage, it seems to help on my headaches for a day or two and my physical therapist is looking at getting a tens unit for my constant neck/shoulder pain.
I have a son with Autism, and noticed over the years that for him, his diet seemed to help, and also wearing a weighted vest helped him to notice where his body is in his space and also swinging helps him concentrate. I have proprioception issues on my left side since my stroke and was wondering if anyone else has tried alternative therapy or other methods to help? ie cod liver oils, accupuncture, accupressure, massage, cranial sacral therapy?
Thanks for your input.
Kris
Hi Kristina,
I have found both butterbur, B2 and magnesium enormously helpful for migraines. The neurologist recommending trying any of the following (600 MG magnesium, 400 MG B2, 75 MG butterbur 2X day, feverfew 100 2X day. I found the magnesium to be excellent to reduce menstrual migraines, feverfew was pricey but good too, and butterbur is my favorite. The butterbur helps asthma/allergies too. You’ll know w/in a month or so if it’s helping or not, so it’s important to track your migraines. I’ve found acupunture very helpful too. cod liver oil is really good for you (vitamin D and immune support), but I do fish oil pills now b/c i couldn’t stand the taste. My own doctor swears by fish oil (3 G daily, double it when you’re under the weather) so i try to take that most days, esp in the winter. I found the massage stuff to work only short-term. If you can, try out a tai chi DVD or yoga if you’re up for that. Both are like a self-acupunture session and great for body awareness. I did a yoga class w/ a seasoned instructor early in my recovery,and am sure it helped quite a bit. i also did a few rounds of acupuncture which i thought helped. i always did a few things at once, so i can never say what exactly worked, but i had a remarkable recovery, so i’m sure very bit helps. btw, if you can stand the taste of cod liver oil, it’s the cheaper way to go. just make sure it’s mercury-free.
my fave alternative therapy is my wii, i really had fun playing tennis to increase my spatial awareness and arms strength. my new game, the wii mario cart, probably helps too but i love that it’s fun therapy 
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best of luck to ya!
Hi Kristina,
I have been experimenting with a number of naturopathic & homeopathic remidies which seem to be helping with my recovery it’s tough to isolate which are helping and which aren’t but I think that they are all contributing to my recovery in some way. To be perfectly honest, the thing that my naturopath got me doing which helped my headaches the most was drinking a ton of water! I was having pretty bad headaches every day in december and started seeing a naturopath in Jan (3 months post-op). I find even now that the more hydrated I keep myself the fewer headaches I have. I’m not sure if there’s any science behind this but I can really notice a difference.
Otherwise, I’m taking a blend of essential fatty acids, Billberry and Vitanox pills twice daily. I also take doses of a homeopathic medice called Hypericum twice daily as well as a high quality multi-vitamin. I also get accupunture treatments twice a month and have had 1 B12 injection (will likely do this every 6 weeks). Like I said, it’s hard to tell which of these is actually helping my recovery but I am doing much better every day with fewer and fewer headaches. I still get headaches but they are not as frequent or as severe as they were even 4 weeks ago and I can seriously notice that when I am sufficiently hydrated (totally clear urine) I very rarely have any headache problems at all.
I’m not sure that I’m having the exact same problems that you are but I hope that you find some value in my post. I wish you all of the best with your recovery and please don’t hesitate to contact me if there’s anything else I can do.
Best Wishes,
Ryan