Hypnotherapy

As some of you CannaCom folks know, I've got fibromyalgia, a chronic widespread pain syndrome... I was on Lyrica for a while, didn't do much. My primary suggested Ultram, a non-opiate med which works on the same receptors. I took that for 3 months, and stopped because I was actually experiencing withdrawal about 5 hours after I had taken it. I quit immediately, and experienced a terrible withdrawal period of about 3 weeks. Long story short, I AM DONE WITH MEDICATION. I'm tired of the side effects, the costs, just everything.

Acupuncture isn't covered by my insurance for the treatment of fibromyalgia, so my rheumatologist suggested hypnotherapy. I was just curious to see if anyone had ever tried it for pain, anxiety, anything, really, and how effective it is?

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Originally Posted by Purple Banana

I was on Lyrica for a while, didn't do much.

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My doctors have prescribed me Lyrica. I had surgery on my hip after my friend shot me in my hip. It did damage to my nerve. After removal of the object I have been in tremendous pain. Shooting down my leg and up my back. I have not gone and filled the prescription yet. Although i should. It's pretty exspensive.

Does Lyrica help at all?
What did it do for you?

Just get back to me.
Thanks :hippy::rasta:

I literally had no reduction in any symptom I had with Lyrica. Some people with fibromyalgia claim it works very well, others not so much. It was like taking a placebo.

I'd love to chat about Lyrica, but I'm afraid the thread would take an undesired turn.

Anywho, I found a hypnotherapist who is supposedly reputable, and (yay) accepts my insurance :) I'm gonna call him on Monday to try and schedule an appt.

Well... im not a doctor (nor anything remotely related), but i think the results of hypnotherapy depends heavily on how much you can give up control and allow yourself to be "controlled" by the hypnotist. As more influence you let they have upon you, more effective the results should be. There are even reports of people that underwent surgery without any actual anesthesia, but only under the hypnotists command to be free from any pain.

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Originally Posted by Coelho

Well... im not a doctor (nor anything remotely related), but i think the results of hypnotherapy depends heavily on how much you can give up control and allow yourself to be "controlled" by the hypnotist. As more influence you let they have upon you, more effective the results should be. There are even reports of people that underwent surgery without any actual anesthesia, but only under the hypnotists command to be free from any pain.

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I know some of the things I've done before sort of mirror hypnosis in a way; if I start having shooting pains down my arms and legs, I just imagine a warm blanket being laid over those areas, and it momentarily stops. I think with a more experienced practitioner, it could possibly help with the frequency of stabbing pain, the constant headaches, and general crappy feeling and depression I have.

I write books on the use of hypnosis - I wouldn't recommend it, it's a long route of many sessions to use it effectively for pain relief. However, I may have something better, I was in pain for years with Fibro, really to a point where I was having to constantly fight against it using whatever methods I could. Plenty worked to reduce the pain, nothing to get rid of it - until I changed my diet. I found coming off dairy (and wheat too, though this may not be necessary for you) helped reduce 'attacks' within two days, now I hardly get bouts of it at all, maybe once or twice a year if I cheat with dairy-type foods. Well worth experimenting to see if it will work for you too.

Beware though, dairy is in just about everything (usually in the form of Lactic Acid, Lactose, Lactase, Whey powder, etc.) to make it thicker and creamier, so getting it out of your diet entirely takes a lot of label-reading. You can't cut it out in half-measures,it just won't work. Cold turkey or nothing. But the relief!!:)

MelT

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Originally Posted by MelT

I write books on the use of hypnosis - I wouldn't recommend it, it's a long route of many sessions to use it effectively for pain relief. However, I may have something better, I was in pain for years with Fibro, really to a point where I was having to constantly fight against it using whatever methods I could. Plenty worked to reduce the pain, nothing to get rid of it - until I changed my diet. I found coming off dairy (and wheat too, though this may not be necessary for you) helped reduce 'attacks' within two days, now I hardly get bouts of it at all, maybe once or twice a year if I cheat with dairy-type foods. Well worth experimenting to see if it will work for you too.

Beware though, dairy is in just about everything (usually in the form of Lactic Acid, Lactose, Lactase, Whey powder, etc.) to make it thicker and creamier, so getting it out of your diet entirely takes a lot of label-reading. You can't cut it out in half-measures,it just won't work. Cold turkey or nothing. But the relief!!:)

MelT

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Thanks for the info :) I've tried several methods as far as eliminating possible triggers from my diet, from gluten-free to dairy-free to meat-free for extended periods of time... Just ask Breukelen Advocaat, he'll share all of my IBS woes :stoned: I apologize if I wasn't clear in my intentions; as you might've read in a later post (which I failed to mention here) I'm also suffering from severe anxiety and panic attacks for which I'm primarily seeing a psychotherapist.

For a non-organic cause of anxiety, how effective would hypnotherapy be in reducing incidences of panic attack and constant anxiety? I'm actually pretty much used to the fibro pain, but it seems the reason it's exacerbated these past few months is due to a rather sudden bout of this anxiety, which is more detailed in my anxiety post.

Since I was young enough to read, I've been absolutely fascinated with Milton Erickson- not only because of his contribution to psychology in general, but his eternally humorous and effective approaches to therapy. He reminds me so much of Richard Feynman in his attitude and methods, though they specialized in two completely different fields.

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Originally Posted by Purple Banana

Thanks for the info :) I've tried several methods as far as eliminating possible triggers from my diet, from gluten-free to dairy-free to meat-free for extended periods of time... Just ask Breukelen Advocaat, he'll share all of my IBS woes :stoned: I apologize if I wasn't clear in my intentions; as you might've read in a later post (which I failed to mention here) I'm also suffering from severe anxiety and panic attacks for which I'm primarily seeing a psychotherapist.

For a non-organic cause of anxiety, how effective would hypnotherapy be in reducing incidences of panic attack and constant anxiety? I'm actually pretty much used to the fibro pain, but it seems the reason it's exacerbated these past few months is due to a rather sudden bout of this anxiety, which is more detailed in my anxiety post.

Since I was young enough to read, I've been absolutely fascinated with Milton Erickson- not only because of his contribution to psychology in general, but his eternally humorous and effective approaches to therapy. He reminds me so much of Richard Feynman in his attitude and methods, though they specialized in two completely different fields.

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Just a thought: You know that your reaction to either of the above changes markedly depending how much stress you're under, and that in many people they 'feed' each other? For example if I have one slice of bread I'm plunged into depression and very irrational anxiety within two hours of eating it. If I'm already stressed the effect is much deeper.

I have to be honest about Erickson, he doesn't have complete approval within the hypnosis community, and many of the alleged successful therapies he carried out may be entirely fictional. He had as many stark failures as he did supposed successes and I'm not a fan.

Though hypnosis could help you develop positive responses instead of negative ones at the onset of a panic attack, it would take time, and knowing all of the causes of those attacks. A quicker way would be to use a form of anchoring (the sort used in cognitive therapy as a means to overcome phobias) to provide yourself with a quick boost of positivity when you felt such an attack coming on.

MelT

Hypnosis is like the force. It has a strong enfluence on the weak minded. You will not do or say or feel anything that you don't or would not do by yourself.

It's like mind over matter. If you don't mind it don't matter.

Church, the right one for you will do the same if and only if you believe.

I would seek out holistic remedies before taking any more meds with bad side effects. You could help it with your diet like said. You just have to try. It is easier to try than to prove it can't be done.

I suffer too and would like to try many things like Accu but they want to keep you on the money train of insurance. I would like to go to china, they have taken a 180 back to the days of herbals. A visit to the doctor and your herbal meds over there can cost only dollars. i just watched a documentory on one china doc who found the 800 year old formula for cancer and it has kept a few hundred from dieing and made thier life much better. But alas no china trip for me.

Hope you can find the peace you are looking for.

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Originally Posted by LOC NAR on probation

Hypnosis is like the force. It has a strong enfluence on the weak minded. You will not do or say or feel anything that you don't or would not do by yourself.

It's like mind over matter. If you don't mind it don't matter.

Church, the right one for you will do the same if and only if you believe.

I would seek out holistic remedies before taking any more meds with bad side effects. You could help it with your diet like said. You just have to try. It is easier to try than to prove it can't be done.

I suffer too and would like to try many things like Accu but they want to keep you on the money train of insurance. I would like to go to china, they have taken a 180 back to the days of herbals. A visit to the doctor and your herbal meds over there can cost only dollars. i just watched a documentory on one china doc who found the 800 year old formula for cancer and it has kept a few hundred from dieing and made thier life much better. But alas no china trip for me.

Hope you can find the peace you are looking for.

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I've tried loads of alternative medicines, from diluted formulas, chiropractic, aromatherapy, acupuncture, and reflexology. I removed all doubt from my mind before trying these therapies. To me, they were all a supreme waste of money. All of the "science" the practitioners explained was grossly incorrect (i.e. the whole "toxins" theory, with severely diluted homeopathic tinctures the "memory imprint" of a molecule can affect your body profoundly, and one practitioner incorrectly said that EEGs can read stress)

I was raised in a very scientific household; to question everything I am told, and to me, I'm not surprised that these methods failed to work. Yes, they were relaxing, but I did not feel any changes during or after each procedure. You can claim that healers in China or India have used these methods for thousands of years, but unless there is solid, repeated evidence of truth, it's just another scam to me.

Also, church is not the answer for me... I'm a secularist.