[Karen W.]

Hi Neily I see you don't seem to be sleeping.. sorry! Hope all is well.

[Karen W.]

Still awake eh???

[neilep]

*le yawn*

yes mam !

[Karen W.]

Sorry..Sir, Are you worrying about stuff???
I hope you are feeling better.. I am going to post a picture in a moment of crater Lake!

[Seany]

Mehhh... Hope you guys sleep well tonight []

[Seany]

[Karen W.]

Thanks Seany.. You too young man!

[neilep]

LOL......great piccy for the seany youngster !!


*le sigh et le yawn*

[Karen W.]

Oh dear, how long is this round gone Sir? How ya doing? I am going to try again soon! Nervous my son is leaving again.. He left come home now they want him back again so he is going!

Its hot and muggy and I feel icky.. How is your weather? My arm is sore from 4 blood draws today!

[Karen W.]

Heya.. does anyone know much about an APAP machine.. I was sleeping away and it started beeping at me, periodically as if it was an alarm clock ... are they supposed to yell at you and wake you up or help you sleep! Help I am confused... After about the 30th beep over and hour it seemed I could not go back to sleep.. It also lit up real bright around the buttons...

[neilep]

Cool

Life's a real mushy bed of zzzzds when you've had  sleepy tabs joy  as I had half hour ago....whoopee doo !I will shleep shoon !!....

ps: I am conscious enuff to mention that sleepy tabs are a last resort !!..do not take them willy-nilly !!.

[neilep]

Karen..I dontl know what an APAP machine is.....I'm sorry it woke you but perhaps..as you suspect..it was sheeposed too !!

can ewe tell us what it is ?

LOl...yawning constantly now |!!..which is nice !!...is this what most people do ?...yawn a lot and then sleep ?

[kdlynn]

karen... i think if you stop breathing or come close to it it alerts you that you should be breathing

[Karen W.]

You might be right!

[mei]

IS ANYONE OUT THERE INTERESTED IN TRYING ACUPUNCTURE TO TREAT THEIR INSOMNIA?

Hi!  My name is  Mei Cheung, I am in the final clinical year of a Bsc Acupuncture course. For my dissertation, I am doing it on the subject of Insomnia, with interest on Delay Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS). This would take place at a teaching clinic in north London.

For those of you who are not familiar with acupuncture, this science and art is part of the umbrella of Traditional Chinese Medicine which dates back 3500 years. Acupuncture is well known to be able to treat insomnia, and on matters of the “spirit”; Chinese Medicine sees insomnia as the Spirit or mind disturbed whereas western science views it in terms of neuroscience.  Acupuncture is a holistic system in which the individual is seen as unique and all aspects of the individuals health, constitution, personal, social, dietary lifestyle is taken into consideration of before the practitioner arrives at a diagnosis and forms tailored treatment plan upon needs of the patient.

Insomnia occurs in individuals when there is an imbalance of the body’s “Qi” (vital energy) due to an excessive pathogenic state or underlying deficiency.  In another words, this imbalance of Qi occurs when mind and body is subjected to long-term psychological and physiological stresses which can impact the “spirit” of the individual in a most damaging way. Acupuncture seeks to readdress this imbalance by needling a set of strategic meridian points on the body which to put it simply, unblocks those stagnant energies of the body which were responsible for the symptoms of insomnia and poor health. By manipulation of the needles, we aim to reach a balance of the Yin and Yang and a therefore a state of equilibrium within our mind and body.

If anyone were interested in having treatment, you would need to commit yourself to at least 6 sessions, which constitute 1 treatment period (acupuncture has an accumulative effect). Each session takes about an hour. The treatment takes place on Monday afternoons at the college clinic.  All treatments are supervised by teaching staff and strictly adhere to the code of ethics and health & safety regulations stipulated by the British Acupuncture Council (BacC).

Please email me soon if you are interested!  I am looking to treat within the next 2 weeks from 16/9/07 till mid October.  The deadline for appointments is 24/9/07. Any requests after this date, sorry may not be accepted and subject to availability.

The cost of treatment is  £15 (£10 for concessions) the teaching clinic is a registered non-profit organisation.

Thanks, hope to meet some of you out there..
Mei

[Karen W.]

Hey Neil You should try it!  See if it works!

[Seany]

I'm not so sure.. I don't believe in those Chinese acupuncture stuff..

[Karen W.]

I have hear both good  bad things about it.. some say hokey but others swear by it.

[Zwitterion]

hi everyone...hows life?...im going thru another bad sleeping patch!! (

i'd be really interested in the acupuncture Mei chung but i live up north so would be too difficuly to get down to london on a regular basis which is a shame...i have tried everything under the sun i can think of to sort out my insomnia but nothing seems to work. i might try enquiring about it locally and see if there is somewhere i can try.

[mei]

Hello Karen & Seany,

I can see where you’re coming from, it does seem a bit alien to most people and the concept of “Qi” which circulates in very cell of your body but which is ultimately responsible for your optimal health is a hard concept to grasp.

Karen, I wished you lived in London, I’d love to treat you, I feel you have an openness to the concept and willingness to try new things.

As you mentioned, there are people who swear by it because it has worked for them.  The reality of the situation is that most people only discover acupuncture when all has failed, when they have been through the rounds of clinical diagnostics tests which don’t find anything wrong, had operations which doesn’t resolve the problem or pain.  And then they resort to acupuncture as a last resort only to discover something moves for them and their symptoms start to improve.  If the individual understands what’s happening to their body and once they’re committed to treatment, they are usually on the road to recovery.

The reasons why it doesn’t work for some people, my guess is that the patient didn’t commit themselves to longer treatment due to lack of communication between practitioner and patient. Normally in 1 or 2 treatments, you won’t be cured, as I mentioned before, the effects acupuncture is accumulative, that’s why I suggest 6 as a course. You’re basically stimulating your own Qi with the needles, moving the blockages, at the same time it stimulates certain neurochemical hormones from the hypothalamus like endorphins which can relieve pain and act as mood-enhancers.  
In my research so far, there is strong evidence to suggest that insomnia is due to low levels of melatonin secretion in certain subjects and also due to circadian rhythm dysfunction. And there have been studies which support the view that acupuncture influence the secretion of melatonin and the role it plays in increasing nocturnal melatonin and reducing insomnia and anxiety (Spence, D., et al, 2004).

I hope this goes in some way to give you better understanding & to reassure you of the absolute science of acupuncture. It is more than 35OO years old. What attracts myself to acupuncture is the non-invasive nature of the medical system, there is no pill popping and no surgery involved. No side effects. It is holistic. You target at the root level and treat from that point.  What ‘ve you got to loose but try it? You’re only working with your own energy!