March 12th, 2010
Do you remember being a child and not wanting to go to sleep?
It’s different now, isn’t it? Ah elusive sleep…
Insomnia in Chinese Medicine
It is said in Chinese Medicine, that sleep occurs when “the mind goes to rest in the heart”. For this to happen, the “heart” must be a comfortable bed. Difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep are signs that the heart bed is either “too hot” or “not padded enough”.
A Hot Heart
Heat in the heart reflects “yang rising” (often related to stress and/or anger) or “yin deficiency” (often seen alongside anxious exhaustion, feelings of heat and thirst). An experienced acupuncturist treats the root cause of the imbalance to bring relief of all symptoms and improved sleep.
A Hard Bed
When there is not enough “blood” or “yin” in the heart it is difficult for the mind to stay settled. These issues are addressed in Chinese Medicine with acupuncture, lifestyle adjustments, dietary therapy, and occasionally herbs.
Deep sleep is essential for the well being of mother and child. Insomnia is a common concern in pregnancy, especially when exacerbated by the need to get up to pee frequently and difficulties finding a comfortable position. I always reassure pregnant women that they have entered the zone of “guilt free napping”. Women need a lot of sleep in pregnancy and as they prepare for labour and the sleep-deprived early postpartum days ahead. In my experience, acupuncture is very effective in breaking negative sleep cycles and helping women get the rest they deserve and so greatly need.
January 1st, 2010
Here are more self help suggestions for Nausea and Vomiting in pregnancy (NVP). Aside from acupuncture, different things work at different times and for different people, so it’s helpful to have lots to try…
Here’s a list I got from a friend:
24 WAYS TO EASE MORNING SICKNESS
1. Avoid nausea triggers. The most common offenders include body odors, stale or leftover food in the fridge, coffee, gasoline, solvent fumes, garbage, scented cosmetics and toiletries, and pungent aromas of cooking foods.
2. Make “designer” days. Compare your good and bad days. As much as humanly possible, design your day to avoid the known triggers. If wet dog smells or litter box stench gets to you, let someone else get them out of your way. Warning! During pregnancy, avoid cat feces because they may contain toxoplasmosis bacteria, which can cause serious damage to the baby.
3. Eat before your feet hit the floor. If you start the morning off sick, you are likely to stay sick all day. Set a tray of easy-to-digest favorites at your bedside. When you awaken to trek to the bathroom in the middle of the night, treat your stomach to a nibble or two. Continue to munch all morning, carrying your nibble tray around with you, if necessary—yes, even in the car and by your desk at work.
4. Ease into your day. If you don’t have to awaken at a set time, don’t. Ask your mate to get up quietly without disturbing you, and slowly awaken in your own time.
5. Graze to your stomach’s content. Low blood sugar can trigger nausea, and it may occur upon awakening or anytime you go hours without food. Grazing on nutritious mini-meals throughout the day keeps your stomach satisfied and your blood sugar steady.
6. Nibble, nibble and nibble on stomach-friendly foods. Because high- fat, spicy, and some high-fiber foods are harder to digest, consume easily digestible foods, such as liquids, smoothies, yogurts, and low-fat, high-carb foods. Avoid hard-to-digest fatty foods and fried foods, such as premium ice cream, french fries, and fried chicken.
7. Eat nutrient-dense foods. Include avocados, kidney beans, cheese, fish, nut butter, whole-grain pasta, brown rice, tofu, and turkey. If peanut butter is too strong, try almond or cashew butter, and spread it thinly on crackers, bread, apple slices or celery sticks; a large glob of it may bounce back due to its high fat content.
8. Avoid dehydration by eating foods that stimulate thirst. Remember the three Ps: pickles, potato chips, and pretzels. Avoid letting your saliva hit an empty stomach. An empty stomach is hypersensitive to saliva, and nausea will soon follow. Line your stomach with milk, yogurt or ice cream before eating a saliva-stimulating food (such as salty foods, or dry foods such as crackers). Try peppermint candies or gum to help nausea but not on an empty stomach, and chew gum, containing sugar to avoid chemical sweeteners. Eat foods with a high water content to ease dehydration that aggravates nausea. Include melons, grapes, frozen fruit bars, lettuce, apples, pears, celery, and rhubarb.
9. Take prenatal vitamins with your biggest meal to prevent nausea. Vitamins can be a big trigger of nausea—unless they are taken with a large meal.
10. Eat high-energy foods. Complex carbohydrates (grandmothers called them starches) act as time-release energy capsules, slowly releasing energy into your bloodstream and helping to keep your appetite satisfied. The main food group represented here is grains (rice, corn, wheat, oats, millet, barley), found in breads, cereals, pastas, and crackers.
11. Stick to feel-better favorites. Make a list of foods that help you feel better or less nauseated. While this list may change, it can help you avoid food triggers that make you ill.
12. Make yourself eat. No matter whether you feel like it or not—eat something. If you don’t eat, you will get an acid-filled stomach and low blood sugar.
13. Get out and see the world. Visit friends, go to a movie, rest in a hammock, take a walk at lunchtime, or go to a park with friends. Any change of scenery may provide a stomach-settling distraction.
14. Drive, don’t ride. Some women find that by doing the driving instead of riding, they have less of a nausea problem. This explains why the helmsman on a boat is the least likely to get seasick.
15. Delegate, delegate, delegate. Delegate tasks to Mr. Mom or to older kids. Post a list of “these things bother mom…these things make me feel better.” Let your spouse mop the floor. Cook easier meals. If the entire family eats cheese and crackers and carrots for a few meals, they will survive.
16. Plan ahead. If you know what makes you miserable, arrange for detours around the things that trigger nausea. Follow this checklist:
• If cooking odors bother you, consider pre-cooking and freezing foods on days you feel well.
• Buy more convenience foods.
• If you are invited to another home for dinner, offer to bring a dish you know you’ll be able to eat.
• Carry your reliable edibles with you; when a hunger surge hits, the nausea is sure to follow if you don’t have a tried-and-true tidbit handy.
17. Reduce stress. Prenatal researchers feel it’s better for a baby in utero to be spared a steady barrage of stress hormones—and stress can increase your nausea cycle. Learning to reduce stress now is good practice for maintaining serenity as a new mother. Remind yourself that what your baby needs most is a happy, rested mother, both before and after birth.
18. Try acupressure. Both Eastern and Western medical practitioners describe a pressure point about two inches above the crease on the inner aspect of the wrist which, if stimulated, may relieve nausea and vomiting associated with pregnancy and other conditions (such as seasickness). Sea Bands®, available without prescription at pharmacies and marine stores, are worn around one or both wrists. Each band contains a button that presses on the vomiting-sensitive pressure point. These bands have been shown to work in research studies.
19. Dress comfortably. Wear loose clothing. Many mothers find that anything pressing on their abdomen, waist, or neck is irritating and nausea triggering.
20. Position yourself for comfort. Heartburn is another common part of the nausea-pregnancy package. This burning feeling, which is caused by reflux of stomach acids into the lower esophagus, occurs more frequently during pregnancy (hormones, again, which relax the stomach walls). For heartburn, keep upright or lie on your right side after eating. Lying on your back is more likely to aggravate heartburn.
21. Sleep it off. It’s fortunate that the extreme need for sleep coincides with the morning sickness phase. So precious is this rest that you will want to ensure that sleep goes on as long as possible.
22. Have one last meal before retiring, preferably of fruit and long- acting complex carbohydrates (grains and bland pasta). These foods slowly release energy into your bloodstream throughout the night yet are unlikely to keep you awake. Add to these natural antacid foods—milk, ice cream, and yogurt— to neutralize upsetting stomach acids as you drift off to sleep. Take chewable calcium tablets, which act as antacids, before retiring or upon awakening.
23. Eat anyway! While it’s not uncommon for women to feel that nothing tastes good, not eating can actually aggravate the cycle of nausea.
24. Be positive. Lastly, choose who you share your misery with. Mothers who have been there and felt morning sickness will understand; others won’t. When you’re having a day you can’t keep anything down, keep your eyes on the prize—the precious baby-to-be!
SAY ‘YES’ TO TUMMY-FRIENDLY COMFORT FOODS
Applesauce
Avocado
Bagels
Cereal
Chewing gum
Frozen yogurt
Ginger, available as root extract, fresh ground, capsules, tea, sticks, crystals, or snaps
Grapes
Lemon drops
Lemons, for sucking on or sniffing
Mints, peppermint
Oatmeal
Potato chips
Potatoes (baked, boiled, mashed)
Puddings
Raspberry leaf tea
Rice cakes
Soda crackers
Sorbet, sherbet
Yogurt smoothies
SAY NO TO DISCOMFORT FOODS
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Coffee and cola
Foods containing monosodium glutamate (MSG)
Fried eggs
Fried foods
Greasy foods
High-fat foods
Onions
Sauerkraut
Sausages
December 27th, 2009
Does acupuncture really help women with Morning Sickness?
I have worked with dozens of women with Morning Sickness over the past 13 years. Some women have immediate dramatic improvements, while others do not. Most women find that acupuncture, in combination with lifestyle and dietary modifications, improves their quality of life and is a welcome support.
Here are two very different stories of women that I have worked with:
Rosa- “Rosa” was a social worker pregnant with her second child. She was working full time and had a two year old son. Rosa was 10 weeks pregnant and had been constantly nauseated from the beginning of the pregnancy. She continued to force herself to work, with regular visits to the washroom to vomit. She was able to eat small meals, though often had to throw up soon after eating. She had never tried acupuncture before and had been encouraged to come by her sister-in-law. During the treatment, Rosa allowed herself to relax and to cry. She was exhausted and scared. When she stood up from the treatment, Rosa’s nausea was gone. She was thrilled. She began a pre-planned holiday the following day. I spoke with Rosa after her holiday to learn that the nausea did not return. She was doing well and had cut down on her work schedule. I did not see Rosa again, but was told that her pregnancy and birth were healthy and happy.
Dana – “Dana” saw me weekly throughout her pregnancy starting at 28 weeks. This was here third pregnancy in which she suffered from hyperemesis. It was difficult for Dana to get out of bed without being overwhelmed with nausea and vomiting. A care worker was called in to help her with her children. She was taking a large dose of Diclectin which did take the edge off somewhat but did not stop the symptoms. After we began regular acupuncture treatments, Dana rarely vomited. Her nausea subsided for a day or two after treatment, but regularly returned. Acupuncture was a welcome short term relief and helped her to feel well enough to eat more and enjoy her children. Dana was still nauseated throughout labour. She told me that she felt the nausea lift at the moment that her placenta separated (and was then born). She remembered feeling the same way at her previous birth.
Research
Dawn Aarons, Acupuncture Therapist in Toronto, Canada was interested in the following acupuncture research which she wishes to share:
Research conducted in Australia in 2002 concludes that “acupuncture is a safe and effective treatment for women who experience nausea and dry retching in early pregnancy”. Here are more details about these studies:
Smith et al. in 2002 published two articles from their research on nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. The first looked at the effectiveness of acupuncture and the second at the safety of acupuncture treatment in early pregnancy.
Summary
The objective was to compare i. traditional acupuncture treatment, ii. acupuncture at Neiguan P-6 only, iii. sham acupuncture and iv. no acupuncture treatment for nausea and vomiting.
593 women who were less than 14 weeks pregnant and were suffering nausea and vomiting of pregnancy were randomised into 4 groups and received treatment weekly.
The acupuncture group, in which points were chosen according to a traditional acupuncture diagnosis, received two 20 minute acupuncture treatments in the first week followed by one weekly treatment for the next four weeks.
The sham acupuncture group were needled at points close to but not on acupuncture points and both the sham and Neiguan P-6 acupuncture groups were treated with the same frequency as the traditional acupuncture group.
All group received their treatment from the same acupuncturist.
The outcomes of treatment were measured in terms of nausea, dry retching, vomiting and health status.
When compared to the women who received no treatment, the traditional acupuncture group reported less nausea throughout the study and less dry retching from the second week. The Neiguan P-6 acupuncture group reported less nausea from the second week and less dry retching from the third week. The sham acupuncture group reported less nausea and dry retching from the third week.
So while all three acupuncture groups reported improvement with nausea and dry retching, it was the traditional acupuncture group that had the fastest response.
Patients receiving traditional acupuncture also reported improvement in five aspects of general health status (vitality, social function, physical function, mental health and emotional role function) compared to improvement in two aspects with both the Neiguan P-6 and sham acupuncture groups. In the no treatment group there was improvement in only one aspect.
Although there were no differences in vomiting found in any of the treatment groups the authors speculated that more frequent treatments might have produced greater benefits.
In assessing the safety of acupuncture in early pregnancy data was collected on perinatal outcome, congenital abnormalities, pregnancy complications and problems of the newborn.
No differences were found between study groups in the incidence of these outcomes suggesting that there are no serious adverse effects from the use of acupuncture treatment in early pregnancy.
Conclusion
Acupuncture is a safe and effective treatment for women who experience nausea and dry retching in early pregnancy.
Both my personal experience and research support the assertion that acupuncture is helpful for women suffering from nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. While there are no guarantees, acupuncture brings relief and improves the quality of life of most pregnant women that try it. It does not have side effects and is safe to use in pregnancy. Acpuncture offers new options to women.
Stay tuned for Morning Sickness III – self help suggestions and recommendations
