Alpha Stimulation

[SquirmingSusan]

My pain doctor is sending me to a physical therapist for alpha stimulation therapy. Has anyone else had this treatment? Apparently they run an electrical current on the affected body parts, and also on the skull. I Googled it and it was really interesting. Not only do they use this to treat pain, but also anxiety, depression, and insomnia.

The only physical therapist that does this technique in the metro area is about 1 mile from my house. I've actually used that physical therapy clinic in the past and was very happy with it.

I hope it works. Wouldn't it be great is it cures everything? They make home units, too, so if it works, I could probably get one covered by insurance.

But in case it doesn't, the doc also prescribed methadone.

I'll keep you posted!

Susan

[ViewsAskew]

Looking forward to hearing more...

When I was getting my BA, I was a psych major. This was the 1970's and shock therapy was considered a horrid thing! How could they have done that to people. In 1998, my grandmother was diagnosed with severe depression. Nothing worked. They put her on a unit in the hospital and gave her...shock therapy. It was remarkable.

This isn't the same thing, but obviously electrical current running through the body has some very positive effects. Who would've thought?

[Rachel]

Susan,

I'm just happy for you because you sound happy.

Keep us posted. I'll be thinking of you.

Rachel

[ctravel12]

Hi Susan I am sending good thoughts your way and keeping you in my prayers. It sure sounds good and so happy for you. Please keep us posted and the neat thing is that it is so close to your home.

[SquirmingSusan]

My appointment to get "electrocuted" is on Tuesday. I'll let you know how it goes.

Susan

[SquirmingSusan]

Well, I got "electrocuted" today for about an hour. The PT did the probes on my legs for about half an hour. I really couldn't feel anything. Then he put the clips on my earlobes and turned on the current. At first I felt really seasick - the walls were moving and I got very nauseated. I told him and he dialed back the current to where I was comfortable.

The PT used to be a neuroscience professor, and was explaining in detail how the alpha stim is supposed to work. Something about the microcurrent being similar to the currents used by the body to communicate. "It speaks the body's language." It all sounds like magic to me. He says this device has been more extensively studied than any other medical device, and very high percentages of user experience reduction in pain, depression, anxiety, and insomnia.

Somehow the current to the head stimulates the part of the brain that blocks pain signals. He didn't know about RLS creepy-crawly sensations.

I'll get 2-3 treatments per week for 3 more weeks after this week. The effects are cumulative.

I figure, hey, I'll give it a shot. If taking Requip for 3 weeks could make my body's pain management system go completely out of wack, why couldn't this get it back to normal...

I'll keep you posted.

Here's some links to research on the AlphaStim, if any of you want to read about it.

http://www.alpha-health.com/research.php

Susan

[ctravel12]

Hi Susan, thanks for sharing this with us. Please keep us posted on how the next treatment goes. Good luck with you.

[Rachel]

Susan,

I'm happy for you. Keep us posted. I'll think of you during our next electrical storm out here in Ohio.

Rachel

[SquirmingSusan]

Well, I flunked out of AlphaStim. I had my first treatment last Tuesday, and I felt great. Calm, relaxed, and I could even do hard Sudokus easily. That never happens! But Wednesday night I had a rebound of pain. My pain rating was about 8 of 10, and that was after I took my methadone.

I had the next treatment on Thursday, and I felt no effect whatsoever. No relief, no rebound - nothing. Sigh.

So today my PT worked with me on exercises that sometimes relieve pain by realigning the spine and taking pressure off of nerves. And he plugged me into a regular TENS unit for a bit.

I'll keep trying stuff, within reason. I know that the methadone works, and at some point I want to quit being a lab rat in a big RLS experiment and go on with living my life.

Susan

[Rachel]

I'll keep trying stuff, within reason. I know that the methadone works, and at some point I want to quit being a lab rat in a big RLS experiment and go on with living my life.

Susan

Susan,

I'm so sorry this didn't work for you. ( Stick crying Emoticon here.)

What happens now? Do you need time to regroup? Did the PT exercises work?

I don't have anything else to offer you except that you have always seemed like such a strong person here on the posts. You have always inspired me to keep going when I also feel tired of "being a lab rat" so now I am telling you that you cannot give up. You can be down in the dumps for a little while, but I always look for your posts first b/c they make me laugh so you're not allowed to just give up.

Where's Walking after Midnight? He needs to tell Susan a joke like the mistress one he posted somewhere else.

Hang in there, Susan

Fondly, Rachel

[SquirmingSusan]

Thanks Rachel. You're so sweet to say those things about me. I wasn't really bummed out by it all, just tired of trying things that don't work when I have a medication that works just fine, without a lot of side effects. It just seems like they have to try every possible treatment in the world before they'll prescribe controlled substances!

Anyway, the pain clinic finally called me back today, and the doc said I could double my dose of methadone. So, now that I know I'll have enough meds to mostly cover any rebound pain from the treatments, I walked into the physical therapy place and told my PT that I wanted to try again. After all, the first night after the treatment I felt great.

It's supposed to help with pain, depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Shoot, if it helps with just one of those things it will be worth it.

I'll keep you all posted.

Susan

[donner]

I have tried it but it didn't work for me. After a Q(quantitive) EEG, we found that slow brain waves, Delta and Theta are predominant in the spot that gives us RLS. Alpha stimulation might work, but they tell me that getting the D/T waves down is the answer. I am trying that with unconclusive results...just posted a note on my adventures in neurofeedback.

[SquirmingSusan]

I'll have to ask my PhD brain scientist/college professor/physical therapist about what he know about that.

[jumpy]

Ann, a little off the subject, but my oldest granddaughter is a psych major. Junior. Specialising in neuroscience. 4.0 average. She is an intern at the University Medical Center in Jackson for the summer. I don't know what she will be working on yet. I told her to find out what she could about RLS. She has it too. Probably why the 4.0. She can't sleep so she studies. She did say with her luck she would probably be killing little mice....BTW my rheumatologist put me on some stretching exercises and I had two fairly pleasant 10 hour rides this week with no RLS attack and took no Requip. Maybe they help the RLS too...Couldn't hurt...Pat

[debdok57]

Talk to your doctor about side effects and get second opinions from another doctor. Please don't do anything like this without knowing all you can. Shock therapy may be good for some but definitely not for others. I know first hand. I had it done for major depression. For me it effected my speech, my thought, my memory and my nervous system. I had it done one time and the doctors said to never let it be done again. I couldn't remember things like my address, my phone number, I lost a lot of my long-term memory and it took about 2 months for me to regain short-term memory. I had to learn to write and learn to do several other things and it took about 6-7 weeks for hands to quit shaking.

It's definitely something to not take lightly and I would also discuss it with family members.