Sjogren’s/Autoimmune Diseases

As a business consultant, I am impatient with myself because I think I should have entered acupuncture at the diagnosis of my first autoimmune disease. I had been diagnosed with several autoimmune diseases, the last and most troubling of which was Sjogren’s Syndrome. I had carefully altered my life style but was particularly bothered with patches on my corneas especially on the right eye as well as digestive difficulties. I had been diagnosed by two western specialists, both a rheumatologist and an ophthalmologist in the Boston area, and adhered to their suggestions as well as to the suggestions of my regular general physician. I took the prescribed medicines but my eyes’ problems continued and interfered with my work as a consultant. Bright lights and computer work, along with air-conditioning and heating aggravated my problems. I reached the point of thinking out of the box (western medicine) when my ophthalmologist suggested that it was probable that I would lose vision in my right eye in a few years if things continued as they had. I questioned whether there was anything else I could do and he said that I was doing everything they had available. He said, “Maybe we’ll know more in a few years, because a lot of older people were developing this problem particularly women.” I initiated therapy with Karen Hand of LASATA in November 2004 and was treated bi-monthly. In August 2005, my ophthalmologist said that all the patches on my cornea were gone, my cataracts appeared to be 50% less than they had been and he wondered if I truly ever had Sjogren’s Syndrome. I believe that the shift in thinking from the concept that disease is an end result to be suffered and prescribed for, versus disease is a symptom of imbalance, is important and I tell everyone about my experiences.  Acupuncture is one major step towards taking control of my health; it leads on in the right direction. I have a little poem I share with friends: