It has been one year since I started receiving treatment from Dr. Madarame of Aoyama-Madarame clinic. In this post, I am going to share what worked and what didn’t work about the treatment.
The basics of my treatment are thermotherapy which includes a hot water bottle and kyu or moxibustion. If you haven’t read my previous posts about the details of my treatment, please check out those posts first.
I have had diarrhea only once over the past year. My doctor said that my stomach was not nearly as strong as I thought it was, so I started to eat less at breakfast. Since then, my stomach feels much better.
I would never skip breakfast no matter how late I got up because I felt awfully sick if I did so, but he told me that I ate too much for my stomach’s capacity.
In addition, since I started to warm myself up and wait until my stomach is fully awake before breakfast, I have been stomachache-free.
However, when I have to go out in the early morning and I don’t have enough time to warm myself up, I just eat a tiny piece of bread with hot corn soup. It really works for me, and it makes it easier for me to go out.
I eat something light between meals to supplement the small breakfast. As of right now, I have not lost or gained weight.
Catching colds less often
I used to get a fever of over 102.2F a couple of times a year, however, I haven’t had even a mild one above 99.5F over the past year. A fever exhausts you on its own, so I am truly grateful that I do not get fevers any more.
Becoming more aware of my body’s needs
Thanks to this, it is getting easier for me to tell proper clothes to wear and when and how much to use heating equipment.
Fewer cases of chills and a runny nose
Consequently, I get nosebleeds less often. I used to get nosebleeds all year round, so I would get another nosebleed before the previous one was healed, but I only had one nosebleed during hay fever season this year.
Getting to sleep more quickly
It seems that I cannot get to sleep when my body is too cold or too hot. I warm up my bed and myself quickly by holding my boiling hot water bottle in bed. It works pretty well for me. Now I can sense that my bed is absorbing my body heat (even on a hot day.)
In the summer, my feet used to get burning hot and I could not get to sleep before they cooled off, but since I learned that good blood circulation helps my feet cool off quickly, I have been using my hot water bottle wisely and have been sleeping better than I was before.
Failures
Warming myself up too much
In January, I once had a lesson on top of my hot water bottle (for 30 minutes) and I got awfully sick for three hours afterward, and it lasted for some three days.
Also, I fell asleep with my hot water bottle next to me in my bed and I woke up in a pool of sweat during the night. I felt exhausted and light-headed the next morning.
Kyu overheating
☆What is “kyu“?Kyu or moxibustion is a traditional Chinese medicine therapy using moxa (dried leaves of artemisia) . How I practice kyu: set a little chunk of moxa on a moistened cotton pad and put that set on a place instructed by your physician (on the back of my hand in the picture), and then light the moxa.
Dr. Madarame instructed me to practice kyu or moxibustion all over my arms and on my face (eyelids, the corner of my jaw and temples) in the last session in April. Kyu on my face works brilliantly, better than on any other part of my body, but it is also usually the most exhausting after the treatment is finished. There were very few days that I was not exhausted after kyu.
Even if I did it too much on the back of my hands, it would not be so harmful, but it would not be very effective, either. It does not feel particularly warm or refreshing.
Therefore, I practice kyu every other day at most, trying not to overdo it. Also, in order not to get too tired, I do not do it on the day or the day before work.
・How much moxa can I use out of 100g?
I use moxa (dried leaves of artimisia) that I bought on Amazon at 5000 yen for 100 grams. I thought it was expensive, but it is the only “medication” that I need for my treatment, so it is not that bad. I still have a little moxa left even though I bought it in December of last year. Considering the fact that I suspended kyu practice for a month or so, you can probably practice kyu for a half year with 100g of moxa, even if you do it evey day.
Summer cold measures
It was extremely hot this summer, wasn’t it? The temperature reached the highest ever recorded in my city. I have had a really hard time to survive the murderous heat. For this reason, I had no choice but to use an air conditioner, meaning I had to take care not to get heat stroke, and also not to get too cold.
I get cold if I stay in an air conditioned room even for a short period of time, so I warmed myself up once or twice a day using a hot water bottle. Thanks to that, I managed through the summer without having a cold or fever or diarrhea.
My thermoregulation function used to go wrong every time I took a shower or bath. Now, following my doctor’s instructions, I take a cold shower for a several seconds right before getting out of the bathroom. Since I started doing that, I have been able to keep myself warm after showers or baths.
However, when I am exhausted and my thermoragulation is bad, a cold shower does not work, and I sweat a good amount. Nothing seemed to work one time, so I tried cooling off my head with an ice pouch, and that worked wonders for me.
You need to cool off your brain at times. I am glad that I realized that.
Things that need to be improved
I still have been feeling extremely tired and have a constant headache. In terms of fatigue, it feels like it has become worse than it was a year ago. Also, I have unbearable “brain fog” more often than I did before, and I am so frustrated that I cannot study TESOL because of it.
There are still many days when I feel ill. I don’t know if it’s because I have been pushing myself too hard or if I’m just tired from the summer heat, but I really, really want to get out of this.
I am sure that all my senses of cold, heat and pains have become more keen than they used to be, so maybe I have just become sensitive to the symptoms.
Many symptoms have definitely improved, but PS (Performance Status) stays at 6 to 7, which is the same number that it was one year ago.
Conclusion
When I started receiving treatment last year, I was dreaming of visiting Dr. Madarame with a box of cookies as a thank-you gift and telling him that I’ve completely recovered in one year. I should have known that it was too good to be true.
Having had CFS/ME for 21 years, it took a long time before I started receiving treatment, so it is only natural that it will take a long time before I get better. There are many signs that indicate improvements, so I’ll take it easy and continue to tackle CFS/ME.
