acupuncture for depression?!


Question: Acupuncture for depression?
Hi,
This may seem like a silly question to ask. Here is the situation. I have fibromyalgia and things are going wrong right and left (numbness and tingling in left leg and left arm) and hip pain. I'm being treated by a acupuncturist right now.
Here's the thing. I've had depression and anxiety
all my life (untreated -- never told any medical professional and don't plan on doing so). I'm 23 years old. I've always managed it by ignoring and at times its hard and sometimes its okay. Right now, my depression is worse i guess because of all this pain. The only thing is could it be making my pain worse? I don't really want to live like this but at the same time i don't want medical help.

I've heard acupuncture can help with depression and mood problems. Is that true? If it is, I don't want my acupuncturist to tell my medical doctor or anything because i don't want to get any kind of medical help. If I ask him not to disclose that information, is he likely to respect my choice?

p.s: don't judge me or don't tell me I need help or anything else.

Answers:

Clinically, I've enjoyed excellent results treating anxiety and depression (as well as PTSD) by incorporating acupuncture in my protocols. With respect to confidentiality, healthcare providers are generally bound by stringent guidelines that prevent us from divulging any information about you without your explicit consent.

Since you seem to be achieving decent results with your current acupuncturist, why not bring up anxiety/depression related to pain. The conversation may help alleviate the shame you seem to carry around the issue, too.

Know that there absolutely is a well established relationship between chronic pain and depression. One begets the other, and a vicious cycle arises. So yes, your pain can exacerbate the depression. And the depression can worsen the pain through a variety of known and unknown mechanisms!

Again, I'd encourage you to discuss the matter with SOMEONE, because there seems to be significant shame around the issue for you. And there's nothing to be ashamed about here. Truly.

To address some of the science...
Scientific study of acupuncture is proving challenging, because the technique of the practitioner is relevant, standardized point selection protocols do not facilitate proper point selection based on Traditional Chinese Medicine diagnoses, etc. Furthermore, for obvious reasons studies cannot be double blinded. For these reasons and more, "proper" scientific study yields complicated, mixed results. These are the same challenges that would arise if you attempted to study the success of surgical intervention following proper scientific parameters.

The latest approach to studying effects of acupuncture is tending toward functional MRI. These studies are demonstrating clear, reproducible effects on the limbic system. If you're interested in the science as it pertains to depression, check out: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20494… to get started with your searching.

Oddly, the major meta-analysis to which Mathieu refers (I assume you're referring to the Dec/10 article in Eval Health Prof?) rejects the majority of the reviews (and their positive findings) because "there are reasons to believe that these reviews [from China] are less than reliable." WHY should these articles should be suspect?? Is he suggesting that Chinese scientists are patently biased about acupuncture? Or that the highly reputable, peer-reviewed journals in which the rejected articles were published are somehow biased also? It's an odd unqualified statement from a fairly renowned "Quackbuster" who admittedly does have a clear bias.

Note: I generally find the "conspiracy theory" nonsense irritating, because good science is good science! But it isn't good science to reject data outright because of PRESUMED bias.

naturopathic doctor



Meds are only short term solutions to allow you to tackle the underlying causes anyway, they don't cure depression or anxiety, so you don't need them, but they could help.

Acupuncture is similar to the meds, again it won't cure anything, but could help with the symptoms. The only 'cure' for depression and anxiety is a change in thought processes, or removing yourself from the causes, which a psychologist can help you with.



Acupuncture is completely worthless for pain or depression, every scientific study says so. Don't waste your time or money on it.



have you thought that the depression is causing ths symptoms, not the other way around



Your question is not silly. Does your acupuncturist share information with your doctor now? If not, any info you give him/her should remain confidential. I'm not sure if the acupuncture will help with the depression, but it's a treatment that won't hurt you, right?
Anytime you have a chronic condition, depression can sneak in. Is there a specific reason why you don't want treatment for depression? I'm assuming you mean medication. Something for you to think about: If you were diagnosed with severe diabetes, would you refuse insulin? I would hope not. The depression may be your body dealing with the fibro, or it could be a chemical problem. You could always explain to your physician that you really don't like taking lots of medicines, and don't want to feel drugged. (If that's the reason.) The medications that I take for fibro are low dose, but I take them; they are my necessary evils. They keep me from having so much pain, thus, keeping me from getting depressed. I really believe that a lot of prayer also keeps me from getting depressed.
No one is judging you. You need to do what you feel is best for you. Try the acupuncture; it can't hurt you. If it doesn't help, consider trying some medication. The ultimate goal is for you to feel better!
Hope you're feeling better really soon! Merry Christmas!



No acupuncture is not effective. A large meta-analysis (a study of studies) of over 200 studies found that acupuncture is not an effective treatment. A couple of studies did show it was mildly effective in some people but those studies could not be reproduced.

It is a waste of money to use acupuncture for mood or anxiety disorders.

Just a note there is often a link between psychiatric illness and fibromyalgia. If you tell your doctors he can be better able to treat you because he does not have all the facts now. Most fibromyalgia medications can help depression and anxiety. If your doctor knows you have depression and anxiety it may be possible to use medication to greatly help all three problems.

You really should make a choice. Treatment has risks but they are small and your life can be tremendously improved. Or you can suffer even if there is a very good chance treatment would work well. Also depression makes pain worse and pain makes depression worse (a nasty circle that can make everything get worse and worse). A recent study found that controlling pain in people with chronic pain and depression would either greatly reduce depression or in many cases the depression would be eliminated.

And you would need to sign a release for your doctor to talk to the acupuncturist so your privacy is protected.

Also you could see a different doctor, tell him the full honest truth and see what happens. Your current doctor will not know but you will be able to get information about your options.

FYI medications are useful, in many cases people have anxiety or depression due to their biology. In those cases there is not an issue that can be fixed to make everything better. It called endogenous depression/anxiety.

Good luck

M.D., C.M. psychiatry, internal medicine (Québec)
Hons. BSc pharmacology

I have chronic pain and depression.




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