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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Bobby on May 25, 2006, at 22:09:32
Please let me know how the Ch*naman's herbal medicine works as opposed to conventional psych meds. I think it is worth a try to get off of these mind altering drugs. However, I must tell you I won't drink any chinese rat urine or the likes of such. It's just that I'm looking for a way out of popping pills---although I am fond of recreational opiates.
Thanks for your exhausting research you provide for these boards.
Bobby
Posted by Larry Hoover on May 26, 2006, at 8:18:38
In reply to Mr. Hoover, posted by Bobby on May 25, 2006, at 22:09:32
> Please let me know how the Ch*naman's herbal medicine works as opposed to conventional psych meds.
I can assure you, you will see a report. It is simply too early to comment.
One major confound was that I began treatment while I was still profoundly exhilerated from Babblefest. I'm still (or again) rather child-like in that regard. You know how kids are, about going to the circus, or a fair.
> I think it is worth a try to get off of these mind altering drugs. However, I must tell you I won't drink any chinese rat urine or the likes of such.
I was in, again, to see him yesterday. For acupuncture. I asked him for a list of the goodies in the tea. I have not yet begun to even identify the herbs. All I have is the phonetic Chinese names. He kindly transliterated from the pictographs for me, yesterday.
He said acupuncture would be about a half hour. Funny, I re-emerged almost 80 minutes later. I think he left me "cooking" a little extra. He is an expert. It is so obvious, he is expert. His manner. His assurance. A doctorate in acupuncture. A doctorate in TCM.
I was profoundly mind-altered. I kept shaking my head, trying to get my eyes to focus. I was in a trance-like state. I believe he waited until the colours were right. I saw my aura change many times.
This is as much a spiritual act, as it is intellectual. To seek out these paths to healing. Timing is a big part of it. It felt right. So, it is right.
> It's just that I'm looking for a way out of popping pills---although I am fond of recreational opiates.
Funny that. I hate opiates. And I get lots and lots of those from my pusher....errr doctor. I saw my pain specialist yesterday, too. It is almost surreal, to compare these two sons of China. Their approaches are so very different. Immersed in two different worlds, but it is the same one.
> Thanks for your exhausting research you provide for these boards.
> BobbyYou're very welcome.
I must pace myself better, though. I must pace myself better. I'm taking my elder son to his first rock concert tonight, and we're spending the weekend together, without his brother along. We haven't done that before.
I love your humour, dude. You've got that, very well.
Lar
Posted by honeybee on May 30, 2006, at 17:21:30
In reply to Mr. Hoover, posted by Bobby on May 25, 2006, at 22:09:32
Fantastic!
Larry, I didn't know that you'd decided to go to a TCM practitioner (I've been literally in the boonies for the last two weeks, without internet access). Please do share what your results are.
Acupuncutre has been a godsend for me (and I'm on no antidepressants, nearly at all) and literally punch me back into functionality after every treatment. Though I was doing herbal blend formulas, I was told by an expert at a Grand Rounds I participated in (for depression) at an acupuncture school, that my situation was so complicated, that I needed someone vastly more experienced that the people I was seeing at a teaching clinic and that my herbal treatment would likely need to be tailored more to my condition.
Please share the herbs that you're on, your TCM diagnosis (and hey, if you show me yours, I'll show you mine, I've got a doozy of one), and so on.
So glad that you're going. Hope that it coaxes you in the right direction.
And hope you had fun at the Rock-n-Roll show. See you're a good Dad, letting your son go to one. I have fond memories of going to a Starship/Outfield show in my early teens with a friend and her mom. It was exhilarating, even if she didn't like the music.
Posted by Larry Hoover on June 6, 2006, at 12:18:50
In reply to Re: Mr. Hoover, posted by honeybee on May 30, 2006, at 17:21:30
> Fantastic!
>
> Larry, I didn't know that you'd decided to go to a TCM practitioner (I've been literally in the boonies for the last two weeks, without internet access). Please do share what your results are.Well, it kind of just happened, in a karmic muse kind of way. It's been percolating around in my brain for quite a while, and I got good vibes off this one store. Turns out, my vibe meter was working perfectly.
I don't know what my diagnosis is, but he was adamant that I had too much heat in my liver. It was a very important thing. There was something else about damp, but I didn't really need to know that. What I needed to know was if he could help me, and he very confidently said that he could.
I think I mentioned how he assessed me for $10, and gave me this great sack of herbs and roots for $66. Already a bargoon, stacked up against the $500+ it cost me just to try Topamax.
The tea is just the yuckiest stuff. Almost gag material.
I went down for a third visit on Sunday. He did another acupuncture, and set me up with a new batch of herbs. It is very powerful medicine, indeed. I doubt I could separate the effects, and that is precisely what he said. The acupuncture draws the heat, and "make the tea work better".
So, I'm now at day 15. My head is clearing. My energy is becoming extraordinary. I haven't felt this vigor in a long time. My memory is starting to work again. It is good.
What I'm taking is:
Tea #1 (first 14 days)
ginjiao
dangqui
bashao dangshen
faling
jixieteng
danshen xiangtu
chuadan
jianghuo
jianghuang shangzhi
guizhiI have no idea if I "doubled up" those words right, or, single spaced them properly. It is not clear, his English writing. His prescription was in pictographs.....17 figures.
Tea #2 (next 14 days)
jinyinhua
huangqi
jixueteng tutuling
baijili kushen
baixianpi beizhichao
fangfeng
chishao
baishao
shengdi
xuanshen
dituzhi
baizhu danshenAgain, I have not made any efforts to verify that I've even transcribed this correctly. The second batch of tea only cost $56, and the acupuncture is $30. He is a master of the art of acupuncture. I don't know how I know, but I do.
TCM is very different than our medicine. Herbs are never used alone. They all have companions, and different companions for different uses. We want to isolate the "active ingredient", and give it in pure form. What arrogance! We err perhaps by leaving anything out, let alone combining with companions.
When you cook, you use a bouquet garni. Five-spice powder. Curry powder. Why on Earth would medicinal herbs be any different than that? Would you ever cook a whole meal with just black pepper in it? Or, use the extracted "active ingredient" piperine? Good grief.
> Acupuncutre has been a godsend for me (and I'm on no antidepressants, nearly at all) and literally punch me back into functionality after every treatment. Though I was doing herbal blend formulas, I was told by an expert at a Grand Rounds I participated in (for depression) at an acupuncture school, that my situation was so complicated, that I needed someone vastly more experienced that the people I was seeing at a teaching clinic and that my herbal treatment would likely need to be tailored more to my condition.
Everything must be tailored.
> Please share the herbs that you're on, your TCM diagnosis (and hey, if you show me yours, I'll show you mine, I've got a doozy of one), and so on.I've told you all I know. If anyone has a sense of how to transliterate those herbs into more commonly used Western names, I'd appreciate a heads-up.
> So glad that you're going. Hope that it coaxes you in the right direction.
More like propelling me.
> And hope you had fun at the Rock-n-Roll show. See you're a good Dad, letting your son go to one. I have fond memories of going to a Starship/Outfield show in my early teens with a friend and her mom. It was exhilarating, even if she didn't like the music.We had a hoot. Good head-banging goin' on.
And Lar has both feet on the ground. Even with all the stressors in my life, the pain, my parents......even with those, the dude can coax his guitar, get things done. I have a sense that Lar might soon be more visible, out there, than he has ever been before.
Goddess willing.
Lar
This is the end of the thread.
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