A story about treatment for a manager of two medical centers

Carmen R. is a manager of two medical centers in LA area. She came to my clinic for stomach problem on May 2. She told me that started from October last year, she felt spasm and burning on her middle chest. Her doctor diagnosed the problem as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and gastritis and prescribed protonix for her. She felt little better by taking this drug at the beginning, but the symptom gradually getting worse. She felt pain below the ribs and severe burning when hungry and after eating. She could only eat little each time, otherwise the burning became very severe. She had to eat more times for this reason. Her doctor told her that she should not drink milk and eat apple and many other staffs. The only meat the doctor suggested her was chicken. She had been sick of the only few kinds of foods she could eat every day.

Because of the insufficient nutrient and poor absorption in addition to the suffering, she felt very tired and desperate. She was under depression. She was not sure whether the severe symptoms were caused by the medicine she was taking. She kept asking me with worry: “Can you help me, doctor?”   

I suggested her get both acupuncture and herbal formula for the best result. But she wanted to try herbs first. I prescribed scientific herbal extract for her. After taking about ten days, she felt better and had more energy. I prescribed her more herbs for another 15 days. I showed her the list of the possible protonix side effects from the website and suggested her try to gradually drop down protonix because it failed to help her anyway.

When she came back on June 15, she told me that she had stopped taking protonix for 9 days and the symptoms had been improved about 50%, but still felt burning especially when the stomach was empty. I modified the formula and let her take for another 15 days.

She came back on July 18 and told me that she felt much better. I could tell that she was so happy and no more depression. When I asked her to give me a number from 0 to 10 to let me know the percentage of the symptoms improvement. She told me if the severity was 10 before the treatment, it became to 3 now.

She told me that she had suspected that the medicine (protonix) made the symptoms became worse. She said that when she saw patients in the clinics she worked for, she just wanted to tell them don't take these drugs, but she could not do that because of her work. 

Treating stomach flu with acupuncture and Chinese herbs

Betty came to my clinic accompanies by her husband this week. She told me that she got food poisoning with severe vomiting, diarrhea and high fever after ate in a restaurant last week. She was sent to emergency and treated with antibiotic. Now, although no more fever and vomiting, she had no appetite and energy at all, even could not sit up and drive by herself. I treated her with acupuncture and Chinese herbal formula. She came for the 2nd acupuncture treatent yesterday and told me that she felt the improvment. Her visit reminded me the treatment of the same problem for my daughter Emily two years ago. Here I want to share the story to show you the different result of treatment between Chinese medicine and modern drug.

     Emily got stomach flu after she ate in a restaurant too. She felt nausea and kept vomit, threw up everything she ate after then, even one drink of water. But she just felt that the toxic material was still in her stomach, which hindered everything she drank and ate down through.  She had no appetite at all. She went to the doctor and was given antiemetic medicine. But it did not help. Finally, she had to call her dad to take her home from the college (she lived there). She was too weak to sit up in the car while her dad drove. Thus, the dad decided to send her to the emergency room in Kaiser directly.

      After I knew this, I went there from home. I did not trust the doctors in the emergency room because not long before then, two men I knew died without clear reason in a hospital when they were sent there because of high fever.

When I just arrived there, an assistant (I guessed so) came to the room to give her tylenol. I asked why, the guy said the doctor prescibed. And I asked "For what? She has no pain, nor fever."  The guy then turned to Emily whether she wanted to take it. She shaked her head. I was wondering what was the doctor doing there?

The vomit was only stopped while she was given i.v . in the hospital. The doctor prescribed another antiemetic medicine after then. I went to the Pharmacy to pick up. The pharmacist told me that the medicine needs to be taken after eating. I asked the pharmacist: “How can she take the medicine while she is threwing everything up?” The pharmacist shrugged without giving any suggestion. As I expected, only in few minutes after Emily took the antiemetic medicine  in the emergency waiting room, she throw up again with the medicine. I said to my daughter: “Let us go home and mom will fix your problem”. It was 1 AM in the morning already.

Although Emily was scared of the acupuncture needles, she accepted to take it this time because she was so miserable – she knew that the toxic substances was still staying in her stomach and that made her threw up anything she ate and drank.

Right after I inserted the acupuncture needles on her wrists after got home, she threw up again. But different from the previous vomits with only little she just drank or ate, she threw up all of the staffs with rancid and sour smell this time. She felt her stomach was finally emptied. She then felt hungrey and was able to eat. No more vomiting after she ate that night. I gave her some herbal tea to let her drink before slept.

On the next day, she felt much better with more energy. She asked me how the acupuncture needles worked?  I explained to her: the toxic substances she ate impacted the function of the nerves that regulate the contraction and movement of the stomach, made them failed to do their work. Thus, these toxins stayed within the stomach and blocked what she ate and drunk, and made them been throw up. The acupuncture needles miraclely stimulated the nerves and waked them up to perform their work.