So I struggle walking , have bad hand tremors and my pupils jump everywhere. Being parents they’d do anything for me. My mum recommended this Chinese clinic in Ballam London. She tells me that it is acupuncture. So I go and at first this man gives me a consultation regarding all my medical history and how my ms begun. He then says he can cure me! He comes and shows me all different cases of people being cured. He has asked me to come off my medication and let go. My medication includes gilenya, baclofen and lyrica (pregablin ) Should I do this and put my trust into him? So I have begun to cut out both baclofen and lyrica. I am scared to cut gilenya . I don’t want to get worse ! Please help!
Hi Dan
I wouldn’t do it but then I’m a massive sceptic. I have no evidence whatsoever that orthodox treatment is better than Chinese medicine but I just trust in it more, maybe because it’s been trialled. I did once (before actual diagnosis but after first relapse and initial Neurological tests) try acupuncture and it’s complementary Chinese herbal medicine. It didn’t help, but then I am and always was, sceptical. So I had about 3 acupuncture sessions, nearly vomited every time I drank the “tea” and failed to get any major benefits from it.
Stopping your side effect medication is one thing, it’s easy to restart and the only bad thing that can happen is you experience more stiffness, spasms and pain. Stopping your DMD on the other hand, if it’s been working and you’ve been relapse free while you’ve been on it is a much bigger risk. If you stop Gilenya and suffer a relapse you could be causing all kind of nerve damage.
But its clearly your decision to take. Did the Chinese therapist say they’ll only do acupuncture if you have stopped all other medicine? Sounds a bit OTT to me.
Sue
Do not do this.
This Chinese individual is a charlatan.
Use this form to see if any of the claims might be substantiated:
http://www.acupuncture.org.uk/The-British-Acupuncture-Council.html
Personally i am certain they are talking utter rot. Call Anne Robinson and get the BBC’s Watchdog show involved.
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Sorry to put it so bluntly, but in a word, No!
Complementary medicine (“complementary” meaning “in addition to orthodox medicine”) may have its place, and some people obtain some degree of symptom relief from it, but it’s totally irresponsible of any complementary/alternative practitioner to tell you to ditch conventional medicine, and outright fraud to promise a cure for an incurable condition.
You’ve already said enough to tell me this person is a complete quack and a charlatan. Even if you do decide to pursue alternative medicine, don’t go with this con artist.
A reputable practitioner will work with you, alongside your chosen conventional medicine, and not insist you must quit it. They will also not make unrealistic promises, such as being able to cure the incurable. If anything, he needs reporting to Trading Standards, not for you to go along with it.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve tried acupuncture for my MS. But my practitioner was reputable: he never promised a cure, and he certainly never criticised or tried to persuade me to quit any Western medicine I was already on. His view was that it’s two different approaches to the same thing, but both have the same goals, so you shouldn’t try to undo what the patient’s own doctor is already doing.
Acupuncture itself has very few risks, but it is risky if you’re being encouraged to ditch properly tried and tested prescription medicine.
I don’t see why you can’t do both. If he insists they’re incompatible, then he’s not the right practitioner for you. But even without that, I think promising he can cure you is enough by itself to show he’s a fraud.
I’m sure your mum meant well (this is the second thread recently about well-meaning relatives pedalling crank cures!), and you may have to brave her being a little bit put out you didn’t swallow it whole, if she’s such a fan of his.
But please don’t go along with this. Protect your money, and your health.
Tina
x
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PLEASE talk to your neurologist, GP, pharmacist and/or ms nurse. if it were me, i’d be really cautious. i take pregabalin and baclofen too and know how much difference they’ve made to me, i had acupuncture years ago as well, with the NHS, it helped reduce my pain levels only, and only for a day or so at a time, this, once a week effect only lasted for about a year, i was still taking western meds too.
please be cautious.
wendy
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First warning sign… There is no cure for MS. He cannot cure you. Are you really considering coming off Gilenya etc for this person?? Really?
If there was any truth in this wouldn’t we all be cured?
Walk away.
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Wouldn’t be this lot, would it: https://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2013/10/Chinese-Clinics-Balham-Ltd/SHP_ADJ_235584.aspx#.VhLm1N9Viko ?
The link is to an upheld complaint regarding false advertising on their website, specifically in relation to curing MS!
The actual arguments are quite long-winded, but basically, all you need to know was the final judgement was that they were breaking the law, and not allowed to say that!
Well we all knew it’s bllx, but the ASA agreed.
Tina
x
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I agree with the other posters here. Acupuncture can be a complimentary treatment, but never an alternative one. Try it by all means, but don’t stop your other meds, I feel that would be foolish.
I can’t see you’ve anything to lose by trying it alongside your meds, well anything except your cash that is. Have the clinic given you an idea of the total cost of this wonder treatment?
Thing is, I wouldn’t now go with this lot, even for acupuncture, because of the false claims alone.
As with orthodox medicine, you do need to trust what you’re being told, and that the person or organisation doing it is ethical.
How can you trust them when you know they’ve been making false claims?
If I wanted to give acupuncture (or any complementary medicine) a go, the first thing I’d want to know is that they’re not making any unrealistic claims.
So if anyone told me they could cure me, I’d avoid them like the plague. If they were honest, and said: “Well, it’s not a cure, but we might be able to help with some symptoms”, I’d be much more ready to work with them.
Tina
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Yes,I agree with you Tina. Your post came up whilst I was writing mine, so I didn’t see it until after I had posted. I thought it was a damn good link you put up, a lengthy read, but it gives Dan his answer regarding trust.
Ben
Morning, Ben
(awake at Stupid O’clock as usual - just posting this while I wait for some Baclofen to cut in)
Of course, I cannot be sure the ASA ruling I linked to is about the same people. But Chinese clinic, in Balham, claiming MS is curable? Hmmm. How many such places does Balham have?
I didn’t really expect people to read the full arguments - and I didn’t myself. I posted it mainly to demonstrate that there has been a complaint upheld against a Chinese clinic in Balham, for false claims about MS being curable, or in their words, “curing itself”. That’s quite a coincidence, isn’t it?
I certainly don’t think it means all acupuncturists are frauds (though I didn’t benefit from it myself), but if I were choosing a practitioner to go to, anyone who tells obvious porkies would be straight off my list. Actually, it’s not just medicine, it’s anything. I wouldn’t hire a builder or plumber I knew was fibbing, even if other customers claimed his work was first rate. It’s a matter of trust, isn’t it? If you wouldn’t let a liar loose on your house, why would you do the same with your body?
Still, Dan has had some pretty clear answers now, and hopefully he (or more likely his mum) has been saved from spending a fortune on something that can only disappoint.
Tina
Yes, Dan doesn’t name the clinic he attended, and we don’t know that it’s the same one as in your ASA link. It would be utterly wrong of us to assume that. What is demonstrated is the need for caution, just as with anything else.
Ben
oh heck!
i am all in favour of trying things to try and cope with symptoms but this sounds all so wrong on so many levels and i would def steer clear.
ellie
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i just reread your original post, i didn’t realise until just now that you say that you are already reducing both pregabalin and baclofen, you really do need to speak to your GP about this (if you haven’t already) as reduction of certain meds should be undertaken only under the care of a doctor. every time ithink about your situation the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, it’s so alarming.
perhaps your mother is so desperate to find a ‘solution’ for you, she’s burying her head in the sand and not really understanding that ms just isn’t the kind of condition that a solution currently exists for?!
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Your mum hopes for a miracle. Don’t we all?
I have the impression from our post that this guy doesn’t sound on the level to you and that alarm bells are already ringing in your head. They would be ringing in mine too.
Alison
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Yes, totally agree! Even drugs that are “only” symptom relief can have risks if you stop or cut down too quickly. You can get severe side-effects from Baclofen withdrawal, including hallucinations or even convulsions, so it’s not always just a case of the original symptoms returning.
Totally irresponsible of anyone not qualified in these matters to be telling a patient to stop or cut down their prescription medication. How do they know what the proper tapering regime is? They don’t!
Tina
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exactly, and pregabalin/lyrica is a bit of a heavyweight too, i hate to think what kind of trouble i’d be in, pain wise, if i even reduced those 2, let alone stopped.
Hi, you`ve had some really good replies.
I wanted to add my two pennarth in just 3 little words;
no, no, no!
luv Pollx
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