Saturday, October 8, 2011

A Little Drowsy

Yesterday, after seeing my orthopedic surgeon, he did not recommend further treatment. I am going a second opinion with another doctors to see the treatment options. Meanwhile, I have increased the dosage of the Neurontin from one to two tablets a day. The first tablet I took during the day time, I did not experience drowsiness. I took another just before I went to bed last night. I was also feeling very sleepy and I fell asleep rather quickly. This morning, I could not wake up when my alarm bell rang at 8.30am. I was feeling a little drowsy. After my morning routine, I went to see my chiropractor.

My chiropractor is very experienced and hails from USA. He is always very cheerful. He would greet you "Good Morning" and ask "How are you?". I would exchange back greetings. I showed him my MRI films. After reading the radiologist's report, he looked at the MRI films and said "this is good news. Just a minor bulge but it's pinching the nerve. No surgery required. Let see if I can improve your position and I will require 6 sessions. After that, I will recommend you to take traction." He asked if I knew what traction was and I said yes after seeing a friend doing traction at a rehabilitation center just a day before.

My drowsiness did not subside, so I drove home quickly and went to bed for a rest. It was much better after the rest but I think I am still feeling kind of sleepy. I think this drowsiness is due to the pain killer drugs that I took.

Traction in Physiotherapy

tractionTraction today, otherwise known as "spinal decompression therapy", addresses the functional and mechanical aspects of discogenic pain and has been used by physiotherapists for years.

Now, through use of computerized systems, it will cycle through preprogrammed patterns, ramping up and down the amount of axial decompression allowing for higher levels of spinal traction and disc rehydration. During spinal decompression therapy, a negative pressure is created within the disc. Because of that negative pressure, disc material that has protruded or herniated can be assisted back within the normal confines of the disc, and permit healing to occur. Pressure is released off of inflamed nerve roots allowing the inflammation to subside.

Traction is effective for:
  • Bulging, prolapsed, or herniated discs
  • Spinal stenosis
  • Sciatica
  • Facet syndrome
  • Degenerative disc disease
  • Neck pain
  • Pain radiating down the arm
  • "Pinched nerves"
  • Spondylitis

6 comments:

  1. I just found your blog from liz's blog.
    I want to commend you for keeping up with GT
    for more than 2 years and keeping a blog
    for others going through the same experience.

    I am helping a friend do some research for alternative therapies for cancer. Have you come across Wilson's golden coffee roast?
    It seems that some people using GT use that coffee.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for visiting and for commenting. I have not come across Wilson's golden coffee roast.

    For me, the most important thing about the coffee that is used for enema is that it should be organic and not be decaffeinated. I don't know about the roast but I do know the coffee should not be roasted with oil. Of course, there are quality differences in some coffee.

    So what I do is to try and buy coffee that is made specially for enema. I now buy my coffee from Nature's Glory in Singapore and is not branded. Apparently, I found out that the coffee is the same as that used by Gerson Clinic in Mexico.

    The Gerson Clinic in Mexico uses The THERAPEUTIC ROAST which can obtained from here: http://www.cafemam.com/node/674.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks ct for pointing the website for me.
    Is the therapy roast very light in color(almost like roasted peanuts)
    and does not smell like normal coffee?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi ,
    I have found from my own experience that taking a high daily dose of vitamin c is good for disc repair. Vitamin c makes collagen, collagen is what makes up your disc. It will take a month or two to come good from my own experience.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear John,

    Thanks for the information. I am currently taking Vitamin C but at a normal dosage. I will up the dosage as recommended.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dear Anonymous,

    The Therapy Roast is not light in color but dark brown (slightly darker than Nestle's Milo) and very aromatic.

    ReplyDelete