Two days ago I experienced acupuncture for the very first time. For some reason, I'd had zero (ZERO) concern or fleeting thought about whether or not it would be uncomfortable. Yes, that's what I said; I didn't even think about the needle aspect. I honestly think I've been much more preoccupied with the fact that I'm starting a cycle of Clomid this week for the first time, which was partly why I had made the decision to venture into that office if only to aid in managing the stress and offset the crazy emotional fallout I've heard can accompany that process. So then it hadn't occurred to me, oddly enough, that this might remotely be painful. I didn't think about it, that is, until the nice tiny woman in the white coat, three needles in hand, said, "It doesn't hurt as much as people think it does."
WHAT.
The truth is, it didn't hurt. Much. The first three needles were tapped into the cartilage of my ear. I'm not going to lie, at that moment I started to feel a tinge of panic. Wait...was that panic or a white-hot burning sensation on the right side of my head? Well, let's call it a draw. Honestly, it was manageable, and once she had done the other side, everything else was easy. EVEN THE ONE ON TOP OF MY HEAD. Yes, after placing a needle between my eyes where I am perpetually scrunching in concentration, she moved above my head. "Whoa, hold on, whatcha doin up there Tiny White Coat Lady?" was all I had time to think before she tapped a single needle into the center of my skull. I felt like Frankenstein getting a bolt inserted...except for the fact the I didn't feel a single thing. What a bizarre sensation.
By the time she finished I was a 13-needle pincushion, and she told me I had 20 minutes to lay and relax as she shut off the lights and turned up some spa music. And OH SWEET SWEET SUNBALLS she turned on a heat lamp and aimed it over my torso, and after a few minutes I felt like I was spread out in a sunny field like in those allergy commercials.
I didn't ever fully fall asleep during the 20 minutes (which felt like 10); but that may have been partly because I kept hearing Mr. S. move around (yes, he came in support even thought that meant he had to watch his wife get impaled). Just when I was getting to the point where I thought "Ahhhh...here we go, I'm going to have myself a nice little nap now", she came back in and said it was time to take them all out. It was over. And while I wasn't expecting to feel completely different right away, I was surprised that I didn't really feel that different at all. In fact, the headache I'd had when we arrived was still in full force. She had told me that I could expect to feel better emotionally after the first visit, but by the time we got home with takeout pad thai I still wasn't noticing much of a difference in my state of mind.
That evening though, and these two days since, I have felt a major ease in my inner chatter, which had been riddled with anxieties the past few months, and I am finding that I do in fact feel very calm and at peace, despite the fact that I am now on day three of my first 5-day Clomid prescription, which is supposed to mess with you in quite an ugly way. The tales of psychopathic rants and frightened husbands huddled shakily in dark corners have been well-documented in blogdom, and I was not looking forward to the possibility of hellfire raining upon the SarcomiHaus for a few weeks. I know, I know...I'm only on day three, but I'm optimistic, especially knowing I have another session with Tiny White Coat Lady on Monday. She promises more needles, so...
Eeep.
