The wonderful world of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo

So here we are in the sixth week of school. The rain is inevitable. The sun has been making way too many appearances this autumn for the NW not to have a chilly winter. Positive thinking at it's finest. Yet, I welcome the climate... makes it very conducive for studying, game nights, bingo, all things Portland which I always seemed to miss out on when on tour.  Things have been just dandy, except for this condition I have been experiencing. The past few weeks, I have been dealing with vertigo, dizzy spells... mostly when I wake up in the morning, or attempt yoga moves that turn my head upside down, or by simply just moving my head too fast. Obviously concerned and admittedly scared, I looked into many sources, naturopaths, acupuncture, western doctors and finally an otolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat specialist). My self diagnosis (along with Dr. Leah's) of having BPPV was correct and a repositioning maneuver, called the epley maneuver or canolith repositioning was performed on me right there in the office. Nausea inducing in itself, I felt horrible the rest of the day and was told I had to sleep at a 45 degree angle for a few nights and not to exercise, nor any sudden movements for a week that might knock the rocks back out. I implore you to learn something new and read just what BPPV is exactly. It might save you some research should you ever wake up with it one day.

The stress of not knowing what caused this or what exactly was wrong with me led to a bit of melancholy this week, yet it reminded me how no one modality is the end all when it comes to medicine. It also reminded me how much I have to learn and that none of us are invincible.
I do not feel 100% and hope that I do soon. It is a bit boring. Sitting in class staring at power point lecture slides is a challenge at the moment and the overall pressure does not help with having to learn bony landmarks like the lateral epicondyle or relearning phospholipid bilayers along with protein synthesis. The good news is I am retaining the information and although I had moments last week of 'what the hell am I doing again?', I realize it stemmed from the frustration of being ill and losing the rhythm of my routine and just having sensations I would never wish on my worse enemy. I continue to love school and I look forward to learning all that I can about something completely new.

Twas a great lesson though about the inner ear, otoliths, vestibular canals and such in my desperation to figure out what the hell was going on with me. I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to learn so much about this condition. I am not thankful for the 150.00 appointment with the audiologist and another 150.00 to see the doctor and have him spin me around and my ear rocks, but so it goes. At least I was able to test my hearing (probably a very wise investment after working for musicians, including quite possibly the loudest guitar player of all time). Perhaps all the traveling and live music has finally caught up with me and my inner ear and equilibrium will never be the same? Who knows... I just want it to stop. Never liked those spinning tea cup rides anyhow.

Acupuncture treatments and herbs have helped and I find it equally interesting how over the past two days I have learned some of the most powerful acupuncture points for vertigo as well as one of my professors randomly sharing a herb formula for tinnitus and vertigo along with offering to align my axis. Timing... it is interesting.

I feel that this posting is not as fluid, witty or informative as I wish it could be, but again I am just focusing on not falling over these days or floating away. I know people pay good money to ingest substances to feel these sensations, but I am ten years older now... ten years gone.
(yes, long live Zeppelin)

In the beginning...

A couple of years ago, I was drunk off Jameson in a hotel room in Seattle before a show with my good friend, Phil. Whist discussing my hiatus from being a tour manager in the music business to going back to school for my Masters in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, we shook around some ideas, much like the rocks in our whiskey glasses on how I could integrate the business with my new endeavor. Phil cleverly shouted out 'Rockupuncture!' and we both agreed... I was going to rule the world. I owe you Phil. A few days after, I bought the domain name: rockupuncture (.com, .net and .org) from godaddy and do not plan on letting it go anytime soon. It waits for me to graduate like the federal government with my student loans (eventually equating to about 90,000.00) to see what will happen to me over the next three years in grad school and beyond.

I wanted to start a blog a few months ago, you know... the pre-school blog, but I am just four weeks in so this isn't too late of a start. I am sure I will make the background all fancy and such, update the profile, etc... Quite frankly, I could not decide on wordpress or blogspot and honestly does it really matter? I have realized the importance of journaling (due to our research and Qigong classes forcing this upon us... in a good way) and what comes out of it when you start babbling on such as myself. I believe I should have been writing more in the past especially with my travels, but who the hell wants to write down their thoughts when you are living on a bus or in a van with smells no one should have to describe, following a 16 hour day of live music and responsibilities of others, endless transit, let alone having a moment to yourself (the band being on stage does not count)? While I miss these days already, I know they are not gone... just on the back burner... and/or laughing at me.

So enjoy my tales of this and that in regards to school and my journey. Pour yourself a stiff one and let me describe why Lung 5 is called the Tongli Luo Connecting Point or why the liver controls the blood and ensures the smooth and free flow of Qi (chee). Perhaps you fancy an explanation on just why Large Intestine 2 point is located on the radial border of the index finger, in the depression just distal to the metacarpo-phalangeal joint or what the innervation, origin, insertion and action of your teres major is. Well, then stay tuned because I have taken in quite a bit of information and this is only the fourth week of class. I don't know where this is going, but I hope it will be a constant electronic reflection of my thoughts regardless if they make sense to you or not. It shall be interesting and I welcome your company.

'It takes a lot of little nuts to make a jar of peanut butter...' ~ Mr. Rogers Neighborhood excerpt
(when they go to the factories and show you how they make crayons or peanut butter...remember?)


(you were expecting some old, influential Chinese saying weren't you? ... well Zhong Fu!)