Old ailments, new measures-part 3

After forty-five minutes the doctor came and started removing needles one by one. This time also he began with my head. But with the needles on either side of my temples, the pain was too much. I felt my head throbbing and sensing that, some how the doctor pressed my temples for a while longer. But later I learned that this was because, when he removed needles from my temples, the bleeding lasted for more time than other places like arms and legs. I don’t know why, but the pain was also very bad in my temples.

May be because I encountered more pain with the head, I didn’t feel pain in arms or legs. Also they didn’t bleed much too. After removing all twelve needles, he asked me whether I needed a massage. At first I didn’t understand what he was telling, but when I learned that he was offering me a massage, I didn’t wait for a split second to answer "my head, please". He put some kind of aromatic oil on his palms and started massaging my head, again pressing on my temples, which felt really good. Already my head was hurting and I feared my migraine that was resting temporarily may return forcefully. But it didn't, at least then. After ten minutes of massage, my session was over.

At the reception, my nurse was there with a bag of "tea" packets for one week. I have to repeat my acupuncture every Saturday for eight weeks (each week costing fifty euros) with extra one hundred and sixty euros for the "tea" bags. But as my migraine was fifteen years old(!), they gave me the medicines (tea) for free! I need to pay only for my eight acupuncture sessions. And they will be covered partially by my health care insurance. I have to take the one and half packets of "tea," completely dissolved in half a cup of boiling water, one hour after meal, morning and night. Now, I haven’t had regular breakfast in years, so it was postponed to one hour after lunch. And I should not use sugar with that "tea".

Now, imagine my surprise when I really saw the contents of the packet! First of all, the packet cover didn’t mention anything in either in Chinese or English about the contents. It was a plain white cover.


Once adding water it looked exactly like our very own Kerala Ayurvedic "kashaayam".



I had a hunch that the taste was going to be like the bitterest "thriphala choornam"[medicinal powder made with Terminalia chebula, Terminalia belerica and Phyllanthus emblica ,ie amla-indian gooseberry)], in Ayurveda-if not worse. So, I added honey into this "terribly looking" drink called "tea" (our Indian tea will run away in fear of life, if it ever comes into contact with this!).I was allowed to add honey, anyway.


Now, I would say that after adding three table spoons of honey it was as bitter as "choornam". I had to take one hour to drink it completely and that too with sip at a time.

I slept well on Saturday, but slept very less on Sunday. On Monday it was ok. Tuesday night I had to work till twelve at night. So, when I came back home, I was too tired even to drink that "tea" and I skipped it. On Wednesday afternoon, my migraine started again and I ended up vomiting five times. I couldn’t take "tea" that day too. Today any way I took it in the afternoon. And till now I don’t have migraine(touch wood!)

It will take at least two weeks to settle down with acupuncture-ing and "tea" sessions going side by side. And even after migraine coming back this week, I have faith. I am ready to give it some more weeks’ time. It has to settle comfortably with my body and I have to get used to it. There is a time-gap for all of us [acupuncture, tea and me] to accept each other, and yes, I am ready to wait....