anyone have experience of Chinese medicine ?

Not Chinese...but Homeopathic...excellent medicine...it works. Chinese medicine has a similar philosophy so it would probably be great.
Hope somebody posts who has actual experience.
Good Luck.

The only time I have had Chinese medicine was a few years ago when I was in China and had sickness and diarrhoea. DD took me to a chemist who after correctly diagnosing my condition from various mimes worthy of an oscar sold me some small brown pills. I have no idea what they were but they worked a treat! I think the section of the chemist we went to was not the tradional part therefore a little more 'western'.

grannysue we've used homeopathy for nigh on 4 decades my daughter has an appointment with a chinese clinic for her fibromyalgia as nothing prescribed by her GP helps....shes currently on 13 different medications A DAY some twice or three times a day so we thought there'd be nothing to lose trying the chinese clinic.I thought there might be someone on here who had used it so would be able to tell us what to expect.

I have not used Chinese medicine- mainly because I am wary of drug reactions.

I've had aqua puncture for my back and that worked. But they weren't much help with acid reflux. I spent my 60th birthday in a hospital in Shanghai with food poisoning and the service was out of this world.

petra was the acupuncture administered in this country or Shanghai?

Just on an ethical level Chinese Medicine promotes the use of rhino horn and other animal products......morally, I'd avoid any aspect of such a regime like the plague.

I have a friend in France who is very keen on this
When her business partner developed a nasty cough and wasn't very well she encouraged him to use Chinese medicine. Turned out he had lung cancer and he died.

To me it would be bad. I prefer my medication to have gone through proper clinical trials, preferably double blind.

I'm afraid desperate situations require desperate measures .She's been bedridden for weeks and has three children who are in a hightened state of anxiety,we need to find something that will help.The hoeopath we use has said they dont get great results with Fibromyalgia and the chinese clinic says it does

We have Chinese medicine place in our south London high street. I have been there for acupuncture, and yes, I did find it helpful, also the tiger balm they sell you for rubbing my into strained muscles.

I sharevthecworri s about animal welfare due to some products in a Chinese medicine.
I tried various alternative medicines before accepting traditional medicine should be tried. It worked. In addition, it's properly researched and tested. A GP friend told me they see the downside of reactions to Chinese herbal medicines, some of them are steroid based.

There is often a common misconception that 'natural' means safe....i.e. it cannot harm you. Digitalis is 'natural' and could kill you. Many modern medicines stem from plants and other 'natural' products and need to be used very carefully.
Its also accepted by the medical profession that 'alternative' medicines and treatments with no real documented evidence backing their claims up, can be perceived as beneficial. The placebo affect can be very powerful.

Chinese medicine has been around for centuries longer than conventional medicine ,it seems to have worked for the chinese .In my daughters case she's had over 4 years of constant chronic pain as well as other horrible symptoms .Her GP gives her pills and then more pills to stop the side effects of the first lot .At the last count she had 13 different medications to take daily,some two or three times a day and has spent weeks on end bedridden ...she needs help ...its not forthcoming from conventional doctors who now say she just has to learn to "live with it" so we have to look elsewhere.

I hope your daughter finds it helpful. Fibromyalgia is a horrible condition and often brings its friends along to aid the distress. Conventional medicine I know doesn't seem effective.

thank you Iam 64 it is indeed a horrible curse of an illness and we will try ANYTHING that might help so the appointment is made and fingers toes and anything else we can cross will be crossed.I was looking for some first hand experience ,but it looks as if no one has any .

Acupuncture has been clinically proven to be effective and can't harm you, so why not give it a go. As I said before I have been to a Chinese medicine place for a relatively minor problem and it did help..

I too have fibromyalgia. I've found that massage is wonderful. also gentle exercise like stretching and walking round garden. Cognitive behaviour therapy in the form of a six week nhs fibromyalgia clinic helped enormously. I'm afraid staying in bed is the worst possible thing she can do and I know because I've done it. Ask for a referral to a rheumatologist and look online for FMUK a support site, it will also tell you where local support groups are. I've had fibromyalgia for 18yrs. It doesn't go away but there are ways to live with it better .too much medication like lyrica and pregablin are awful for fibro. they turn you into a wreck.

Chrishappy at the moment exercise is not possible ,she also has hyper mbility of her joints so can barely walk at all ,she's been right through the system ,the pain clinic says there is nothing they can do to help and she must learn to live with it...not something thats practical when she has 3 children to look after and a husband who works away 5 out of every 7 days ....change of job isn't possible ,he's in a very specialised field

I worked in a Chinese medicine clinic about 20 years ago. On my first day they had me making up concoctions, despite my total lack of knowledge. One bag I opened contained dried beetles. I pointed this out to the doctor and he placed the bag on the floor and stamped on it for several minutes to crush them. These things were put into medicines. After three days I resigned. I don't know if the medcine works our not. I would point out that the doctors all had regular jobs in our local hospitals.

I have fibro it is a most spiteful thing. I have tried Chinese meds and as a vegetarian was limited to what I could have. I have not found it helpful as only had 2 weeks worth and the smell of it was vile, could not have caps my doctor only had non vegetarian ones.

I have heard that oxygen therapy helps but is too far for me to travel.....however there may be a hypobaric centre close to you.

I have tried everything. I won't use conventional, pharmaceuticals, they do not help me and they have long term side effects. Little point exchanging one problem for another.

I have used acupuncture for years for symptoms like anxiety and general wellbeing, a boost to the immune system before winter (I don't have the flu jab)also various aches and pains. My daughter suffers badly with hay fever and I've witnessed her go into a session sneezing and her eyes streaming and emerge like a different person.

When I was working in Shanghai Chinese colleagues advised me not to use the herbal remedies because of some of the ingredients. The inclusion of animal products in medicine is offensive to some, and some plant substances can be harmful. The hazards are widely publicised if you Google it.

My son used to have severe eczema and there was nothing helping him. We tried a Chinese cream (out of sheer desperation) and we could, literally, sit and watch the sores healing. It was very expensive but it was the only thing that helped. Thankfully son no longer has this problem

Paddyann have you looked into the connection between fibromyalgia and a healthy gut? Latest research seems to show that if your stomach microbes are imbalanced it can be a cause of autoimmune conditions and also leaky gut syndrome which greatly exacerbates fibromyalgia. I'm not saying it's an instant cure but really worth trying as it's changes to one's diet in a gentle way without invasive drugs. Micheal Moseley - the bbc4 medical man- is a big proponent of this so maybe give his book a read. Hope you find a way through