a difficult case study:my wife-seizures with parkinsonism

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends, colleagues and teachers,

 

Over the past couple of days I have been communicating with Ed Kasper,

who suggested that I share my adventure with you all. I hope you will

find it enriching and informative.

 

15 years ago, my wife of 26 years had the first of many seizures which

have occured cyclically every 3 weeks, followed the next week by

post-ictal " aftershocks " . 4 years later, she developed Parkinson's like

symptoms. Yet the results of numerous MRIs, CTscans and EEGs came out

negative. To further complicate the picture, she has proven to be

pan-allergic to western medicine and nearly died from a Steven's Johnson

reaction to a state of the art anti-convulsant, lamictal. It was because

of her condition and the lack of success of the more than 250

practitioners: Western, Oriental, conventional and alternative that we

saw, that I decided to close my business of 21 years and study Oriental

medicine and Craniosacral therapy. Though the seizures have not yet

been resolved, I am seeing definite improvement in her symptoms, and am

very hopeful for a full resolution.

 

Western medicine has a passion for putting names to syndromes, and the

problem is when they don't fit into the cookbook. So, is it epilepsy?

(where's the lesion? They aren't pseudo seizures because they were

recorded through telemetry at UCLA) . Is there such a thing as functional

epilepsy without a structural hot spot? Is it Parkinson's? The hallmark

of Parkinson's is resting tremors, whereas Chana has motion tremors.

Bottom line, there are elements of both, but the Western DX has been

established as " Sympathetic hypertonicity " .

 

Over the 4 years in school, we worked with all of my clinical

supervisors, as well as many of my professors. Each time, it got to the

point where they either gave up, or we decided to move on as we were

unable to see any change or lasting improvement. Usually, we gave them

anywhere between 6 month to a year. A little over a year ago, we began

working with my professor, Zhang Ji. His approach has yielded results,

and my wife has been very responsive to extremely subtle changes in herbs

and dosages. As with any cycle, her tongue and pulse changes at the

different stages. As a result, her herbs change weekly. It is my hope

that as the fine-tuning process continues, the seizures will cease. In

summary, her condition has consisted of excess fire, mixed with

deficient heat, yin and blood deficiency, liver wind, and phlegm

accumulation.

 

What I would like to do, is bring you on board as we proceed week by

week, and present the signs symptoms and herbs with dosages chosen to

address them.

 

But before I begin with last Thursday's session, I want to let you know

what Ed Kasper has added to the picture. Two weeks ago, he mentioned

in a passionate CHA post, " the Parkinson's recovery project " in Santa

Cruz. They have apparently cured Parkinson's with just acupuncture and

tui na. I looked up their site, and sent for their practitioners

handbook. In sum, what Janice Walton-Hadlock found was that injuries to

the foot, usually around ST42, created electrical blockages in the Yang

ming channels, causing PD. The idea that the yang ming channels qi could

get stuck as a result of an injury, and diverted and eventually

completely blocked makes a lot of sense I have not received a response

from them yet as to whether they have come across cases like Chana's, but

it is eye-opening to consider that illness, and not just Parkinson's but

other illnesses as well, could be bio-chemically based imbalances, (Yin

disorders), electrically based imbalances (Yang disorders) or both.

Intriguingly, I began treating her with tuina and CST, in the areas of

ST35 and ST31 where in the past she had had significant injuries, and

guess what? Her tremors are less! Coincidence? Dumb luck? I don't

know. But intriguing and worthy of further study. This development,

too, I will appraise you of. Interestingly, as I write this, I flash

back to one of our stops, in Switzerland, where a naturopathic MD

injected scars, based upon " neural therapy " whereby it is believed that

scar tissue blocks the flow of the body's energy and leads to pathology.

It is based upon the research of the Huneke brothers in Germany 75

years ago.

 

Anyway, Chana's last seizure was Dec. 29. We saw Dr. Zhang on Jan 6. At

the time she had had a very difficult week. Sleep was very poor,

constant muscle spasms, very weak, increased nocturia, tongue and chin

constantly moving, difficulty comprehending, neck, chin and jaw very

sensitive to the touch. Her tongue had little coating, normal body

color, red tip and cracks. The pulses were wiry and choppy on both

wrists.

 

The formula prescribed was: Sheng di huang 30, xuan shen 15, mai men

dong 12, bai shao yao 15, gui ban 15, bie Jia 15, zhen zhu mu 15,

yu zhu 12, bai he 15, gou teng 15, sang piao xiao 12, di long 9, chan tui

9, suan zao ren 15, ye jiao teng 12, wu wei zi 9. Taken separately in

capsule form: quan xie 3 and wu gong 3, and da huang 3.5 grams daily.

 

Remember, before second guessing, this formula has evolved from more

than a year of weekly changes, and is anything but arbitrary. I would be

glad to expain or discuss any aspect of the formula should there be any

need for clarification.

 

Welcome on board!

 

 

Yehuda

 

" When you see someone doing something wrong, realize that it was brought

before

you because you did something similar. Therefore, instead of judging

him, judge yourself. "

 

The Baal Shem Tov Hakodesh

[Guest guest]

Yehuda,

This sounds like a short-hand diagnosis. Can you fill it in with

the pathomechanisms., zang-fu, and more detail? Being a complex group

of zang-fu patterns, it sounds like five-phase theory may also be

necessary to explain her condition in terms of pattern differentiation.

Specifically, can you differentiate 'excess fire' from vacuity heat?

How are they 'mixed together'? Can you be more specific on the yin

and blood vacuity? Which one derives from the other? Which zang have

the vacuity? From what factor does the liver wind develop out of?

Where is the phlegm accumulation, and what is causing it?

 

Take care,

 

 

On Jan 10, 2005, at 2:36 AM, Yehuda L Frischman wrote:

 

> It is my hope

> that as the fine-tuning process continues, the seizures will cease. 

> In

> summary, her condition has consisted of  excess fire, mixed with

> deficient heat,  yin  and blood deficiency, liver wind, and phlegm

> accumulation. 

>

>

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Sorry to hear about your wife's condition but it is an nteresting case. I'm

curious what the

efforts to regulate the blood had. I realize that she has been on many,many

formulas but I

would have have thought a successful treatment would have more blood movers. Did

this

approach have a deliterious effect? Also can we assume she is a little over 50

years old

now?

 

doug

 

 

 

, Yehuda L Frischman <@j...>

wrote:

>

> Dear Friends, colleagues and teachers,

>

> Over the past couple of days I have been communicating with Ed Kasper,

> who suggested that I share my adventure with you all. I hope you will

> find it enriching and informative.

>

> 15 years ago, my wife of 26 years had the first of many seizures which

> have occured cyclically every 3 weeks, followed the next week by

> post-ictal " aftershocks " . 4 years later, she developed Parkinson's like

> symptoms. Yet the results of numerous MRIs, CTscans and EEGs came out

> negative. To further complicate the picture, she has proven to be

> pan-allergic to western medicine and nearly died from a Steven's Johnson

> reaction to a state of the art anti-convulsant, lamictal. It was because

> of her condition and the lack of success of the more than 250

> practitioners: Western, Oriental, conventional and alternative that we

> saw, that I decided to close my business of 21 years and study Oriental

> medicine and Craniosacral therapy. Though the seizures have not yet

> been resolved, I am seeing definite improvement in her symptoms, and am

> very hopeful for a full resolution.

>

> Western medicine has a passion for putting names to syndromes, and the

> problem is when they don't fit into the cookbook. So, is it epilepsy?

> (where's the lesion? They aren't pseudo seizures because they were

> recorded through telemetry at UCLA) . Is there such a thing as functional

> epilepsy without a structural hot spot? Is it Parkinson's? The hallmark

> of Parkinson's is resting tremors, whereas Chana has motion tremors.

> Bottom line, there are elements of both, but the Western DX has been

> established as " Sympathetic hypertonicity " .

>

> Over the 4 years in school, we worked with all of my clinical

> supervisors, as well as many of my professors. Each time, it got to the

> point where they either gave up, or we decided to move on as we were

> unable to see any change or lasting improvement. Usually, we gave them

> anywhere between 6 month to a year. A little over a year ago, we began

> working with my professor, Zhang Ji. His approach has yielded results,

> and my wife has been very responsive to extremely subtle changes in herbs

> and dosages. As with any cycle, her tongue and pulse changes at the

> different stages. As a result, her herbs change weekly. It is my hope

> that as the fine-tuning process continues, the seizures will cease. In

> summary, her condition has consisted of excess fire, mixed with

> deficient heat, yin and blood deficiency, liver wind, and phlegm

> accumulation.

>

> What I would like to do, is bring you on board as we proceed week by

> week, and present the signs symptoms and herbs with dosages chosen to

> address them.

>

> But before I begin with last Thursday's session, I want to let you know

> what Ed Kasper has added to the picture. Two weeks ago, he mentioned

> in a passionate CHA post, " the Parkinson's recovery project " in Santa

> Cruz. They have apparently cured Parkinson's with just acupuncture and

> tui na. I looked up their site, and sent for their practitioners

> handbook. In sum, what Janice Walton-Hadlock found was that injuries to

> the foot, usually around ST42, created electrical blockages in the Yang

> ming channels, causing PD. The idea that the yang ming channels qi could

> get stuck as a result of an injury, and diverted and eventually

> completely blocked makes a lot of sense I have not received a response

> from them yet as to whether they have come across cases like Chana's, but

> it is eye-opening to consider that illness, and not just Parkinson's but

> other illnesses as well, could be bio-chemically based imbalances, (Yin

> disorders), electrically based imbalances (Yang disorders) or both.

> Intriguingly, I began treating her with tuina and CST, in the areas of

> ST35 and ST31 where in the past she had had significant injuries, and

> guess what? Her tremors are less! Coincidence? Dumb luck? I don't

> know. But intriguing and worthy of further study. This development,

> too, I will appraise you of. Interestingly, as I write this, I flash

> back to one of our stops, in Switzerland, where a naturopathic MD

> injected scars, based upon " neural therapy " whereby it is believed that

> scar tissue blocks the flow of the body's energy and leads to pathology.

> It is based upon the research of the Huneke brothers in Germany 75

> years ago.

>

> Anyway, Chana's last seizure was Dec. 29. We saw Dr. Zhang on Jan 6. At

> the time she had had a very difficult week. Sleep was very poor,

> constant muscle spasms, very weak, increased nocturia, tongue and chin

> constantly moving, difficulty comprehending, neck, chin and jaw very

> sensitive to the touch. Her tongue had little coating, normal body

> color, red tip and cracks. The pulses were wiry and choppy on both

> wrists.

>

> The formula prescribed was: Sheng di huang 30, xuan shen 15, mai men

> dong 12, bai shao yao 15, gui ban 15, bie Jia 15, zhen zhu mu 15,

> yu zhu 12, bai he 15, gou teng 15, sang piao xiao 12, di long 9, chan tui

> 9, suan zao ren 15, ye jiao teng 12, wu wei zi 9. Taken separately in

> capsule form: quan xie 3 and wu gong 3, and da huang 3.5 grams daily.

>

> Remember, before second guessing, this formula has evolved from more

> than a year of weekly changes, and is anything but arbitrary. I would be

> glad to expain or discuss any aspect of the formula should there be any

> need for clarification.

>

> Welcome on board!

>

>

> Yehuda

>

> " When you see someone doing something wrong, realize that it was brought

> before

> you because you did something similar. Therefore, instead of judging

> him, judge yourself. "

>

> The Baal Shem Tov Hakodesh