I am dating a girl that I really have feelings for. She is great, and has many virtues. However, she suffers from some sort of chronic fatigue syndrome and sleep deprivation. This causes a lot of undue stress on her, and me, as you can imagine. Long story short, I have taken her to a medical doctor to get checked out, and all of her blood tests are normal. The doctor pointed to a possible psychological component, but that made her very defensive, as she feels it is biological/physical. She also has a reaction/is sensitive to sugar, gluten, wheat, etc. Anyway, she has been getting “alternative med” treatments for over a year now with a “tonal chiropractor.” After being treated by this guy, she says that her nervous system gets tuned-up/reset to the point where she gets extremely happy, vibrant, and has her energy back (obviously a placebo effect that releases endorphins). It doesn’t last though, as she needs to see him weekly for these “soft-touch” adjustments to her neck and tailbone. This guy also uses a round, metal device with a handle that he rubs in a circular motion with his finger over the points. I really want to unmask this guy, and his practice, for what it is: quackery, and a scam. Are there any expert skeptics out there who are knowledgeable about chiropractic, or this “tonal” off-shoot. Otherwise, I’m wondering whether there are some good articles or tests that have demonstrated to people that it doesn’t have any effect, other than the strong placebo effect.
I’m wondering if anyone could help me by providing some guidance, advice, or pointing me in the right direction…? Thank you in advance for any help and/or direction you can provide me with the above problem. Much health and success in 2013!
Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Boards, therealdeall. I’m moving your post from “Comments on Cecil’s Column” to “General Questions” where you might get wider readership.
What the fucking hell is “tonal” Chiropractic? The tuning fork nonsense?
She’s going to be a lot better off doing something about her sleep issues. Involving real doctors. That will probably clear up the fatigue issues as well.
A better bed, better sleep practices, get tested for sleep apnea…
I take Trazadone to help me sleep. Without it, when I’m stressed I get into what I have long called “The Spin Cycle”, where I wake up every 3-15 minutes (2-4 minutes on really bad nights), roll over and try to get back to sleep. All. Night. Long. For me, the trazadone is a godsend. For some other people I’ve known, it makes them feel too groggy the next day.
I have a family member who has had similar unidentifiable ailments her whole life. She has pains, fatigues, and muscles weaknesses with causes not found in 20+ years of medical care. She tries wacky therapies like this(her most recent was some nutty therapy with tuning forks) and occasionally gets placebo relief.
The only time she ever had any long period of relief was when she was in therapy. Doctors for years had urged this, but she got defensive and stayed in denial. The only reason she started was because she got divorced and was sad about that.
I think her husband was always skeptical about her ailments, and his insensitivity towards them later in the relationship was definitely a factor in the breakdown of their marriage.
If you care about this relationship I’d tread lightly. You probably wont succeed in convincing her the guy is a quack, and it will push her away. Try to find another way to get her to give therapy a try, it’s the best proven treatment for somatoform disorders.
I love that shit! I’m theoretically supposed to take 50mg but the 150mg comes in trapazoidal tablets that are scored in thirds on one side and in half on the other so I can gauge my dose by how much I expect to need, with the remainder used to fight the whim-whams and to stretch a 30-night prescription as long as 90 nights, though the fact that the 50s and the 150s are both on the Target $4/month list and I can’t pass up an extra bargain has something to do with it.
Unfortunately somatoform disorders as with chronic fatigue syndrome, are exclusion diagnoses, ie nothing else has been found. It doesnt mean there isnt something biological/physical isnt part of the problem, it just means we cant find it if there is.
My suggestion would be to ask why she’s only using chiro as a solution for 12 months+ rather than focussing on getting her to stop using it as a first step. What other medical approaches have been tried, how much assessment, testing, who else she is talking to etc. This might give some insight into her current attitudes towards conventional medicine and counselling.
Ultimately, you cant do this for her. If she is resistant to the idea that other methods may be more effective or at least worth exploring, you are setting yourself up for a tough time if you become the one trying to drag her to the ‘right’ way to fix her issues. You probably also need to consider what future the relationship may have if she continues with her current coping strategies - staying with her in the hope she will get better may be setting yourself up for a pretty frustrating experience.
One problem with these kinds of issues is even with counselling etc, sometimes there is little improvement, and they can end up on a merry-go-round of ‘have you tried this yet’.
What you could do is ask her if she is finding she is getting into ‘boom and bust’ cycles with her energy levels, ie trying to do a lot when feeling good, then crashing from overdoing it. If so, you might be able to suggest counselling as a way to manage the condition more effectively (via pacing etc), rather than as it being intended to ‘cure a mental issue’ as such.
Tread very carefully. I have CFS, let me give you a perspective from the other side.
I would give everything I own to have even 1/7th of my life back. If I found a treatment that gave me 1/7th of my life back, nothing and no one would stop me from getting that treatment. I wouldn’t care if it was woo. I wouldn’t care if it was ridiculous.
However there is still hope. She’s still having a lot of bad days, so she’s open to getting more help. Don’t focus on trying to get rid of the flaky “tonal” stuff. Focus on helping her find something better. If she finds something better, she’ll stop the “tonal” stuff on her own.
Also, encourage her to be really strict about her food sensitivities. Food sensitivities and CFS can cause the same symptoms. Being really strict about what she eats could make a real difference in her health.
Well yes - “tonal” chiropractic relies on bogus principles, much as regular chiropractic does. And the temporary symptom resolution has no conceivable physiologic basis and screams of placebo effect.
But that will not convince someone who thinks she’s gaining benefit. About the only approach that might work is highlighting the temporary nature of the “treatments” and cost (this woman sounds like a chiropractor’s dream of endless return visits). A reputable clinic that handles sleep problems and can recommend lifestyle changes (and maybe short-term medication) would be a place to start and help get her off the endless chiro treadmill.
My original prescription was for 25mg, but those damned little pills were impossible to split without completely shattering them, so I just took 50mg per night. Never had any issues with refills. When I switched doctors, I just said that I would like the prescription changed to 50/night and viola, done.
Yeah, $4 a month is a pittance to pay for good sleep!
I’m just an armchair psychologist, but I would wager that depression is very likely to be at least a part of her problem. If she’s that resistant to broach the subject, however, I’m not sure there’s much you can do other than very gentle urging.
If this were cancer, or an infection, or a broken leg, or anything that’s got a good record of treatment by real medicine, then I’d be first in line urging her to drop the quack and get a real doctor. Sadly, sleep disorders are not well understood or treated by MDs. I might urge a consultation, just to rule out anything that’s actually easy to treat, but assuming it’s not an endocrine or apnea kind of situation with an underlying understood and treatable cause, I’d rather see her spending her money on tonal chiropractic whose only side effect is a lightening of the wallet, rather than ambien or trazadone or other sleep medications that don’t produce great sleep and carry lots of unpleasant and downright dangerous side effects.
Lifestyle changes aren’t a bad idea, of course, but those can be done in addition to whatever works for her, and don’t really need a white lab coat to learn.
if it were me, I think I’d focus less on trying to show that the tonal chiropractic isn’t going to help, and focus more on finding other things that might.
If she feels that food is part of the issue, has she tried a proper elimination diet?
I had a bad case of Mono when I was 16 (ended up in the hospital for a week with my liver messed up from it). It took me ages to recover, and after the initial 6 months I was then diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome / Fibromyalgia (depending on who I talked to). After a year or so more of struggling with it, I was referred to a program run by a local hospital. It included exercises in a hot pool, biofeedback, specific relaxation exercises for dealing with pain & sleep, things like that. I don’t know if I could say what was most useful, but as a whole package it really worked. I was so much better after going through the program. If there’s not anything like that available to her, I wonder if it could be cobbled together somehow. It sounds to me like she could benefit from a doctor who’s not going to go to “it’s all in your head”, and would be willing to pursue other avenues (although at the same time therapy can help with dealing with chronic illness/pain, too).
Oh, one other thing, the old tricyclic antidepressants are actually often used for chronic fatigue syndrome. She might balk at that given the antidepressant nature, but if she can get past that, they are pretty effective for a lot of people. They are used at a much lower dose than for depression, and they help to raise the level of neurotransmitters that can be low with chronic fatigue syndrome.
Another piece of advice. If she can afford it, try to get her to see different kinds of doctors. I have just learned that some people diagnosed with CFS actually have Meniere’s disease. So if she has any problems with dizziness or balance, she should get checked for that.
Again, if you can find something that works better, she’ll quit the “tonal” stuff all on her own. That’s really the best way to go.