Chronic Fatigue and Leg Pain: Susan’s Story
By Dr. Renae Haldeman · New to some of these words? See the glossary.
All she wanted was to help her kids during concert season. But she felt low about life because of her constant tiredness and terrible leg pain. When she climbed the stairs at home, Susan, a 46-year-old mother of 3, felt as if her thigh muscles were being ripped off the bone.
How could she even think about volunteering when she could not count on her body to do basic things, like go to the grocery store?
She was recovering from a double mastectomy for cancer 5 years earlier, and she felt like a mess. But the cancer was not the only cause of Susan’s problems. Her downward spiral of pain began 3 years before that, when she was very busy driving her children everywhere. Now her body seemed to be stuck in constant stress mode, even though she tried to wind down.
At her first acupuncture visit, Susan said she had about 40% of her energy working. She said the pain in her legs was extremely high, an 8 on a scale of 10. She started acupuncture two months before her kids’ concerts began.
Her main imbalances were stuck Liver Qi and low Stomach Yin. (Liver Qi is the energy of the liver, and when it is “stuck,” stress builds up in the body. Stomach Yin is the cooling, moistening energy of the stomach, and when it is low, the body is too dry and tired.) Susan had not been taking care of herself or feeding her body well while meeting the demands of her “Mom Taxi” job. She had dealt with many of her pain symptoms for over 8 years. Even so, she reported a big jump in energy, rating it a 9 out of 10 (10 being the best). Her leg pain also dropped to a 1 out of 10 in just two short months of acupuncture. Susan was thrilled with her progress. She said, “I could not believe how good I felt standing, walking, and lifting things around while I was helping with the performance preparation. Even my recovery was amazingly fast. In the past it would have taken me three to four days to recover from much less effort.”
Before, grocery shopping was a chore. Now she jogs into the store as she bustles through her busy life, enjoying the energy of her body and the beautiful music of her children at their concerts. Welcome back to life, Susan!
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This article is educational and is not medical advice. Individual results vary. Please talk with a licensed healthcare provider about your own health.