Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Biofeedback

Hi folks

my daughter is in the middle of a flare up .
her doctor has suggested that she participate in biofeedback therapy to help her deal with stress and pain.
has anyone tried this?
if so what were your results?

Hi True, I tried it back in 2003, sorry to say, I didn't get any relief from it, though I've read that some people benefit from it, I wish your daughter success with whatever treatment she chooses.

The thing of it is she leads a very high charged life and is a very type A over achiever Kind of personality. She also attends a very High level academic school. She tends to put a lot of pressure on herself .I think that when she gets stressed out she has more pain . I guess the DR. feels that she may benefit from trying to deal with the stress. Heck I guess if it only helps with that its something. a tool she can use in her life when she is feeling pressure.
Dr. says the training is 1x a week for ten weeks and then she can do it herself. I figure it CANT HURT so what the heck . he says insurance will cover it but I have to check on that

i agree it can't hurt.....no harm in trying it.....worse thing that could happen is that it doesn't work.

sue

I have been accused of Type-A. Let me know how she does. I took up crocheting to try to slow down. It has helped me somewhat. The problem is I can do a king sized blanket in a week. I am hopeful for her.

Hi True,

I have a 6 yr old daughter who I have tried biofeedback on and for her it has worked wonders. She doesn't have AS but is unable to eat many different foods and is easily overloaded. We have been doing it since June/July maybe 9 times and the results are wonderful. I am guessing it is the biofeedback that is helping. She is calmer and able to occassionaly eat food that she can't eat on a daily basis. I am doing it through a Naturalpath. He says it works faster on kids because they are not as set as adults.

I have also tried it and have had some good results. I have AS which is under control with Humira but was having horrible insommnia because of the Humira. So I was taking 10 mg of amytriptiline for the insommnia and it was causing other side effects so I want to get off it. So since the biofeedback I am able to reduce the amytriptyline to 5 mg so for about 10 days now.

Someone also told me a trick for biofeedback and that is if there are little wells on the top of the machine to put a dropper of water or special alcohol in it while the machine is running. Then after the treatment take about 5 or 6 drops a day between treatments. So we are doing that as well. I personally don't understand the whole concept but I have seen it do some great things in our house. So give it a try, what have you got to loose? That is my experience with it, hope yours is as good as mine.

Debbie

Hi Debbie thanks
I think it may help her, she has undifferentiated Juvenile Spondyloarthropathy with Inflammation of the enthesis.
Thank goodness no spine problems yet.
she like you is also on amytriptyline before bed . She was on 10 then she went to 5 now they just put her back up to 10 again .
she is also on naprosin 500 mg 2x a day . she had bounced back to as needed but now its back to 2x a day .
she is also on MTX injections. with folic and iron.
did your insurance pay for the biofeedback?
I think the hardest thing about a kid having arthritis is getting her to learn how to take care of herself and slowdown sometimes .
I know i didn't at 14 that's for sure.
so I am hoping that maybe BioFeedback will help her with her anxiety and stress and that will help her arthritis

Hi True, there is a definite link between stress levels and pain levels. If the biofeedback therapy helps your daughter cope with her stress, it's entirely possible that her pain levels will come down. I hope it works for her.

Hugs,