I'm sorry to hear about your experience. She sounds awful. I'm a vegan acupuncturist in Santa Monica and know first hand how healthy a vegan diet is. It prevents many illnesses and reduces symptoms as well.

I apprenticed under an acupuncturist who worked with some pretty famous folks. One had been veg for over 40 years when diagnosed with cancer. This acupuncturist encouraged him to start eating meat again. Sounds crazy, right?

Unfortunately, most acupuncturist only get 20-40 hours of nutrition training (which is way more than any MD). So they don't know much about food. We're taught that you have to eat blood to make blood. Ew! I haven't eaten blood in almost 30 years & haven't been anemic since '87 (had no idea what I was doing). Many physicians who don't know what to do with veg patients will automatically say all their problems will magically disappear when they eat animal products. NOT!

Anyway, I hope you give Chinese medicine another try with the right person for you. I'm surprised your friends referred you to someone who was clueless about veganism and clearly lacking in compassion. This acupuncturist was also using poor quality herbs from China. I personally only use plant based herbs (mainly organic) with no additives from US based companies. Food coloring is toxic with no healing properties.

For those of your putting down the medicine, I don't work with any animal products or overcharge anyone. I never pressure people to do something they're not comfortable doing. Please don't put us all in the same category. Healing my patients while doing no harm to any living creature is my goal.

For more vegan friendly info, go to Live Natural Live Well.

Personally I've had good experiences with acupuncture treatments. Sounds to me that the bigger picture here might've been that you needed this particular learning experience for some reason, to further strengthen your views on veganism and its worth; you were pregnant and thus more vulnerable - perhaps - to opinions about what's good for a mother and baby etc. Nutrition is such a loaded subject.

To NancyMA and others:

FYI - in some states, depending on the practice act, acupuncturists are known as doctors. New Mexico, Rhode Island are 2 and in Florida they are known as Acupuncture Physicians.

Actually, the very 1st school in the U.S. for acupuncture is in the Boston area, established in 1975. And the 1st text book used in acupuncture school was translated by a Harvard Grad who was one of the 1st acupuncturists in the U.S. and teaches at Harvard Medical School. Research has been going on in Boston for a long time and most of the large hospitals in Boston have departments of acupuncture and some have departments of Chinese Herbal Medicine. The New England School of Acupuncture has a relationship with both Harvard and Tufts Medical School.

Yay! I was finally able to log into my account on here! :) Here's my (condensed) comment that I posted on FB.

I'm a licensed VEGAN acupuncturist, and have a dear friend and colleague who is also vegan/raw foodist, who I can refer you to. She lives and practices in Sherman Oaks, and travels as far as Santa Monica and throughout the valley.

Without justifying it, I understand why most acupuncturists "push" a carnivore diet, since I know what they're basing their opinions on. That said, I also know that none of the textbooks & thousands of years old documentation & history has anything in it about vegan dietary alternatives. Most practitioners aren't researching it on their own, possibly b/c this medicine has been so effective for over 5,000 yrs, and b/c they themselves are carnivores.

That said, I feel it is unprofessional & disrespectful for health professionals to ignore a patient's personal choices and force their own beliefs & opinions on that patient. It deeply upsets me to read about your experience. Acupuncture, either by itself or with herbs, is an amazing therapy. You may not feel any different when walking out of the office, but that doesn't mean that changes and benefits are not being made on the INSIDE of your body. I have experienced many extremely beneficial results, from curing my chronic and horrific IBS, to acting as anesthesia during my homebirth, to getting me pregnant again. And feeling relaxed after the treatment, even falling asleep during one, is highly beneficial to the treatment, since the more relaxed you are, the better able your Qi can flow, thus benefiting your body/treatment.

Please consider finding an acupuncturist who is vegan. And please email me if you'd like my colleague's contact info. I know she will be able to show you how wonderful and healing acupuncture really is.

Best of luck. oxox M

Now I think I understand what acupuncture doctor you're talking about... Believe me, consider that you are lucky to have lost almost only time that you could have possibly used more efficiently... The point where personally I have mixed feelings is that my mother always telling me that peoples who suffer are the one who have the most beautiful personnalities... Considering I'm not a doctor, without the last 15 years it would have been relatively acceptable....

The pushing of pills is especially worrisome because you were pregnant. A healthy pregnant woman should probably avoid taking any medicinal substances that are not necessary. And a poster above is right. Acupuncture is a type of medical treatment, so you should really only seek it out if you need it. Honestly, a good acupuncturist would let you know whether you need their services or not.

I think this post was a great pointer for folks who might look to doctors to tell them what they already know not to be true about their own bodies. The doctor/patient relationship can often be a place where patients forget what they know and get bullied into doubting themselves. So it's always a good reminder to remember what you know and speak up when you're presented with their opinion as gospel and it opposes what you've found to be true for your particular case.

I do find it a shame that the practice of acupuncture has evolved into a hybrid of acupuncture and herb-pushing that's quickly become cost-prohibitive. The insistence on multiple sessions a week (like with chiropractic care) also deters folks who might be able to scrape together enough for one visit a week vs. 12 a month.

If folks have leads on affordable acupuncturists, please share them.

P.S. While I have not had a successful acupuncture experience for myself, I have seen extraordinary results with my animals when they've been treated by an acupuncture veterinarian.

I too, am sorry to hear of your experience with the acupuncturist you saw. I am an acupuncturist and I respect my patients' dietary choices & work with them. Chinese Medicine is a complete system of medicine and acupuncture is only 1 of the 9 Chinese healing arts in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The first three are the most important - diet, exercise and spiritual development (usually some form of meditation). When those are not working then acupuncture and Chinese herbs may be added. There is no reason to get continued acupuncture treatments unless you need them. So if everything is fine, then you might just feel like the snooze you had helped more than the acupuncture. Acupuncture is a type of medical remedy and you don't take medicine when you don't need it.

There are many not-so-competent people in all professions, yet if someone finds a doctor who isn't suiting them for one reason or another, the entire western medical profession is not dismissed as ineffective - usually another doctor is sought out. I don't understand why the whole profession of acupuncture is dismissed when someone has a not so great experience.

Lastly, to address some of the negative research - Western medicine is primarily doing research, however it is basically trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. IMO, double blind studies do not work for acupuncture. There are really several hundred points - b/c of various styles - much more than the approx. 400 that are taught. If a researcher is only looking at these 400 pts., then they could be choosing points that do have some effect on the issue in question, but no good alternative has been found to satisfy the western research methods.

I was cured of migraines w/ a combo of acupuncture and dietary changes and avoided ankle surgery.

Candace Sarges, L.Ac.

Some doctors sadly have the mindset that we need to eat meat to be healthy and we also need to take meds to get better. Its changing but not as quickly as it could. Has anyone ever heard of EFT (emotional freedon technique)? Is similar to acupuncture but no needles are involved. Its pretty gentle. You "Tap" on medians. I have used it to clear out blocks in my body that led health issues. I've also used it to attract more abundance into my life. I have used it to help many people on many topics. Its like an emotional massage for me at time, totally relaxing. Who believes emotions lead to dis-ease?

It's sad that you had such a bad experience but as you quite rightly said all practitioners are different but she still should not be forcing her opinions and her products on you as it gives us all a bad name, if you hadn't had past experience you might not have been so forgiving about acupuncture! I agree with what you say about the food, I am a TCM Acupuncturist and a Naturopath so when patients come to me we always look at the diet too, acupuncture works on such a subtle level that you might not notice changes until a few weeks or even months down the line! But making dietery changes alongside the acupuncture can be dynamic, I have had wonderful results! Having said that, I can see why she is keen on the meat eating, we need the energy from the animal, in Chinese medicine it is not good to eat no meat, but I do respect your decision to be a vegetarian, I have been vegan in the past but through Chinese medicine I realise the value of eating meat sometimes! I haven't been vegetarian for political reasons but I always avoid dairy products and I only eat meat maybe once a week, in order to get the goodness and blood building properties from the meat! Also you can become so deficient in nutrients especially B12 when vegetarian! So while I do see both points I think you have the right to be treated in the way you wish to be treated espcially when paying for it, I would report the practitioner to your governig body!

My friend send me your link. I'm sorry to hear about your horrible experience. I'm a naturopathic doctor, acupuncturist & herbalist. Personally I eat a mostly plant-based whole-foods diet (weekday vegetariansim), and that suits me just fine. As a naturopath, I help many with food choices. My perspective on diet is that no "one diet" is for everyone and I would never judge someone for their choices. However my patients are often "sick", so I will make food suggestions based on the individual. For instance, according to the Blood Type Diet, Type A thrives with vegetarianism, however Type Bs (herders) do well with some meat. I assume your acupuncturist saw signs of "blood deficiency". Although your recent labwork showed that your blood was fine (not anemic), TCM was developed 1000s of years ago before lab tests so diagnosis is based on things like symptoms, history, and tongue/pulse. She should have respected your choices and suggested vegetarian-options. It sounds like the herbs she suggested for you are ready-made medicines which I'm not a fan of. Other acupuncturists/herbalists will customize a formula for you and hopefully use herbs that are "clean" with no additives.

Some acupuncturists don't have proper nutrition training so they use their only tool. I am a believer of what Hippocrates said: "Our food should be our medicine." Teach someone to eat properly is more sustainable. Saying that, I have seen "miracles" with acupuncture & herbs when pharmaceutical medicine didn't help thereby avoiding surgery. Luckily, you do use food as medicine and are healthy, but unfortunately most Americans poison themselves with food and are resistant to make diet changes. I've learned to not judge and respect others for their choices. Personally I eat well, do yoga, and rarely need acupuncture, but it's a top choice if I became seriously ill.

Although we were originally hesitant to try acupuncture, my spouse has repeatedly had success with it to heal sprains, inflammation and recently to help alleviate his pain from a heel spur. Even with its success, it's usually a last alternative since our insurance doesn't cover it and it is rather costly. Before seeing his acupuncturist in all cases, he spent months with physical therapy and western doctors who subjected him to different tests and painkillers. We're always hoping he'll feel better after 1 or 2 visits, but we've learned our lesson. After paying all the co-pays for the doctors, physical therapy and meds, it actually cost less to see an acupuncturist! His shoulder sprain only required 1 visit and he immediately felt relief, whereas his heel spur required 4 visits to feel better. Although his heel spur isn't completely healed(is that possible?), he feels a tremendous difference and doesn't wince in pain when he walks. I'm wondering if it depends on the condition that needs treating and also how well trained and educated the acupuncturist is.