CES Update 2

Well it seems I have figured out how to use the CES device effectively. Lower settings for longer seem better (setting at 2 @ 40 minutes instead of 3 or 3.5 @ 20 minutes)(the device goes from 0-5 with a max of 60 minutes). It seems to work for anxiety as stated, but for OCD I’ll have to wait and see. So how are things different? Well as I mentioned, the initial treatments were on higher settings which were possibly leading to more anxiety. It’s hard to describe as anxiety may not be the best word either. It’s more like inner tension and coupled with my “nervous nellie-ness” of a novel new treatment, didn’t help things. Despite this “tension,” my insomnia has improved. In actuality quite a bit. My nightly regimen consisted of 3mg of melatonin, 0.5mg (sometimes 0.75mg) of klonopin, walking/strolling a few hours for about 30 minutes before bedtime, 2 benadryls/diphenhydramine medications, NSAIDs, and a glass of warm milk to get me to sleep. I’m not kidding. Sleep has been a difficult process for me. My neck is usually in pain. I do stretching and it helps, but I would still need to use an NSAID to help me sleep.

Well, I no longer take the NSAIDs or the diphenhydramine. This is kinda cool. Hopefully soon I will drop the klonopin completely in the next month or so. The most interesting aspect of this is the ability to go from an anxious state to a non anxious state. It is much faster to relax, even when trying to go to sleep. In other words I don’t need to be “anxiety-free” to be able to sleep which is something that I haven’t been able to do for a long time.

I also learned that this treatment works best in the morning. For whatever reason my blood pressure and heart rate would drop after using it in the evening. As an aside, the CES is being considered for use in blood pressure management in hypertension. I think I will consult the support team to see if there is anything I’m missing and see if my results are typical and what to do about it.