We (wife / now ex-wife) and I have tried a lot of different things over the years to help our youngest son deal with autism. We've done gluten and casein free diets. We've tried adding various vitamins and supplements. An audio therapy thing where various frequencies were played through a headset for many sessions. Speech therapy, occupational therapy, behavior therapy. Many different drugs. (We've finally come back to Risperdal after trying to ditch it for other drugs.) Some things have helped a little bit. Most have had no effect upon him whatsoever or have worked to his and our detriment.
And now we're trying the Fisher Wallace Stimulator.
I decided that I would test it on myself before I started him on it.
It was not an easy decision to purchase this device. "On Sale"--whatever that means these days--it's $499. And to be honest, it doesn't look like a $500 machine. It's small, made of plastic, and is powered by two AA batteries. Nevertheless, I stepped into the breach once more.
I thought it might be useful to take a diary approach to the experience.
Day One: March 18, 2022
Morning Session: I had trepidations. But once the session got underway, it was pretty uneventful. Sometimes I felt like there were little pinpricks on my body, mostly on my lower right leg, but that might have been my imagination. Other than that...nothing, neither pleasant nor unpleasant. I read while the machine did its work.
Evening Session: No trepidations this time.
Day Two: March 19, 2022
Noticed in both morning and evening sessions that for at least some of the time...at the beginning of each session...I became very aware of my heartbeat. To the point where I could hear every beat without making any effort to do so. During the morning session, I put down the book I was reading because I felt so fatigued...but since it was preceded by a hard night, I don't think that had anything to do with the FWS.
Day Three: March 20, 2022
Morning session didn't notice the heartbeat unless I shifted my focus to it. Seemed to have a slight feeling of "fullness" in my heart...not uncomfortable, but not good, either. Could have been my imagination, though. Evening session uneventful.
Day Four: March 21, 2022
Hardly noticed the morning session, and the twenty minutes passed by quickly. Ditto for evening.
Day Seven: March 24, 2022
This has just become a regular part of the morning (post-breakfast) and the evening (post-dinner). No ill effects whatsoever, but thus far no discernible benefits, either.
One thing I have learned: taking the sponges out of the holders is a bad idea. Even after they dry out, they remain much larger than in their original desiccated form, and it's hard to get them back into the holders. I've found that if I put the sponges (in their holders) upside down on top of some absorbent material, like a napkin or plain paper, that they dry out pretty well between usages.
Days Eight through Thirteen: March 25 through 30, 2022
Had several times when I thought I would give up on this, since I've felt no benefits whatsoever, but I'm still hesitant to use it on Joe, so I've kept at it. Theoretically two weeks deliver the goods, but I'm on the cusp of that and have nothing, so.... Well. We'll see.
Day Fourteen: March 31, 2022
So far as I can discern, I've obtained no benefits whatsoever from using the FWS. I'm not feeling any better and my sleep patterns have not improved--I sleep 6 to 6 1/2 hours and wake up one or more times every night. I went back to the webpage and found this:
"Yellow light number two is the setting we recommend starting with to treat depression, insomnia, and anxiety. If you do not experience results at level two after two weeks, increase the setting to level three or four. If you use the device at level three or four, you may notice some flashing lights in your peripheral vision. This is a normal stimulation of the optic nerve and is perfectly safe. You can use the device while you work, read, relax, or use the computer.
"The device will stay on for 20 minutes, after which you will hear an audible beep sound, turning the device off and ending the session. The device should be used on a daily basis, ideally twice a day for at least 30 days before making a decision to keep it or return it for a refund. If the device completely relieves your symptoms, you may start using it on a maintenance basis, two or three times a week."
So I'm going to start using at level 3 today. We'll see how that goes. I'm wondering how I will be able to assess this for Joe, though. I'm going to have to rely completely on observation of his mood and sleep pattern, since he won't have the language to tell me if he is feeling better or sleeping better. I don't like that uncertainty.
Day Fifteen: April 1, 2022
Didn't notice anything different.
Day Sixteen: April 2, 2022
Noticed a couple of things. First off, I seem to be feeling a slight, pinprick-y sensation in my left temple when I turn on the juice. It's not painful, just something I am aware of. Second off, after turning this on I noticed that the lights in the room seemed to be strobing a little bit, kind of in a gentle pulse fashion. It was a little disorienting. After a minute I looked down at the FW Device and saw that it was on 4, not 3...even though I had set it on 3. I realized that I had noticed yesterday that when I turned it on, it was slow to come up to level 3, so I'm going to have to be a little more careful about the setting, give it a chance to power up before I set it aside. I dialed it down to 3 and the pulsing went away. It wasn't painful or anything, but it was a little weird and disorienting, and I didn't like it a whole hell of a lot, so I'd like to avoid that sensation in the future.
Day 22: April 8, 2022
It's been a week at "3"...which is what the Fisher Wallace people suggested...and I'm still discerning no change, so I'm dialing it up to "4" today. Feeling a little nervous about it, I suppose because of the whole strobe vision thing from earlier on, but we'll see how it goes.
Day 29: April 15, 2022
Still no results so far as I can see, so I'm writing to Fisher Wallace to ask them about it.
Here's the email I wrote:
I've been using the Fisher Wallace stimulator for over a month now, and have proceeded according to directions twice per day from two weeks at setting 2, one week at setting 3, and have since been on setting 4. So far as I can discern, there have no changes in my sleep patterns or any aspect of my mental state / behavior. At what point should I conclude that the device doesn't work for me? I am not interested in returning the device, as I have someone else who wants to try it, but I would like to know if I should discontinue its use on myself. Also, do you have any information vis-a-vis common factors in people for whom the device does not work?
Thank you.
Should be interesting to see what they have to say--assuming they respond on point.
And a mere four hours later I got a reply! It said that I should continue at Level 4 for 3 to 4 weeks, so I guess I'm not off the hook quite yet.
Wrote back to the FW people to clarify whether I should stop using the device once benefit had been achieved or when it was apparent that no benefit was being achieved, and got an answer back almost immediately telling me that I could discontinue, but that many patients continue to use the device on a maintenance basis (3-5 times a week) for its additional benefits such as increased focus and concentration. So there's that.
Online chat says change sponges every two weeks.
No comments:
Post a Comment