I have heard both good and bad. I have heard some people try them and get no relief at all, others who call them a scam and then others like your mother who get relief. Maybe it depends on the exact problem. I know a couple of endo patients on another list who tried them and it didn't help. I think test driving your mother's would be a good idea since I've heard some of them can be a bit expensive.
>
>Also, I know what Ginny means about speaking calmly to doctors and they
>think you are NOT in pain, but that if you fall apart in frustration and
>anger, (from NOT BEING listened to or taken seriously!!), they label you
>as suffering from depression. Wouldn't you like to give them a good
>swit smack on their smug, condescending faces
I had complained to my family doctor for several years when my periods were becoming more and more painful and I knew there had to be something wrong even though everybody (not just doctors) told me that "cramps were normal". I had finally reached a point where I was making her run some tests, had someone recommend an ob/gyn to me so I went to see him -- he said endo right away, and when he did a lap a few months later after trying some birth control which helped a little, but not mucy, I don't think he personally had ever seen that much endo (although others have had it worse, but it was the worst he had seen). When I went back to the family doctor much later for something else, I told her how bad it was and she had copies of some of the reports and she was so surprised. I mentioned that I had told her how much pain I was in and her reply was "But you said it so calmly." The truth is that in medical school they teach you to pay attention to the patient who's screaming -- the ones who are calm must not be in that much pain, right? At least when I see her now she listens to me. And if I say something's wrong, she takes my word for it.
Sue Ann