“Is tiredness normal after acupuncture?”

It is absolutely normal for your body to feel lethargic after receiving acupuncture treatment. Acupuncture relaxes your parasympathetic (rest & digest) nervous system during the treatment.
A lot of endorphins and enkephalins are released to provide pain relief as well.
Definitely make sure you ate a meal before treatment, and a glass of room-temp water after treatment can make you feeling like yourself but better!

Yes. It is a possibility. I recommend that each patient eats a decent meal at least 20-30 minutes prior to the session and to be hydrated well. I recommend that after the session, you take the rest of the day easy and sleep early, if need be. Most of patients report that the fatigue is only the day of the treatment and they feel better energized the following day.

Great question! I would use the word “relaxed” more than “fatigued.” Most of my patients leave the treatment room feeling a sense of relaxation and content, not a feeling a debilitating fatigue by any means. This is completely normal. If you’re worried about being able to go on with your day after an acupuncture treatment, I would recommend scheduling your appointment in the evening or on the weekend. That way you can go home and continue that relaxed feeling post treatment without feeling stressed out about having to get stuff done.

Not necessarily, you may feel energized, depends on the purpose of the treatment

It is normal to feel fatigued after a treatment and this usually dissipates by the following day. Ultimately, acupuncture is asking your body to change, and that can take a lot out of you. If my patients feel fatigued after a treatment, they usually feel better after napping or a good night's sleep.

Acupuncture naturally increases serotonin and dopamine in the body, so the patient will feel relaxed and sometimes sleepy. If you’re going for stress or insomnia, I recommend going in the evening so that you can take advantage of that feeling and sleep well that night.

Sometimes people feel more energized after an acupuncture session and other times people can feel quite tired afterwards. Both are normal responses that reflect what the body needed at the time of the acupuncture session.

Feeling fatigue is an indication that the body is cleansing and eliminating toxins and may last for a few days. Let yourself relax during the healing process while the wisdom of body brings you into a state of greater balance.

Acupuncture induces neurotransmitters in the brain to relax you while receiving it. The effect may last for a while after needles are withdrawn based on research studies. That was what you felt. Your body simply tells to keep up some rest, nothing else.

A very common response to acupuncture is a feeling of relaxed overall sensation. What I like to tell my patients and my students is that is because acupuncture puts your body into it's true state of "deficiency". What I mean by that is it lets you know how your body really feels. A lot of us overdo things and ignore the fact that we are stressed, overworked, unrested, etc. Acupuncture removes the excess stress hormones and brings us back out of "fight or flight mode" (which happens in any stressful situation). As a result, many patients feel tired, because, in fact, their body IS TIRED from all the overwork we load on it.

This generally lasts a day and after a good nights rest you should feel normal again. Normal, here, meaning more well adjusted and in tune with your overall feelings. This is the start of new, better health.

On the flip-side, some patients, after a treatment, feel super energized. This happens when the body has been holding back it's ability to utilize the energy we normally have and the treatment opens the blocked release allowing us to feel more energy.

So, we never know how you'll react, but do allow for rest after i.e. don't plan huge activity after until you know how you respond.

Have fun, good luck.

Most of my patients describe what they feel after a treatment as deeply relaxed, sometimes sleepy. You will, in fact, be very relaxed, a state our bodies aren't used to, so it can feel like fatigue. If it lasts more than a few hours or into the next day, tell your practitioner so they can do a lighter treatment on you until your body becomes accustomed to getting acupuncture. At that point, my patients describe themselves as feeling very relaxed and quite wonderful.

When I get treated myself, I try not to schedule any work afterwards because I don't want to ruin the feeling of peace and relaxation.

Depends on what style of acupuncture you are getting. For sports acupuncture or dry needling, there is more stimulation. There should be no fatigue for regular acupuncture with longer needle retention.

A lot depends on the person being treated, what they're being treated for, what acupuncture points were used, whether other modalities were used during treatment and, if other modalities were used, what other modalities were used (cupping, massage, scraping, bleeding, etc.).

I'm a less is more type of practitioner: I use few needles with long retention times and not much else unless the patient's condition is fairly severe. I rarely get people who complain of fatigue post treatment, but it does happen. Usually when it occurs it's related to one of two things:

1. I missed something during my evaluation and choose points poorly. At that point, a patient who reports fatigue after a session is giving me extra diagnostic information that I can use to adjust my next treatment such that fatigue does not occur. In other words: assuming the provider is asking for feedback and the patient is providing information regarding previous sessions, this is an easy fix.

2. The patient came to the session fairly run down. This is also an easy fix: make sure you have a light snack either just before or just after your session.

A final note on this subject: most studies of acupuncture fairly consistently show that it stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system. This is the "rest and digest" side of the autonomic nervous system and acts in opposition to the "fight or flight" sympathetic system (with which you may be more familiar). For so-called "type A" personalities who always feel like they need to be on the go (and hence are mostly in the "fight or flight" mode), increasing the activation of the "rest and digest" system can feel like they've walked off a cliff compared to their usual higher energy state. In the long run, continuous activation of the "fight or flight" system is a recipe for disaster - it can lead to adrenal fatigue and heightened stress states have been linked to a laundry list of chronic disease.

All that is a complicated way of saying a little fatigue may be just what you need after an acupuncture session. If it happens to you, try to schedule your next session at the end of the day so you can go home and rest.