[Rachel38]

My cousin urged me to go and so did some of the people on here so I finally caved. My doctor is a well-known acupuncturist from China and had a book full of people thanking her for various help with ailments etc. Five pages of fertility patients thanking her with pictures of their babies. She told me in her culture, if a woman has a period, then more often than not she should get pregnant, unless infertility is based on male factor. Since DH and I used IVF and lost the little one so early on, she thinks stress is the biggest issue for the loss and probably the infertility. That morning, I had left a doctor who is treating me for TMJ and sleep disorders all linked to my high stress job and he told me their is no immediate fix to any of it. Oddly enough...he was wrong. She also treated me for the (she called it mild) weight gain I have endured since I started TTC with meds three years before...40 pounds! I had needles placed in my hands, legs, belly, feet. I had a "miracle light" heating my torso too. If someone else told me this I would say they are lying, however folks i am telling the truth, immediately I felt like I melted into the table and when were done I stretched and rubbed my eyes, For the first time in years I noticed I was not naturally clenching my first or jaw. It is seven hours later and it continues. Whether we get a baby or not, this was worth every penny at helping me reduce stress and her advice she gave me was awesome. Good luck to all of you who try this, so far soooo good.

[tracilynn]

I just went for the first time a week ago. I have only gone on 2 appointments so far but I really love it. My accupuncturist is an old chinese man too - he barely speaks English and has the "nurse" translate for him.

Anyway, I had 17 needles placed the first visit(I had them in my legs, wrists, tummy, ears, head, and back). The 2nd visit he pushed on different places on my stomach using his hands and asked if it was tender. He pushed on my stomach just under my ribcage and it hurt like a MOFO so I told him "yes that hurts" then he stuck about 3 needles in each knee and went back and pushed on that place in my stomach and it didn't hurt AT ALL! It was soooo weird- like a magic trick - it BLEW my mind.

He hooked up some needles to wires for elcetrostimulation too. He told me my diet was great and that my infertility was due to a hormonal imbalance and low energy flow. I knew my hormones were wonky b/c I'm on BCP for IVF (in April) and I went in for an appt a few days ago and my body is ovulating while on BCP!
He said he could fix it. He said when Chinese women want to conceive they go have acupuncture, not IVFs. He also said he was working on a lady in her 30s that had an FSH of 150 and Doctors said she had ZERO hope and was in menopause and he has her FSH down to 30 and he's only worked on her 4 months! I thought that was really awesome.

He gave me Vitamin C shots last time I was there (4 of them actually) He did some kind of acupressure with his hands when he did my shots (and they were IM shots) and I couldn't even feel the needle at all! I need him around when I do all my stims and PIOs next month!

Anyway, I have TMJ too! He said he could fix that as well. My jaw has felt so good! I usually have a TMJ headache about everyday and it has been relaxed so I haven't had any headaches.

I guess I have talked your ears off

I'm really sorry for your recent loss and I hope you have a baby in your arms soon.

Let me know how your next appt goes. My next appt is Tues the 18th - I'm looking forward to it!

[amsa]

I am so glad you have found acupuncture to be helpful. I swear by it. I went for my first IVF without considering it and felt I needed it following to help reduce stress and the only way I could describe it to anyone was completely blissful. I actually miss it, I went for almost a year ( until I was 3 months along). I also took herbs and the month I followed all of her directions to a t ( not skipping on the herbs, drinking tea and cutting out sugar and overly processed foods and taking quiet time every day to myself) it worked.

I absolutely believe it helped bring my baby boy to me and it literally did. I was due on Christmas Eve and had an OB appointment the Friday before. He looked at me and said there was no hope for a baby before New Year's and to come back in a week. ( As not to interrupt his holiday plans) and I went to my acupuncturist and she worked her magic and lit some weird herb bundle under my feet on Christmas Eve and at 7am on Christmas Day my water broke.

Enjoy it. My acupuncturist told me to use the time to visualize what my body needed to do (egg to release, etc.) but most of the time it would only take a minute or two before I could feel myself drift off.

Good Luck to you, I can't wait to hear your success story!!

[ScootiesGirl]

I'm right there with you! I tell anyone who will listen how wonderful acupuncture is and the benefits...

I am now on my 2ww after having 2, 8-cell quality embryos transferred. This cycle has been my best yet and I am relaxed and very optimistic and yes, excited!

Best of luck!!

[reyna68]

I just wanted to add my two cents. I also think accpuncture is amazing. I've been going off and on for years and have had some miraculous results, especially when dealing with issues of pain. As soon as my DH and I started having fertility issues, I knew I would see an accupuncturist. But it took me a while to have it really settle that I would need to follow ALL her advice, not just the stuff that was easy.

So, two failed IVF's later, I decided it was time to get down to business. Since then, I have made some really important changes (that sadly, have been recommended to me for years by several different accupuncturists but I wasn't listening), and I am starting to really see the results. The biggest changes that I've made are: very little processed food and sugar, gave up coffee for decaf tea, and almost no alcohol. I also make sure to eat kale or some other dark, leafy green at least 3 or 4 times a week, and as many other vegetables as possible as well. I only eat hormone-free meat and no dairy at all. And then I supplement with Chinese herbs, cod liver oil, prenatal vitamins, and L-arginine.

Then, at night and in the morning, I spend about 10 minutes doing a belly & uterine massage, femoral massage, and rubbing some of the key accu-points for my dx.

The two most dramatic shifts that I have noticed are, one, that I am not freezing cold all the time like I used to be. I would go to bed with fleece from head to toe, under a down comforter, and with the thermostat set to 72, and STILL I sometimes would have to get up and take a scalding hot shower to get warm. But now, I'm fine maybe with a long sleeved shirt and socks. And two, my cycles are getting longer. My cycles, historically, are about 24 days. This month, for the first time in probably a DECADE, I didn't ovulate until the 15th day...which is unheard of for me! Last month, my luteal phase was 2 days longer than normal, so I am hoping for even better than that this month.

So, that's a long winded way of saying that this stuff works...but it DOES. I'm not pregnant yet, we still have MF issues to deal with as well, but I believe 100% that even if we have to do IVF again, that all the Eastern medicine is going to help us have a much more successful cycle. And, what I'm mostly hoping, is that we won't need IVF at all.

Good luck to all of you. I'd love to hear more about how accupuncture, and TCM in general, works for you

Take care,
sharon