[reyna68]

My doctor said I would be okay to start TTC again next month. I'm planning on continuing to work with my accupuncturist to see if I can conceive naturally again. If anyone else is also using an accupuncturist and/or using diet, yoga, herbs, or supplements to enhance their fertility, I would love to share ideas and progress with you.

I'll see my accupuncturist this afternoon and she may give me herbs, but right now all I'm doing is prenatal vitamins, omega-3 supplements, and on CoQ10. I'm also not drinking caffeine or alcohol, and limiting sugar, wheat, and dairy. I try to only eat organic fruits and vegetables and hormone free meat.

I still feel "off" from the miscarriage...overly tired, a little headachey, and really moody. So I hope accupuncture will help with that.

I'd love to hear what other women are doing and what you think really makes a difference.

Thanks!
sharon

[Smee]

Hi Sharon,

Wish you all the best and hope you get your soon. I am currently doing and IUI (IVF got converted to IUI as I di not have enough follies). For the last month I have been trying to improve my diet and health to help me concieve. I have added flax seed oil (one 500mg capsule everyday), royal jelly (every alternate day), walnuts, berries, protien (egg and little chcicken).

I have been reading on Chinese medicine and my yang is a little low, so I need to warm my body i.e. have warm foods - cooked foods (steamed veggies instead of raw), I am also doing Chi Gong exercises.

This is a good thread and hopefully will benefit all of us.

[reyna68]

Hi Smee,
Good luck with your IUI. I've got my fingers and toes crossed for you.

My accupuncturist told me that eating cold food is bad for everyone in that it takes the body too much energy to digest cold food and therefore is depleting, especially to the kidneys. A mainstay of my diet used to be cold salads, and not surprisingly, I was freezing cold all the time. I cut out the salads and replaced it with steamed veggies, and voila! I feel much better. And the best part...the first month I did it, my luteal phase defect went away. It's truly amazing.

I had my first accupuncture appointment last night since my miscarriage. She gave me herbs to cook in boiling water and then she wants me to drink the water twice a day. I did it last night and this morning and, to my surprise, I feel a lot better. The headaches have gone away and I feel more energized. I have 4 1/2 more days to go. Too bad they taste awful.

I've heard really great things about royal jelly. Do you feel different taking it?

-sharon

[jessicap518]

I am in the midst of my first IVF...4th day on Lupron...and my acupuncturist is big on green tea, rose hips and hydration....I drink at least 6 glasses of water a day plus my two cups of decaf tea and whatever else strikes my fancy....my Re said to stick with yoga until we start stimming (5/20) and it really does help relax me...best of luck on your ttc journies....hoping for a for all!!!

[reyna68]

I've definately heard the benefits of green tea. But why rosehips? Just curious.

Good luck to you too!

[jessicap518]

Originally Posted by reyna68

I've definately heard the benefits of green tea. But why rosehips? Just curious.

Good luck to you too!

It is high in iron and vitamin c....Good Luck to you!!!!

[babygood1]

Iam trying natural this month with accupuncture...I was thinking that baby asprin may be helpful but not sure I just posted the question " what cycle day do you take it".
I have also moved to organic. Not easy but I feel better already in just the few days doing so.
SOMEONE ELSE wrote this but I thought it sounded great:

I know a lot are looking for success stories so here is mine. After three pregnancy losses followed by difficulty conceiving, I sought acupuncture treatment starting Nov. 2007. My first acupuncturist was not fertility specialized so the only thing she was able to do for me was minimize my menstrual cramps. In January, I found an acupuncturist who studied with Randine Lewis, author of "The Infertility Cure." (I recommend this book to everyone here!) I started following the diet for Kidney Yang deficiency, taking herbs that were mixed for me by my practitioner and doing yoga regularly. In early-March, we decided to do IVF so I then stayed on the same diet/herbs and got acupuncture 2x/week. I had acupuncture before and after my embryo transfer and so far, things are going well! I will continue to get acupuncture 1x/week through 12 weeks of pregnancy. Acupuncture grounded me during the drastic shifts in hormones and I believe attributed greatly to our outcome. A few things I have been doing since December that have helped:

• Cut out coffee completely (this was perhaps the hardest because I was a Starbuck's addict!)
• Cut out caffeine and if I needed some, drank 1 cup of green tea
• Eliminated all artificial sweeteners
• Sought the help of an acupuncturist who specialized in fertility and pregnancy and had appointments with her 2x/week
• Regular yoga classes
• Prayer, meditation and visualization of positive outcome
• Proper diet, according to acupuncturist, rich in vegetables, fruit, natural protein and rice with small amounts organic meat
• Folic acid, baby aspirin and multi-vitamin every day
• Chinese herbal supplementation
• No less than 6 hours sleep/night
• Thinking positive and always moving forward!

I hope this is helpful and feel free to ask questions. We're keeping our fingers crossed for a sticky one. May all of you realize your wildest dreams!

[babygood1]

Also note organic meat and hormone free meat are not the same...it must be organic from what I have been reading.

[reyna68]

I eat very little beef, but when I do, I try to choose grass-fed and hormone free. A cow's stomach isn't built to digest corn and other feeds that commercial beef cows are fed, so they get sick and need lots of antibiotics and things to keep them healthy. I also don't want to ingest the growth hormones and things that cows are given. My hormones are problematic enough as it is!

[cocosmomma]

So glad to find this thread! My DH and I made the decision just yesterday to give our AC 3 months to correct my issues (kidney yang, spleen qi deficiency and kidney essence deficiency) before moving forward with our 2nd FET. She is also going to work on my DH's unrelated medical issues, but she said it will probably affect his fertility issues (low motility and count), so we might even be able to do it naturally! I can't even imagine.

So, I started my herbs (fu ke zhong zi wan) and new diet yesterday. It has proven very difficult! It seems like there isn't much for me to eat. Anyone else on a "no cold foods" diet? I have been searching for recipes, but haven't been successful. We had stir fry last night, but it will get old real quick! She mentioned pot roast, too. Any ideas?

Thanks, ladies!

[babygood1]

Question for reyna68 did you take baby asprin?
How long natural did you try? Sometimes I think all this testing can set you back.

[reyna68]

Good luck to all of you trying the TCM way. I really believe that it improves your health, which can only help with IF. I've been seeing an accupuncturist off and on for years, but it wasn't until this past January, after my 2nd failed IVF that I got really serious about doing everything she asked me to do. Namely, no cold foods, lots of organic fruits and vegetables (especially leafy greens and cruciferous veggies like broccoli), no more coffee, very little alcohol, and reducing stress through yoga and more sleep. So I started doing that in January and in April I found out I was pregnant!

I did miscarry, but I'm emboldened by the fact that I got pregnant at all, given the odds that our RE gave us, even if my DH didn't have MF issues. So as my friend who is a Dr. said to me, "If it happened once, it can certainly happen again." I'm living by those words right now.

Ann -- I haven't taken baby aspirin. I've heard that it may help women with recurrent miscarriages because it is a blood thinner and so can help prevent blood clots, especially around the placenta. So, since this (at least so far) doesn't seem to be a problem with me, I don't take it.

cocosmoma -- I'm doing the no cold food diet. My accupuncturist insists on it, but she has an 80/20 rule. She says, 80% of the time follow the diet/lifestyle/exercise rules and 20% of the time do whatever you want. It's been working really well for me because it feels like I can still treat myself sometimes (mmmm...ice cream!). But for ideas -- here's some stuff that I do:

Breakfast: Most days I eat oatmeal with blueberries and/or rasperries. On week-ends I often eat some kind of egg thing. My favorites is eggs scrambled with diced kale, onions, mushrooms, and tomatoes with cumin and chili pepper wrapped up in corn tortillas.

Lunch: Usually reheated leftovers from dinner. If not, I'll go to the local tacqueria for black bean tacos. Or I'll do a half-hot meal and get soup and salad.

Dinner: This one's easy since I usually eat something hot anyway. One of my current favorites is hormone free roasted pork tenderloin and roasted vegetables. You can throw it all in one pot together and cook it all at the same time. Mix up a rub with star anise, cayenne, coriander, ginger, and cinnamon, and rub that on the pork first, flash fry it on high heat to brown the outside, and then pop it all in the oven. Those spices are warming spices, so that helps too. Some of the best vegetables for warming you up are winter root veggies like sweet potato, carrots, and parsnips. I often throw in some green apple or tomato as well for tartness.

I just got AF yesterday, so I busted out my fertility monitor and basal thermometer. Here we go again...

for all of us!

sharon

[Elizabeth777]

Very interesting thread! Thanks for starting it... I started acupuncture a little over a month ago and I do think it is helping with my relaxation/stress levels. My FSH has also gone down - I started with a new RE and she wanted to retest everything, I know she was thinking that it had gone up since it was done in August and I was such a poor responder to IVF on max dosage of drugs. Well, it turns out my FSH went DOWN - 10.2 to 9.8 - not much but still it didn't go up! And that was after only 2 weeks of acupuncture.
My acupuncturist studied w/Randine Lewis (Infertility Cure) so she seems to be very familiar with IF issues. She recommends the obvious like no caffeine or alcohol, but also no wheat or dairy or sweets. Well I am finding wheat is in everything, so that makes things interesting. I am also a milkoholic so that is the most difficult, but I am weening myself!

[cocosmomma]

Elizabeth: Dr. Lewis' book does say no wheat flour, but my doc said whole wheat is fine in moderation. So, I treat myself to ww pasta and bread some. I look at it this way, I am going to follow her rules, but there comes a point where it causes you anxiety and that's exactly what they don't want. If I don't know for sure, I either don't do it or if I can't figure out a way around it I just do it in small portions. Know what I mean?

It's getting easier for me though. I found some wheat-free waffles in the frozen organic section and they are delic! I put a little sugar free jelly or dip pieces in sugar free syrup. Either way, I get very little sugar intake, but they are still edible.

Truthfully, the no dairy part is the toughest. When you eat out, everything has cheese! And like you, I am a milk-aholic. It KILLS me not to have milk.

But I had my first appt after a week on the herbs and new diet and my dampness and phlegm were already reduced dramatically. She also said my spleen qi has shown great improvement already, so I am encouraged.