For those curious... My IVF Accupuncture Adventure

mc4dj13

Recently Acupuncture has come up on this board and I wanted to give you all a glimpse into how it has been going for me. I researched and found a wonderful woman in my area who specializes in fertility acupuncture. Not only does she see IVF/IUI patients but all women who are at some point on their journey to a healthy pregnancy. She is a firm believer in putting both your mind and body in the best most receptive possible state for a healthy pregnancy. She uses guided meditation and affirmation tapes while you are in her office during treatment. Afterwards she uses cupping to release further tension and "blockage" from your muscles. She has also sent me home with quite a regimen of Chinese herbs and supplements. She is super knowledgeable and calming and really takes the time to listen to her patient's concerns, worries, hopes, and fears. 

Anyways, I just went for an Ultrasound with my RE and they showed my lining measuring at 5.5 mm which is HUGE for me. I am convinced that this is due to the month of herbs combined with weekly acupuncture. At this point in both of my mock cycles I would be maybe at 3 mm thick. 

For anyone who is on the fence but wants more information I can try to answer more questions about my experiences thus far. I plan to keep using her all up to my transfer date. She has said she will come to my clinic and administer a treatment both before and after my FET. I would recommend anyone to find a doctor who currently works in conjunction with their clinic, mine came highly recommended. Unfortunately (as with most everything so far on this journey) I pay out of pocket for her services. She has bundled my treatments into packages to give me some savings so I am grateful for that. Also, I did price out the herbs on Amazon she sells me directly in office and I found she gives me an incredible discount.

on a side note- does anyone else feel like they are constantly taking pills? My husband jokes that I am like the lady in the movie "Grandma's Boy" and my plate in the morning looks like this:

FuzzyDust

I have a question about acupuncture:
where do they put the needles in? (specifically for the fertility-specialized ones)
how deep does the needle go?
does it hurt?
how long does it stay in?

I'm terrified of needles, but I also looked into acupuncture during IVF. My RE, knowing how I feel about needles, suggested that it might do more damage than good for me. But I'm still considering and want to know more from those who actually tried.

prudence9-2

Ive been doing acupuncture throughout my IUIs, IVF, FET.  I go see someone once a week. I do believe in it. 

Depending on on where you're at she will place the needles accordingly. Before you have a transfer the acupuncturist might have needles on he stomach to cause more blood flow next to all these organs. But once you're pregnant certain points are out of limit. And a good acupuncturist should know what points. 

daisy222-2

mc4dj13, I'm glad to hear from people who feel that it works.

I have been going to my fertility acupuncturist for a few months, but 2 weeks ago (leading up to my first egg retrieval) I started a protocol of "electro-acupuncture" that is designed to increase uterine blood flow specifically (mine is bad). I don't 100% understand how it works, but the needles are hooked up to a machine that sends them current and the result is that they feel like they are tapping in and out, although they are not. It is not painful, but certainly not relaxing. I miss the "zoning out" that happened to me during regular acupuncture.

Is anyone else doing or has done electro-acupuncture? What did you think? Anyone have any evidence that it increases uterine blood flow for them? My acupuncturist also says that acupuncture in general can help egg quality, but that seems really hard to prove.

@FussyDust the needles aren't really even needles, they are so thin and you truly can't feel them. I am not really a fan of needles, but acupuncture is 100% fine. (For example, I can never watch my blood being drawn or look at an IV in my arm, and it took me several minutes to get the courage for the IUI trigger shot, which is the wimpiest little needle. I am starting my stim meds in a few days, so that should be interesting. hah!)

ramzlau

@mc4dj13 thanks for sharing, I have been thinking about looking into it recently. It is good to hear from someone going through it! 

[Deleted User]

@daisy222 I tried that for my back a long time ago at the PT. But I didn't really keep up with it so I don't know how it might have helped. Definitely a <i>weird</i> sensation tho!

mc4dj13

@FuzzyDust  I have been to a few different doctors for acupuncture (migraines but this is my first time just being treated for infertility) I believe the depth and location of the needles depends on the doctor. Also, the doctor will press certain areas of your legs and arms and look for tenderness. They like to focus on those areas and find it more effective on some people. I have had some doctors that barely stick the needle in (it kind of wiggles) and some who jam it in so that you bleed a tiny spec when it is removed.

and @Daisy22  is right - the needles are barely anything. They can be long but are not thick.

JuliaGoolia719

I have a (more than moderate) needle aversion, I'm not going to call it a phobia bc I can handle it, it just takes some major mental preparation and steeling myself before I can do my shots, I can't watch blood being taken or an IV in me etc.  Once I got over my initial reaction of "holy crap no way am I letting someone stick LOTS of needles in me, no way is that going to be relaxing in any way" and finally went in for an appointment I found that its not at all bad.  I rarely feel them go in and only occasionally have any that hurt.  I have had my body push them out on occasion, my dr never tries to put another one in that spot and says that's my body's way of saying that that point isn't going to work today.  I did it during my stim phase and will start up again soon for my FET. 

KLake42

I did fertility acupuncture for about a year and half.  Then we had some income loss, and we dropped it.

I don't know how much it helped (haven't conceived yet), but once I went in with a sinus headache.  He added a couple needles in my face, and it went away like magic!  So I don't doubt that it can be effective.  I just need to not spend $100 to $200 a week on it.

The needles didn't hurt, except in my Achilles tendon.  The electro-acupuncture was annoying, but not awful.

AngryBull

@daisy222 I have been seeing my fertility acupuncturist for about 5 months now. We've done a variety of treatments, depending on where I am in my cycle and what infertility procedure I'm going through or prepping for.  We do the electro-acupuncture protocol when we are prepping for FET.  My acupuncturist uses this protocol for FET prep because it's one of the few acupuncture protocols that has actually been the subject of scientific research/study (since acupuncture isn't "western" medicine there isn't a lot of money put into research related to it, so there are actually very few peer-reviewed studies to look to when determining whether there are any scientifically proven benefits of acupuncture). He gave me a copy or the study and from what I recall the results showed that FET success rates were higher for women who had electro-acupuncture for 4-5 weeks before their transfer.  Here's a link with some info:

https://infertility-acupuncture.info/acupuncture-frozen-embryo-transfer/

I'm sorry that you're not finding the electro-acupuncture as relaxing as the "regular" sessions.  I haven't had that issue - I usually fall asleep within a few minutes.  My acupuncturist says that it's really important that the pulsing of the electrodes not be too weak or too strong.  He says that as long as I can feel it, that's enough. We go through this process where he turns each electrode on one at a time and gradually turns up the pulsing. Once I'm able to feel it - even if it's just a little bit - we stop and that is where we set that electrode for the session.  Sometimes one ends up being too high (not painful but more annoying) - when that happens I just ask him to turn that particular one down until we reach a level that is relaxing instead of distracting.  I'm wondering if maybe your electrodes have been set too high during your sessions and maybe that is why you don't find it as relaxing?  The other thing that has really helped me is to schedule my appointments for the afternoon instead of the morning. It's much easier for me to zonk out for a nap in the afternoons

liljoy-2

I also hate needles but these are nothing, you barely feel them, so it's ok. I do feel relaxed afterwards but I also sometimes feel extremely exhausted or even dizzy...I don't know why. Maybe because they divert the blood from the brain to the uterus or something..

daisy222-2

AngryBull thanks for the info.  I think my current/voltage/whatever IS up too high. My acupuncturist first has me tell her when I can first feel it, and then she keeps turning it up until it is a "5" on my personal scale where 0 = nothing and 10 = the absolute max I can handle. Tomorrow I might tell her "ok I'm good!" a little sooner. I would love to fall asleep during, that sounds amazing.

For this first time doing IVF, we are trying a fresh transfer (that is the plan at least) and I haven't searched to see if doing this the 4 weeks prior to retrieval+fresh transfer is shown to help. I imagine it would help if it helps FET?  My clinic actually made it mandatory for me since I had very poor doppler US results, so I didn't investigate very much.


@liljoy I also feel weird afterwards, like dizzy and out of it. I go right back to work afterwards and when people try to talk me I'm like, woah.... slow down.... haha. I am not at my best. Hopefully the blood is going to the uterus, or somewhere good for fertility!