Update with Clomid and acupuncture while TTC questions (long)

big_noise · May 2012

Hi ladies -

I posted updates in my check ins (Nov and Aug) earlier this week but thought I'd do a general one b/c I have questions at the bottom for those who've done acupuncture or Clomid.

***LO mentioned***

Backstory is I have a 20 month old DD, m/cs on 12/25/11 and 3/10//12 (CP). Still working with TB on the ability to update my siggy.

Crazy cycles since they kicked back in after weaning DD and getting KU with Dec. m/c shortly after. Just finished two months of TTA to see if my hormones evened out on their own. They haven't. OB wants progesterone #s but AF showed up after an 8 day LP last month (couldn't do 7dpo blood draw b/c I was OOT). We are also testing my thyroid and she gave me the green light to try acupuncture.

So last Thurs. I had a u/s to check lining and ovaries. She called my ovaries "poly-cystic" but didn't go so far as to say I have PCOS. I'm familiar with it b/c my sister has it. Said we can give the acu thing a try for a few months and see how it goes and she also wants the mentioned blood draw. She gave the ok to TTC.

She's concerned about my delayed ovulation with how my ovaries looked and my overall hormone imbalance. If we don't see an improvement we can consider Clomid. Obviously I want to avoid this if at all possible.

Then I go to the acu lady. She's very nice and I'm seeing her on rec from a friend who used her for fertility purposes. Tell her all about my history plus my significant weight loss a few years ago. She asks me a bunch of questions and says she wants to treat me for a kidney/spleen weakness with herbs as well. The herbs could affect my post-O blood draw, so waiting until after I O to start those (CD18 today and no sign of O anytime soon...).

Acu lady recommends TTA two months to give it a chance to work. Plus, I think she was trying to be helpful given my stress level with our schedule noted below. I discuss this with DH, and he's not really ok with it. Basically, our stress levels have been through the roof the last few years with both of us working full time, he's bee in law school and is currently studying for the bar exam and we have a toddler. If we wait until he's done with the bar, I honestly think I'll put way too much stress on us to make sure it happens right away (we'd start to TTC the week before my Aug. EDD). We decided we aren't going to actively try or not try for the next two months. So basically if we hit my fertile window on a weekend we might have a chance. Wink We aren't exactly in the same room very often.

Some minutes I'm ok with this decision, some I'm not. I see the acu lady tomorrow and will explain this to her. While I'm generally ok with this, I kind of feel like I'm not giving acupuncture a fair shake to work but I also agree with DH that if we try something and wait, try something and wait, we're never going to get to TTC. I don't want to obsess about everything being "perfect" before we TTC again.

My questions:

1.) If you've done acupuncture, when did you start? Were you actively TTC? Did you give it a chance to change things first? Where in your cycle were you when you started? How often did you go? Did you take herbs? Was your Dr. on board with you doing acupuncture, and did you include them in the conversation?

Right now she's planning on me coming the next 4 weeks. I won't even start any herbs though until after at least the next session.

2.) If you've done acu, what did they treat? How many times did you go?

3.) If you've done Clomid, at what point did you make the decision to go ahead with it? I'm still not sure how I feel about it. My Dr. is in no way saying this WILL be what we do but she isn't ruling it out either. I'd love to hear more of your story.

Whew, I know that was long - thanks for reading!

ufsandra85 · May 2012

I did acupuncture and went every week for 3 months. My acupuncturist said wait 3 months. We still tried in that time though the last month. I took all the herbs. I went for fertility, my knee pain, stress ,etc even if you try you might not get pregnant. That is how I looked at it. After 2 months wer didn't want to wait anymore At first they thought I just had poly cystic ovaries and not pcos. You can have one without the other. After all the testing they decided I have pcos. I also have funky cycles and acupuncture really helped regulate my cycles. . We did clomid after a year and a half of trying. I had 60,90, 110 day cycles and didnt always ovulate so it was just our next step. I did monitoring and ovidrel and get pregnant off clomid twice My last 5th pregnancy I did acupuncture and clomid and got pregnant and lost the baby. I could definitely a difference with acupuncture and really liked it even though I still dont have a baby

ufsandra85 · May 2012

Excuse the jumbled mess and typos it is really hard to type on my phone. Good luck!

big_noise · May 2012

Thank you, this is very helpful! Wishing I would have started acu over a month ago but can't change that now. Appreciate the input. Smile

BootsOrHearts · May 2012

I did acupuncture for about 3 months. She never told me to TTA, for what it's worth. She prescribed herbs, but they messed with my stomach so I stopped taking them. It did help regulate my cycles!

Bizzy80 · May 2012

1.) If you've done acupuncture, when did you start? Were you actively TTC? Did you give it a chance to change things first? Where in your cycle were you when you started? How often did you go? Did you take herbs? Was your Dr. on board with you doing acupuncture, and did you include them in the conversation? I started doing Acu for fertility and to help with Anxiety a year ago. We had been actively ttc for about 8 months when I went. The lady I see specializes in fertility and she did not tell us we needed to wait for things to regulate or change. I will tell you though that it took my body a bit of adjusting to get use to the treatments. The first month I was doing Acu I had the longest cycle I have ever had. I think it confused my body at first. I was seeing a OB at the time and did not discuss this with her. I am now seeing a RE and he knows about my treatments and does not have a problem with it.

2.) If you've done acu, what did they treat? How many times did you go? I was treated for late ovulation and a Spleen deficiency. She also discovered some food sensitivities and encouraged me to avoid those foods. For a long time I was going once a week but now I am going 2 times per cycle. The cost of the treatments and herbs started to really add up so I decided to cut back and my Acu is fine with twice in my cycle.

3.) If you've done Clomid, at what point did you make the decision to go ahead with it? I'm still not sure how I feel about it. My Dr. is in no way saying this WILL be what we do but she isn't ruling it out either. I'd love to hear more of your story. We decided to do Clomid after we had been trying for a year with no luck. My obgyn did a bunch of testing on me and everything came back normal. My first cycle on Clomid is when I got my BFP but ended in miscarriage. I decided to switch to a RE after that to make sure I was getting the proper monitoring and to make sure there wasn't anything else wrong.

big_noise · May 2012

BootsOrHearts:
I did acupuncture for about 3 months. She never told me to TTA, for what it's worth. She prescribed herbs, but they messed with my stomach so I stopped taking them. It did help regulate my cycles!

Thanks, this is helpful. Do you know what she was treating and what kind of herbs she gave you? I've read some of them can by kind of a cleanse and I'm willing to try it but I'm guessing it will mess with my stomach as well.

big_noise · May 2012

Bizzy80, thank you that is very helpful information. I appreciate it. Esp. the part about the long cycle. I've had one treatment and am going back today but I'm going nuts right now wondering why I'm showing NO signs ovulation is around the corner. How long was that cycle, approximately?

I do think part of her recommendation to wait is b/c of our level of stress with DH studying for the bar exam and she wanted to do what she could to try and help avoid another m/c. Will see what she says today. I'm mostly annoyed I haven't ovulated b/c I want my blood draw that I didn't get last month b/c AF was a nasty biotch and showed up 2-4 days early.

Bizzy80 · May 2012

big_noise:

Bizzy80, thank you that is very helpful information. I appreciate it. Esp. the part about the long cycle. I've had one treatment and am going back today but I'm going nuts right now wondering why I'm showing NO signs ovulation is around the corner. How long was that cycle, approximately?

I do think part of her recommendation to wait is b/c of our level of stress with DH studying for the bar exam and she wanted to do what she could to try and help avoid another m/c. Will see what she says today. I'm mostly annoyed I haven't ovulated b/c I want my blood draw that I didn't get last month b/c AF was a nasty biotch and showed up 2-4 days early.

I just went back and looked at my charts. The cycle I started Acu my cycle ended up being 55 days long and I didn't O until cd 44. Prior to starting Acu I usually O'd anytime between cd 25-30 so it was a couple weeks off. My body geared up to O around the time I usually would have based on CM and temps but I think the Acu confused it.

I can understand why she would want you to wait because of the stress levels but its also frustrating having to wait! GL today and I hope you can get some answers at your appointment.

big_noise · May 2012

Thank you! Hoping I don't have to wait that long but we'll see. I've been Oing around CD22 that last couple of months and today is CD19 and... Confused

opk was def. neg. this morning.

Want a personalized experience?

Update with Clomid and acupuncture while TTC questions (long)

Re: Update with Clomid and acupuncture while TTC questions (long)

Choose Another Board

Search Boards