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School me on Acupuncture
My new RE mentioned this to me and suggested I check it out. I dont consider myself stressed or living a stressful life so I have never thought to look into it.
I know what they do. Does insurance cover this or is it a luxury and you have to pay your own way? Hows the experience? How long is an appointment? How often should you go? Is there certain acupuncture specifically for infertility?
Any other information is helpful. Thanks ladies!!
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Re: School me on Acupuncture
I called my insurance and they didnt give me a difinitive answer. I am under the impression it will be covered under my plan but I need to do a little more research. She lead me to a link that says the following:
Most Aetna plans limit coverage of acupuncture to when it is used in a lieu of other anesthesia for a surgical or dental procedure covered under the health benefits plan, and the health care provider administering it is a legally qualified physician practicing within the scope of his/her license. Other plans may extend coverage of acupuncture for medically necessary indications, but only when administered by a health care provider who is a legally qualified physician practicing within the scope of his/her license. Please check benefit plan descriptions for details.
There is limited and insufficient evidence for acupuncture for treatment of dysmenorrhea, infertility and other women's reproductive indications. White (2003) performed a review of controlled studies of acupuncture for women's reproductive health care. The author concluded that in view of the small number of studies and their variable quality, doubt remains about the effectiveness of acupuncture for gynecological conditions. Acupuncture appears promising for dysmenorrhea and infertility, and further studies are justified.
Lurker here...
I have been doing acupuncture for 4 almost 5 months now.
Insurance does not cover, where I go there are discounted packages the more you buy. I pay $651ish for 10 sessions. There was another place I was looking at that was around $80 per session (I may switch there actually).
My first visit was about an hour and half, the other treatments are 45 minutes. My first appointment I discussed with him about my diet, lifestyle, etc. He suggested diet changes, supplements and lifestyle changes.
He wanted to see me every week at some points in my cycle, then after a month or so I went to every other week. I am doing IVF, so when I am on my stims he wanted to see me 4 times while on injections.
Just make sure that the acupuncturist has a specialty in infertility (that's what my doctor suggested when I was looking). It does seem to relax me, I can't say what it did for my infertility. I'm currently in the middle of IVF #2 and may get cancelled due to poor response. I don't blame acupuncture for this, it could just be my body during this cycle.
Good luck to you! (Sorry this is so long)
I'm starting acupuncture for the first time next week, just in time for the start of my injections for IUI #3. I am going to a place that specializes in fertility, and it's not covered by my insurance.
I believe the initial consult is $150 for 1.5 hours, and then every visit after that is $100 for an hour.
I'm really looking forward to it, and while I'm definitely not expecting it to work miracles, I have heard some pretty amazing success stories. Good luck!
I've been doing acupuncture for about 6 months now. My insurance covers it, but I've found that most does not, so you'd have to check your plan specifically.
I find acupuncture really relaxing. The person feels your pulses in your wrists (chinese medicine believes there's a couple different pulses). Then they decide what points to do based on your symptoms and start putting in needles. Some needles you feel and others you don't. None of them really hurt at lot, though. And after they're in, you don't feel them. Once they're done, they leave you to relax for a while. I've had someone do all of them at once and let me lay there for 40 minutes and someone who does a bunch, lets me rest for 20 minutes, comes in and takes those out, puts in more and lets me rest with the new ones for 20 minutes. It depends on the person. The whole appointment is about an hour.
My acupuncturist wanted me to go once a week for 6 weeks and then 2x a month after that (once before ovulation and once before AF). Mine specializes in infertility, but I don't know what she does different than others, since I only saw someone else once when mine was unavailable.
I really thought it helped with my cycles. I never had a lot of PMS symptoms, but I did have some and it seemed to even those out. I also (warning, probably TMI) never had bleeding on CD3, AF would just stop and start again on CD4. Ever since I first got it as a teen. After 2 cycles of acupuncture I started bleeding on CD3. So I really feel like it made a difference for me. But it's definitely not for everyone.
Hopefully this super long post helps! If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to answer them!
Me:27, DH:28 - DX: MFI, varicocele repair Nov 2011
Post-Op SA: Count- 15 million, Motility- 75%, Morphology- 3%
IVF with ICSI - Stimming 10/4/12 - 10/13/12, Lupron Trigger
ER 10/18/12, 12 eggs retrieved, 8 mature, 5 fertilized
5 day transfer 10/23/12, 3 frosties
Beta #1 11/5/12: 453, Beta #2 11/7/12: 1,013, DD born 7/19/13
I just started going to acupuncture. I am going to a community acupuncture facility so it is a lot less expensive ($250 for 10 sessions) which is good because my insurance does not cover it. I am not convinced that it will do much to "fix" my PCOS, but my acupuncturist tells me it can help a lot with infertility. Whether or not it really works in that regard, it is definitely relaxing and that has been helpful for dealing with all the stress related to IF. You should give it a try, if nothing else it definitely won't hurt anything!
3rd cycles clomid + Ovidrel = BFN
4th cycles letrozole/Ovidrel + IUI = BFN
IVF #1 = BFP! Twins due 2/5/2014
Off BC since 9/10;TTC since 7/11
Me: 31 DH: 31
DX: PCOS/anovulatory/Hypothyroid
SA: normal
HSG: all clear
5 cycles of Clomid/Femara + TI
IUI #1 (7/16/12) Femara 2.5,+ Trigger=BFN
Treatment break Aug. 2012-June 2013
IUI #2 (7/27/13)=BFP!!!
Beta #1 @ 13dpiui --145!
Beta #2 @ 19dpiui--2,550!
I'm about to start it in two weeks too. Thanks for posting. I (foolishly) hadn't considered the cost. I do have alot of stress in my back, neck and shoulder muscles.So, if anything, I do think it will help with that issue. Would you gals shop around for prices or just use the one reccomend by the RE? Thanks!
Acupuncture wasn't right for me.
I was able to go on my insurance. It was a $10 co-pay each session. She was very nice and was actually the first one to suggest PCOS when I explained my cycles to her. She even recommended asking about met.
She wanted me to come multiple times a week when I was ovulating, but that wasn't possible with my work schedule. And my lack of ovulation schedule.
I actually quit going once I had my RE diagnosis and began my first treatment cycle. The acupuncture treatments were relaxing at times, but other times they were painful, especially with the needles going into the same place in my abdomen every week. She would often hook electrodes up to the needs to stimulate the area. The last two times I went I wound up with large bruises on my stomach.
5/12 -- HSG, blocked left tube cleared, cycle canceled b/c of cyst
6/12 -- Clomid 100mg + TI -- BFN
7/12 -- Clomid 100mg + TI + Progesterone -- BFN
8/12 -- Benched with a cyst
10/12 -- Clomid 100mg + TI -- BFN
11/12 -- Clomid 100mg + Trigger + TI -- BFN
12/12 -- Clomid 100mg + Trigger + IUI -- BFN
1/13 -- Clomid 100mg + Trigger + IUI -- BFFN
2/13 -- Clomid 100mg + Trigger + IUI -- BFP!!!
Beta 1=168 Beta 2=745 Beta 3=1700+
EDD 10/25
If I was able to get a recommendation from my re I would have that at the top of the list but still look around for financial reasons.