Acupuncture for Fertility? Anyone tried it? (XP from TTCAL)

rmpar29 · January 2015

Hi to all of my PGAL lovelies! I hope it's OK that I post this here...

I went to see an Acupuncturist today, because, well, why not? This one advertises that she can increase fertility and that her average patient is pregnant in 3-4 months with using her special herbal combination and treatments. Of course, I take this with a grain of salt because statically, over 50% of women are pregnant within 3 cycles. I took my last CD3 b/w with me and she actually knew what "good" numbers were. She asked me about my cycles and I showed her my last two charts. She started talking about Luteal Phase and temp shift...this woman actually knows what she's talking about. I was, frankly, impressed. So, she had some very interesting things to say:

1. By looking at my tongue she could tell that I'm under a lot of stress (isn't everyone).
2. By looking at my nails she says that I have a spleen deficiency and drink mostly just cold beverages. Yep.
3. My allergies could be causing mucus to build up all through my body hurting my fertility...interesting.

Her recommendations:
1. Drink nothing that is "cold". Everything should be room temperature or above.
2. Eat more "warming" things like soup. She also gave me some herbs to put in a big pot of soup or stew to help my spleen deficiency.
3. Take the herbal products for fertility, one kind for before O and one for after.
4. Come for Acupuncture twice a week. Woah...twice a week????

I know there other AL ladies on here that have tried Acupuncture. Did your doctor say basically the same things? How often did you have treatments? I know you will never know for sure, but did it change anything for you? I.e. increase your LP, bring your O date forward, give you more energy, anything?

I'm trying to decide if I'm going to do twice a week treatments, or just once a week. With twice a week, my insurance will be used up in 5 weeks.

Thanks for any input ladies!

BookishMomma · January 2015

Hi there! Another acupuncture enthusiast here. I find it to be very relaxing and ditto to what @officedronette said about it helping for anxiety. And SLEEP! I sleep like a baby after treatments. I'm currently going weekly during pregnancy, mostly for anxiety but also for general balance. While TTC I went twice a month. Once per week should probably be fine for you, at least as first, and you may be able to decrease after you've been going for a while.

Many of the things your acupuncturist said to you seem similar to what I've been told. I'm currently not allowed any cold foods (so no salads, no iced beverages, no ice cream, etc.). I'm supposed to be eating a lot of blood-building foods like beets and sweet potatoes, as well as warm drinks, soups, and stews.

As far as herbs go, I'm currently on a blend from Health Concerns called Maternal Herbal prescribed by my acupuncturist. I've had no issues with it and my practitioner personally researched every ingredient in it to make sure it is safe for pregnancy. LMK if you have any other specific questions!

bunnybun4 · January 2015

I did acupuncture and liked it but only went a handful of times. The only good fertility accupuncturist in my area is $100 bucks a pop, or I would have gone more. I went during my IVF treatments and could defnitely tell I was more relaxed after treatment. She also gave me great advice on some extra things to take/do (which I always cleared with my RE). I agree with bookish that you don't need to go twice a week...once a week would be fine if that will stretch your insurance out longer.

taberbtb · January 2015

I also did acupuncture from about January (of last year) until my BFP in May. I was going once the week before O, and once before AF was due. I did not take any herbs, just the acupuncture but I also ate warming foods and had a series of fertility activities (cupping, etc) on dvd that I was to do through out my cycle. I thought they were a little weird, but hey I was willing to try it. I loved going, once I got over the initial fear of the needle, and it definitely helped me to relax and sleep better. I kind of thought it was a bit of a hoax but kept going since I enjoyed it for other reasons, but no lie- my acupuncturist told me I was pregnant at my session the day before my +hpt even though I tested negative that morning. Convinced me!

BookishMomma · January 2015

taberbtb said:

I kind of thought it was a bit of a hoax but kept going since I enjoyed it for other reasons, but no lie- my acupuncturist told me I was pregnant at my session the day before my +hpt even though I tested negative that morning. Convinced me!

@taberbtb my acupunturist has done this on 2 different occasions during my 2ww, including this time. She told me my pulse was "slippery" and that she suspected I was pregnant. Sure enough, I was!

dragonfly1809 · January 2015

I began seeing an acupuncturist a few years ago on the advice of my medical doctor. At the time I was suffering from a deep seeded infection that affected my blood and nervous system ..after months of various failed antibiotics and other treatments we turned to acupuncture. I was extremely skeptical ...

Long story short, I am now an advocate for acupuncture and Chinese medicine. It has changed my life. Not only did it rid me of the infection, but it has helped with sleep and stress, digestive problems, common ailments - colds etc., headaches and other aches (including what we jokingly call "crochet arm")..
My acupuncturist's understanding of anatomy is mind boggling. Her ability to make simple connections (all that hot cold damp dry business in the body) have made such s profound difference in my life.

When it came to fertility, I credit acupuncture with helping me become pregnant and stay pregnant - twice.
After the loss of my son (infant loss) my acupuncturist came to my home, treated me gently to calm the grief, help me sleep (in fact I only ever really slept after a treatment).. She taught me qi gong breathing techniques to help heal myself.
Honestly, I would not have survived the grief without acupuncture.

I see my acupuncturist twice a week (I'm now 37 weeks) and I would never go without. She's also going to help postpartum when I recover from another c-section.

It sounds to me like your acupuncturist is on the right track - the tongue stuff, pulse readings, hot/cold, damp/dry stuff. Believe in it. Chinese medicine is thousands of years advanced - used in cooperation with a Western medicine, the two can work some pretty incredible miracles.

Wishing you lots of luck.

CheesyPeas · January 2015

I only did it the cycle of my BFP, and it didn't appear my LP was going to be any better that first cycle because my temp was on the way down when I got my BFP BUT I will say that acupuncture was worth it for the relaxation alone. Heaven knows I needed the help relaxing too.

I didn't do any herbs through my acupuncturist but was planning to go that route once appointments with the "good" acupuncturist in town opened up. I was impatient and booked appointments with another one while I waited for my first appointment with the other one but ended up not needing to keep those appointments. I did follow the warming food recommendations and looked up the good and bad foods for an LPD according to eastern medicine.

ETA: I did acupuncture twice a week for a few weeks but he was planning to scale me back after 4 weeks or so. From what I've read though, once a week seems far more typical for fertility related stuff.

sgio7485 · January 2015

I did it from Jan. of last year until my BFP in May. I went 2x per month to start, and then 1x a month. I do think it helped reduce my stress significantly. I was pregnant after 4 cycles, but who knows if it was the acupuncture or not. Either way, it made me feel good! Good luck!

hopefulreturn · January 2015

I love acupuncture! I started last spring for anxiety, fertility, and asthma reasons. I became a believer as I was able to ween off all my steroid inhalers over the course of the first few months. My acupuncturist timed my visits with my IUI cycle. I went once a week (sometimes every other week). It gave me a calm, great peace of mind, and I'm a firm believer that it helped us find success with IUI. I did not take any supplements though. I wasn't every into that (due to my many allergies) so she never pushed it. I'm now going every other week and it is helping with my exhaustion and morning sickness.

pblge · January 2015

I think a lot of what she did and said is pretty standard. Acupuncture for general infertility doesn't have strong empirical support, but it's a really hard thing to study well, for a number of reasons. Acupuncture during IVF has pretty good evidence behind it, so I did that for the first two IVF cycles. Long story short, I hate needles, and getting MORE shots on top of the dozens I was giving myself got to be too much. I could never tell if it did anything for me, and I definitely didn't experience it as relaxing.

I will say to be careful of those herbs. Many of those haven't been studied well, and herbal supplements often don't have in them what they're supposed to (I could send links to this if you want them). There could also be interactions with any meds you're put on. A lot of REs will support patients going to acupuncture, but say no to all the herbs.

alleycat39 · January 2015

I did acupuncture and loved it! I felt that it helped regulate my cycles, especially after my loss in May. She did the whole look at my tongue thing and was able to give me some info based on that, plus something with checking my pulse. I went once a week and did get pregnant on both cycles that I tried with this acupuncturist (1st cycle ended in loss).

I am all for it!

rmpar29 · January 2015

I just want to thank all of you for your inputs. I'm not currently working with my RE. I'm just not ready to go back there, so I'm trying this first. I didn't experience my session as "relaxing" but it might get more relaxing as I get used to it.

Thanks again ladies!

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