Has anyone any experience of chinese medicine and acupunture ? i have read that it can significantly increase your chances when doing ivf? I also read of a fertility workshop or retreat in America and in Ireland that is supposed to be very good. It costs £1200 for the week. Has anyone heard of it? Or used it? Or just has any advise?
Love to hear from anyone with a view.
belly belly xx
2 ww after first cycle of ivf.
I have PCOS and DH is fine
hi this is my fist time on this forum, i had accupuncture on my last cycle, i started it before i started any drugs, unfortunatly i did my test last tues and it was negative, but a friend of mine had it done on her 1st cycle and it worked, i think if you can afford to do it alongside your treatment what have you got to lose. i'll do it again next time. good luck
me 27 dh 35
proor hubby got bad swimmers
i have bad response to stim drugs
july o6 ivf/icsi -ive
I haven't started my cycle yet. I'll be starting femtrace hopefully this Friday. I have been seeing an acupuncturist since the beginning of May to help with the success of IVF. I was told by her to do it 3 months prior to retrieval. I have read that other people only go for the first time right before retrieval and after transfer. I know that acupuncture is doing my body good--I feel like a new person. Hopefully it will do what I intend for it to do. Even if it doesn't help produce a BFP, I certainly plan on continuing simply for the other great benefits!
I haven't seen a herbalist, but my acupuncture has suggested some great vitamins that have truly changed how I feel. Good luck!!!
I have pcos too and I have read many times that acupuncture has a high success rate with this condition. The advice I would give you is to find an acupuncturist that specialises in fertility. I was seeing a chinese doctor, having acupuncture and herbs. I was on the herbs for months and they cost a fortune so eventually stopped taking them. I changed acupuncturists only because I wanted someone closer to home and then found out from her they were doing the wrong treatments. During my 2ww they had needles in my belly and she did vigorous abdominal massage. I used to think that seemed a bit risky but just trusted them......til I saw the new one who has a high success rate. she said they should not put needles in your belly in the 2ww! She was trained by Zita West so I trust her completely!
Anyway, I saw her for the first time just after ovulation and that month got pregnant. I still see her now to stay healthy and maintain the pregnancy and she has also helped heaped with my headaches. She has had so many success stories.
Its very tempting to spend a lot of money on different things so I would be wary of that retreat because its so expensive and you need your money for IVF and to keep for your baby when you get pregnant......which is hopefully now! I spent so much money on so many different things that didn't work. I wish I'd just done my research and gone to a well known person in the first place.
I do recommend that you buy Zita Wests books though as they are great and they made me feel very positive that it would happen one day....and it did!
what have they tried with you before going to IVF? I had clomid for 6 months and then had menupur injections and conceived naturally on them.
Hi Belly Belly,
I have a positive experience to share with you re. accupuncture and Chinese herbs...
With our first child, who is over 3 and a half, I fell pregnant naturally. Then DH and I were trying for #2 for about 3 years. Sought medical help after about 18 months- went through blood tests, tube tests, laparoscopy/D&C, clomid, 2 IUIs, 2 IVFs (first one cancelled due to OHSS risk, second unsuccessful and not frozen embies)- still no pregnancy. Had PCO-like ovaries with pearl-like follicles but no PCOS symptoms- basically diagnosed with unexplained infertility.
Then I took a few months off (as I had a work commitment and couldn't envisage doing FT work and another IVF) so went to an accupunturist/Ch. herbalist in the meantime (who was recommended to me by friend who had successful IVF after seeing him) for about 2-3 months. Within 2 weeks of taking the herbs and 1 session of accupuncture, he got my cycle down to 28 days (it's usually all over the place and about 32 days+. Longer cycles are not supposed to be great for falling pregnany). Then had a 29 day cycle, took some Clomid (figured it couldn't hurt) was taking my temperature daily and looking for clear ovulation signs (spinn mucus etc.). As work had finished I thought I would start another IVF round and started my downreg drugs, then did a home test around the time AF was due and magically was pregnant! When I told my Chinese guy last week he said I was his third pregnancy in the past few weeks and there may be a fourth on the way with another woman who is doing her 4th IVF round.
Hard to say for sure which was the main factor which influenced the BFP, probably a combination of all the things, but it was far more economical and less intrusive and emotionally invasive as IVF. So for me, I can definitely recommend it.
As Terri recommended though, I would ask around for an accupuncturist who specialises in fertility. The £1200 seems a little excessive and I don't know if you can get everything you need in 1 week. The treatment needs to be over a period of time. He also changed my herbs and accupunture points depending on what stage in the cycle I was in and also how my general health was doing. If you end up doing Ch. herbs in conjunction with IVF you are supposed to cease taking any herbs with estrogen-like effects- e.g. dong quai as this can muck around with the hormone levels with your IVF.
? i have read that it can significantly increase your chances when doing ivf? I also read of a fertility workshop or retreat in America and in Ireland that is supposed to be very good. It costs £1200 for the week. Has anyone heard of it? Or used it? Or just has any advise?