Trad Chinese Medicine for IVF and women over 35

[alimoyni]

Had my 3rd acupuncture session today and it was so relaxing! I think each session gets a little better. My acupuncture doctor puts all the needles in and then hooks them up to a little stimulator thing, you can feel the light current really moving around the needle site. It was funny though today when she turned on the left side of the needles in my belly it took a little bit to feel the current as it usually does, then on the right side she barely had to turn it on and I felt it so strong! Well this has been a fun journey so far, next week is my egg retrieval so I have 1 more session before then and hope for the best. My acupuncture doctor was so excited today because a lady showed up right before me to let them know that after 6 years of trying to get pregnant they finally were and this last IVF was the first time they tried acupuncture with it!

yea, love success stories!

[kbat]

Good luck to the rest of you. I have been done w/ my acupuncture for a couple of weeks. although very relaxing, just not getting the results w/ or w/o IVF.

I will continue the herbs for a short time more, but I am moving on w/ my life--volunteering, trying to find a regular job, etc. I've tried just about everything--naturally, IUI, IVF (w/ and w/o acupuncture), naturally w/ acupuncture and herbs. Nothing seems to work for me, so time to accept that I will not have kids (now if only my silly friend could accept that there is life w/o kids and not hound me about it).

Good luck to the rest of you. I hope it works!!!

[Rinnie]

Hello to everyone! It's been awhile ( 3 or 4 months ) since I've been anywhere on the board. As per my Chinese Doc, I had to take a 2 month break between IVF's and I was going crazy waiting.
So I took time away and took care of myself and meditated. Also did a lot of visualizing a baby along with AP twice a week and herbs.

I also turned 43!!!

We started a new round of IVF at the beginning of Oct. First US it was wierd...only 3 eggs. I was also running out of Lupron which never happens and wasn't feeling great. Anyway, to make a long story short...the doctor had prescribed regular Lupron this time instead of Microdose but the nurse gave me the microdose schedule so I was getting 8x the amount of Lupron I should be. As soon as they changed it some more follies popped up but it was too late for them to catch up.
I had to switch to IUI. I was so angry..., & success in IUI at my age is neglible...less that 5% I believe.

BUT...I got a BFP last week. It is really a miracle. Unlike my Chemical, this seems strong so far. The 1st beta was 122 & 4 days later ( today ) it was 830 so I am definitely on my way.

I know, with the mistakes, that this would never have been possible without Chinese Medicine. I have been doing it diligently for 8 months...stinky herb tea and all It's a lot of money, but worth it & saved most of it not having to go through IVF.

Older ladies...don't give up!!!

All the best

Rin

[sloan88]

Hi all...

I just did my first IVF and got a BFP...

I started doing acupuncture and herbs 3 months before my IVF (my acupuncturist said your body needs 3 months to improve egg quality through blood flow) - I noticed my BBT chart improve tremendously and thought maybe I'd get pregnant naturally ... I didn't... but during IVF despite my FSH of 11.6 I had a short 6 day stim cycle and produced very healthy eggs and 6 of them got to blast...

It's hard to say what was me and what was acupuncture - but I did notice that the herbs especially made me feel SO MUCH BETTER in general that all fears of them being toxic went out the window. I did stop taking them a week before I started IVF though. During my stim cycle one side was growing faster than the other - my acupuncture treated the "slow" side and they all grew 5 cm over night - catching up...

just my experience but I'm a strong believer!

[sloan88]

Rinnie- I wanted to add - congrats! I was a little confused and thought this was a general board about acupuncture and wanted to add my strong belief. I'm so glad it worked for you!!! FANTASTIC

[kbat]

Rinnie--
That's great news. CONGRATULATIONS!!! My acupuntrist had me stop in July, and I was doing the herb pills for a little while afterwards, but at this point, I've even stopped doing that. I tried naturally before doing all this stuff--took a break and tried naturally before doing IVF. It was an experiment for me to do TCM, but I wasn't ready to give up. With no left tube and my age (I'll be 42 in Feb), I knew my changes where slim if I did everything together and less likely if I gave up on one aspect, that at this point, I decided to move on. That's not to say that this whole thing from the start wasn't a disappointment--it was--or that I don't wish anymore for a biological child--I still do--but I'm pretty resigned to the fact that it's just not going to happen for me and I am trying to move on with my life. And maybe if I am lucky, I will get a miracle child, but it can't consume me anymore.

That's such wonderful news Rinnie--i am so happy it worked out for you. Best of luck to you and your family
Kara

[Rinnie]

Thanks Kara! I'm sorry that it didn't work out for you, but I'm glad you are moving on and not letting it consume you.
Keep yourself healthy & you never know.

All the best

Rin x0

[Rinnie]

Soan88...Congrats!! I really believe the egg quality improves tremendously but you do have to put in the months.
I'm going to continue AP & herbs in some form my whole life because you;re right...I feel sooooo goooddd

[toobee]

I just wanted to share my experience with TCM.........I started accupuncture before my first IVF. It helped my get pregnant two times naturally with no fertility meds after 3 years of trying and nothing. Of course I miscarried for several reasons to be related to tubal and immune issues. I decided to do IVF in conjuction with TCM and a very very healthy diet. Its hard to know if the TCM or the diet helped, but I had a successful IVF cycle. They retreived 11 eggs from 11 follies, 9 or 10 fertilized, 5 made it to blasts. I was originally PG with triplets, but lost one at 9 weeks and here I am with twins.I have a long way to go to call myslef a success, but I am a firm believer in TCM and an organic diet. It was a big surprise that each embryo stuck...BIG surprise. to both my DH and I as well as my RE. I was concivned before IVF that perhaps my eggs were the culprit since thats the first thing RE's will suspect. Anyway I know there are allot of nay sayers out there but thats my story and Im sticking to it and I think TCM is way under rated-

After I wrote this and psoted I realized it was a differat kind of board- I thougt this was a general discussion about TCM & Accupuncture...my apologies

[Rinnie]

Hey Toobee Thanks for sharing! It's just a board to mention how great TCM is for women over 35 so what you wrote was perfect.

I know a lot of older women are told to give up if their eggs look bad...or use donor eggs & I just wanted to give them some hope.
A lot of people don't realize how effective TCM is. Do it for at least 3 months & your eggs will be better like you found out.

Rin

[SueQiwi]

Congratulations Rinnie!! I have been wondering about you over the months and am so excited to read about your miracle pregnancy!!! Hooray! What terrific news. Enjoy every moment of being pregnant--you deserve it. You are an inspiration to us all.

Im sad to report that my second cycle failed in October. I am still feeling pretty low--but we will be trying again. I just started taking herbs again this week. My PMA is shaky and taking herbs 3x a day has seemed like a real hassle. But after reading your post I feel more hopeful! I thank you for that and will be more excited about my herbs now.

Again--congratulations Rinne--your news made my day.

[dcu917]

Hi girls,

First, CONGRATULATIONS Rinnie! I was happy to read of your success. I know what you mean about trying to stay away from the board.

I started Accupuncture 1X/wk in August. I have not been doing any herbs. My Accupuncturist is trying to push me towards herbs as she thinks I have a luteal phase defect (my phase is 9-10 days or so). She says herbs can fix that very easily. She suggested that I postpone my IVF in Dec and take the herbs to get my body in optimal health. I haven't done anything since April, so I am really ready to move forward. I am going to CCRM. All my testing came back great (AMH=2.25, FSH=8.1, Estradiol 28.8, LH 4) per CCRM. I have a unicornuate uterus, which the RE said is clear and looks good, where my uterus is much smaller than normal. We've only been transferring 1 embryo (except for the 4th try where we did 2). They were 6-7 cells (no 8 cell embys). We are hoping for a better protocol and better embryos at CCRM...and I am hoping that the accupuncture will help (although my uterine blood flow test at CCRM came back normal). I had tried accupuncture before for 3 months when we were contemplating IVF. That time and this time, it seems to affect my cycle in that I have 26 day cycles rather than 28 day cycles (typical my whole life).

I guess the purpose of all this is to see why you decided to take herbs and what you think they did for you? Did you have elevated FSH or notable issues with egg quality prior to trying the herbs? What did your RE say about them?

Thanks,
Diane

[Rinnie]

SueQiwi So good to hear from you! I'm so sorry about the last cycle.
The herbs will definitely help....are you doing AP too?

Hi Diane...take the herbs

When I started AP & Herbs, my FSH was 10.6, and within 3 months it was 6.9. I feel so much better & my body is more balanced.
My egg quality was dodgy & so it really helped that as well.
Hormones are such delicate things...affected by diet & stress etc. What the herbs do is help balance them out, which strengthens any organs, including the ovaries which may have been thrown out of balance. Everybody's eggs are the same...what's different is the state of the incubation system..( your ovaries). As we get older the ovaries get starved of blood & nutrients as the hormones direct them to other organs more important to survival like kidneys & liver. Herbs and AP strenghthen the other organs & direct nutrients back to the ovaries so the developing eggs aren't starved..so as a result they end up better quality.

It makes sense if you think about it.
I just think everyone should do all they can in this process, as it's so tough on us. Cut down sugar, no caffeine, as much organic as you can, a lot of warm foods during the cycle. It's tough, but so worth it.


Rin

[kbat]

good luck to all of you!!! Even w/ my lack of success, I am glad I did the acupuncture and would definately recommend it. It's so calming. I was looking forward to having them done..... It does make you feel better and thought that it made the 2 cycles I had w/ TCM better cycles--wish I had started it right from the beginning, but since my dr. never mentioned it, I was hesitate. I have a friend who was going to do IVF and I mentioned to her to definately try acupuncture....

[SueQiwi]

Hiya Rinnie~Yep, I'm doing AP too. I have become really close to my AP over the months and it really is a comfort to me. She gave me a free treatment for grief last week which was terrific.
The herbs I am taking this time are called Shou Wu and Salvia & Amber. Have you heard of these? Did you take them? I hope so! I am hoping to follow in your footsteps.
How are you feeling? When will you have your ultrasound? I am so thrilled by your news--enjoy every moment of being pregnant!