Accupunture.

Loujalou I'm in Herts and my therapist is near Hitchin - any good for you? can't recommend her highly enough - don't be put off by my scambled eggs! She's called Julie Tant and she's accredited by Zita West. not sure if I'm allowed to put her number on here!

sorry the lady I saw was in london, try this website
www.acupuncture.org.uk/about-us/find-an-acupuncturist.html

I just looked for one near where I lived, then looked at their website, the lady I went to specialised on fertility and had a lot of positve testimonials on her website from people with happy bouncing babies so I though it was worth a try and I am now 8 weeks pregnant, I still can't belive it!

Can anyone recommend someone in Hertfordshire as I would like to give it ago after 10 months of trying. Thanks

I fell pregnant after one session of accupuncture, so for me I an convinced it worked, we had been trying for 1 year

I tried one session but decided it wasn't really for me. I didn't really click with the acupuncturist though (came highly recommended on here so others clearly liked him) so might consider trying again with someone else if we don't get anywhere.

I got pregnant with DD after 3 or 4 sessions of acupuncture after 13 months of TTC with no success. I found it really relaxing as by that point I was getting really stressed about being unable to conceive and felt noticeably more chilled out after each session. But I think there is much more to it than just relaxation.

My waters broke 6 hours after a treatment to get labour moving. And during labour I used acupressure points described on this brilliant website acupuncture.rhizome.net.nz/ which worked really well up until the point we discovered DD was an undiagnosed breech baby and I was whisked off for a CS.

I'm having more treatments now as after 5 months TTC with one early miscarrige and hoping I get a similar result. I would echo that it's worth finding someone who specialises in fertility.

Been having acupuncture for over a year with very skilled and insightful fertility specialist. Unfortunately hasn't got me pregnant, but it's definitely held me together during 3 IVF cycles and helped me recover after each failure, sometimes quite dramatically. I think she's almost as frustrated as me that we're still not there!

Cool. (Something for me to research in the quiet bits at work tomorrow!!)

Your welcome! happy to waffle on about this subject for hours but i try and restrain myself

this book has a terrible title but it explains wonderfully the TCM view of fertility treatments in laymans terms and has lots of self help ie questionnaires to get your TCM diagnosis, foods to eat or avoid for your 'syndrome', (ie deficinent, blood stagnation, etc)

I recommend it to my patients who find it very useful.

this site has lots of clinical research on acu for fertility, clinic is based in Oz but the founder is a leader in the field.

Thank you very much for taking the time to write all that for me, FTB. 'tis another world to me, knew nothing about it!
Conception probably isn't my difficulty, more hoping the next one will decide to stick around - hoping accupuncture could be beneficial with that too, and (if all is successful) helping me have a less crap pregnancy (sickness,carpal tunnel etc etc) than last time round!

instant family it does definatly depend upon the reason you cannot concieve to begin with. I did not mean to imply that the relaxation benefits were all it takes, only that relaxation was not an inconsequential side effect. Obtaining an accurate diagnosis in terms of Chinese Medicine and Orthodox medicine is imperative, which is why I have been emphasising the importance of only seeing a practitioner who has specialised in this field. Unlike many other holistic therapies, practitiones of chinese medicine receive thorough training in anatomy, pathology, pharmacology etc, etc, and can (and usually do) work alongside orthodox medical treatment.

iggi
PPF are ready made standardised formula in little pills which are usually around £5-£8 per pack (often last 1 week)They cannot be adapted. Powdered herbs (add to hot water) or 'raw' herbs which you boil to make a tea are more powerful and very effective (if a little bitter sometimes) can be prescribed to suit you perfectly (addition or subtraction of different herbs from the formula and in different quantities) and can cost around £12-15 per week minimum. These can be made into pills as well, for a little extra £.

It is possible to use a combination of PPF and powdered herbs, and the formulas used will be changed according to the stage of your cycle. ie, days 1-4, then 5-12, then ovulation, then luteal phase 15-28 (depending on the individual and their cycle obv.) PPF are still effective but cannot be personalised in the same way as raw or powdered herbs, but if cost is an issue they are a good option.

If you are about to start IVF cycle then you will prob not be offered herbs, but if you aren't, or are trying to prepare your body for IVF in future then you may be offered them. A typical minimum course of fertility treatment is 3 months (due to length of time for follicle to develop from antral cells 120 days), although happily some people conceive much sooner than this.

does that make any more sense lol??

Thanks to Tothesea for local knowledge, have made an appointment to see someone - no space though for a month!
FeedTheBeast, you said PPF herbs were pricey, what are the non prepared ones called then? (I'm not sure if you typed what you meant to, IYSWIM!)

TTC DS1 for 7 months. Got impatient and went for acupuncture and was pregnant after 4 (weekly) sessions. After DS1 was born, I was unable to wee for a month due to the birth. Went for acupuncture and weed within 36 hours of the first session! I am a convert. In June had a post-viral thing and went for a 'balancing session' to ty and sort myself out. Found out 4 weeks later that I was pregnant and we weren't even hoping to try again till the following month!! It's good stuff!

Doesn't it depend on why you are unable to conceive? My chinese doctor sent me to a western fertility doctor because no amount of acupuncture or TCM would have helped me to become pregnant.

I would agree that if it helps you to relax it is great but it may not get you to ovulate or whatever your problem may be.

Colleague. sorry for sp mistakes oops.

The question of it is all placebo, or just due to relaxing is interesting. I won't go into all the details behind the TCM theory and treatment principles, but relaxing is a very important aspect which cannot be overlooked, as at the most basic level, when the body is stressed (even if you are not aware of just how stressed you are- which is often the case!) sex hormones are suppressed as a non essential body process and an almost permanent state of 'fight or flight' ooccurs instead. This, as you can imagine, makes conception very difficult. I am by no means saying that it is the only contributary factor, or the only aspect that practitioners work on, but it is not to be dismissed as an irrelevant side effect of the treatment.

FeedTheBeast

oh and reference to the prevailing ethnic origins of members of the reulatory bodies in my previous post was for info only - (i mean i'm in the ATCM and British, not Chinese) it should have no real bearing on anything really- was just saying. Most important thing is a specialist interest in fertility.

torshihunter in the north east go and see oriental health Laura who owns the practice is a friend of mine, but going on maternity leave soon, her colleauge will be able to help.

British Acupuncture Council (BAC) practitioners are great, but check they have done the extra training in fertility, and have a specialist interest in it as it is a very complex subject and needs an accurate chinese medicine diagnosis to result in successful treatment outcome. Association of Traditional Chinese medicine (ATCM-UK) are also ok, mostly Chinese practitioners, whereas BAC are mostly British.

HTH

I'd been ttc for over 3 years when I tried acupuncture.We'd both been tested for reasons for infertility,I'd had lap and dye tests,clomid all sorts with no joy.2 consultants told me that we would never have children naturally and we went on the waiting list for IVF.

I started acupuncture treatment and within a few weeks my irregular periods were regular for the first time ever,and within months I was pregnant.Sadly it was an ectopic pregnancy,and the consultants said that they didn't know how I'd managed to get pregnant,but that it was too risky for me to try again as it would almost certainly be another ectopic,if I even managed to concieve.

I am bloody minded,so went back to the acupuncturist and within a month was pregnant again and had a healthy dd.The consultants were astounded and didn't really know what to say.When dd was one,we decided to ttc again as we thought it might take a while,but I was pregnant at the first attempt,with no acupuncture treatment or any other 'help'.We now have 2 lovely dds.

I'm mrs cynical,but I'm convinced acupuncture sorted my body out and that my girls wouldn't be here without it.

Good luck.

I had two sessions of acupuncture and concieved DD3 the same month. I had been ttc for nearly a year too. I don't know if it was a placebo effect as I had relaxed and felt I was doing something positive to help myself.

I was booked in for my third session the day I found out I was pregnant and had to ring at the last minute to cancel - acupuncturist was delighted and didn't mind the late cancellation at all!

Have you had your thyroid levels checked? Mine were borderline underactive so never treated but recently have started medication even though they're still borderline - I've had so many improvements to various physical symptoms that I wonder if that's why I didn't concieve more quickly..ie my cycles have now gone straight back to 28 days after being all over the place after first pregnancy.

Good luck!

After 3 horrible miscarriages I am convinced I had my beautiful baby boy thanks to acupuncture. It regulated my periods and helped ovulation etc. and then had it early on in pregnancy to avoid miscarrying again and then late on in pregnancy to turn baby and induce labour. Baby did turn, but it didn't induce labour, baby's come when they are ready! I would thoroughly recommend Camilla at www.acuworks.co.uk
She has a really high success rate and it is such a relaxing experience which I am sure helps the whole process anyway.

I tried it for @ 5 sessions over 2 months. Stopped for a month and then got pregnant following month. Had been TTC for 2 years. Was also on clomid (ovulation fertility drug) but felt the accupuncture gave me lots of info on fertility and conceiving which definitely helped me feel more informed and in control of the situation.

To AbiAbi -when you do conceive I also highly recommend Lucy Skelton yoga www.lucyskelton.co.uk/ in Brighton. Again really relaxing. Good Luck

It was Anthea Mason at the Equilibrium Clinics - www.equilibrium-clinic.com/acupuncture.htm

She was just wonderful, and as i said I was preganant within 3 sessions. Amazing. It doesn't hurt, altho I did get a strange burning sensation near my tummy which i think she said was all my stress being released. It is quite emotional, I remember being very tearful in my first session. She was so kind tho and I swear this was the reason I finally fell pregnant.

I've found this thread really interesting. I'm near Edinburgh too iggy999 and I've emailed a couple of clinics to find out more. I do believe that it may be the relaxing effect that leads to success but there's no harm in that! We've been TTC for several months and it's making me increasingly stressed out about why nothing's happening.
Thanks for the links FeedTheBeast and tothesea.

having had 4 m/cs in 2 years - without any explanation from consultant who investigates recurrent m/c. i am desperate to try something new, does anyone have a contact for acupuncture in the North East?
thanks in advance