Is acupuncture woo?

[SmallHope]

I really want to try something to help with my fertility and mental health.

I eat a very healthy diet, I practice a bit of yoga and mindfulness, I exercise a lot, and I've finished a 3-month course of CBT so I'm doing everything I possibly can but I'm still struggling with low mood and awful periods due to endometriosis.

I'm very unwoo, but has acupuncture helped anyone and is it worth a try?

I used to think that it was totally woo- not to mention slightly crazy to allow yourself to be pinched with all those needles

However, after spending 12 months TTC after having a missed miscarriage that was only picked up at the dating scan, I decided to give it a try

I was 39 and starting to feel a bit desperate

One week I had an appointment at an NHS fertility clinic (referred by GP) and the next week I had my first appointment at a traditional Chinese medicine clinic- had my first ever session of acupuncture and agreed to try a course of Chinese herbs (extremely foul tasting tea!)

I then had my second session of acupuncture the following month, and then my 3rd session the month after.

After my 3rd session I had a positive pregnancy test exactly 2 weeks later

This resulted in DC2 who is now 10 months old

Who knows whether it was all just a huge coincidence, but I really feel that the acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine treatment made all the difference for me.

I had acupuncture during my first round of IVF and the cycle failed. I was with a top acupuncturist accredited to everywhere!!.m He said if we came to him he could sort us out naturally. We have MFI - all my tests came back fine. We went with him and I didn’t get pregnant and not only that but my cycle went insane. I mean from a 28 day regular cycle with normal 4 day bleed to a 35 day cycle and half a day of light bleeding. I’ve stopped it now as it’s been a totally waste of money and I’m now waiting to see if my cycle will go back to normal. It’s so upsetting when cycle being regular is so important for ttc. Maybe try it for a month but if you don’t get anywhere leave it as anecdotally it does seem to work for some people. I regret going as we had male factor but he insisted Chinese medicine could help regardless (my DH was also taking herbs). Also we did see an improved sperm count for my husband but the DNA was incredibly fragmented so that didn’t help us move any further toward pregnancy.

Wow, reading through all the previous posts I am amazed at all the stories of women becoming pregnant following acupuncture sessions.

I really believe that there is something in it- ok I probably wouldn't hold this opinion if I spent a year doing it and did not conceive- however, it worked for me and I can only recommend it

@annasteen

I'm so sorry to hear that has happened to you.

Can I ask how long you saw him for?

We recommend at least weekly for 3 months prior to IVF as sometimes cycles will go haywire to start with.

It's very, very rare for something to get worse with acupuncture.

I can't say if it helps or not, I've only had two sessions for fertility. The first was several months ago then we had to stop TTC for 12 weeks as was due to have a hysteroscopy and bloods done. So I didn't go back for a while.

I recently had my second session for this current cycle and my therapist (?) said afterwards to go away and get pregnant.

Sadly, this has been an especially long cycle and my egg took so long to pop out (day flipping 36 FFS ) that we had to miss our chance as our potential baby due date would have been only 1 week away from our wedding next year.
So I am going back for my third session soon. I'm hoping next cycle will be the one. 3.5 years of wanting my rainbow baby is taking its toll.

Give it a try if you can afford it. If it helps, mine was £60 for initial appointment, which was very thorough and informative. Then £40 a session afterwards.

Best of luck!!!

I have tried it & it worked for a minor painful shoulder, mostly because I wanted to try it.

It did give me an extreme sense of calm at a very stressful time which I didn't expect - kind of a zoned out feeling that was unexpected & enjoyable. I actually almost wished I had more ailments that needed fixing!

When struggling to concieve I was lucky enough to be able to access a nutritionist through work, she reccommended reflexology over accupuncture. I didn't have the money at the time to try either though.

If you can comfortably afford it then what have you got to lose by giving it a try?

@chocolatebumby Yes i went to him for 3 months as that was also what he recommended. He is very highly qualified and accredited to all the professional bodies. I didn’t get pregnant and my cycles went from being completely normal my whole life to late and hardly any bleeding. It was definitely the acupuncture & herbs as I didn’t do anything else during that time and there was a gap of 6 months between the end of the failed IVF (which I saw him during so I didn’t take any meds) and starting with him during which my periods were also completely normal.

My experience is not that uncommon as I found a thread on mumsnet where several people experienced the same as me. I would now advise people to be very very wary starting as while there is anecdotal evidence it works for some people there is also evidence it can mess everything up.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1573761-Did-Chinese-Herbal-Medicine-Mess-Up-Your-Cycles

Sorry I saw him weekly for those three months.

@AnnaSteen oh blimey, now I'm wondering if the session this cycle had an effect on my ovulation...
There are a couple of other factors that might have done this though so I don't know

Acupuncture has been proved categorically not to work. It is an expensive placebo.

I understand it might be the only 'alternative' treatment that has a solid evidence base beyond the placebo effect, provided the practitioner has been professionally trained at a reputable Chinese institute. As with most alternative treatments, there are lots of practitioners with no solid training.

Nope. Doesn’t work wherever they are trained.

@AnnaSteen

I'm so sorry to hear that. I don't work with herbs so can't comment on that.

I hope things work out for you in the future.

I've no personal interest in this subject, Bertrand, but would like to see your evidence base given the strength of your opinions (I know it's 'difficult' to prove a negative).

From my limited research and understanding, overall, it appears to me that acupuncture has relatively weak evidence for a small positive effect for some conditions. I've only skimmed this morning but found several 'sceptical' sites and many 'pro-acupuncture' sites so I looked at the Cochrane -

www.cochrane.org/search/site/acupuncture?f%5B0%5D=im_field_terms_cochrane_library%3A49909

I've only skimmed the Cochrane reviews - for example -

"The review shows that in people with fibromyalgia:

• acupuncture is probably better than non-acupuncture treatment in reducing pain and stiffness and improving overall well-being and fatigue'

I've not looked for or seen the evidence NICE considered but presumably NICE saw enough positive evidence to recommend treatment for the two? conditions it recommends acupuncture (simplistically, NICE's mission being cost effectiveness, I'd hope they'd not recommend treatment without positive evidence).

Not my circus, not my monkeys but I had to smile at some of the sceptical sites that dismissed the small positive effect with weak evidence that equated to the effect of freely prescribed 'Western' treatments (NSAIDS for lower back pain). I'm not sure how many people realise what little (or no) evidence base there is for many UK NHS-prescribed medications and treatments.

I don't care if it's because it's a placebo - but it can work.

I agree, with above, you need a suitably trained practitioner.
Of course, it's not a miracle solution, you can't reasonably expect 100% success. When GP surgeries offer the service of an acupuncturist, it can't be that wrong either.

It worked for me, it worked for different people I know, it didn't save friends fighting cancer (who did use acupuncture in addition to the "usual" treatments).

Absolutely worth a try.

Wow, reading through all the previous posts I am amazed at all the stories of women becoming pregnant following acupuncture sessions.

And are the ones who had acupuncture and didn't get pregnant going to post on here? And I'm so sorry to hear about your experience @AnnaSteen - a warning to us all that herbs are not "harmless" I think.

(I have had acupuncture, though not while TTC, it was for pain and at a different period of my life. I have got pregnant several times though miscarried them all).

Women suffering with horrendous periods have found a lot of relief - surely it's better than taking painkillers and wasting days of your life every month.

No comment about the herbs, because ultimately they are medicinal and not as safe.

“When GP surgeries offer the service of an acupuncturist, it can't be that wrong either”

It’s not paid for on the NHS any more. Because it doesn’t work.

I have it for migraines and it works very well. I've never heard of it being used for mental health issues though.

BertrandRussell
maybe it doesn't work for you, but it works for some of us 🤷

I understand it might be the only 'alternative' treatment that has a solid evidence base beyond the placebo effect,

It doesn't, at all.

Interesting article

www.webmd.com/infertility-and-reproduction/news/20180515/no-evidence-acupuncture-boosts-fertility-treatment

I had it for anxiety and fell asleep 😆