Acupuncture for fertility

[A1b2c3d4e5f6g7]

I've just started acupuncture and am two sessions in. Was wondering if anyone had any experiences on it they could share, and how long its worth continuing it for?

[quote A1b2c3d4e5f6g7]@Twizbe sorry I meant are there other things you found more useful you could recommend?[/quote]
Learning your body. I temped and charted for a few cycles and I learnt my own tell tale signs of ovulation and even which side I ovulated from.

Once I knew that I could stop charting or taking OPks

Mostly though it was accepting it wasn't going to happen naturally and starting the process of IVF. Then it happened naturally lol

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 she was lovely! Definitely felt more like a talking about my worries and leaving them behind kind of session.

She also recommended I go during certain parts of my cycle so I think that'll be almost weekly for the first while and then potentially move to something less frequent. My next appointment is next week after I should finish my period.

@SoozC @Asthenia so lovely to hear of your good results!! 🤗

@Twizbe I've heard this happening so many times, it can't be a coincidence, must be a psychological thing!!

@beckyCarlos re needles, this time I had them in my wrists, knees and ankles and most of them I didn't even feel going in or out! So far for my experience acupuncturists have their own way of putting them in and some parts of the body you don't (well I didn't!) feel them at all. And I'm not a fan of needles so you should be in good hands. I also don't look at them which I think helps 😅

Just to be clear, I don't mean 'relax and it will happen' because that is a shit thing to say to someone experiencing infertility.

I just mean for me, knowing my body was the first step. Accepting a child free life was 2+ years into our journey. It didn't happen overnight

@Asthenia and @SoozC that’s great! @sooz I’m similar to you I think in that I’m six cycles post miscarriage, so I started this a month ago to try to balance my hormones as they were a bit all over the place. Hopefully I’ll get somewhere soon.

@Twizbe I didn’t take it that way don’t worry! I’m so glad it worked out for you. I do track and temp etc, but I can’t accept that this won’t work just yet. Am trying to exercise and relax more, and with things opening up I’m socialising more etc which is taking my mind off it 😁

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 Sorry to hear you suffered a mc too. I really feel the acupuncture helped balance me out. My acupuncturist used moxa (she is a registered practitioner with lots of experience of treating pregnancy/fertility with acupuncture) and I actually found that such a positive experience! If we were ever to ttc again, I'd go to her straight away.

I was tracking and temping, but by that point only to try and pinpoint ovulation. Then I'd have to stop until my period as I was obsessing and getting very upset each cycle. The cycle of my successful pregnancy I think I knew in the back of my head, but didn't have any particular symptoms and had a big glass of wine the evening before I tested. And I only tested because we were going to meet friends whose child had recently had chicken pox so I thought I should check just in case. Biggest shock of my life!

Wishing you all lots of luck x

@SoozC mine mentioned that she'll be using moxa with me, it's encouraging to hear your positive experience so I'm excited to see what thats like!

@SoozC that's brilliant, I'm really pleased for you! Hmm mine does not use moxa, her focus is apparently acupuncture and nutrition. That's probably a really good tip also, and maybe I should stop temping and tracking after ovulation. I find myself studying my charts in the last week before period, its pretty unhealthy 😂

@choccrumpet let me know how the moxa goes!

I definitely found it less stressful than constantly checking symptoms and trying to put meaning onto everything! I did bbt and cm until I thought I'd ovulated, then tried to step back.

I'm a believer in trying things that you think will help, even if it's only a placebo or it improves your mental health. By the time I got pregnant that second time I was trying several ideas I'd kind of latched onto. One was acupuncture. Another was wearing a moonstone and rose quartz bracelet! Plus it was that cycle I took baby aspirin from ovulation until bfp and I was drinking LOADS of water (I don't normally drink that much, to my shame).

I will leave you to it now, as I remember being on these boards for over two years and getting to the point where I was just shouting at my screen, to the smug people who already had their babies and giving their "advice", to bugger off! So I don't want to come across as smug, nor to infuriate any of you with probably patronising suggestions!

But if you have specific questions, tag me or dm me.

Absolutely sending all the positive vibes your way, ladies x

@SoozC I know that. When trying for number 2 I jumped straight to proxeed supplements. She only took 6 months to conceive which was a huge improvement on 2.5 years lol

I conceived the month I started acupuncture. However difficult to say it was just that, as I was also temping that month (1st month I’d done it properly).
I did find it useful for relaxation
Good luck OP

@SoozC no actually I want to hear about people who got pregnant and what helped, as you've been through it already successfully!

Okay to update, I’m coming up towards the end of my six sessions every week, and so in a couple of weeks I’ll be moving onto two sessions a month - one the week before ovulation and one the week after ovulation

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 that went by really fast!! Do you feel any changes?

@choccrumpet I’ve had four sessions and I’m not sure! I had a horrible period last week or so ago, but wouldn’t have thought that was a positive. I’m due to ovulate in a few days so will update again. The benefits so far seem to be more related to my mood

Hello, sorry to jump back in, just catching up on the msgs. I had my first sesh today where she put needles around my abdominal area, arms and legs and then shoulders too. With a infrared light over the abdominal area. It felt fine but I could really feel a weight and movement towards my right side of my abdomin. It was as if it was gas, that kinda movement but it was heavier. When she came back I told her and she said that my right side is blocked. She also got the massage guy to work on my lower back/bum to help. Anyone been told anything about blockages? I'm Cd3 currently. My last cycle was later than usual but I'm sure it's down to something else not the accupuncture. She did warn me that my next period would be heavy. Felt like saying I don't want a next period haha

@Loops01 thanks for the update, that's really interesting. Maybe a very heavy weird period after acupuncture is normal then. Mine hasn't said anything about blockages, but seems to think mine is a hormonal problem. I haven't had any infrared or moxi etc, just plain old needles, feeling a bit short changed 🤣

@Loops01 that's interesting, mine hasn't mentioned blockages either. Day 1 of my period today and it's almost stopped.. I expect it to get heavier at some point today or tomorrow, don't get why it's doing this stop start thing

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 mine mentioned that's as part of acupuncture she does these different things too including a massage technique she mentioned, the electric cable thing, moxi and lots of other stuff so not sure if you're being short changed or yours is doing what she thinks is appropriate for you.. hard to know as I think their approaches are all different!

If you don't mind me asking - how much are you for it? I'm 25 mins of acupuncture and 30 mins of targeted massage (it's so good I'm bruised haha) and I have paid for a course of 3 which is £180. Tempted to get a course of 6 after this which is £275 I think? It's quite a lot to spend but thankfully these 2 work months have lots of overtime so I feel like I should spend it on myself for a change!!

She says my whole right side is blocked or locked so don't know if she means yin/yang type thing or a specific blockage or if it's stress/emotions related as she did say something about emotions last time? Maybe tmi but I had quite a loose bowel movement a few hours after today's sesh. Totally not expected but not like it was an urgency to get to the bathroom. Googled and apparently quite common with where she placed the needles as its like a cleanse.

@choccrumpet has the period pain gone? Very bizarre.

@Loops01 I have a 45 min session of acupuncture and its £85 a session. Its a lot, but I'm also central London so probably paying for that. I'm doing six sessions weekly, then she said its good to have a session the week before ovulation, and also a session the week after ovulation if I want.

Ah I'm Scotland so the price makes sense if your London! I'm £65 for an individual session. Only get discount on the block bookings. In having another one the wk before ovulation but it is mainly due to my shifts!

I had 3 cycles of IVF with fresh transfers and 4 frozen embryo transfers. I got pregnant on a cycle with no acupuncture after having had it for another two or three.

@Ethelfromnumber73 congratulations. Nice to hear of positive stories after all that!

@Loops01 mine are 45 mins for £55 and it's all acupuncture along with some other stuff that she does that goes with it. For 4 sessions I'll be paying £200 next week so it is expensive but hopefully worth it.

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 pain is gone which is quite normal for me in recent cycles and bleeding is quite light but it might start up again. So far fairly normal ish period apart from being crampy the day before which isn't normal.

@Ethelfromnumber73 Congratulations! Lovely the ivf worked. This is the thing, acupuncture seems to be helping some, not others