Dr Zhai Observer Woman magazine

[LoraB]

I've booked to see her on the strength of the article in yesterdays Observer woman. Has anyone had any experience with her or with TCM and acupuncture? Would be great to hear your views.
I had acupuncture in December, it led to a bizarre 30-day-long AF; stopped the acupuncture, had tests at GP which came back clear, and did conceive 3 months later, but mc'd at 10 weeks in June this year.
I'm 41, DD is 3yr. GP beyond useless, just said all down to age, nothing they can do etc. She has referred me to see private consultant at UCH though.

Am bunping as am in the same boat - ie 41, 2 yr old DD, been told egg donaton is the only way I'll get pg. I was impressed but also depressed by that article. Is she very expensive? And no waiting list? I imagine after the article though her client nos will go through the roof....

yes i read the article and also want to go - my dh talked me out of it! Very expensive.

yes i read the article and also want to go - my dh talked me out of it! Very expensive.

I read the article and found it to be inspirational, regardless of fertility (or lack of!)
To think that there are people out there - whatever your opinions of alternative medicine are - that are looking under every stone for any way possible to make a couple's dreams come true... that's very heartening indeed.

Good luck to you all x

thanks for your messages and your positive vibes, jumblequeen.
I actually got through straightaway and we are going in two weeks time, so I will keep you posted. She is talking at the Fertility show, so I guess she might be even busier after that. She does the initial consultation and somebody else does the acupuncture so I guess that way she can see as many people as possible - which is win-win, esp for her

Yellowflowers, sorry your DH is not into the idea. I suppose it depends how much you are prepared/able to invest overall - if this works, would be so much less than going down IVF route. Could you try another TCM pratictioner?

Hi just wanted to add that I did not read this article but I used acupuncture and chinese herbs last time round. After a year of trying, I went to a tcm practitioner - she gave me acupuncture and herbs to drink and pills to take and some for husband - we conceived DS on the first month. Not sure if it was coincidence, but this time I am using her again and started this month on cycle 3. I go once a week and she charges approx £25 - 30 per session for a one hour session. I am not in London so you'll prob pay a bit more in London, but am in a regional city. At the moment she puts a few needles in my legs and one in my head then I relax and usually fall asleep for the rest of the hour. She also gives me a head massage half way through. The pills are about £8-9 per bottle for 8 days worth. She also gave my husband some herbs to boil and drink which were foul but they were expensive - i think about £37 for a weeks worth inc the consultation.

Btw the needles are very very thin so it is pretty painless and make sure they use the pre-sterilised needles that are thrown away after each use.

That is really encouraging to hear. Hope it works out again for you this time.

LoraB - I really hope it works out for you. I've thought about turning to acupuncture for other things in the past so please do let me know how it goes...

x

Londonlottie - would you be prepared to tell me the name of the one you used your successful cycle?

I've read it too and am in just the same situation - umming and ahing about it. But we're outside London, so it would, I think, just be too difficult to do.

Is there any way of finding a reputable TCM practitioner? Londonlottie and Pointswinprizes - how did you find yours? We're in the South West - Bath and Bristol are both pretty accessible for us.

Sixfold - there is an Acupuncture Fertility Network where you can search for local practitioners. I found a great TCM person off this.

Acupuncture Fertility Network

thanks! Will try one of the two local ones then.

AF arrived today and I am feeling quite grim about the whole thing.

Ditto - AF arrived yesterday. I did find acupuncture helped me relax about the whole TTC business. Mind you, my lady worked a lot on my stress points - I think she thought I needed it!

For most of my cycle I am fine about the whole thing - and can even think of reasons why another baby now, with such a long gap, wouldn't be a good idea. But then AF comes and I fall apart for two days.

If acupuncture just deals with that, it will have been worth it.

Am also very interested in this lady (on the basis of the article), especially as I'm pregnant after IVF/ICSI because of my DH's low sperm count...

But was also a bit suspicious of comparing her stats with an IVF clinics - not exactly comparing like with like! Still, I think I'd go and see her (for us both) before we started any future treatment for another child.

On the accupuncture front, I also saw 3 different ones. The first, during normal ttc, was a TCM practitioner but no herbs. It was fine, but I stopped going after a couple of months as he was basically "you're fine" (which turned out to be true once we'd had our official medical investigations). The second one was in the run up to IVF and was a 5 Element practitioner (I wanted to see the difference between TCM and Five Element). He had no clue about fertility, and despite being a really nice guy, and burning lots of moxa, I just found myself resenting the £60 plus quid I was whacking out each week .

I stopped the 5 Element guy when Lottie told me about Ian at Balance. He was great, both in the run up to and during treatment. He knows his stuff about fertility and went above and beyond I felt during my treatment (I had embryo transfer on a Sunday and he did my pre and post-ET sessions in his house!). As Lottie says, his (purely anecdotal) success rate on the assisted conception thread is v good.

But Lora please do keep us updated about how you get on with Dr Zhai. I'd be very interested to hear about it

Yellowflowers I know what you mean about the cost...my DH said the same so I reminded him of the £££ we spent on everything over the years - clearblue monitor (and sticks), expensive vits, sperm tests, not to mention the ICSI itself! That soon shut him up . I saw your other thread about the Fertility Show - let us know how you get on (will there be a shrine to Zita West I wonder??)

And wishing everyone the very best of luck with ttc!

thank you - I will check him out and maybe book an appointment

Thanks for all the messages and information, haven't been on for a few days so only just seen them.

Just checking to see if there was any update and how you were all getting on? This is my second cycle on TCM (4th cycle overall) and I think it is definitely working again for me. Usually my cycles are anywhere between 31 - 36 days with the last 3 being nearer the 36 day mark but this cycle, I have actually ovulated today which is Day 15! Normally I don't ovulate until around Days 20 - 22 so this is indeed great news for me as hopefully my cycles are going to regulate. I also started taking evening primrose oil this month and have definitely noticed an improvement in my ecwm - lots more of it. EPO is also meant to help regulate cycles too so sure this has also had an effect.

Best of luck for this month
x

I got my dates a bit mixed up when I first posted, so we actually saw Dr Zhai last week for the initial consultation, which was mainly discussing medical history. She took my pulse and looked at my tongue. She is sending me for some other tests at another place in Harley Street and DH for semen analysis. He said he has never heard the word 'semen' used so often in an hour. I said, get used to it!
As she put it, she 'needs to get to know' me before she can make any recommendations.
Points, glad to hear the acupuncture is having a positive effect, didn't know that about EPO, I've been guzzling grapefruit juice for the CM!

Should also say she gave us dietary advice and charts for temping.

I just spotted this chatlink and wanted to add that I've been seeing Dr Zhai for the last six months. After 4 failed attempts at IVF, and my clinic advising me that my only real option was egg or sperm donation, of which my partner and I are not ready to consider, a follow-up visit to Dr Zhai in May 2010, gave me a renewed feeling of optimism and hope. She takes all the pressure away concerning age, most of her clients are 40ish, and she helped present some other alternatives to us like vastectomy reversal. Our situation is not an easy one but after 6 mths of herbal tea and electro-acupucture I am seeing a difference in my temperature charts (much smoother cycle and pulse). We have yet to try another treatment cycle to know what improvements it's made but she has at least given me back a feeling of power and control, which I had lost.

Hi Jojames7, I have also had 4 failed IVF attempts and am planning to see Dr Zhai. How is your treatment coming along.