Chinese Accupuncture

[Blythe]

I think you may have o 1/2 days later as previous months you have the dip and then ovulation 1/2 days later.

 

[Briss]

On the other hand it's so unlikely I can get pregnant this cycle (I even had a cry on 2-3 DPO cos this became so apparent to me all of a sudden) so may as well proceed with acu to get myself into shape for IVF… cant believe how indecisive I am. My doc actually said the best way is to have acu every day including tummy area….I was going to start doing acu pressure myself at home and to my DH but by the time I get home from work I feel so tired that I can never find any energy for this. I am sure it's not hard just need to find a way to incorporate it into my routine like with juices. it takes ages to peel them all and then after clean the juicer but I do it almost everyday now as a matter of course. Unfortunately I do not lose any weight cos I do juices on top of my meals not as a replacement…

Blythe, I so agree with you re my temps cant understand why FF is being so unreasonable. cant wait for your acu session tomorrow, I am really curious how your doc going to explain your post O temps and also whether he is going to needle tummy points. Did he actually tell you what sort of deficiency you have in his view? my doc never explained this to me. I am just trying to understand this based on what my herbs are supposed to be doing. My previous doc did a lot to release my heat and she gave me lots of ginseng (all herbs were ginseng based). this one did not give me any ginseng.

 

[Blythe]

Oh no im sorry you were upset....i have mini break downs every now and then inc. yesterdAy. Not only has acu and herbs had negative effect on temps but i can no longer sleep and i feel angry all the time. Ive just printed out my charts ready for session this afternoon and tongue lashing im going to give them!

I have just treated myself to fertility friend membership for 90 days as have need to stalk charts!

I have not juiced since before xmas but have apples and carrots next to juicer. I will get back into my little routine once i return to work on weds. You are right that these things just need to become part of your daily routine then within a few days you do them without to much thought/inconvenience.

 

[Briss]

Blythe, your temp is moving up, hopefully it will get sorted soon. I wonder if your doc got your symptoms right

my acne is not getting any better despite having acu needles in my face and getting back on vitamins.

I also do smoothies as well as juices, my favorite at the moment: blueberries, banana, spinach and water - so delicious! you cant taste greens at all

I did not get fertility friend membership, I had 30 days free when I joined and found myself stalking charts all day long and raising my hopes up for nothing so decided against paying for it. I usually get 5 days free every few months so save up all my charts during this window.

Just wanted to share a very useful website on chinese herbs, https://www.radiantwonder.com/productlist.asp they sell ready made mixes but under "ingredients" they provide a very good explanation for each herb. I found a lot of my herbs there

 

[Blythe]

Ive just brought some spinach and will get the blueberries and banana tomorrow as that smoothie sounds good!

I had my treatment and talked the doc and his assistant whose english is excellent through my issues re temps and lack of sleep and foul mood and fear of being ripped off......they were quite flustered at one point going through my charts. Another doc, a female came in and said she got pregnant despite low temps and said not to stress too much about it and that my obsessing was not helping (really bothers me when people state the obvious.....what i needed them to say was dont worry we will defo get you pregnant!). Anyhow, they assured me that they would do their best for me and that it was not an instant solution. I had my treatment and he said the only time he would not insert needles into tummy was during period as the increase in blood flow may extend period.

He said by my pulse my kidney yang was not as deficent as it had been.

Im glad i said something as i have always been that girl who says nothing when the hairdresser has hacked her hair off....

 

[Briss]

Blythe, well done you! so did you get your tummy needles today? when I was going through FF pregnancy charts I also noticed that quite a few charts had lower temps

i replaced blueberries with pineapple today, it's tasty but not as good.

 

[Blythe]

Cheers

He needled ren 6&4 but nowhere else on tummy. He has never done the zigongs which is a relief as they hurt.....

Are you going tomorrow or do you think you will take a week out from it?

 

[Briss]

i decided to go tomorrow. I hope i am doing the right thing...

my right zigong was really hurting last week but after that my right ovary (the one I probably ovulated from) got so much better, it was really sensitive after O and I almost did not feel it after acu

 

[Briss]

Just got back from my acu session, it was very good although all needles were quite painful when they got in but I did not feel them during the session even zigong were ok! so i could totally relax.

I extended my herbs for another 6 weeks at a discount. My acne got worse and she added two new herbs for this. She said it's caused by excess heat which is so strange cos I am always cold but apparently, I have both too much heat and cold... no idea how I can have both and why my excess heat is not being used by my body to get rid of excess cold?

 

[Blythe]

Just got back from my acu session, it was very good although all needles were quite painful when they got in but I did not feel them during the session even zigong were ok! so i could totally relax.

I extended my herbs for another 6 weeks at a discount. My acne got worse and she added two new herbs for this. She said it's caused by excess heat which is so strange cos I am always cold but apparently, I have both too much heat and cold... no idea how I can have both and why my excess heat is not being used by my body to get rid of excess cold?

The session sounds good.....i dont like it when the needles go in not because they hurt, because they rarely do, but occasionally they hit a nerve (or meridian i suppose) and i get shooting pains up and down my leg which make me wince. Its good that you were able to relax though.

Hopefully the new herbs will help with the acne....strange about having both heat and cold...maybe you have heat in some meridians/organs and cold/deficiency in others....but like you i thought one would have balanced out the other.

I have a temp rise today so will see how that goes. I too have new herbs which he said would help with my mood/energy levels....i wonder how long they will take to kick in.

Im thinking il give the herbs/treatments 6 months...although i will have to reduce cost somehow by either cutting back on regularity of treatments or reducing herbal treatment but will see what they can offer me if i do become a longer term customer. Will review this in about 6 weeks though.

 

[Briss]

oh, that's quite unpleasant to be getting shooting pains up and down your leg! did you tell your doc about that? is it a good sign? face needles are the most painful, they always hurt but I so hope they will help with acne together with new herbs. my previous Chinese doc did a very painful procedure she called it scrubbing it's like a skin massage but extremely painful. it's like she was squeezing something out of my skin. someone explained later this is to get rid of excess heat. Now when I think of it, my acne got much better after that but I attributed it to vitamins may be it was due this procedure and maybe this doc did not rob me off (as I thought).

your temp is still very confusing, but considering that you are taking progesterone I would think it should be way up there. it's still quite clear that you ovulated so I would not worry about temp. I find temp so misleading most of the time, e.g. mine tends to go up during the second half of TWW and I always get my hopes up… also my doc seems to have lost interest in my charts, she is only concerned with my period, not the temp. So I am thinking I will stop temping next week, not altogether but I will temp mid cycle just to confirm my O date. Last few days before AF arrives I am getting so obsessed with temp, feeling happy and hopeful when it goes up and totally crushed when it goes down. I should not do it to myself so not temping during this period may help to relax and concentrate on something else.

Did you ask for a list of your herbs? I still did not get through my list properly and compare it to Lewis' recommendations.

 

[Blythe]

oh, that's quite unpleasant to be getting shooting pains up and down your leg! did you tell your doc about that? is it a good sign? face needles are the most painful, they always hurt but I so hope they will help with acne together with new herbs. my previous Chinese doc did a very painful procedure she called it scrubbing it's like a skin massage but extremely painful. it's like she was squeezing something out of my skin. someone explained later this is to get rid of excess heat. Now when I think of it, my acne got much better after that but I attributed it to vitamins may be it was due this procedure and maybe this doc did not rob me off (as I thought).

your temp is still very confusing, but considering that you are taking progesterone I would think it should be way up there. it's still quite clear that you ovulated so I would not worry about temp. I find temp so misleading most of the time, e.g. mine tends to go up during the second half of TWW and I always get my hopes up… also my doc seems to have lost interest in my charts, she is only concerned with my period, not the temp. So I am thinking I will stop temping next week, not altogether but I will temp mid cycle just to confirm my O date. Last few days before AF arrives I am getting so obsessed with temp, feeling happy and hopeful when it goes up and totally crushed when it goes down. I should not do it to myself so not temping during this period may help to relax and concentrate on something else.

Did you ask for a list of your herbs? I still did not get through my list properly and compare it to Lewis' recommendations.

The skin rubbing thing is called Gua Sha [there are other spellings] - I've never had it done but have wondered whether it was painful or not.

its so easy to become consumed by the temps...it does help break down the month but when i had my last mini break down with these low temps i thought what on earth am i doing to myself...Im now ok with my temps this month as my sleep is completely out and im waking up much later than usual [still adjusting temps though] but my usual routine will be back in play from weds when i return to work so will see what that does to temps. Im totally exhausted today as stayed up to watch The Iron Lady then was messing around with sewing stuff and just haven't slept properly for days.

Your temps look nice and steady and a nice increase too so that is positive.

I have no idea what herbs i am taking...I have not asked yet but may be tempted to do so in a week or two.

I was looking at acu-pens on amazon/ebay for a way to stimulate my points in between acu appts....still undecided on these though. Have you seen these before?

 

[Briss]

The skin rubbing thing was very painful but mainly because I had issues (I think). and once she found a peace of me that was particularly painful she just pressed on to my horror… and I ended up with really bad bruises on my tummy. I understand that if everything is fine with you it's not supposed to be painful.

you know FF actually does not recommend adjusting temps because I think it does not work for everyone. maybe that's your case I mean if your temps are more or less the same regardless of when you wake up then adjusting just wont work. I think unless you wake up at the same time every day, you should not really rely on your temps too much. you will of course see the pattern before and after O but just about

I did not have time to watch The Iron Lady last night but hopefully I managed to record it and can see it tonight  was it good?

I find herbs very complex, I have been researching them for weeks (on and off) and still not even close to understanding how they work and balance each other. I found a few in my mix that work well together to deal with spleen qi deficiency.

I have not seen acu-pens but I can probably just start with my fingers and once I can get myself to do it regularly I may consider investing in acu-pens

 

[Blythe]

The skin rubbing thing was very painful but mainly because I had issues (I think). and once she found a peace of me that was particularly painful she just pressed on to my horror… and I ended up with really bad bruises on my tummy. I understand that if everything is fine with you it's not supposed to be painful.

you know FF actually does not recommend adjusting temps because I think it does not work for everyone. maybe that's your case I mean if your temps are more or less the same regardless of when you wake up then adjusting just wont work. I think unless you wake up at the same time every day, you should not really rely on your temps too much. you will of course see the pattern before and after O but just about

I did not have time to watch The Iron Lady last night but hopefully I managed to record it and can see it tonight  was it good?

I find herbs very complex, I have been researching them for weeks (on and off) and still not even close to understanding how they work and balance each other. I found a few in my mix that work well together to deal with spleen qi deficiency.

I have not seen acu-pens but I can probably just start with my fingers and once I can get myself to do it regularly I may consider investing in acu-pens

Meryl Streep was mesmerising and even if the film had been pants i would have kept watching it for her portrayal of mad maggie alone. The film really centres on her now with various flash backs with Jim Broadbent as Dennis and very funny he is too. I was very moved by it [although i am very moved by most things nowadays. I watched 'One Born Every Minute...' and was sobbing!!]


I wouldn't fancy the skin rubbing on my tummy at all. I did like cupping and quite fancy a session of that soon or a good hard massage. My doc gives me a mini massage afterwards and he is really really gentle which i can hardly feel - if anything it ticklish - I want pressure!!! Thanks for info on FF and temps - il think il just ignore this month temp wise.

 

[Briss]

I love Meryl Streep! cant wait to watch it. I loved 'One Born Every Minute when I started TTC but after a while I realised that it's becoming difficult for me to watch because I may never get to experience that. also I started having these dreams like I am giving birth and then holding my child and I am so happy but then I wake up to a bfn or AF… so I am trying to stay away from all pregnancy relating TV for the time being

I also get a mini massage on my back every time after cupping, luckily it's quite hard. I guess I got bruising on my tummy after the skin rubbing cos the skin is more sensitive. but the most painful bits were feet and legs (legs were bruised as well after that but not as much). I literally had tears running down my cheeks while I was trying not to scream from pain. I love reflexology which can be quite painful but it's nothing compared to this skin rubbing. I had no idea I had places on my toes that could give me such pain. but who knows maybe it did give me a good cleaning and my skin got better because of that. I am not doing it again any time soon though

 

[Blythe]

briss - hows it going? are you 14 dpo today? any sign of AF?

 

[Briss]

I loved the Iron lady! both Meryl Streep and Jim Broadbent were wonderful! although the movie was so sad, I was sobbing through most of it

Had a bit of a argument with hubby this morning, he was going to do a sperm test today but changed his mind, I was so upset with him! it was probably particularly hurting cos my temp went down so AF should be here any day now (hopefully it will wait until at least Friday, cant stand the short cycles!), yet another failed cycle and I still have no idea whether tonnes of vitamins that he has been taking last 6 months made any difference or if we are just wasting our time and money (all his supplements do not come cheap!). I am so hoping that his sperm count improved so we could at least start with IUI rather than IVF.

I am 13 DPO according to FF, I usually have 14 day LP but I am hoping FF got my O day wrong so I may have extra couple of days before AF arrives. I urgently need to plan a strategy for the next cycle to divert my frustration…

Blythe, your temp looks much better btw

 

[Blythe]

Yeah what a great film...very teary.

I have just been on phone to check if DH SA results are back and they are so i have made an appt. Often i feel like his mother...if i did not do these things they would not get done at all. I was shopping round for his supps earlier in the week as i could see he was running low [he didn't tell me!] - this took time and more ££....I appreciate your frustration as really they dont have to do too much in comparison to us ladies...

You still have some days to go so it may still be your month....I have seen tonnes of charts of FF where there are temp dips before a BFP.

i always have a fairly good idea at least 5 days before AF as my PMT symptoms are coming earlier and earlier these days or perhaps it just my obsession with it all. My DH says i am obsessed when he sees me examining stuff on the web...he is right of course!

 

[Briss]

I know I also hope up to the last moment when AF is definitely there but even then there is still hope. There was this lady on FF forum who did her last ever IVF attempt, she got bfn and then AF turned up, It was devastating to read through her posts, so she used tampon and went on to have a bath trying to relax and asses her life. when she got out she noticed that AF sort of slowed down and then it stopped and two days later she got her bfp! miracles happen so I hope and hope and hope but I guess deep down we kind of know even a few days before AF is due that it's all over.; here I am entering the most painful stage of the cycle last few days before AF when you feel she is approaching but still hope that she will get lost on her way…

Good luck with DH's SA. I hope it's good news!

re supps, not only I am supposed to buy all his supps and pay for them, I am also expected to approach him at the right time and in the right way (every day!!) so he actually takes them! He is also supposed to be taking Chinese herbs but it's a struggle, instead of taking them 2-3 times a day I can barely manage to get him to take them once a day and I also have to hear him complaining how I am poisoning him… I was so happy my DH heard yesterday on the news that the oldest men who died recently said that he was taking some Indian brown herbs that supposedly extended his life. I am using it as my argument now

 

[Blythe]

I know I also hope up to the last moment when AF is definitely there but even then there is still hope. There was this lady on FF forum who did her last ever IVF attempt, she got bfn and then AF turned up, It was devastating to read through her posts, so she used tampon and went on to have a bath trying to relax and asses her life. when she got out she noticed that AF sort of slowed down and then it stopped and two days later she got her bfp! miracles happen so I hope and hope and hope but I guess deep down we kind of know even a few days before AF is due that it's all over.; here I am entering the most painful stage of the cycle last few days before AF when you feel she is approaching but still hope that she will get lost on her way…

Good luck with DH's SA. I hope it's good news!

re supps, not only I am supposed to buy all his supps and pay for them, I am also expected to approach him at the right time and in the right way (every day!!) so he actually takes them! He is also supposed to be taking Chinese herbs but it's a struggle, instead of taking them 2-3 times a day I can barely manage to get him to take them once a day and I also have to hear him complaining how I am poisoning him… I was so happy my DH heard yesterday on the news that the oldest men who died recently said that he was taking some Indian brown herbs that supposedly extended his life. I am using it as my argument now

i love stories like that....your post made me laugh [obviously not the final stage bit... its the pits and i know it only too well]

every now and then i do a bit of family tree stuff and have spent a couple of hours on it this afternoon [when i return to work tomorrow i just wont have time] and found my great great great nan who had a baby at 42 and my own nan had her last at 44. Having done this on and off for a while i do notice women having babies throughout their fertile life up to late 40s. Im always very heartened to see this...bet they were obsessing about coq10 and the like!!