Chinese Accupuncture

[Briss]

I am taking ginseng as a tonic and also tea, she made it herself so not sure what herbs exactly she mixed. I checked Shao Fu Zhu Yu Wan which seems quite good but unfortunatelly you cant take it with ginseng.

 

[MalaMae]

I am taking ginseng as a tonic and also tea, she made it herself so not sure what herbs exactly she mixed. I checked Shao Fu Zhu Yu Wan which seems quite good but unfortunatelly you cant take it with ginseng.

Yeah, sometimes some herbs don't go well together.

Another thing, I use to take prenatal multivitamins, B complex etc. I gave up ALL of that. Apparently taking them for too long (me- 2.5 years) is not healthy (too much folic acid=> breast cancer; too much iron=> inflamation in body=> cancer)
Try googling prenatal and cancer. The acupuncturist turned my attention to this.
And when you think about it, in the past women weren't taking prenatal before becoming pregnant, but only once they became pregnant and took it for the 1st trimester only.

Sorry, don't want to freak you out, I'm just trying to be cautious.

 

[Blythe]

MalaMae, that's very interesting about your doctor. mine also asked me about my period but she did not explain that having periods with clots means stagnant blood in uterus. Do clots also mean that the uterus is not getting enough blood? What did your doctor recommend about clots? To be honest I thought clots were normal I have them every time for a day or two. Can you tell us what pills are you taking for each phase? is it something that they make themselves or you can buy it elsewhere? I am asking because they sold me various herbs in form of pills which are much cheaper if you buy them online.

Blythe, the doctor recommended these herbs for hubby's low sperm count
https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=s...w=157&start=0&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:69

I bought them for 40 pounds (she gave me 20% discount) but apparently you can get them for 30 pounds on line. She also wanted to prepare tea for him but I am quite sure he is not going to take it so did not want to waste 42 pounds a week on this. The doctor is in Uxbridge so quite a long way from me but I think it's worth it because my friend's family have been going to her for years and are quite happy with her treatments. She does not specialise in fertility though and also there is a language barrier for example It was quite tricky to explain to her what FSH is. She also suggested that I should take their herb tea but I still have some from my visit to a different Chinese doctor 6 months ago. I barely manage to force myself to drink it 2-3 times per cycle. I think acupuncture is the key really.

yes the herbs make me heave! still i take powdered wheatgrass and maca in the am and it has the same effect...

I spoke with my old chinese doc and asked about blood clots and he asked how big - i said no larger than a 10pence piece and for first couple of days of cycle only - he said that is totally normal. I know the TCM diagnostics pay a lot of attention to a woman's cycle and secretions - i have lots of books on it so must check up about clotting and when its an issue.

my dh was moaning this morning saying the supplements had given him wind and were giving him other symptoms (i completely tuned off so did not hear him continue!) but honestly, I'm the one thats paying for them and doing all the obsessing so he should just shut it and eat them without moaning!

im glad you have found a good doc - the language thing can be a barrier but i believe a good doctor will know what is right for you from his examinations of your pulse, tongue, skin tone and even the tone of your voice BUT it would be nice if they were more au fait with the acronyms etc

 

[vermeil]

hello all of you fabolous ladies!

I'm 40 and ttc #2 for a year now. Currently on our first FIV cycle so I started doing accupuncture. I go to a clinic that specializes in fertility (they do nothing else). Though all of the visits add up (twice a week before egg extraction, before and after embryo transfer, etc etc. almost 1000$ now during our two month fiv cycle yikes!!) they do seem to know what they`re doing. They know all of the fertility lingo, ask the right questions etc. They cater each session to where you are in your cycle.

I went from huugue skeptic (i'm an engineer so very logical, fact based) so a huuuuge convert. I leave the sessions feeling soooo relaxed I can barely walk - I look drunk haha.

I'm also trying hard to follow the diet. Warm foods only. No tea at all, especially green tea (which I LOVED booo) which is considered a cold food. Only 'spicy' herbal teas. In fact she said no herbal tea at all is even better, only hot water with lemon, for the liver

There are 4 major researches on whether acupuncture helps with fertility. 2 say they do, one a little bit, the other a lot. 2 say they don`t. I`ve reviewed these and I find the samples are small and the improvements do seem a bit arbitrary. But we'll see, I'm crossing our fingers!

 

[Hope3]

I'm so glad this thread was so high up in the ratings. I was just about to start researching this. Saw the gynacologist last week and he said that I have unexplained infertility as my hormone levels are fine, my tubes aren't blocked and I'm ovulating. My partner's sperm are fine also, no issues there. I've noticed a lack of fertile CM over the last few months but he didn't seem bothered by that. I do have polycystic ovaries but not the syndrome. He said it was nothing to worry about.

He's going to refer us for IVF but I was thinking maybe I should try acupuncture. Any tips for finding a good practitioner in London?

 

[Blythe]

hello all of you fabolous ladies!

I'm 40 and ttc #2 for a year now. Currently on our first FIV cycle so I started doing accupuncture. I go to a clinic that specializes in fertility (they do nothing else). Though all of the visits add up (twice a week before egg extraction, before and after embryo transfer, etc etc. almost 1000$ now during our two month fiv cycle yikes!!) they do seem to know what they`re doing. They know all of the fertility lingo, ask the right questions etc. They cater each session to where you are in your cycle.

I went from huugue skeptic (i'm an engineer so very logical, fact based) so a huuuuge convert. I leave the sessions feeling soooo relaxed I can barely walk - I look drunk haha.

I'm also trying hard to follow the diet. Warm foods only. No tea at all, especially green tea (which I LOVED booo) which is considered a cold food. Only 'spicy' herbal teas. In fact she said no herbal tea at all is even better, only hot water with lemon, for the liver

There are 4 major researches on whether acupuncture helps with fertility. 2 say they do, one a little bit, the other a lot. 2 say they don`t. I`ve reviewed these and I find the samples are small and the improvements do seem a bit arbitrary. But we'll see, I'm crossing our fingers!

Interesting what you said about green tea....might have to reduce my intake! Bugger been chucking back the powdered maca stuff...it's like rocket fuel. So she only suggested hot water with lemon as your only drink?

It's so expensive isn't it....I'm having a break from it this month.

 

[Blythe]

I'm so glad this thread was so high up in the ratings. I was just about to start researching this. Saw the gynacologist last week and he said that I have unexplained infertility as my hormone levels are fine, my tubes aren't blocked and I'm ovulating. My partner's sperm are fine also, no issues there. I've noticed a lack of fertile CM over the last few months but he didn't seem bothered by that. I do have polycystic ovaries but not the syndrome. He said it was nothing to worry about.

He's going to refer us for IVF but I was thinking maybe I should try acupuncture. Any tips for finding a good practitioner in London?

I have found that grapefruit juice and cough medicine ( containing guaifensin) helps with cm....I have been to about 4/5 different practioners in London over the years for one thing and another...I have had mixed results so would not recommend any of them especially although I did go to talk to one in balham a couple of weeks ago and got a good feeling about him so will go to him if no BFp in the next month or two. Briss is another London lady in this thread who has just started with a new London practitioner....

 

[Hope3]

Thanks for the grapefruit juice & cough medicine tip. Do you take it only in the run up to ovulation or throughout the cycle?

 

[Blythe]

Thanks for the grapefruit juice & cough medicine tip. Do you take it only in the run up to ovulation or throughout the cycle?

Only run up to ovulation which is any day now. Only started this month and it works!

 

[Briss]

Hi Hope, I had a very unfortunate experience once with a Chinese clinics in London so was a bit cautions, but recently a friend recommended a Chinese doctor in Uxbridge and I had my first session on Sunday, they do not specialise in fertility though but I think Chinese medicine treats the body as a whole so anything they do will help fertility as well. She took her time to check my pulse and tongue and then said I was very stressed inside although I do not appear to be. I hope I get good results and will definitely keep you posted. One thing I noticed yesterday which was very unusual as I was seating with my bear feet on the sofa my feet were warm! and I was drinking cold GFJ! I never ever have warm feet I think (or hope) it's acu working.

I decided to just do acupuncture and force hubby to take herbs. My hubby is also complaining about vitamins and herbs while I am the one doing all the research and spending tonnes of money on them, not fair

I also drink GFJ every day up until O and take EPO. I am considering getting off my vitamins for 1-2 months and just do Chinese herbs for a change.

Blythe, please keep me posted on your research about clots, I really want to understand whether they are an issue, I had them all my life

 

[Elphabaa77]

I just started acupuncture this week, so I am still relatively new to it and looking to see other women's experiences with it. I was looking through the TTC over 35 forum and found this thread. I know Mala from another thread, so have already talked a little bit to her.

My acupuncturist did not ask me about clots, so now I am VERY curious too. I have always had a heavy AF with quite a bit of clots. I did not realize that could be old blood not being flushed out? My understanding was that the spotting I had 2-3 days prior to AF was old blood. I haven't had spotting at all the past 2 cycles which I thank the pregnitude supplement I take for helping that. My acupuncturist is not Chinese, but he is very knowledgeable. He made it clear that he thought I was on a bunch of 'junk' but since my general practitioner and my OBGYN were the ones to put me on the meds I take, he was not going to tell me to stop them. He also mentioned that prenatal vitamins are just mainstreamed junk. Again, he did not tell me to stop taking them, but made it very clear that it would not be his recommendation.

I went to see him for help with weight loss and with fertility. He told me that we could address them both at the same time to get me pregnant and the boost in metabolism I will get from being pregnant will help me lose weight. He said there was nothing wrong with me (at my size) losing 30lbs during pregnancy. He has seen it numerous times and the women went on to deliver healthy babies. It was refreshing for once to not have a doctor lecture me on how I need to lose weight. I started to get down on myself about it, and he joked with me... he said 'You need to lose weight... OH WAIT, you already know that!' and he laughed. So, he wants to address the fertility now and work on getting my cycles completely regulated and getting us pregnant.

He gave me a lot of hope and put my mind at ease. So, if nothing else, I am believer in acupuncture putting my mind at ease and helping me to relax!

 

[Elphabaa77]

Oh, and he was also a firm believer in sipping on warm water all day and trying to drink half your body weight in water each day. He said it can help the body in many ways and drinking it warm (he referred to warm as the temperature you would take your tea) is the best way.

 

[vkj73]

elphabaa77,
i am a believer of acupuncture. i truly believe it was a major
factor for conceiving our first.

i have done a few rounds the last 2-3 cycles, and have decided to take a break.
not because i've stopped believing, but primarily because it gets expensive, and i wanted to take a break from thinking about ttc throughout the day. i was taking herbs 3xs a day.

i really enjoyed the relaxation factor and getting solid advice on diet (i.e. eating warming foods).

good luck!

 

[Briss]

I spoke with my old chinese doc and asked about blood clots and he asked how big - i said no larger than a 10pence piece and for first couple of days of cycle only - he said that is totally normal. I know the TCM diagnostics pay a lot of attention to a woman's cycle and secretions - i have lots of books on it so must check up about clotting and when its an issue.

I had my second acu session today and asked the doctor about clots, she said it means poor blood circulation but acu and herbs should help. from this week I decided to take chinese herbs instead of my vitamins.

 

[Hope3]

I've found the Acupuncture Fertility Network website. I've got a week to go before I find out whether I'm pregnant or not. If it doesn't happen this cycle then I'll go to one of the acupuncturists on the list.

 

[Blythe]

I spoke with my old chinese doc and asked about blood clots and he asked how big - i said no larger than a 10pence piece and for first couple of days of cycle only - he said that is totally normal. I know the TCM diagnostics pay a lot of attention to a woman's cycle and secretions - i have lots of books on it so must check up about clotting and when its an issue.

I had my second acu session today and asked the doctor about clots, she said it means poor blood circulation but acu and herbs should help. from this week I decided to take chinese herbs instead of my vitamins.

Hi Briss - i have been having a look through my books on TCM and cycles and, more to the point, clotting! My understanding through conversations with TCM practitioners and through my own reading is that smallish bright red clots are a normal part of the cycle - sometimes i get them sometimes i don't (or at least don't notice them) - i think they are more of a concern if they are darker in colour or larger clots [obviously big caveat is that tcm diagnostics is unique to each person so the following may not apply for all girls with clotting - speak to a professional bla bla bla] - Dark Clots in menstrual blood - Ordinarily women don't worry about dark clots in their blood, but in oriental medicine, the clots are a sign that all is not well with the liver qi.....
maybe due to the following:

stagnant qi and blood - often due to nervous stress or emotional depression - may notice distended pain in chest and breasts, scanty blood with dark purple clots and an irregular cycle.

stagnant cold and damp - inhibits smooth flow of qi and blood causing blockage and pain - accompanying symptoms are a pale complexion, cold hands and feet, scanty flow with purple clots and a delayed cycle. caused by poor diet, excessive ingestion of cold/raw food and drinks or catching a chill when you are cold and wet during period. - hot water bottle at night - keep nice and warm - i have been told to keep feet in bowl of nice warm water in evening and use hot water bottle on belly - warming/easy to digest foods

stagnant liver qi and blood - can cause blood to sit and congeal rather than flow out freely and smoothly - dark clots result of stagnant liver qi that lead to liver blood stagnation - old blood that has been blocked and lying stagnant in the body will appear dark purple, or sometimes blackish with thick clots.
perhaps due to stagnant food in intestines due to overeating, stagnant blood due to trauma, long-term blood deficiency and dampness can all impede qis flow. - signs of qi congestion & liver stagnation are: feeling of fullness or discomfort in chest, belly or head, agitation, anger, frustration, depression, blood clots, pre-menstrual breast distention, irregular periods, and cramps at the beginning of the cycle {eeekks sounds pretty normal to me!)

advice is: warm the body with warming and nourishing foods - disperse stagnant liver qi and blood, tone and relax the liver, activate the qi. I know a lot of this stuff is done with needles and herbs but worth looking at self help stuff you can do. When i conceived my first i did qi gong - a little like tai chi. anyhow, just putting your hands over your liver and pretending its happy and smiling will help (sounds bonkers but i hope you get the idea).

I won't go on but there are other reasons such as weak spleen and one i have noticed to be a common thing here is kidney yang or jing deficiency - i think most of my treatments revolved around strengthening kidneys. I'm not so sure what they deal is if there is loads of blood and lots of larger bright red clots....

 

[Blythe]

I spoke with my old chinese doc and asked about blood clots and he asked how big - i said no larger than a 10pence piece and for first couple of days of cycle only - he said that is totally normal. I know the TCM diagnostics pay a lot of attention to a woman's cycle and secretions - i have lots of books on it so must check up about clotting and when its an issue.

I had my second acu session today and asked the doctor about clots, she said it means poor blood circulation but acu and herbs should help. from this week I decided to take chinese herbs instead of my vitamins.

Hi Briss - i have been having a look through my books on TCM and cycles and, more to the point, clotting! My understanding through conversations with TCM practitioners and through my own reading is that smallish bright red clots are a normal part of the cycle - sometimes i get them sometimes i don't (or at least don't notice them) - i think they are more of a concern if they are darker in colour or larger clots [obviously big caveat is that tcm diagnostics is unique to each person so the following may not apply for all girls with clotting - speak to a professional bla bla bla] - Dark Clots in menstrual blood - Ordinarily women don't worry about dark clots in their blood, but in oriental medicine, the clots are a sign that all is not well with the liver qi.....
maybe due to the following:

stagnant qi and blood - often due to nervous stress or emotional depression - may notice distended pain in chest and breasts, scanty blood with dark purple clots and an irregular cycle.

stagnant cold and damp - inhibits smooth flow of qi and blood causing blockage and pain - accompanying symptoms are a pale complexion, cold hands and feet, scanty flow with purple clots and a delayed cycle. caused by poor diet, excessive ingestion of cold/raw food and drinks or catching a chill when you are cold and wet during period. - hot water bottle at night - keep nice and warm - i have been told to keep feet in bowl of nice warm water in evening and use hot water bottle on belly - warming/easy to digest foods

stagnant liver qi and blood - can cause blood to sit and congeal rather than flow out freely and smoothly - dark clots result of stagnant liver qi that lead to liver blood stagnation - old blood that has been blocked and lying stagnant in the body will appear dark purple, or sometimes blackish with thick clots.
perhaps due to stagnant food in intestines due to overeating, stagnant blood due to trauma, long-term blood deficiency and dampness can all impede qis flow. - signs of qi congestion & liver stagnation are: feeling of fullness or discomfort in chest, belly or head, agitation, anger, frustration, depression, blood clots, pre-menstrual breast distention, irregular periods, and cramps at the beginning of the cycle {eeekks sounds pretty normal to me!)

advice is: warm the body with warming and nourishing foods - disperse stagnant liver qi and blood, tone and relax the liver, activate the qi. I know a lot of this stuff is done with needles and herbs but worth looking at self help stuff you can do. When i conceived my first i did qi gong - a little like tai chi. anyhow, just putting your hands over your liver and pretending its happy and smiling will help (sounds bonkers but i hope you get the idea).

I won't go on but there are other reasons such as weak spleen and one i have noticed to be a common thing here is kidney yang or jing deficiency - i think most of my treatments revolved around strengthening kidneys. I'm not so sure what they deal is if there is loads of blood and lots of larger bright red clots....

theres more!

reduce intake of iced or chilled foods or drinks, especially prior to and during period
cut down on raw fruits and veg, salads, citrus fruits, soybeans and soybean products such as tofu, millet buckwheat and dairy products,
east whole grains
eliminate very spicy foods and heavy red meats
ice cream is very bad
dont overeat
eat more warming foods that are easy to digest - foods that tone the stomach/spleen
to activate blood in cases of blood stagnation eat well cooked eggplant, amaze, saffron, basil and chestnuts along with warming spleen strengthening foods
to further nourish, clean and build the blood incorporate wheatgrass, spirulina, chlorophyll, blackstrap molasses, di huang, di huang and decocted longan fruit meats, dandelion, mugwort and safflower into your daily diet, sweet rice cakes, liver and kidney organ meat, congealed pork or cows blood (yummy!) and oyster are also recommended
dang gui is used to tonify the blood, regulate periods, treat dysmenorrhoea, and promote blood circulation, relieving pain caused by stagnant blood - it can be added to cooked foods or drunk as a tea with red dates, chinese liquorice, and peony root - avoid during bleeding and if pregnant - have
recipe for broth if interested
chicken has warming properties
jasmine tea with a teaspoon of them is believed to help calm jangled hormonally out of balance nerves
epo, black current seed and borage oils are rich in GLA and can help alleviate cramps

 

[Briss]

Blythe, Thank you! that's quite a research you have done there.

my clots can be rather dark and large… I guess I have problems with liver qi (whatever it is) and of cause I have nervous stress (constantly at work) and emotional depression (due to LTTTC) but I had clots before from the very start as a teenager. I guess being stressed and depressed is just normal for me. Keeping my feet in bowl of hot water is my favourite thing! but somehow it does not seem to help with clots. I usually feel cold (hands and feet are always cold) and I find it difficult to drink cold drinks, hot herbal tea and soups are my usual.

cut down on raw fruits and veg, salads, citrus fruits – quite hard as these are supposed to be healthy options, and GFJ is a must for EWCM.

eat whole grains – I eat a lot of these

eliminate very spicy foods and heavy red meats – easy, I do not like spicy and red meat is not my thing

no ice-cream, got it!

EPO does help with crams actually, since I started taking it I do not even remember having to take any pain killers during my period (which was a norm for me before)

what is dang gui? a herb? may be I already have it in my herb mix

I drink lots of nettles which is supposed to nourish, clean and build the blood. I tried wheatgrass and found it hard to swallow. spirulina and dandelion are actually on my list of thing to try.

cows blood? really?

I persevere with Chinese herbs twice a day and hopefully acu will make a difference on the clots front.

 

[Blythe]

Blythe, Thank you! that's quite a research you have done there.

my clots can be rather dark and large… I guess I have problems with liver qi (whatever it is) and of cause I have nervous stress (constantly at work) and emotional depression (due to LTTTC) but I had clots before from the very start as a teenager. I guess being stressed and depressed is just normal for me. Keeping my feet in bowl of hot water is my favourite thing! but somehow it does not seem to help with clots. I usually feel cold (hands and feet are always cold) and I find it difficult to drink cold drinks, hot herbal tea and soups are my usual.

cut down on raw fruits and veg, salads, citrus fruits – quite hard as these are supposed to be healthy options, and GFJ is a must for EWCM.

eat whole grains – I eat a lot of these

eliminate very spicy foods and heavy red meats – easy, I do not like spicy and red meat is not my thing

no ice-cream, got it!

EPO does help with crams actually, since I started taking it I do not even remember having to take any pain killers during my period (which was a norm for me before)

what is dang gui? a herb? may be I already have it in my herb mix

I drink lots of nettles which is supposed to nourish, clean and build the blood. I tried wheatgrass and found it hard to swallow. spirulina and dandelion are actually on my list of thing to try.

cows blood? really?

I persevere with Chinese herbs twice a day and hopefully acu will make a difference on the clots front.

dang gui is a herb and it may already form part of your treatment....

i too have a fair bit of stress as a result of work (bitchy men!!) and find it hard to switch off and properly relax. in TCM the liver governs the flow of energy (qi) around the body and for the storage and release of blood around the body (the chinese understanding of blood is slightly different to western medicines - I'm sure you know all of this anyhow so sorry if sound patronising) - might be worth looking at basic qi gong (sometimes chi gung) exercises for improving liver function and movement of blood - i keep it simple and try and set aside some time to breath deeply into my tummy and focus the breath on my major organs one by one and imagine them smiling and happy (suppose yoga would have the same benefit) - i say i set aside time, but in reality i google stuff to do with getting pregnant and become stressed - duh!!!

 

[Blythe]

Blythe, Thank you! that's quite a research you have done there.

my clots can be rather dark and large… I guess I have problems with liver qi (whatever it is) and of cause I have nervous stress (constantly at work) and emotional depression (due to LTTTC) but I had clots before from the very start as a teenager. I guess being stressed and depressed is just normal for me. Keeping my feet in bowl of hot water is my favourite thing! but somehow it does not seem to help with clots. I usually feel cold (hands and feet are always cold) and I find it difficult to drink cold drinks, hot herbal tea and soups are my usual.

cut down on raw fruits and veg, salads, citrus fruits – quite hard as these are supposed to be healthy options, and GFJ is a must for EWCM.

eat whole grains – I eat a lot of these

eliminate very spicy foods and heavy red meats – easy, I do not like spicy and red meat is not my thing

no ice-cream, got it!

EPO does help with crams actually, since I started taking it I do not even remember having to take any pain killers during my period (which was a norm for me before)

what is dang gui? a herb? may be I already have it in my herb mix

I drink lots of nettles which is supposed to nourish, clean and build the blood. I tried wheatgrass and found it hard to swallow. spirulina and dandelion are actually on my list of thing to try.

cows blood? really?

I persevere with Chinese herbs twice a day and hopefully acu will make a difference on the clots front.

H&B do a dandelion and nettle tea - acquired taste as so many of these concoctions are though!