Chinese Accupuncture

[MalaMae]

Thanks Blythe

The OPK, BBT does give us rough idea when we ovulate, but this month I realized it doesn't really matter, because if you have sex every 3 days you'll actually hit the day (more or less). My sister conceived her kids on CD5-6 and CD7-8! Go figure!
This cycle will be my last that I take the BBT. I already hid the saliva monitor.

In the next months, I'll be concentrating on my trip this summer to home (Macedonia)- hopefully that will take away my thoughts from ttc. Already DH bought the tickets to Amsterdam, now we have to figure out flight from Amsterdam to Skopje.

 

[Briss]

MalaMae, 6 months of acu is fantastic and hopefully it did its job in preparing your body for BFP so may be you are right you just need to let it go. will keep my fingers crossed for you. please do not forget us though, love your posts!

Blythe, just got home from work, was so busy today but hopefully next week I will launch one of my deals and it'll get easier. not great for TTC but then I did not cry, I always cry a lot during AF and this time just did not have even a minute to think about it so maybe it's not that bad. will try to do some yoga tomorrow, am so exhausted so unlikely manage any aerobics

 

[Briss]

Alison I had really weird AF after the procedure not sure why but I think it's normal. they say you are supposed to be more fertile a few cycles after that, fingers crossed

 

[MalaMae]

Thanks Briss I hope you're right, I hope the acupuncture did some goodness
No worries, I'll pop in sometimes. I won't forget you girls. How can I? You've been an amazing support, strong crying wall, always full of encouragment and comforting words. You know exactly know how I feel.

I hope soon this thread will be transffered to the "expecting" forum and we'll cry over our morning sickness )

 

[Blythe]

MalaMae, 6 months of acu is fantastic and hopefully it did its job in preparing your body for BFP so may be you are right you just need to let it go. will keep my fingers crossed for you. please do not forget us though, love your posts!

Blythe, just got home from work, was so busy today but hopefully next week I will launch one of my deals and it'll get easier. not great for TTC but then I did not cry, I always cry a lot during AF and this time just did not have even a minute to think about it so maybe it's not that bad. will try to do some yoga tomorrow, am so exhausted so unlikely manage any aerobics

Not thinking about AF and TTC is ALWAYS a good thing - quite rare though isn't it. I wouldn't worry about the aerobics for now but please do try and get some good stretching in and get the blood going round and try to switch of your brain for a bit. I hope once your deal goes through work will ease up a bit...are you a lawyer?

I find watching the new 'dallas' helps me completely switch off from stresses of life and TTC - im not taking the p*** either - its great

 

[Briss]

working all day today, all stressed out. got some of the documents delivered cos working from home, hubby got a shock when he saw 500 page document that I was supposed to read, but when I told him that i actually drafted this document (yes I am a lawyer) he could not believe it. just shows how little he understands about what I do cant wait for this deal to close, cant believe it's already 5 pm I was so busy did not even notice how the day's gone and did not take my herbs cos was sure it's still morning... I never watched the old 'dallas', not even sure what the new one is about I'll give it a go though

 

[Blythe]

Briss - hope you getting on ok and ploughing through what needs to be done.

are you still noticing improvements in your bleeding (ie less clots) since finishing the acu?

I notice I bleed less and it's a bit stop/start so not sure if this is an improvement of not....suspect not as my period seemed pretty normal before.

I have my cross lines today ....highest cover line ever bit I agree I think I did ovulate on cd15 so the black cohosh has delayed my ovulation a little....which is no bad thing.

Dallas is full of bad acting, oil deals, intrigue, some terrible plastic surgery and sex with a hot little stud....John Ross Ewing!!! It's a raunchy eastenders set in the us....I'm afraid for this reason I cannot recommend it to others but it is something I enjoy very much!

 

[Briss]

Blythe, great to see your cross lines! did you get a positive OPK after all or you just stopped testing? your temps seem quite high but then you temp vaginally it might be different.

I also have stop and start AF, almost nothing on CD5 yesterday and nothing today. I am sure I am not done yet but because I was mainly seating and not moving much last few days I think I may get spotting after AF cos of poor circulation

I stopped vitamins, no particular reason just cant be bothered. continue with chinese herbs but this morning after drinking it on an empty stomach felt so sick

CD 6 for me, low on CBFM, will definitely look into black cohosh

 

[Blythe]

Yeah stopped the opk as had none left. Don't think I'm going to buy anymore from now on.....it would a strange month if I didn't ovulate between CDs 12-15 so I just need to make sure I cover those days. I usually feel ovulation so I'm just trying to find ways to make this less stressful.

Have you dropped all vits? Based on my experience I recommend the folate as I just feel its better for me than the FA and I rate the black cohosh too. I will continue with the coq10 and I have had no adverse effects from the micronised dhea so will get some more of those. Based on how tomorrows acu appt goes I will probably drop the herbs as its too expensive and I just have not noticed any great changes.

 

[Briss]

I re-read my favorite post on vitamins https://www.fertilityfriends.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=226042.0 to get inspired and motivated to continue taking them. I've been on large doses of everything for 15 months on and off, my FSH is still high and AMh is low, hopefully it's improving the quality of my eggs. I still have enough old herbs to last me until my appointment with dr Z after which I will probably be taking her herbs. getting morally prepared to pay for all that ...

I know what you mean about OPK, last 8 cycles I O on CD11, do not even know why I brother with CBFM anymore, just gives me something to do I suppose and I still hope my cycle will get longer.

I've been looking through Dr Z's book, chapter on herbs and it's actually more familiar to me than Lews' herbs, I can recognise more names from my own list, maybe we get different herbs here in the UK than what they have in the US

 

[Blythe]

im off to last appt this morning so this will be 15 weeks of herbs and acu and over £800 spent in this shop. I have been thinking about reducing cost by just looking at acu with them but the more i read the more i think its the herbs that are much more important than the needling....although of course it can be a nice relaxing thing to do and is the best bit about it all.

Im just not convinced that those pots of powdered dried herbs in most high street TCM practitioners are really that great in terms of quality/strength rather than containing any nasties. I think that will be one of the great things about Dr Zhai's clinic...the herbs will be great quality....what day is your appt? is your DH going with you?

Im getting ready for the hard sell again today when i tell them i want a couple of weeks break so depending on that i will decide whether to return to them or go to someone else.

 

[Briss]

Blythe, I agree, from what I read it's the herbs that are considered to be the main treatment not acu. also because my right ovary hurts so much when needled I do not miss acu a bit. Maybe you could just do it every 2-3 weeks? I know that Dr Z sees some of her patients only once a month and it seems to be working.

To be honest I do not think Dr Z's herbs will be any different from other chinese shops, surely they get their herbs from the same suppliers? she is more expensive because of where her clinic is and also reputation etc. I might be wrong though.

£800 for 15 weeks is not that bad, it's probably be twice as much for 4 weeks at dr Z... she also says it takes over 6 months to see any result

 

[Blythe]

i got the hard sell!! The receptionist sat me down and showed me the notes of another 40 year old who was 10 weeks pregnant. She explained she had kept doing the acu and herbs and had got pregnant twice - first she lost but this one sticking. The notes clearly showed she had done this through IVF but supported with acu and herbs. I said thats wonderful that she can afford to do both acu, herbs and IVF but that does not really effect me. Honestly, i cannot bear emotional blackmail.....it really has left a bad taste in my mouth and i think its wrong to try and pressure me into buying their herbs....Actually i can pay for it but im just not noticing any changes which justify the payments.

I did however sign up for 5 further weeks of acu as i like the doctor and find the treatments quite good. she showed me the herbal pills they would like me to go on and said they could do it at a reduced price - still works out at 16 quid per week - they are pills i can get on eBay so will check the prices in a mo. Im going to try and seek out a proper chinese herbalist that uses raw herbs and doesn't give me the hard sell.

the pills i made a note of were:

si wu tang wan

shi quan da bu wan

 

[Briss]

I checked the pills, they seem fine, some of the ingredients are on my list as well. although i read somewhere that raw herbs are the best, the next best thing is powder and after that pill form.

16 quid per week for herbs sounds cheap actually. how much did they charge for 5 weeks of acu? I am sure it's great that you will continue with acu, getting more blood directed to your reproductive organs cant be a bad thing

I hate hard sell, I think I mentioned how I spent £400 in one visit... still ashamed of myself. I am still very puzzled why hubby's chinese friends do not go to chinese clinics on london, it kinda worries me.

I ordered some more coq10 and pychogenol (for hubby) from nature's best, the higher natures' coq10 smells so bad I found it hard going.

I cant get enough sleep, feel so stressed and restless all the time, will have to go to the office tomorrow just cant properly concentrate at home

 

[Blythe]

for you briss - i hope you are able to get your work done and rest up soon....gearing up for ovulation is stressful enough [working out the BDing schedule, having to be extra sensitive and nice to DH etc], on the other hand maybe not thinking so much about it all is a good thing.

you are right about the herbs..im not sure if there is any point on spending £ on the tablets...will do some googling on it. I'm thinking i might just not take any until i find some other practitioner i have a good feeling about.

 

[Blythe]

im looking at a leaflet i picked up from another shop and they put the following pills under fertility treatment:

tao hong si wu

nuan gong yun zi

have you tried these?

 

[Briss]

I have not tried these.

I had tiao jing cu yun wan
https://www.google.co.uk/search?rlz...ge%3Dproduct_info%26products_id%3D207;400;348 but I did not like them I suspect they made me O early. Other pills were mainly ginseng related

 

[Briss]

here's one of my old threads on ginseng and other herbs and a herbalist actually recommends ginseng for pre AF spotting. have you tried ginseng?

https://babyandbump.momtastic.com/trying-conceive-over-35/468630-ginseng-anyone-2.html

 

[Blythe]

i used to take ginseng prior to TTC but have avoided it since....i don't know why. Maybe ive always thought of it as a natural caffeine substitute This post was very interesting - thanks for the link

 

[Briss]

I am reading this article https://www.londonacupuncture.co.uk/images/photos/high fsh.pdf on high FSH (although I should really be working right now) and i think in my case it might be caused by Liver and Heart qi stagnation and interestingly my herbal formula is very similar to what this doc is suggesting. Maybe it's "empty heat" that's causing my shortened follicular phase? but then there seem to be only one answer - reducing work and life stress. I'd really want to know how to do that...