The appointment was 20 min late which was rather annoying because my DH and I were taking time off work and also it was really hard to get my DH to go there in the first place so he was trying to use every excuse to leave. After we were finally showed in, we spent some time going through her form and answering outstanding questions (the usual TCM questions (but limited in number compared to Lewis' list) and medical history questions). She started with getting my age wrong, she thought I was 45! (thank you very much, do I REALLY look like 45?) then she gave us a speech about women between 35-45 being pre-menopausal and having difficulties conceiving. She also talked about lifestyle changes for quite a bit but I just remember holding my pen waiting until she says something important to take a note of and did not write anything in the end because everything she said was quite basis stuff and we all know that (eat well, fruit and veg, exercise, relax etc). But she did mention actually a few things that we should avoid which includes chili/curry, cold drinks and sugar is also in "avoid" category (I really need to take this seriously and start a war on chocolate) she also explained what TCM is and how acu and herbs are used (I did not need to pay 250 pounds to hear that) So I do not really have that much to say about this part. In the end she gave us a list of lifestyle recommendations where she ticked what applies to my DH and I which is helpful.
Then she checked my pulse and tongue and her assistant and she immediately said "red"! like it means something. I asked what it meant and she said she will explain but she never properly did actually. but when she was examining my tongue she looked at her assistant and said "worry". Later she also said it means I have excessive heat. They also examined my DH, you should see her face when she saw his tongue! Apparently it was "yellow" and dry and it also means excessive heat (I was actually suspecting it because my DH drinks so much water and he is often red). I asked why I have excessive heat while I am always cold? she tried explanting it, something to do with different organs or channels but I am still not quite getting it. She also said I have lever stagnation (something I suspected all along based on Lewis' list) which is causing excess heat and she said they need to clear all these accesses before true picture of my state appears.
Turning to my DH, apart from heat she mentioned nothing else really so I am still at a loss as to what his problem is. According to her our failure to conceive is all my fault and his miserable 2.8 million sperm count have nothing to do with it. I doubt it based on the huge numbers of women struggling to conceive with DHs low sperm counts. "you only need one" principal does not really work because for this one to get through you need ideally hundred millions to increase the odds. She said she can only treat him after I have been dealt with because my body is the key. Before she can prescribe what herbs I need to be taking I am supposed to do the blood test on CD1-3 but when I was told that it's going to be around 700 pounds (together with sperm test) I changed my mind. I am thinking I will try to get some of these tests for free from my FS (I am seeing her in May).
About herbs, she gave me a list of herbs and ticked 8 of them - I assume the ones I will be taking and said I would need to start with raw herbs (not powders) and she gave me instructions on how to boil them (takes over an hour!) twice a day. The cost is 10 pounds a day. One important thing she mentioned about herbs is that they should not be taken when ill particularly if it's cold (presumably because they clear heat). For acu, it would be enough if I came once a fortnight and every visit is 130 pounds.
re charts, I sent her all my 18 charts hoping she would study them to prepare for the appointment because there is a wealths of information there, I record all my symptoms on a daily basis but she did not. she started showing me how to chart my temps... I showed her my chars I do not think she particularly wanted to review them but she did and found that my first follicular phase is problematic, temps go too high and it's on a short side, not great. i need to concentrate on improving it. no idea how
vitamins, again I sent her a list of my DH and my vitamins which is really big and was hoping she can say whether we are on the right track but instead she was just trying to make us buy hers. I previously looked at hers and i do not think they have anything I am not currently taking
My DH's conclusion was that this is a lot of non-sense as he thought and it's for people who have plenty of spare cash to waste. I came out feeling very confused. Obviously upset because she criticised my other doc's herbal formula - this just makes me distrust TCM practitioners generally including Dr Z and I understand why my DH's chinese friends do not go to chinese docs in London - they cant tell who is good. My gut feeling is that she was right about my doc because since I started going to her my acne got out of control - sign of heat, isn't it? as soon as I stopped taking her herbs and returned back to my old doc's herbs I do not have any new spots coming out and I ovulated later (still probably due to stress more than anything) so I am thinking that might be that very first doc I went to a year ago was not that bad after all, I know I came out all bruised and feeling horrible but my acne got better and she did this painful procedure to clear heat - which is basically my issue. maybe I should go back to her? another option is to try to get these blood tests done (obviously without paying a small fortune) and then go to Dr Z
but I have no motivation to exercise or diet, am so tired from working non-stop
