The Really Useful TCM Thread

[fitzy79]

Abi...good luck with the break..enjoy it and I can see all the benefits of it!

I'm chcnging TCM practitioner to a very specialised fertility guy who has actually workshopped with Randine Lewis and she mentions him as being the acupuncturist she rates highest in Ireland. He is based about a 3 hr drive from me so I am going to attend him once a month and a friend of his in Dublin is going to work in conjunction with him every other week. I love the lady I'm seeing now but think she is good for me emotionally but not necessarily versed enough in fertility TCM. I have cold energy and damp and this doesn't seem to be improving. Obviously I still need my meds but fear that this coldness caused the miscarriage and will invariably prevent me from conceiving again..regardless of whether or not I ovulate.

So that's where I'm at...I've been thinking about a break from BnB too..can become obsessive for sure.

 

[RebaRezzelba]

Abi...good luck with the break..enjoy it and I can see all the benefits of it!

I'm chcnging TCM practitioner to a very specialised fertility guy who has actually workshopped with Randine Lewis and she mentions him as being the acupuncturist she rates highest in Ireland. He is based about a 3 hr drive from me so I am going to attend him once a month and a friend of his in Dublin is going to work in conjunction with him every other week. I love the lady I'm seeing now but think she is good for me emotionally but not necessarily versed enough in fertility TCM. I have cold energy and damp and this doesn't seem to be improving. Obviously I still need my meds but fear that this coldness caused the miscarriage and will invariably prevent me from conceiving again..regardless of whether or not I ovulate.

So that's where I'm at...I've been thinking about a break from BnB too..can become obsessive for sure.

Hi Fitzy - if you dont mind me asking where is this Radine Lewis TCM practitioner? I didnt realise there was one in Ireland. Im in Belfast - please say its more north of the country than south??? Id love to go there - I too think I have cold uterus (according to Radines book) and think it really isnt good for sustaining a pregnancy or getting pregnant for that matter.

Hope your well - i was reading your journal - has the witch showed yet?

 

[fitzy79]

Hi Reba, no sign of the witch and I am so strung out on hormone overload that have sobbed buckets today. Unfortunately the acu guy is in Cork so a long bloody road for you to travel!! His name is Gordon Wells. I got a 15 page medical history form emailed from him today..now that's thorough. Don't worry though..I'll post anything significant that he tells me/does. particularly in relation to the cold energy!!

 

[RebaRezzelba]

Thanks for that Fitzy - and yes Cork is a little out of the way from me!!!

Sorry your feeling so hormonal - I hope it passes soon and either the witch shows up or you get an unexpected BFP!!!

 

[daydream_mum]

Abi, will miss you but completely understand! You gotta do whats best for you. Hope we don't lose touch and I want to see you announce that bfp eventually.

Fitzy, hoping it wasn't af causing the hormone overload. 15 page medical history now that is thorough! Will be interesting to hear what he says, as I think I'm in a similar boat

Hope everyone else is doing well.

I'm sort of taking Abi's approach atm. Will still take herbs etc but trying to take a step back as I don't feel like me anymore. I feel like I've placed all this pressure on myself to be perfect and it's just not me and I'm not enjoying life like I should or my family. So if I want a cheesburger every now and then I'll have one! Everything in moderation and no more feeling guilty or stressing about "what if" I'm even going on a holiday for a week with a gf to the sunny gold coast to just relax and it will probably be around O time, but don't care!
I'll still pop on here though

 

[Hope4amiracle]

Hello TCM ladies,

I am after your opinion with regards to acupuncture. I have been having acupucntue and I have so far had 7 sessions. I have been going once a week. I know that it works as my cycles have started to correct themselves and generally it makes me feel so much better about things.

It looks like I have unexplained infertility (no PCOS, no endo and hormones all within a normal level).

I can probably only afford to buy another block of six sessions so wanted to get the most out of those six sessions. How often do you go for acupuncture? Do you think it would be better for me to time my sessions with ovulation and implantation to get the most out of it?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[fitzy79]

Hi Hopeforamiracle,

Delighted to hear that acu seems to be regulating your cycle. I would usually go for weekly treatments however, if you have regular cycle maybe every second week is ok. Defo worth having session around ovulation but really the whole theory behind TCM is that the body needs to be balanced across all meridians(systems) and when it is, conception and a healthy pregnancy will follow..of course theories are all well and good but we want our BFP NOW!!! Anyhoo, sorry about rambly post but bottom line, welcome to the thread and I hope you get your heart's desire really soon!!

 

[Hope4amiracle]

Hi Hopeforamiracle,

Delighted to hear that acu seems to be regulating your cycle. I would usually go for weekly treatments however, if you have regular cycle maybe every second week is ok. Defo worth having session around ovulation but really the whole theory behind TCM is that the body needs to be balanced across all meridians(systems) and when it is, conception and a healthy pregnancy will follow..of course theories are all well and good but we want our BFP NOW!!! Anyhoo, sorry about rambly post but bottom line, welcome to the thread and I hope you get your heart's desire really soon!!

I think maybe I will just stick with once a week again for my next course of six because I will drive myself mad otherwise if I don't get a BFP and I will think it's because I didn't continue with the weekly sessions.

 

[daydream_mum]

Welcome Hope4amiracle!

I would stick to the weekly sessions too. Although my accupuncturist does not like to do any accu during af, so maybe if af happens to show up take that week off! Hopefully she just won't show up though.

 

[bekib10]

Hi All,

I'm new to this site (joined today) and I'm very happy to find this group, so I hope you don't mind me gate crashing!

We have been TTC #1 since Dec 2009 and in June this year I started having weekly acupuncture (apparently I'm spleen Qi deficient). I have also seen a chinese herb person and have been taking the herbal pills they prescribed for just over 1 month. My DH started having acupuncture with me 5 weeks ago in case there's a problem his end but today he said he wasn't going to go anymore (I quite like going to acupuncture, it relaxes me and it makes me feel like I'm doing something to help, but he just saw it as an inconvenience where some woman sticks pins in him).

I know what you mean Hope4amiracle, acupuncture can get very expensive and part of me is a bit relieved that DH isn't going to have the sessions anymore, as that halves the cost for us. But I do wonder whether we're going to be able to afford for me to go every week too with Christmas coming up. Well I'm 7 DPO now so FX I'll get a BFP this month and I won't have to worry anymore. Well I can dream!!

I look forward to following this group and learning from you all, and I wish you all lots of baby dust!

 

[fitzy79]

Bekib..good to have you onboard.

Fingers crossed this is your cycle too. Lots of us women on here have spleen qi deficiency too...seems to be very common. Will look forward to following your journey! Lots of

 

[soph77]

Hi ladies. I hope you don't mind me popping into your group to ask you a few questions. I started reading the thread from the start but ultimately decided to just post and ask!

I've been ttc for 10 months with no hint of success. Last month I started acupuncture, I have had 3 sessions with her and now in the 2ww, she wants me to come back 3 days after af for my next session. The lady I have chosen specialises in womans health and fertility but the only problem I have is that she speaks very little English and I feel that I cannot communicate with her as much as I would like.
Now I am happy to stay with her if what she is doing is right for what I need, but I don't know what I need because I can't ask her! kwim?

So what I really wanted to ask you ladies, who seem to be very acupuncture knowledgeable, is if my treatment descriptions seems somewhat similar to yours. i.e. what points she used.
On my first visit she put a needle in each leg below the knee on the outside of my shin, she also put one in each leg on the inside of my ankles. Last needle was on top of my left foot. (I had af at the time)
Next two visits were the same as the first except I had one on each foot and 1 under my belly button and one each over the ovaries.

I just don't know whether to stay with her or change to a fertility acupuncture specialist closer to my home. I chose the lady I am seeing because she is close to my work and much easier to get to in business hours. I commute a distance to work and the traffic is bad so I leave early to avoid it, it would be harder to get to the other one.

Oh what a quandary!!!
Any help would be very appreciated. I just ordered the infertility cure so I hope that comes soon too.

 

[RebaRezzelba]

Hi Soph and welcome,

My acupuncturist put needles in my head, wrists, thumb skin area, legs, ankles and on top of foot. When I was close to OV she also but 5 in my belly and used a heat lamp on this area (as I had a cold uterus). She also gave me herbal tablets to take 3 times a day and a sachet of powdered herbs to drink too - have you been given anything like that?

I would do whatever is less stressful for you - whether its sticking with this acupuncturist or moving to the one closer to home. The less stress the better.

Good luck in this 2WW.

 

[soph77]

Thank you.
I did bite the bullet and make an appointment with the fertility acupuncturist closer to my home and I feel so much better about it already. I have only spoken with her on the phone but the communication was effortless. I think I have spoken more with her in one phone conversation that I did with the other one in 3 visits.
I am seeing her on Saturday morning so i will let you know how it went.
Oh yes, and my book arrived yesterday so I can do some reading before I see her

 

[fallenangel78]

Hi ladies, hope you don't mind me joining, just wanted to share my story so far...

I've been umming and ahhing for a while now about seeing some help about my naff cycles. I came off the pill (Cilest) in February and have been playing guess the cycle ever since! My cycles have been 54, 41, 29, 45 and I think I'm currently on cd 71 at the moment (ouch!!).

I plucked up the guts this weekend to go to a TCM lady my dh had used in the past. Now, her English isn't the best, lol, but after a round about way she got to the point where she got the jist.

She said that my yin and yang were out of balance and that it wasn't a big problem and I should be able to fix "slowly, slowly"...

I had acupuncture (needles in my legs, shins, my head, a needle above my ovaries and one under my belly button) and I was really surprised. I felt my left shin sort of burn (not sure how else to describe it) and a really odd sensation on my right ovary (almost couldn't breathe).

She gave me a bag of goodness knows what for 6 days to brew a herbal tea (twice a day).

This was all on Saturday and I've had cramps all weekend but thought it might all be psychosomatic. However, I've actually started spotting today - am absolutely amazed!

I actually had a appointment with the doc's this morning and had bloods done so will be interesting to see what they say.

Although I haven't actually started properly I'm pretty sure that with the spotting and cramps that the witch is on her way.

If anyone is reading this thread and thinking about going for it - just go for it, if I (a hardened cynic) can be so positive about it, you never know what could happen

 

[fitzy79]

Thanks for sharing your story Fallen Angel...fingers crossed TCM will help get your cycles back in order!

 

[brillbride]

hi girls---im just wondering--does anyone have the name and number for really good accupuncturist in Belfast area?? I know there is a really good one there......im onto my 5th cycle TTC after 2nd MC.....need to do something.... thank u..xx

 

[bernina]

Just popped in to wish every one of my TCM girls loads of

Think of you all often and say a prayer each week that your miracle will come (soon!)

 

[RebaRezzelba]

hi girls---im just wondering--does anyone have the name and number for really good accupuncturist in Belfast area?? I know there is a really good one there......im onto my 5th cycle TTC after 2nd MC.....need to do something.... thank u..xx

Hi Brillbride - Im in the belfast area and went to the Chinese Medicine Clinic on the upper Lisburn road (finaghy area I think). here's a link to their site
https://www.acupuncturebelfast.co.uk/

Myself, Glitterqueen and another lady (Jen - you'll see her posts at the beginning of this thread) all went there. Jen got pregnant after a few sessions. Glitterqueen did too but unfortunately she had a MC. And I never got preggers. But Cathy the woman at the clinic is really lovely and its very relaxing. Its £40 a session and then £40 for the herbs so it was just getting too expensive for me so I gave up in June.

Good luck

 

[brillbride]

hi girls---im just wondering--does anyone have the name and number for really good accupuncturist in Belfast area?? I know there is a really good one there......im onto my 5th cycle TTC after 2nd MC.....need to do something.... thank u..xx

Hi Brillbride - Im in the belfast area and went to the Chinese Medicine Clinic on the upper Lisburn road (finaghy area I think). here's a link to their site
https://www.acupuncturebelfast.co.uk/

Myself, Glitterqueen and another lady (Jen - you'll see her posts at the beginning of this thread) all went there. Jen got pregnant after a few sessions. Glitterqueen did too but unfortunately she had a MC. And I never got preggers. But Cathy the woman at the clinic is really lovely and its very relaxing. Its £40 a session and then £40 for the herbs so it was just getting too expensive for me so I gave up in June.

Good luck

thanks a mil Reba--- i live about an hour away from belfast but would love 2 give it a try...im not interested in taking herbs at all --so i def wont be purchasing them at all........on 5th cycle after 2nd MC --just want to do something!!!!!xxxxxxxxxxxxx thanks again for this