The Really Useful TCM Thread

[rubyloo]

goodness - been soooooooooo long since i came on here. will take a little while to catch up so please bear with me!

great to see so many pregnant ladies on here. such wonderful news all round. late pregnancy was manic for me; worked up until wk 37 and it was very, very busy so i was massively relieved to finish. i was due on the 18th Dec but my beautiful daughter made her appearance a wk later at 00:15hrs on Christmas morning........she was 8lbs 6oz which i'm told is a fair weight for a first baby!

for those interested i continued with accu during the 1st trimester in an attempt to deal with pretty awful morning sickness - and i had a couple of sessions at the end too.

 

[brillbride]

congrats rubyloo on the gorgeous new baby girl.....thanks for info on accupuncture..... xxx

 

[RebaRezzelba]

Congrats rubyloo - great news. Hope you and baby are well

 

[jojo-m]

Hi everyone sorry posted on wrong thread but wanted to say congrats to those with bfp's and hope others still waiting get theirs soon!

Abi and Glitter do you still come on here? How are you both? X

 

[Jen1802]

Hey girls, apologies I've not been on here in forever! Firstly I just want to say congratulations to all the tcm pregnant ladies! It's the most amazing thing being able to come back on here and see so many bfp's! My tcm baby was born on 2nd October 2010 after a horrendous 15 hour labour! Totally worth it though! I'm now ttc no 2. I'm not mad just figured it took awhile the first time round and probably will this time too! I had thought the pregnancy might have sorted out my late ovulation but no such luck still ovulating on cd 20 in a 28 day cycle. I'm going to try soy isoflavones the next two months and see if it brings ovulation forward...if not I'll be straight on the phone to Cathy and getting the acupuncture and herbs again. I also kept up the acupuncture during the first trimester as Cathy told me it can prevent miscarriage and keep the pregnancy strong. Good luck to all the other ttc'ers on here! Will be popping back in and out to see how everyone is getting on! xoxo

 

[bernina]

Congrats Jen and best of luck ttc #2!!!!

 

[Jen1802]

Thanks Bernina. You don't have much longer to go! Are you getting nervous yet? I think by the time I was 36 weeks I was just ridiculously fed up and wanted her out already! lol. xo

 

[bernina]

Yeah, won't be long now for sure. Dilated 1-2 cm and 50% effaced at 36 wk check up, although I know that doesn't really mean too much, just that body is getting in gear but could still be the full 4 weeks away.

That is exactly how I feel. As much as I realize it would be best for her to stay put until 39 or 40 weeks I just can't wait to meet her and am also really starting to feel the effects of the pregnancy. Swollen and very sore feet, hard to get comfy in bed, hard to get out of bed, achey, etc. But honestly I'm not complaining (well not too much!), I'm cherishing every minute of it, but am definitely just ready to have little one in my arms!!

 

[Jen1802]

I know its so worth it when you see their face for the first time plus I think if you've had a difficult ttc journey like most of us here then it just makes it even more special. Right well there was another reason for me posting here this evening! I went online as I was thinking of buying the tablets I had been given by my tcm practitioner...I suspect the herbs she gave me were more important but figured buying some Jin Kui Shen Qi Wan for pre ovulation and some nuan gong yun zi wan for after ovulation couldn't do any harm...BUT when I went onto the chinese herb shop.co.uk there was big heading saying that from the 1st May you will basically not be able to buy any herbs from retailers...now I'm really confused! Does this mean if I go back to my tcm practitioner she won't be able to prescribe me any herbs!!! I'm really, really upset by this as I know I got my bfp from the herbs and acupuncture!! What if I can't get any of the herbs ever again??? Maybe I'll never get another bfp and I know its the same for 1000's of women out there and also 1000's of men with sperm issues!!! This is ridiculous!

 

[holls147]

I know its so worth it when you see their face for the first time plus I think if you've had a difficult ttc journey like most of us here then it just makes it even more special. Right well there was another reason for me posting here this evening! I went online as I was thinking of buying the tablets I had been given by my tcm practitioner...I suspect the herbs she gave me were more important but figured buying some Jin Kui Shen Qi Wan for pre ovulation and some nuan gong yun zi wan for after ovulation couldn't do any harm...BUT when I went onto the chinese herb shop.co.uk there was big heading saying that from the 1st May you will basically not be able to buy any herbs from retailers...now I'm really confused! Does this mean if I go back to my tcm practitioner she won't be able to prescribe me any herbs!!! I'm really, really upset by this as I know I got my bfp from the herbs and acupuncture!! What if I can't get any of the herbs ever again??? Maybe I'll never get another bfp and I know its the same for 1000's of women out there and also 1000's of men with sperm issues!!! This is ridiculous!

Hi Jen,

How long were TTC when you got your bfp? How long were you using acupuncture and herbs? I just started acu last week, they gave me herbs as well, but I've been to scared to try them I should just buck and do it! I'm an unexplained case so far, good uterus, great hubby sa, regular cycles and ovulation I hope acupuncture can help me conceive, even if it helps me sleep it will be worth it. Just wondering how many session before I start feeling some changes..

 

[Jen1802]

Hey Holls after I had acu the first time the very next day I started to feel twinges in my ovaries whereas usually I wouldn't have felt anything! Take the herbs as well, I posted on the soy iso thread earlier that the herbs and acupuncture can both work separately but it takes longer for them to work whereas when you do both together it accelerates everything! It took me 6 weeks of taking the herbs and having a weekly acu session before I got my bfp....I had been trying for 8 months and it was cycle 9 I finally got my bfp! Did your practitioner tell you what they thought was wrong at all ie kidney deficiency etc! I'm so glad the soy iso is working for you but I want it to bring forward my ovulation...not make it stronger. I really hope it does that for me as I am ovulating and there is no issues with that but its just too late in the month. I only have an 8 day luteal phase and that is totally not long enough for implantation to take effect. If the soy doesn't bring forward ovulation for me then I'm just going to have go back to my tcm practitioner. I was going to give it two cycles but I'm too flipping impatient so I will be contacting my tcm practitioner if the witch arrives this month! Fx'd she stays away for both of us!! xoxo

 

[jojo-m]

Jen I ovulated late in my cycle and soy iso brought it forward but only by a day but got a little extra on luteal phase, it was that extra time that did the trick. 120mg days 2-6 got me my bfp after 19 months ttc

Good luck with the acu ladies x

 

[Jen1802]

Thanks Jo, I'm hoping and praying it works for me!! How long was you luteal phase? I was taking b vits before and I managed to get my luteal phase up to 10 days on that but still no bfp. I'm contemplating taking vit b complex again after ovulation to see if it does the trick. I kept taking that all through the acu and herbs. Mmm not sure. Maybe I should just do one thing at a time...will maybe just stick with the soy and see how that goes. XOX

 

[jojo-m]

I had between 9 and 1o days LP got it to 12 with b vits but each month it lowered back down one day til to 9 so stopped those. The soy worked much better. Had a month on days 3-6 but not much happened with late ov and LP but 2-6 made day earlier and obviously longer LP since I got bfp ;-)

Not hurt to give it a go! You may find you get caught quickly this time anyway, lots of people do after one sucessful pg x

 

[bernina]

I know its so worth it when you see their face for the first time plus I think if you've had a difficult ttc journey like most of us here then it just makes it even more special. Right well there was another reason for me posting here this evening! I went online as I was thinking of buying the tablets I had been given by my tcm practitioner...I suspect the herbs she gave me were more important but figured buying some Jin Kui Shen Qi Wan for pre ovulation and some nuan gong yun zi wan for after ovulation couldn't do any harm...BUT when I went onto the chinese herb shop.co.uk there was big heading saying that from the 1st May you will basically not be able to buy any herbs from retailers...now I'm really confused! Does this mean if I go back to my tcm practitioner she won't be able to prescribe me any herbs!!! I'm really, really upset by this as I know I got my bfp from the herbs and acupuncture!! What if I can't get any of the herbs ever again??? Maybe I'll never get another bfp and I know its the same for 1000's of women out there and also 1000's of men with sperm issues!!! This is ridiculous!

Jen, I've just read up on this and am absolutely shocked and outraged that this could happen in the UK!!!! I have to believe that somehow this will get either overturned or it will get hung up in he court system for so long that it essentially will never go into effect. At least I hope that's the case, that's what happens a lot of times here in the US. If it does go through though and is enforced, could you order from a US or Asian supplier to your personal address? I'm guessing many, especially in the Chinese population, will find a way around this.

Just shocking what legislators will waste their time (and taxpayer dollars) on.

 

[Jen1802]

I know Bernina, I was furious when I seen it, it has totally made up my mind to go back to my tcm practitioner if there is no improvement after this cycle! I totally hope you are right and that it does just get tied up in so much legistlation their heads are spinning! I think there is a petition on line and I'm going to go sign it now!! I'm hoping you're right Jo and I fall pregnant quite quickly. That was mine and dh's thinking behind trying again so quickly after the first one, I just figured if there was chance of falling pregnant quickly and not having to go through the whole stress of the last time then I'm definitely going for it! I'm not going to bother with the b vits this time as I don't think there is anything wrong with the last part of my cycle I just take too long to ovulate! If it hasn't done anything this cycle tho I'll be heading back to Cathy! Day 14 for me will be Friday and so far there isn't much sign of ovulating any sooner, cd 24 will be next Thursday and af is due on 1st April...here's hoping she stays away!! xoxo

 

[auntySmeghead]

This has got me really worried. I got my first BFP last year with acupuncture and chinese medicine (m/c at 9 weeks) I've tried acupuncture without herbal medicine and it hasnt worked so I've just started having the herbs again. I dont know what we'll do if they ban them as I think its what made the difference and this is our only hope. Its the only thing that has ever worked.

 

[holls147]

Maybe you can buy them online if you remember what they were called?

 

[Jen1802]

This has got me really worried. I got my first BFP last year with acupuncture and chinese medicine (m/c at 9 weeks) I've tried acupuncture without herbal medicine and it hasnt worked so I've just started having the herbs again. I dont know what we'll do if they ban them as I think its what made the difference and this is our only hope. Its the only thing that has ever worked.

Well I just got my 2nd bfp with acu, herbs and poss soy iso too! I suspect what will happen is they will only allow licenced practitioners to prescribe them. That's the only thing I can think will happen as previously you could order them offline yourself. Well at least that's what I hope will happen!! xoxo

 

[auntySmeghead]

I asked my acu lady and she says its true and it does affect the pills I take Mananged to get a couple months supply from the internet and will buy what she has left but after that I dont know what we will do. I can't believe this law is coming in. The NHS wont let us have any treatment as my husband has a daughter and now the only other option we have is TCM. They are taking away hope from so many couples.
Jen congratulations on your second BFP. Did you need to have treamtnet very long? I got pregnant after 3 months of acupuncture and 2 months of herbal pills but I dont think my body was quite ready as I miscarried.