The Really Useful TCM Thread

[Laummatt]

Just curious if Abster ever came back on here. I was just looking back at some of the older stuff on here. Last time I was here she was taking a break from it all? Anyone know?? I do hope that she had some positive news.

 

[Jen1802]

Hey hun, no I had sent her a message on here shortly after my first daughter was born just to thank her for all her support but I don't think she has come back on. Miss her! xo

 

[Laummatt]

Thats such a shame, Id love to know how she is getting on.

hows Juno doing??

 

[Jen1802]

She's doing well. She had her first full bottle feed today, have been trying to breastfeed her for so long and her mouth is just too small and she's too tired a lot of the time to feed and has only had tube feeds so it was a nice change! Could have her home in the next 2-4 weeks! xo

 

[TurboTurtle80]

Its been quiet in here. Jen, so glad to hear your baby girl is doing so well. I'm very happy for you.

Afm, acu this morning. We worked on getting me balanced again. I've been depressed and my eating has wreaked havoc on everything. I feel much better and relaxed now. She's having me track my moods and sleep on MoodTracker to help figure out my cycles better. So far we think I have 29 day cycles, but its hard to tell bcz my "periods" are only small spots. I'm excited tho to actually have cycles now. It was getting kinda crazy!

Hope you're all well!

 

[Jen1802]

Thanks pet! We won't know if there are any issues with her development eg learning, motor skills etc until she's a bit older but they'll be keeping a close eye on her and she'll have a lot of follow up appointments. Will just have to wait and see! That's great the acupuncture has made you more relaxed! Are you feeling depressed from the whole ttc thing or is there other stuff going on? When I went to my gp when we were first ttc he told me I was suffering from extreme anxiety and that was affecting me falling pregnant. I was pretty pissed off at that as I just felt fobbed off and that he wasn't taking me seriously! Thankfully I found the tcm practitioner and the acupuncture just made me feel totally relaxed and calm. It really is such a great holistic treatment! Here's hoping you can figure out your cycles over the next month or so! xo

 

[TurboTurtle80]

Hi girls! Its been a while since we've checked in. I hope everyone had a good Christmas.

Jen, I think I've been struggling with depression bcz of a lot of things. Everything stems from wanting a baby tho. I feel pretty incomplete or more so broken. Its getting better. I have been taking care of my friend's daughter for a while now and it seems to curb than need to be a mommy. =) How is your daughter?

Happy New Year everyone!

 

[Sizzles]

So it's been 7 or 8 months since anyone posted on here, but I discovered this thread whilst trawling for posts on acupuncture recently, and have spent the last few days reading the WHOLE thread!
I've decided to try starting it up again since I have begun acupuncture this cycle and I'd like to thank the original crew for starting it originally; I feel I know you guys quite well and felt like chipping in as I read through, but obviously your posts were from a long time ago!
I shall post again after my next treatment, by which time hopefully others will have joined me, but following that, if I'm still alone, I shall assume there's no interest. So who's with me?

So here's me, 34 years old (OH 41):

I'm on cycle 30 or so since beginning ttc no1 in April 2010. OH and have tests which have all come back fine; I have my next FS appointment next month (first FS appointment was with a nurse to get history etc. and to order further tests; the next should be with a consultant) when they plan on referring me for IVF, assuming they are happy with the existing test results and don't decide to test further.
I tried 5 weeks of acupuncture last August, but due to work commitments and money, plus the fact that OH hadn't been tested at that point (and I have had more tests in the meantime) I decided to knock it on the head: I figured it was a waste of money if the problem didn't lie with me in the first place.

Last month I decided to give acupuncture another go since I really hope to avoid IVF, but chose a different practitioner. Her first available appointment was on 25th July, so that's when I had my first session.

Session 1:
She was very detailed in gathering background and medical history etc. and treated me with around 15 needles. Following the session I yawned all the way home and felt quite 'woozy'! I had told her about my pre-af and post af spotting and she seemed quite concerned by this, especially since the pre-af can last around 9 days. She treated me for this, and low and behold my period arrived that night!

Session 2:
She was pleased my period had arrived, thus potentially shortening my brown spotting phase. She worked on building up my uterus and strengthening it. She also heat treated my abdomen with moxa as she said it was a little cold (though didn't seem unduly concerned). For the first time I had a needle in the top of my scalp and also needles in my ears. She also placed needles in my tummy, behind my knees (?) in my feet and wrists. Once again I felt quite spacy after treatment as well as feeling a sort of dull ache in my abdomen - a little like a cross between ov pain and af cramps.

Session 3 (this week):
I hold her I thought I'd ov'ed the previous night due to the discomfort I'd felt. She was happy with this as I was previously ov'ing typically on cd11/12 and this was cd13; she wanted me to be ov'ing around the cd14 mark to regulate everything. Heat treated tummy again, still maintaining that it's a little cool (I've started attempting to keep it warm myself to help this) and pretty much needles in the same places as before. Still aiming to strengthen my uterus and build up the lining in the hope of making it appealing and cosy for a potential bean!

General thoughts are that the needles are causing me a little more discomfort this time than last year, but I actually feel that they're doing more good, or at least doing something!
She has said that in due course she might like to suggest some herbs to take. But having read this thread I've decided to tell her that I don't want to go down that route and will instead focus on the acupuncture.

So is there anyone else out there who would like to share their TCM ttc journey?

 

[jojo-m]

I'm all finished baby making content with my 2 but since you popped this thread up in my subscriptions it would be rude not to say hi and wish you the best of luck!

Good to hear the acu already showing good effect, keep at it girl you will get your bfp!

I'm probably going to have acu for my hormonal acne,

Jo x

 

[CaliDreaming]

Hi Sizzles! I'm so glad you revived this thread. I read through all of this thread too when I was looking for others, but didn't bump it. There's also a group of ladies doing acu in the main TTC forum...I wonder if we could consolidate the groups.

Anyway, I'm 38 and have been doing acu for 4 months. I've been trying to conceive my 2nd child since November 2011. DD#1 took me 8 months, and she's now 18 months. I had hoped #2 wouldn't take as much time, but as the months dragged on I knew there wasn't something quite right with me. My periods had gotten to the point where they'd last only a day with extremely scanty brown flow. Also, I had been experiencing some weird PMS symptoms, like dizziness, shortness of breath, very hot hands and feet. I had experienced some of these symptoms when TTC #1, but I fixed it with ACV, baby aspirin, and quitting caffeine. That was when I knew I needed extra help.

My acu diagnosed me with qi and blood deficiency and put me on some herbs based on my history, pulse, and tongue diagnosis. My first session was wonderful. I felt so relaxed after. She usually puts the needles in my feet, lower legs, sometimes a needle or two in the abdomen, in my wrist, ears, and always in between my eyebrows.

My periods gradually got heavier over time. The dizziness, shortness of breath, hot hands and feet went away completely by the time I completed my second cycle of acu, but my periods still were on the light side. They had increased to a little less than two days with light to moderate flow.

On the third cycle, I decided to supplement with b-12 on my own, and I got a nearly three day period with very healthy flow.

I'm now moving into my 4th month of acu. She says I'm now in a "good place" now. I think the acu and the b-12 did the trick, because I had a lot of signs of b-12 deficiency. Now I'm just hoping that it's enough to get me pregnant. It's kind of stressful, because if I don't get pregnant soon after rebalancing my body, then I know I will have to go to a specialist. I'm so afraid that something is majorly wrong with me.

Anyway, sorry for the book, but I look forward to chatting with you. Did your acu give you a diagnosis? Are you taking herbs too?

 

[Premomt]

I ended up getting knocked up the good ol fashioned way ("when you arent trying, it'll happen ")
Good luck to you all with the acu and TCM style pregnancies!

 

[CaliDreaming]

I'm all finished baby making content with my 2 but since you popped this thread up in my subscriptions it would be rude not to say hi and wish you the best of luck!

Good to hear the acu already showing good effect, keep at it girl you will get your bfp!

I'm probably going to have acu for my hormonal acne,

Jo x

Congrats Jo!! I am sooo looking forward to the day when my family is complete. I hate hate hate TTC.

I'm sure the acu will be great for your acne. Between all the supplements I've been taking and the acu, my acne has all but disappeared. I used to have to take spironolactone to keep it under control.

I ended up getting knocked up the good ol fashioned way ("when you arent trying, it'll happen ")
Good luck to you all with the acu and TCM style pregnancies!

Congrats Premomt! I guess it could happen for me too eventually if I just relaxed a bit. My dh tells me the same thing. Only thing is that I'm pushing 40 so I feel I have to be more aggressive about it.

 

[Sizzles]

Thanks for the good luck wishes JoJo!

Hi Sizzles! I'm so glad you revived this thread. I read through all of this thread too when I was looking for others, but didn't bump it. There's also a group of ladies doing acu in the main TTC forum...I wonder if we could consolidate the groups.

Did your acu give you a diagnosis? Are you taking herbs too?

Hmm. I don't know how we'd consolidate the groups, but if anyone more technically minded wants to do that...???? I'll take a look at the thread you've referred to. I just did a search on acupuncture I think and wound up on this thread; I really liked the 'feel' of it: such camaraderie from the original girls.

My lady did say I have blood stagnation I think, which is why I have the brown spotting pre and post af: she wants it to be a much better flow concentrated into much fewer days. Funny how the medical profession have not given 2 hoots about the spotting when I've mentioned it; I knew it couldn't be healthy! I'm not taking any herbs, though my lady did mention it during the first appointment as perhaps doing this once she's seen how I responde to acu. However, I think I'm going to give them a miss, partly because I'm just unsure about them, and partly because it's already a costly business and I'd rather focus the money on the acupuncture, otherwise I'd need to do fewer sessions of that. But I guess I'll just see how things pan out.

Nice to see a few people on here. Let's try to keep it busy!

 

[TurboTurtle80]

Hey girls

Just wanted to pop in now that there's life in here again. I've been going to acu for a year. Its been a very long road for me and acu. We're finally at a point where I'm getting occasional periods on my own. I've also been on the Isagenix program for 3 weeks and that seems to be helping me with all the hormonal fluctuations PLUS it makes my face look so nice. Amazing pores with very few pimples. So thankful! I actually have acu tomorrow morning. Hopefully I can stay off the herbs! Good luck to all of you. Acu is amazing for every part of health. I live by it.

 

[Sizzles]

Nice to see someone from the original chat here. Good luck on your continued journey TurboT - nice to hear so much positivity for the acu, although you only have to look over the first half of this thread to see that many of the girls had happy outcomes with tcm.

 

[TurboTurtle80]

Yup. I think Fitzy is the most recent BFP. Acu will help us all eventually.

 

[CaliDreaming]

Yup. I think Fitzy is the most recent BFP. Acu will help us all eventually.

Yeah, I've been stalking her journal. What an inspirational story!

 

[Care76]

Good luck ladies!

I believe acu can really work. It did help me with my cycles, but I needed more help so we still had to use IVF. But I used acu leading up to it and after transfer to help. I would recommend anybody use acu in conjunction with IVF.

 

[Sizzles]

Thanks for your input Care. I'm thinking at this stage that I will give acupuncture 3 months, since that seems to be the length of time for it to take effect. During that time I may begin IVF, in which case I'll make a decision about whether to continue or not. I worked out though that to have 3 months worth of treatment was £500+ which is A LOT of money when there are no guarantees.

Fingers crossed for the 3 month rule!

 

[Sizzles]

YAY! My copy of 'the book' (The Infertility Cure, referred to copiously throughout this thread) has arrived - along with a new box of cbfm sticks; I'm so glad the postie couldn't see through the packaging!