Acupuncture for infertility--did it work for you?

[Anonymous]

I'm infertile with decreased ovarian reserve. This is secondary infertility for me. I have undetectable AMH and high FSH. Before moving on to donor egg, I want to add in acupuncture to the other natural methods I am trying. I have never done acupuncture and quite frankly it scares me. But I'm willing to do it if it will be successful in getting me pregnant. I'm in NoVA. I'd love to hear your acupuncture experiences, and how it affected infertility, and also any recs for an acupuncturist in NoVA. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I found it very relaxing and implemented a few dietary suggestions from my acupuncurist, but in the end all I had were BFNs. It made zero difference. My AMH and FSH are normal, I have unexplained infertility.

[Anonymous]

I'm still BFN but acupuncture relaxes me, I get fewer colds and makes my skin look great. All about the bloodflow!

[Anonymous]

It's hard to draw a causal connection. But acupuncture did wonders for my stress and anxiety. And as soon as I started doing it, my formerly erratic 35-40 day cycle became a flawless 31-day cycle.

If it's scary, you could probably find an acupuncturist who would start you off with just a few needles in less-sensitive spots. You can get used to it and then it isn't as weird. They can also do acupressure which is basically poking you with a stick like a pencil, but I find that hurts almost as much.

[Anonymous]

I tried it a couple times (at Pulling Down the Moon) and decided it wasn't for me. I didn't feel any effect from it, but lots of people claim to. If you find it relaxing, go for it, but I would rather get a massage or something.

[Anonymous]

I also have DOR and am over 40. I had never tried acupuncture but was throwing the kitchen sink at IVF. I went to a practitioner who specialized in fertility acupuncture before my first cycle. Didn't. Help. At. All. In fact, that cycle was cancelled. I didn't continue with it as it wasn't a huge fan. It didn't hurt or anything, I just didn't see what the benefit was.

[Anonymous]

Didn't do it for me. I have used acupuncture for other health issues -- stress and pain management -- and had success. Infertility...didn't do anything prior to egg retrieval, that's for sure. It was nice having an hour to relax and I liked chatting w/my acupuncturist, but it isn't like it will improve my egg quality...

That said -- if I ever get to an egg transfer, I will start back up and also have the before/after treatment as those have been studied and my RE recommends the treatments.

[Anonymous]

I have done three pre and post transfers. Two have resulted in BFPs. I don't know if there is actually a correlation but I found the post-transfer experience to be relaxing.

[Anonymous]

I did it for three months, not during any IF proceedures, just natural cycle. It was nice, I enjoyed it, but didn't result in a BFP. It did make my flow bright red, no brown spotting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did it for three months, not during any IF proceedures, just natural cycle. It was nice, I enjoyed it, but didn't result in a BFP. It did make my flow bright red, no brown spotting.

It also changed my flow to red from brown and even though I quit acupuncture my flow is still red. How could this be? How does it work?

[Anonymous]

Acu alone did not give me a bfp... But I would never do ivf without having gotten my eggs in as best a shape as possible through acu. My Dx is unexplained as well. About to start acu again prior to ivf for kiddo number 2. The other thing to note is acu dies wonders when you are actually pregnant and carrying.

[Anonymous]

I was a skeptic but tried acupuncture to see if it helped with stress of the IVF shots. I was anxious about all of the needles. I was told by acupuncturist and also read articles suggesting that treatments should take place prior to cycle and during stim phase rather than just once or twice. I had treatments once a week for six weeks before cycle and twice a week during stim phase. Also did pre transfer and then post. It is difficult to assess cause for success but I did have BFP. I did not do acupuncture for a FET 2 years after birth of DD and result was BFN so I wonder if acupuncture really did help explain my success for fresh cycle. Once I got used to needles after a few treatments, it was relaxing, and I liked the heat lamp used too.

[Anonymous]

I found it really relaxing and I do think it helped regulated my cycles - also got bright red blood. My lining looked good and my RE said I had good blood flow to my uterus during one of my scans. I did acu for 3 months before my IVF as well as supplements. My issue prior was egg quality (was able to get pregnant but not sustain it). Now I'm 19 weeks from a frozen blast from that cycle. Not sure if it was acupuncture, the supplements, luck, etc. But I'm glad I did it as it made me feel like I was taking some control over my fertility.

[Anonymous]

No. Didn't work for me and I didn't find it relaxing. I was very nervous about needles, and my acupuncturist was awesome about that. Bronwyn Clark. She was supportive and encouraging. I recommend her enthusiastically. I just don't think acupuncture did anything for me.

[Anonymous]

It does Not with cycle cut as with all other alternative medicine can be complimentary to relaxation. If other cheaper amd more convenient ways work go for it. I tried it twice it was not relaxing for me. I could not stop stressing and working up expectations. Each session was 100 so do what works for you to relax.