Acupuncture for Infertility?

[Anonymous]

We are in month 18 of unexplained infertility. My OB suggested trying acupuncture and suggested 2 in the area. Both have waitlists several months long so I choose someone convenient that had "fertility" listed under things they treat.

I would love to hear peoples experience with fertility focused acupuncture. She never explains what she is doing or focusing on and doesn't even ask which CD I am - I would assume the locations she uses would change based on CD, but maybe not. Yesterday I asked what she was working on and she said these areas focus on the Spleen and Liver.... :-/ Is this normal? I am naive - I assumed the pins would be places in areas related to the uterus...

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

[Anonymous]

I am following this thread. I need an acupuncturist as well but can’t locate one locally that does fertility. Who are you seeing if you don’t mind me asking. And yes I know some avoid certain areas before and after ovulation as well as after embryo transfer to avoid the uterus contracting. So long as she’s explaining and keeping you informed then that should help ease the uncertainty but if she brushes your concerns aside that’s a red flag to me. Acupuncture help is balancing hormones and the body’s natural physiological processes so tackling your liver may help with excreting/managing hormones that contribute to fertility health.

[Anonymous]

I used acupuncture in conjunction with my IVF and I believe it made a huge difference as that ended up being the first successful pregnancy (and resulting baby) for me after a year of trying "naturally," 3 failed IUIs, and one failed IVF.

My acupuncturist specialized in fertility and did not ever ask me about what CD I was on or anything. She vaguely knew b/c I would obviously inform her of when retrieval was and what drugs I was on but never asked specifically so I don't recall that having too much of an impact on her treatment regimen. She did, however, have a specific regimen for the day of transfer that was different than all the others. I vaguely recall her discussing increasing blood flow to the uterus and I'm sure she gave me some details on each ocassion but it was for overall reproductive health with the exception of the days I had retrieval and transfer.

Good luck. My person was in Alexandria and I don't believe she's practicing anymore. That was about 8 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Shady Grove Wellness Center has acupuncturists specializing in fertility. Check it out.

[Anonymous]

I don't know where you are but I went to someone in FFX and would recommend him:
http://www.northernvaacupuncture.com/

[Anonymous]

I would be pretty surprised if clincal trials ever are able to establish a link between accupuncture and enhanced fertility. To date, no reputable study has disproven the null hypothesis for pain reduction, i.e. Never been able to show more than placebo effect. Accupuncture like other forms of "alternative medicine" is pretty much hokum.

[Anonymous]

i go to little bird community acupuncture. she doesn't specialize in fertility, but she is significantly cheaper than the fertility specialists i've been to (which i can no longer afford because infertility). she doesn't ask much, but she does ask me what cycle day, where i am in relation to ovulation, etc etc. who knows if it's making a difference, especially since i'm still not pregnant.

[Anonymous]

I go to Kelly Welch who does work on fertility.

Acupuncture hasn't made a big difference for me, in terms of improving my response to stims or egg quality or anything like that. I've been going for a couple years and haven't had a successful cycle yet.

It does make me more relaxed and feel rested, which I guess is a good thing because IVF is so stressful.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP, there are a lot of acupuncture threads on this forum giving recs of acupuncturists that focus on infertility so you might want to search for that to get recs. I go to Adam Miramom at Uptown Acupuncture in Tenleytown and he's fantastic and does not have a wait list. He always starts each session asking where I am in my cycle, what meds I'm taking (both Rx and over the counter), if I'm sleeping well, if I'm feeling nauseous, have headaches, etc. I've always asked what Adam is doing and he explains what it does--not b/c I'm questioning him but b/c I'm genuinely curious.

Depending on where I am in the cycle depends on whether he puts needles on my belly or not. Based on what you mentioned, that acupuncturist doesn't sound like she knows what she's doing and I would go somewhere else.

And to the person saying acupuncture is hokum, that has not been my experience. I feel more relaxed, which is helpful when dealing with infertility. The less stress you feel, the better. And there are plenty of studies that show how doing acupuncture helps with infertility, which is completely different than testing for pain management.

http://acupuncturepregnancy.com.au/research-reviews/
You can also search pub med for acupuncture and IVF.

Also, after almost two years of IVF, I am now pregnant. Maybe I would've gotten pregnant without acupuncture but it certainly didn't hurt my chances and throughout the cycle I was calm and relaxed so I'd pay money for that.

[Anonymous]

I saw Gillian Powers at Crossings. She was fantastic (and has also contended with infertility herself) so was incredibly supportive through the process - and knowledgeable about it.

Also like Kerri Westhauser who also deals with infertility issues. Kerri has offices in Dupont and Falls Church.

I agree with posters who said that acupuncture is restorative. There actually is some evidence that it may promote successful cycles, but even if it doesn't it's 30 - 60 minutes of relaxation. I always left sessions feeling more energized and balanced.

[Anonymous]

Lisa Eaves at Heal from Within in NW DC near AU.
http://heal-from-within.com/
She also runs a monthly support group.

[Anonymous]

Another vote for Gillian Powers in silver spring!

[Anonymous]

I was 31 and tried for almost a year to get pregnant. We had great timing because I was charting my cycles. I had one chemical pregnancy and that was it. I got pregnant on the first cycle with the fertility accupuncturist XD I think stress was greatly impacting my fertility. She also got me to eat healthier and started me on a raw prenatal. Obviously it isn’t a magic potion because if it was there would be no need for IUI or IVF. It’s worth a try. I used an accupuncturist that treated infertility exclusively.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was 31 and tried for almost a year to get pregnant. We had great timing because I was charting my cycles. I had one chemical pregnancy and that was it. I got pregnant on the first cycle with the fertility accupuncturist XD I think stress was greatly impacting my fertility. She also got me to eat healthier and started me on a raw prenatal. Obviously it isn’t a magic potion because if it was there would be no need for IUI or IVF. It’s worth a try. I used an accupuncturist that treated infertility exclusively.

NP. I think the bolded is probably what did it. I started eating healthier ("clean"), had supplements and my unexplained fertility issues (miscarriages in my case) seemed to go away, followed by healthy pregnancies.

But if acupuncture also makes you feel better and more relaxed then that's great too!

[Anonymous]

I have never heard that acupuncture may help those who are suffering from fertility.