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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]From that article:

[quote]As good as it sounds, acupuncture is clearly not the panacea for all fertility problems. As Dillard tells WebMD, in instances where a structural defect exists -- such as a blocked fallopian tube or a fibroid tumor -- acupuncture won't help you get pregnant.

Likewise, once past a certain age, no amount of tickling your Qi is going to increase necessary hormones that have long gone out of production.
[/quote]

I'm not the PP who called this "unproven mumbo jumbo" -- that is too harsh. I've seen you post before on your success with chinese medicine, nutrition and acupuncture. You should be thrilled with your success and I'm wishing you all the best with your upcoming birth, but I think that we have to be careful not to confuse correlation with causation, here. Was your success due to the fact that you changed your diet? The acupuncture? The herbs? The new clinic you said you tried, with presumably a better lab and a good protocol? A better mindset? Or just the fact that your lucky egg came up during the last cycle?

I am 40 and I did none of what you did. And I am also pregnant. (Conceived at 40 years, 4 months.) However, I would not tell people NOT to do acupuncture or NOT to change their diet because that's what "worked" for me. I have no idea what "worked" for me. I personally believe that there is far more to luck in this enterprise than we may want to believe...but changing diet/doing acupuncture/taking herbs etc may give us a way to feel as if we are exercising control.

Again, I think it is wonderful that you are having a baby, I'm completely serious about that. But what worked for you may not work for everyone, and taking a year "off" when one is already facing age-related infertility may not be the right answer for everyone, etiher. [/quote]

PP there is a huge difference between fertility up to the age of 41 and fertility afterwards. Getting pregnant at 40 is still very possible. Getting pregnant at 42 or worse, at 44, is much harder. A woman needs all the help she can get after the age of 41 or 42. I have posted on this before. I didn't need to, I could just sit here at home and be happy that I'm about to deliver in a couple of weeks. But I wanted to help other women who might also find success with what I did. I did numerous IVF cycles but it was when I incorporated acupuncture, chinese meds, changed my diet, and took vitamins and supplements that my RE started noticing my numbers were changing. My FSH went down, my estradiol went up, etc.. He specifically said, "You're getting older but your numbers are getting better. I don't know what you're doing, but it's working."  So I think there may be more to these alternative treatments than just correlation. I have a friend who gave birth at 46 who did the same as me - combine alternative treatment with IVF.  A positive mindset is always beneficial for infertility;  Harvard University proved that with a study they did. Acupuncture relaxes you and probably contributes to a positive mindset also. But acupuncture is proven to increase blood flow to the ovaries and uterus, which is why Shady Grove, along with other clinics now, are allowing acupuncturists to do a before/after implantation acupuncture for their patients. At 44, no matter what we do, more of our eggs are damaged. So of course I did chromosomal testing to ensure that the only embryo's that were put back in me were the healthiest (again, no guarantee even with this as they can't test for everything).

I took a break of 9 mos - 1 yr before I started trying IVF again around age 41. Some women will feel uncomfortable waiting so long to do IVF because they feel the clock is really ticking for them. Understandable. Maybe they should do alternative treatments in between their IVF cycles then and continue with only acupuncture throughout. One thing i did not do is simultaneously take chinese meds and IVF meds. When I did IVF, I stopped the chinese meds. But rather than continue to doubt, why not give it a try? [/quote]

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