My experience with Accupuncture

Some of you will remember me saying that I have been considering accupuncture for fertility treatments. I did a lot of research, and decided to give it a try. I have been twice so far, and I am thrilled with how it is going. At the first appointment, during her assessment, she came to the conclusion that my thyroid was off. I was a little leary, considering that my doctor had just checked it a month ago and it was fine. But I went ahead and asked my OB to order another thyroid panel and guess what? She was right. My thyroid levels came back out of whack, and way different than they were a month ago. Apparently if your hormones are out of whack, the levels can fluctuate, which is why it was fine last month. It makes so much sense, since all month I have been EXHAUSTED, and just attributed it to the winter blahs. The lab technician was laughing at me that I was excited about having some abnormal labs. But I was excited to know that I'm justified in paying for accupuncture, since she obviously knows what she's doing, as well as excited to finally have some answers about my health! I try hard to just leave it to Heavenly Father's timing. However, as all of you know, it's hard not to have some concrete answers as well. So...I guess we'll see what the next few months bring! It's sort of a double treatment, since I will be treating the thyroid issue with some herbs, as well as continue getting the actual treatments which help with infertility. I have really become a believer in all of this. In doing the research, I have read account after account of women who got pregnant within a few months of doing accupuncture. My actual accupuncturist has an 85% success rate for the women she works with for fertility.


For anyone who has ever considered accupuncture, it was actually a very pleasant experience! At the place I go to, it feels like you are at the spa. And being poked with the needles is nothing! I fell asleep during Wednesday's session, if that gives you any idea! I can't give a full sales pitch until I know if it works for me. But so far, I am convinced. I think certain cases will respond better to accupuncture than others, so if you already have a diagnosis, I would do some reading and see if it's one the diagnoses they recommend accupuncture for. I read the book What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Getting Pregnant: Boost Your Fertility with the Best of Traditional and Alternative Therapies, by Raymond Chang. I found this to be very informative and helpful. Also, my accupuncturist recommended this book, The Infertility Cure: The Ancient Chinese Wellness Program for Getting Pregnant and Having Healthy Babies by Randine Lewis, although I haven't read it yet.

I would definitely recommend looking into accupuncture, for anyone who likes the idea of holistic or alternative therapies, whether you don't feel ready to go to the fertility specialist, or maybe if you haven't had success with that route. The only cons I can think of are expense-it's not cheap. We are lucky to have a health savings account that covers it, but I realize this could be a problem for some people. Also, if you have a particular phobia or problem with needles, it might freak you out. It really didn't bother me at all, but I have a friend who is terrified of needles who probably wouldn't be able to do it. Also, it's important to go to someone who specializes in doing fertility work, not just any accupuncturist. The woman I'm going to is wonderful!

I'd be happy to answer more questions if anyone thinks they're interested in this!