Needles and the Infertile Girl

Well, apparently a whole week of not poking myself with a needles is too much, so today, just to recapture that special pin cusion feeling, I went to my first acupuncture session.

I am a Western medicine sort of girl. I like doctors and hospitals and drugs dispensed in shiny capsule form, but since those don't seem to be getting the job done, I thought I'd check out acupuncture. Now, going into it, my biggest fear was created courtesy of getupgrrl: I had a vision of myself stuck full of needles, totally forgotten by the acupuncturist, and too scared to remove the needles my own self so I could flee into the night. Still, when I talked to her to make the appointment and she asked if I had any questions, I couldn't will myself to say "You won't forget me on the table, will you?"

Also, my appointment was at 6 pm. On a Sunday night. Of President's Day weekend. When all of Western medicine has its answering service on. It seemed a little unusual, but it would leave me time to grab a bite to eat after and still be home for "Sex and the City." So, it was all good, as the kids like to say.

The appointment itself was anti-climactic. We talked about my diet and she said I should cut back on the carbs (tell me something I don't know) and stay away from cold foods so as to make my uterus as warm and inviting as possible. Also, I'm supposed to soak my feet in warm water every night--I didn't really get what that was all about, but it beats a subcutaneous injection in the tummy any day so I'll try it.

Then it was time for needles. She put some in my ears, in my scalp, in my feet, and in my belly. She covered me with mylar, turned on some soothing music, and left. I kept hearing her puttering around outside my little treatment room so I began to have faith that she would not abandon me--though the fear still tugged at the edges of my consciousness. I'm pleased to say she did eventually come back and removed the needles and, as a special bonus, rubbed some rose oil on my belly. What little embie wouldn't want a rose-sented uterus to call home for a little while?

Comments

[Jo]

Mmmm, that sounds very pleasant, actually. Maybe I should get me some of that acupuncture action.

So do share with the class: can acupuncture help with the trials of shoot-em-up fertility drugs? Are you doing it for pregnancy-getting, or stress reduction, or all of the above? I am a curious little monkey.

[Lisa]

Well, my curious monkey: rumor has it that acupuncture can help with infertility by increasing blood flow to the uterus which may aid in implantation (http://www.nourishingwomen.com/infertility.html). Also, during the follicular phase it may help to produce more follicles. To be honest, I'm not sure if I buy it, but it was a relaxing way to spend an hour so I figured, what the heck?

[JulieBean]

Lisa:

You needle junkie, you. ;-)

Sounds like you had an interesting first venture into the world of acupuncture.

Did they say what's bad about carbs?

I'm also curious about the soaking feet in warm water thing. Will you be asking about it next time you go?? I am the queen of cold feet. Wouldn't it be grand if that's all I would need to turn around my TTC efforts. *sigh*

Oh, and by the way, friends of ours have friends that tried everything to get pg -- to no avail. Until they tried acupuncture and voila! Pg. So, I guess there may be something to all of this. Whether it does help physiologically or just relaxes you more.

Good luck!

[Lisa]

Hey Julie--Regarding the carbs, she said that too many carbs can cause your blood sugar levels to fluctuate throughout the day and that that can affect your hormones--not sure if I buy it, but I'm a Carb Queen so it does actually make some sense (not that I'm modified my diet one iota). I will try to remember to ask about the foot soaking business....and I like that story about your friend!