Blogger / 19 July, 2017 / Ellie Thompson

Diary Entry: Do You Believe in Acupuncture for Fertility?

I went along to my first acupuncture appointment last week, as I’ve read that acupuncture can be very beneficial for trying to conceive naturally, and help in preparation for IVF. To be honest, I went knowing nothing about acupuncture other than that it involves poking needles into random body parts. I’ll also put my hands up – I’m a huge cynic, and I’m still quite skeptical as to how sticking needles into my body will equate to a bouncing bundle of joy, but at this point, I’m ready to try anything, and everything.

I wasn’t prepared for how emotional I’d become during the appointment. For forty-five minutes we sat there and talked about my lifestyle, diet, routine, ailments – you name it. Then, lying down on the plinth bed she said she would check my pulse on each wrist, and from that pulse reading, she would be able to tell which areas she’d need to work on.

The readings revealed that my pulse was weak in respect to my kidney, spleen and liver areas, which can apparently be indicative of fertility issues and stress. I was pretty shocked, and lying there I couldn’t help but burst into tears. I hadn’t read up on acupuncture before the appointment, so the news sounded absolutely brutal and I took it all literally, at face value. My internal organs! There’s something wrong with them! I felt ready for the scrap heap. How on earth was I expecting my body to procreate when my most of my internal organs are up the spout!?

Prior to the appointment she had asked about my periods, which are pretty light, so she wanted to do acupuncture to perhaps try and get a better flow. (TMI I know, bear with me!) In Chinese medicine the quality of blood is a measure of the available nourishment circulating in the body, and apparently, I have issues with that too.

I was sent home with an info sheet on foods to eat for blood deficiency, they include the following:

• Aduki bean
• Apricot
• Beef
• Beetroot
• Black soybean
• Bone marrow
• Cherry
• Chicken egg
• Cuttlefish
• Dandelion
• Dang Gui
• Date
• Fig
• Grape
• Kale
• Kelp
• Kidney bean
• Leafy greens
• Liver
• Longan
• Microalgae (what the hell is this!?)
• Mussel
• Nettle
• Octopus
• Oxtail
• Oyster
• Parsley
• Sardine
• Seaweed
• Spinach
• Stout
• Squid
• Sweet rice
• Tempeh
• Watercress

Since the appointment, I’ve done a bit more research and I’ve read it’s to do with an energy called Qi (sounds like chee), that should be free-flowing around the body. My next acupuncture appointment is on 30th July, and specifically takes place within the ‘fertile window’ to try and help things along. We have one month before our consultant’s appointment – so one last try naturally. I’m currently on day 2 of a new cycle (yep, yesterday was pretty deflating!), so we’ll see what happens.

I’m not sure how I feel about acupuncture, but I’ve got to try and believe in something. I think a lot of my trouble relates to stress, so anything that might address that has got to be worth a shot, right?

Tomorrow I’m due to have my AMH test repeated and a Pelvic Assessment scan. I’ll be back with an update then. Wish me luck! (And sending much luck to all in the same boat!)