Acupuncture ... Can I benefit from it if I'm already doing IVF? Any other holistic ideas?

[ilovemygirl]

I just started an IVF cycle. I'm just on cycle day two right now and will start my stimulation meds tonight. Do you think it's too late to start acupuncture? My guess is it won't have any real effect on the cycle outcome but could be beneficial for relaxing and feeling like I'm doing something holistic (which is how I tend to be) while being on all these drugs that make me feel lousy. 

Any ideas? Has meditation or prenatal yoga or anything like that helped in feeling more in control of things for you while ttc? 

[fullofhope08]

hi there,

research has shown that acupuncture does increase success in IVF pregnancy rates. having it done throughout the cycle has shown to be beneficial, but the most crucial session is the one within 24 hours of transfer (ideally within 6 hours). So it's never too late to start! You may find that tehy want to see you 1-2 times a week for now, then often right before retrieval and then right after transfer. Or at least that's what my naturopath does.

From personal experience, I have done acupuncture with each of my 3 cycles. I'm in the 2ww for my current cycle (we have a ds from a previous cycle). I don't think I would have stayed sane without the help of my naturopath and the acupuncture this time - I was on really high doses of meds and so had more side effects. A visit to her helped settle things for a few days every time. Since she is a naturopath, she could also help me problem solve in other ways as we went through the cycle - supplements, etc.

I also am doing guided meditations this time round. I found the circle and bloom ivf/iui series (which is normally $60+ on their website) for $34 or so on the walgreens website. Some people like anjionline's meditations. It's been a great help for me in terms of countering the stress and dealing with my feelings of my body being unwell/failing me (my FSH was high this time, so lots of meds with a poorer response). I also did a lot of swimming to try to increase blood flow to the pelvic region. Gentle yoga can definitely help. in the end, I had more eggs retrieved than they anticipated and we had two great blasts to transfer on day 5...it was all helpful I believe.
Essentially whatever you find helps you de-stress and keep positive is what will help. But I defintiely recommend acupuncture, and it's never too late. good luck with your cycle. I hope all goes well!

[deborahbgkelly]

ilovemygirl- Yes, it can help. Ask for the uterine flow treatments. These increase blood flow to the uterus which aids in implantation.

[GaleTX]

I did acupuncture weekly during the stim period through retrieval (so three times), then the morning of transfer.  I'm currently 31 weeks with my IVF baby, so while I can't say for sure it helped, it sure didn't hurt! 

I also:

did the pineapple core thing (buy a pineapple and get the core.  Cut it into five evenly sized pieces and beginning the day of transfer, eat one piece each day)

kept my feet warm during the entire 2ww (socks and a heating pad)

Laughed immediately after transfer (believe it or not, there is a study that says this improves implantation! We dowloaded the Blue Collar Comedy Tour to my phone and listened while I laid on the table following transfer)

Visualized the embryo implanting throughout the 2ww.  I thought of it as a peanut butter sandwich and my embie was stuck in the peanut butter and not going anywhere!

I'm totally not a "voo doo" type person as my husband described all this, but whether it was just perfect timing or a little bit of everything, we're expecting, so it was all worth it to me!