The Infertility Cure - Page 6

[mamimapster]

I'm trying to climb back on the bandwagon. I think after my BFN of last month I kind of got : about the whole thing (no coffee though!) and my IL's are here. They like to bring LOTS of deserts/chocolate/goodies into my house-and of course I am REALLLY bad about not eating them!: I have an acupuncturist appointment tomorrow.

[Dena]

Mamimapster - I am so sorry about your BFN. It is so hard to do all this work and not get our much-deserved reward. AND it is doubly hard when all those goodies are right there in front of you. I tend to go with the theory that the faster I eat them, the sooner they will be out of the house. And yes, I DO know that is pretty insane logic.

Tiara - my eyes bugged out at that figure! My acupuncturist charges $85/session, but last time we went through IVF he cut his fee in half for us since insurance would pay for none of it. Anyway, even at his full fee that would be - well, its late and math was never my best subject, but less than 440 per month. If I were you I would call a few more places.

Oh, and imo, a three month commitment is not necessarily fair. What if you don't like them, or feel they are not a good fit for you? Are you then stuck? Do they make you sign a contract or something? That just sounds a little money-grubbing to me. Not that I feel strongly about this or anything.

And, by the way, welcome to the board! And I know just what you mean about those optimistic early ttc-ers. IF definitely changes the way you look at things. Plus, after years of trying, it is just too, well, TRYING to keep hoping/planning/obsessing like that.

[lesliesara63]

The place I'm going is $35 for an acupuncture session + supplements. Todays total was $66. I'm hoping the supplements last longer than a week. This is better than the $60/session + supplements quoted to me by a naturopath. I have no coverage for this either.

[juliaaaah]

What kind of supplements did you get, leslie? I'm nervous about the supplements. I have a friend who is a Chinese doctor and accupuncturist, and if this cycle is BFN, I'm going to talk to her and see what she would/could do. I am just not sure about taking on something with such an expense if a) it's my husband that's the problem, or b) we're not sure what's going on with me yet. We've only been trying 5 cycles and charting for 3.

I did read bits and pieces of TIC at the bookstore - it sounds fascinating. I'm marginally sure I have the kidney, spleen, and hot/blood/whatever it is. I'm vegan, so even though I have the no-dairy thing down, I really like my soy :-).

p.s., One day I'll read through this entire post, but for now I've just read the first few pages and the last page. *blush*

[fierrbugg]

Dena: Thanks for the welcome and thanks for the info. I knew that going the w/ an alternative dr. was going to be expensive, but it did seem a bit much for me too - of course that's $85 an appt., once a week for three months. Plus supplements are extra - and the receptionist averaged about $110 per visit. It sounds like I'm already taking some of the supplements that she would require me to take (Omega-3's and I like mine, not changing to anyone else's ). She did say that the first visit was a consult - but even that was $85. Aren't those normally discounted or free? I was going to call around to other offices that I could find. I've been searching online for a while now off and on while I weigh my options and I can't find many directories for naturopaths, acupuncturists, etc. But like I said I'll keep looking.

Also I completely agree w/ what you said about ttc being TRYING. Very true!!

Julia: You mentioned soy in your post, and I probably haven't gotten to that part of the book yet - but I have heard from other sources that soy isn't good for ttc. Is that what you're talking about?

Leslie: I have never gotten acupuncture before - but my sister did a few years ago and despite being on bcp, conceived my nephew. She's been ordering me to get it ever since. But I was really scared. Silly, huh? I'm not even afraid of needles or anything. Maybe it would make more sense for me to go to an acupuncturist for now. I'll look into it.

Thanks everyone for the info.

[CorbinsMama]

Is anyone else as totally sick of pineapple as I am? It used to be my favorite fresh fruit, but it's not so exciting anymore!

I have my FET on August 7, just 11 days away. Can anyone recommend a good "last ditch effort"? I have Spleen Qi Definiciency, Liver Qi Stagnation, Heart Deficiency, and Dampness. I haven't been folloing all the recommendations to a "T," but I have been doing some things.

What would you do if you wanted to make the most of these 11 days? I have been drinking my raspberry leaf tea, taking my Fish Oil and baby aspirin, avoiding caffeine, and getting acupuncture regularly. I have been limiting soy and dairy too.

[Dena]

Well, looking back to when I conceived dd, I was not drinking any coffee, and I was severely limiting dairy, so for me I think those would be the two biggies. For dampness I know dairy is a big one, so I would probably cut that out entirely for the next 11 days or so. And I think the acupuncture can make a huge difference as well. Just my .02.

Good luck, Megan! We will all be rooting for a BFP from you by mid-August!!

[OTMomma]

Megan- I'd avoid all sugar and dairy, and white flour for the next 11 days. I'd actually take a few days off the pineapple if its making you ill- and then start it again a few days before the transfer. Start doing the deep breathing technique in the book every night before bed (more if you can remember) for the heart. That's all I can think of to add to Dena's advice. We will all be routing for you! And Aug. 7 is my birthday- a great day to do your FET!

mamimapster- it is really hard to hang in there month after month!

Leslie- So glad the accupuncture is going good.

I have been staying on the diet as best I can. I made sure not to drink orange juice or other acidic things this week before O too. I was doing the royal jelly, but I am thinking I'm not going to do it post O (just got a temp rise today). I am starting to resent that dh doesn't have to do a crazy diet like this too. That doesnt' seem fair. But that's life.

[CorbinsMama]

Originally Posted by OTMomma

Megan- I'd avoid all sugar and dairy, and white flour for the next 11 days. I'd actually take a few days off the pineapple if its making you ill

Oh, it's not making me sick. I'm just sick of it! I can tough it out. If I can tolerate the Lupron and estrogen, I can stand a little too much pineapple. It's all for a good cause, right?

Originally Posted by OTMomma

Start doing the deep breathing technique in the book every night before bed (more if you can remember) for the heart. That's all I can think of to add to Dena's advice. We will all be routing for you! And Aug. 7 is my birthday- a great day to do your FET!

Oh, that sounds great! I will be taking my beta right before DS's 7th birthday so I take that as a good sign too!

Thank you for the other advice. I'm on it!

[CorbinsMama]

Thank you, Dena! I will do those things. The acupuncture is amazing. This last session and the one before I could feel the energy pulsating through my arms, legs, and torso. It was like a cross between a throb and a vibration. It was really cool.

[Dena]

Oooh, Megan I got that at my last energy healing too. Majorly cool, huh?

So when is ds's birthday? Dd was born August 21, so I was thinking your beta would be right around then, which I personally would consider a lucky day!

[mamimapster]

yep, I'm with you on the acupuncture I had my nice "needle nap" yesterday Now if I could only figure out whether I'm about to O or not!

[CorbinsMama]

Dena,

DS's b-day is 8/25. I should be taking my beta on your DD's b-day, you're right! We're having a pirate party on 8/27. It would be nice to have some news to share then.

[fierrbugg]

Ok, I posted this somewhere else on accident. Duh. Anyway, I made the appt. with a local naturopath. The consult fee is more than the other office, but the visits are less than half and she didn't say a thing about a 3 month committment. She did say that I was going to like the dr. and every dr. that I've loved in the past has come to me w/ that kind of reccomendation from their staff. Funny huh? I took it as a sign though, so I scheduled an appointment in two weeks. Yay. Finally a decision to get my body to work like a girl's body again.

[OTMomma]

Tiara- You should be really proud of yourself! (I meant to put that in the other thread too- ) That sounds really promising!

[Tinkerbell1177]

I was reading through the post. Is this a book that teaches you to change eating habits that will help infertility?? SOunds very healthy and good. Lord knows I can afford to lose weight. lol

[OTMomma]

Tinkerbell- The book is based on Chinese medicine- you take a test in the book and it tells you a traditional chinese diagnosis and then has advice for your diet to bring your body into good health, which should lead to pregnancy. It also recommends herbs and accupuncture- it is a cool book. BTW- I think your sig is too long (I think we are only supposed to use 3 lines)

[OTMomma]

So is anyone else still around and doing this? (or following this thread?)

I think the diet has gotten easier lately- I've quit craving as much junk. I still want to eat stuff I shouldn't, but not as much and I'm finding more substitutes. I also cheat a little to keep from going crazy.

[fibre_artist]

I haven't ventured into here for a while - thanks for reminding me of this book again! I got it out of the library a year and a bit ago and have been using the accupuncture points (just pressing them with my fingers - has anyone tried using the lasar pointer like she suggested?) for the last few months. I don't know if I wrote out the diet recommendations. I've got it on hold again to check out everything I've forgotten! I know that I identified with Kidney Yang, Spleen Qi deficiencies, and possibly Blood Stasis.

I've been off sugar for about 6 years (due to Candida and hypoglycemia) - yes, it is possible to get off of it and artificial sweetners completely, although I do make most of my things from scratch. Tastier that way anyway. I do use Stevia on occasion (mainly in lemonade, although I haven't been drinking that much recently anyway). I tried several times going off wheat or dairy for two weeks and adding them back to check for reactions (none), but the last couple of months I've only had the odd bit of wheat (ww pasta) because it turns out DH has a problem with gluten. So much of the time I'm eating gf too, because it's annoying to make more than one thing. I do use rye and spelt flour for my bread (sourdough), and oats for breakfast - it's all a matter of what's in the pantry. Dairy though, I'd have to check out - homemade yogurt is full of those wonderful probios...

Recent exciting signs - we moved cross country in March, and went through a natural detox afterwards (sooooo much less smoggy here, and indoor air quality is better too!), and I'm on medical leave from school, so there's a lot less stress from that front. My May, June, and July O days were CD 22 (earliest in 6 years), CD20, CD17!! So who knows - less pollutants, less stress, able to be more active (feeling healthier), accupressure, no wheat? Whatever it is, keep it going! Not only that, but I've been told to decrease my thyroid meds, and I decreased my prog. cream this cycle (and I still think it's too much now)! Now, if only a BFP would appear .

I'll have to pay more attention to the natural-only posts - I feel a little weird in most infertility forums because we aren't in a place financially (or housing wise) to push hard on the medical front - if 'it happens', then we'll 'make the best of it' , but to undergo more than testing with our present lifestyle would just look irresponsible. Yet after 2.5 years (off and on, probably about 16 cycles of hitting the timing), I want to DO something about it, YK?

[Astrid]

Originally Posted by OTMomma

So is anyone else still around and doing this? (or following this thread?)

I went on a bit of a bender last month but am back to doing the sugar/dairy free diet again.