[mistletoe]

Happy Holidays Everyone!

I have an consultation appointment with the local acupuncturist/TCM practitioner on Thursday. For those of you who have done this, are there any questions that I should be asking? Anything I should be looking for in assessing him? I will, from now on, be trusting my gut more, I promise.

We're going unmedicated for the next two cycles because the first new-consult appointment with a new RE that I could get wasn't until January 18. So, I've decided to go full out with the alternatives: TCM, acupuncture, gentle yoga, Evening Primrose Oil, hydration and 30-minute hikes every day, and nutrition-based rumors I've read about: carrots, sweet potatoes, the Brassicaceae family of veggies, pineapple, hot lemon water. It seems like none of it can hurt, so I'll give it a try for at least a few cycles.

Thanks. And enjoy your holidays this week!

[*JenJen*]

good luck! I'd love to hear more about your journey through the more natural medicine world of MA!

[KMH]

I don't have any advice, but I am excited to learn more about your treatments. Good luck!

[Celry]

Good luck! I've done acupuncture twice for fertilty. Both times I started mid cycle and was prego the second full cycle. It's amazing how well it can work for certain things and if you find the right person. I talked to a bunch of acupuncturists on the phone before booking an appointment with one. The one I found was trained by Dr. Randine Lewis, who wrote The Infertilty Cure. You should check that book out. It's amazing, especially if you're open minded to this type of stuff, which it sounds like you are. You can check on Dr. Lewis' website to see if there is an acupuncturist in your area that's been trained by her. Plenty of acupuncturists treat fertility, but not all mainly focus on it.

Your acupuncturist will either do Chinese or Japanese style acupuncture. Chinese style uses a little bit larger needles and less of them. Japanese style uses small needles and a lot more points. I prefer the Japanese style myself.

Your acupuncturist will look at your eyes, tongue, and feel your pulse in 3 spots on your wrist. This will tell him/her a lot about what's going on with your body. He/she might tell you to stop eating certain things, to not drink fluids within 30 minutes of eating, to make sure you're chewing your food slow, to sit while you eat etc. There are all sorts of things they might tell you.

They should want to know what supplements/vitamins you're taking. They might tell you to add something or take something away. Mine was big on grape seed extract and fish oil supplements.

Mine also had me and all of her patients fill out detailed forms to bring into our first appointment. The fertility form is different and more detailed than her other forms. She looked through my form, at me and then asked if I was waking at a specific time most nights and I was. Crazy!

I hope you have a great first appointment.

[Jenn in DC]

I've done acupuncture for fertility for about 14 months. I don't have any advice about what you should plan to ask though. What I remember most about my first appt. was that I was amazed at all of the information she asked of me. I felt like she really wanted to get to know the "whole" me. It was so refreshing! I don't feel like I asked many questions but rather I just answered all of her questions. Like Celry - mine asked me if I was waking at a certain time each night and I also was. A few weeks of acupuncture and herbs and that was all fixed. I really believe that acupuncture can be a huge help!

I hope that your experience is as good as mine has been.

[mistletoe]

Thanks gals. Both the encouragement and a better idea of what to expect is very helpful. Unfortunately at the moment we live pretty much in the middle of nowhere, so the selection of acupuncturists is limited, and none trained by the Fertile Soul woman. But I will definitely check out the book (Christmas gift perhaps?) and keep the name fresh as we are likely to be moving within the next year. Thanks again.