Unexplained Infertility....Explained: If at first you don't succeed...stick a bunch of needles in your body

My most recent endeavor in the fertility field has been starting up acupuncture. I was reading some baby blogs one night after a rather disappointing day when I happened across a post from a lady touting acupuncture. Per her account, she had tried all of the standard therapies with no success and tried acupuncture as a last resort. Her acupuncturist told her there were some issues with her kidneys and by her next cycle she was pregnant. I was at the point where I was taking clomid, mucinex, prenatals, extra folic acid, iron, waiting for a fertility specialist consult and an IUI treatment when I read this. Her story really stuck with me, mainly because it would not add any more medications or hormones. Also, I figured, what could it really hurt?

I actually did a little research on fertility based acupuncture before selecting an acupuncturist and starting treatments. A lot of times I just jump head-first in to things and only realize my mistakes after I'm in the middle of it. There was just something about the thought of someone poking needles in to my body that made me want to get all of my facts straight. Here are the main take-aways I got from my research (of note: my research pretty much consists of what I found on google searches).

* Acupuncture has a number of uses, most commonly used to alleviate pain and stabilize mood, but there is a specific subsection to help with fertility. Not all acupuncturists specialize in fertility, so this is a good start off question to ask when selecting a practice.

* Just like any medical profession, there are levels of certification for acupuncturists. I would recommend using a nationally certified acupuncturist, just as I would recommend using a board certified fertility specialists. No certification, no certainty that they really know their stuff. The major association for certified acupuncturists is The National Certification Commission of Acupuncture (NCCAM). Here is a link where to find local acupuncturists certified with the NCCAM:

www.nccaom.org/find-a-nccaom-certified-practitioner‎

I looked up a few acupuncturists on this site and they were NOT all certified.

* You can utilize acupuncture for fertility before you get pregnant up through your first trimester of pregnancy. There are certain "trigger points" that are contraindicated in pregnancy. Worth it to quiz your acupuncturist on these before getting started; if they don't know then they probably shouldn't be used. Here are the trigger points from an article about infertility and acupuncture:

There are 6 contraindicated acupuncture points which should be avoided when the patient is pregnant or pregnancy is suspected. These include Gallbladder 21, Stomach 12, Large Intestine 4, Spleen 6, Bladder 60, Bladder 67 and any points on the lower abdomen.

* The basis of acupuncture is that every person has an energy (qi) which can be channeled or redirected along specific meridians. These meridians include the small and large intestine, kidneys, liver, spleen, gallbladder, bladder, thyroid and I'm sure many others. Needles are inserted at certain points to redirect this energy to where it is needed.

After some consideration, I contacted Lumina AcuClinic here in Wilmington. The acupuncturist was NCCAM certified, had a fertility specialty and was originally trained in China. I braced myself for the pricing and it was less than expected. The initial consult is $95 and all other following sessions are $75. I was recommended to come once weekly, except for weeks when I am on my period. So, overall expect to pay about $225/month.

My first visit, I was nervous. On top of not knowing what type of pain might be associated, the acupuncturist (Ms. En) told me that I would likely have to make lifestyle changes. I was really liking my current lifestyle so I wasn't too excited to hear about these changes. I sat and talked to Ms. En for about 30 minutes during that first session and she asked me a series of questions about my health history, Travis's health history and both of our families' health histories. She asked about past and current meds, including birth control, caffeine, alcohol and tobacco intake and diet/exercise habits. Finally, she also asked me really specific questions such as "is your mouth dry a lot" and "are your feet often cold."

At the end of all of this, she concluded that my two biggest problems are:
1. Women that take birth control for long periods of time (I did for about 10 years) can take a long time to get pregnant, longer than the normal 6 months that doctors state.
2. I was "too cold" and this was most likely due to an issue with my spleen (i.e. we would be focusing on the spleen meridian).

The lifestyle changes that she recommended were:
1. Try to eat more protein and less carbs. Carbohydrate cravings are a sign of an imbalanced spleen.
2. No more soda, even diet. She said that there is just too much "bad stuff" (my words, not hers) in them and they are doing me no good
3. Try to limit cold foods and drink. Biggest tips: only drink warm or room temp liquids (or at least no ice cold drinks) and eat cooked vegetables in stead of cold, raw veggies (i.e. limit salad). A lot of people think the drink part sounds awful, however I have noticed one benefit. When ordering drinks at a bar or restaurant, the waiters are so thrown off by your request, that they still fill your glass completely full without the ice. If out drinking, this equals a lot more bang for your buck!

I was pretty happy with her assessment, because I felt like it was in line with my theory. When she said I was "too cold", I took that to mean that I did not have enough blood flow. This is in line with my low iron and low blood pressure diagnoses.

The next step was, obviously, the acupuncture. To prep, you change in to a hospital gown, the one with the ties in the front like you use at the ob-gyn. You lay down on an exam table with a pillow below your head and knees. The acupuncturist will swab the areas with alcohol where the needles will be inserted. Once complete, the needles are inserted from the top of the head down through your feet. A timer is set for 30 minutes, a heat lamp placed over your stomach and a bell set beside your finger. You are supposed to lay still the entire time, if you move it can sometimes send little shock pains down your body. I had an itch on my nose the first time and when I went to scrunch my nose, it did just that starting at the crown of my head. I let that itch go after that.

Needle insertion honestly does not hurt; it feels like a little numb prick, like the sensations you feel when your foot or hand falls asleep. They are localized to the small area where the needle is inserted. Probably about one needle per session will send a little shock wave up the localized area, but that goes away immediately. There are almost no marks left once the needles are taken out, only occasionally on the hands and feet.

The one problem when using acupuncture for fertility, much like any fertility treatment, is you can't really tell if it is doing anything helpful. The only real measure is getting pregnant; there isn't any in between. So, I will just keep my fingers crossed and try to take the suggested lifestyle changes seriously.

Below I've included a number of pictures taken from my acupuncture session today. These will probably "explain" the process better than anything I could write.