Needles needles needles

I saw the acupuncturist yesterday.

I had acupuncture a few years ago when I was struggling with pain for a herniated disc. Nothing I did, and nothing I took seemed to fix the pain, so I thought "why not". Top it off that my health plan covered it, so I gave it a shot and holy moly, the pain went right away... and stayed away for about 3 weeks! amazing!

Soooo, I figured, why not. My friend over at Sprout suggested that perhaps acupuncture to spur on ovulation might be in order. I figured, why not. So I went in yesterday.

My appointment started with a full history - REALLY full history, more than any medical doctor has ever taken. Given that I was there for fertility issues, the fact that she was asking me about ear infections, etc was really weird. Then when we were finished she told me that it turns out that the ears are connected to the same system that the reproductive system is ... the kidney meridian. That doesn't mean there is anything wrong with my kidneys, just that that system is weakened. She said that all things point to my body, and particularly the kidney meridian, being weakened from the extensive medical issues that I've had in the past couple of years and has been exacerbated by the stress.

She wants to treat me to improve the energy of this zone and improve it. She said that she thinks from what I've told her that I am ovulating and quite possibly getting pregnant, but my body is unable to support a pregnancy. Given that my luteal phase is typically REALLY short she may be right. She actually said that she thinks that it might be better to wait a month or two before getting pregnant in order to strengthen my system so that it is ready for pregnancy. I'm tossing the idea around. Not the idea of not trying, just the idea of not using drugs and just letting it happen if it happens over the summer. I don't have an appointment with the obgyn until August 24, so maybe if I just wait until then to go on the drugs... I don't know... it's an idea I"m throwing around.

Anyway, she recommended a book to me. She said to get it and do the checklists in it and it will help us to figure out exactly what hormones are out of whack. She said that I didn't have to follow the diet plan exactly but that there was a lot of really good information in it. She wants me to focus more on the getting healthy and less on the fertility for a little bit of time (so yes, I ended up having chips for supper tonight). The book is called The Supercharged Hormone Diet by Dr. Natasha Turner. So far it's kind of interesting. I started looking at a couple of the tests and it is looking like I'm very high on cortisol which could account for a lot. That is one hormone that has never been tested in me, so who knows... maybe we're onto something.

She doesn't want me to go on any herbs until we have a better handle on it - she said that my system is too weak for herbs right now, so after it is stronger, then she'll recommend some.

I am booked in to get a treatment once a week for the next month. It means weekly trips to the city, but if it makes a difference, it will be worth it.

One of the things that the book recommends is to detox for a week then slowly reintroduce foods to determine if there are any intolerances that are causing trouble. I might try a detox, but I already told my husband that he needs to leave the town for that week because if I give up carbs, meat, sugar, and caffeine all in one week... well, I won't be held responsible for my behaviour.

So, anyway, the treatment went pretty well and I'm trying to be positive about all of it. It's a different approach, so why not give it a shot!