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When
Western Medicine Gives Up on You
What
happens when you've gone through all the fertility testing
and treatment, and instead of a pregnancy you end up
with a diagnosis of "Unexplained Infertility"?
What if the fertility clinic where you'd hoped to conceive
baby through IVF tells you there is nothing they can
do for you and that you'll never get pregnant?
Before
I go any further, let me be frank and say that there
are cases in which pregnancy is not possible, and there
are cases in which it would be harmful to the mother's
body and to the couple's mental health (not to mention
the health of their relationship) to continue trying
to conceive.
But
what if your doctor can't say why you haven't been able
to get pregnant, or you are rejected by the IVF clinic
because you are 40-something and your tests indicate
that you aren't likely to respond well to fertility
drugs? What if you and your partner simply aren't ready
to stop trying for a baby?
This
is the point that many of my patients have reached when
they come to my clinic. Their Western medical caregivers
have told them there is nothing more that they can do
for them, so they have turned to alternative medicine,
looking for answers and hoping for miracles.
Again,
let me be honest and say that I never guarantee that
the end result of treatment with acupuncture and Chinese
herbal medicine will be a viable pregnancy. What I can
do is provide a thorough, Traditional Chinese Medicine
(TCM) assessment of your case, letting you know what
I believe is happening in your body and your life that
might be keeping you from getting pregnant, and outlining
how we might work together to remove those barriers.
The
beauty of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is that
it always looks at the whole patient, never just at
the symptom. For example, a woman diagnosed with Premature
Ovarian Failure (POF) might also be fatigued and have
a low sex drive, symptoms that indicate a depletion
of Kidney energy. My job is to tease out the information
that leads to an understanding of why that energy is
depleted--is it age, overwork, poor diet, genetics,
or a combination of these? What is the quickest, easiest
way to build that energy? How can the patient contribute
to her own recovery?
So,
if pregnancy isn't the goal, how do we know that acupuncture
and Chinese herbs are having an effect on you? Simply
put, we should begin to see positive changes in like
a reduction in fatigue and an improvement in your sex
drive, your menstrual cycle should begin to look more
like a "normal" cycle, you should notice more
abundant cervical mucous, your PMS symptoms should subside
or resolve, etc. Ideally, if your body is functioning
more smoothly and harmoniously, your chances of getting
pregnant should also increase.
By
focusing on you and helping you achieve better overall
and reproductive health, we lay a better foundation
so that if you do become pregnant, your body will be
better prepared to nourish a growing life, handle labor
and delivery and withstand the stresses of becoming
a new parent.
*As
stated above, pregnancy is neither guaranteed nor is
it the focus of treatment. This article is not intended
to challenge the diagnosis of your OB/GYN or fertility
specialist, but to simply offer an explanation of how
TCM might be used when Western interventions are unavailable
or inappropriate for your case.
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