Traditional Chinese Medicine

**WARNING** This post may contain excessively girly information!

So, if you read my previous post, you saw I was looking into practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). I had my first visit yesterday, with a doctor who's office I pass on my way home. It was a quaint, quiet office. Very clean and smelling of incense. But not a strong, patchouli type smell or what my husband would call a "hippy" smell. There was only one elderly gentleman in the waiting room and he was waiting for his wife.

I didn't have to wait long before the doctor took me back to her office. She was extremely nice and very thorough. I can't even begin to tell you all the questions she asked! Some of which you probably don't even want to know, believe me! After going through a very detailed interview about various aspects of my health history, she took my blook pressure. I'm used to the cuffs they put around your arms, but she had a much smaller cuff that goes around the wrist. It was electronic and reminded me of a heart rate monitor. I didn't like her machine AT ALL! My blood pressure has always been on the low side of normal, but not here. She took readings on both wrists and both gave extremely high numbers, like 167/110. HOLY COW! That's not like me at all. She assured me that it happens to many people, including a priest she sees.

After that she looked at my tongue and took pulse rates from several places on both my wrists. In TCM, the tongue can tell a lot about someone. I was familiar with this because of the books I'm reading. TCM is all about balancing your body's internal climate and the five organ systems which are: kidney, liver, heart, spleen, and blood. You don't want your body to run too hot or too cold. You don't want you chi to be stagnant, deficient, or excessive.

My dr. could tell by my tongue and the respnses I gave during the interview, that my body tends to run warm. She explained that when she took my pulse, she was actually taking the pulse of each of the different systems. I, most definitely, have a deficiency in my kidney system. This is the system that is responsible for reproduction and life. But, she then told me that all of my pulses are slow for being as young as I am. Surprise! Even in the practice of TCM, my body is out of whack! We need to strengthen all of my systems, most importantly the kidney, in order to make my body strong enough to carry an egg. My body is not ready to be pregnant because it's not strong enough. I also need to get my blood flowing better. When I start menstruation, it lasts for literally like a day and a half, maybe two at best. I know this is not normal. And I've had a gut feeling all along that I probably won't get pregnant until that gets fixed. This is my dr's goal!

We then went into the acupuncture room. I've had acupuncture before, so I wasn't too worried about it. She stuck me w/ about 14-18 needles. The one that I felt the most was on the bottom, side of my right ankle. When she stuck that one, I actually said. "Oh!". She told me that spot's a kidney spot. The ones that I feel most are responses to the systems that need the most help. Interesting! She placed a heat lamp over my abdomen, turned on relaxing music, turned off the lights, and left me to relax. Which of course, I could not do. I was too busy thinking of all the different things she was telling me and whether my responses to her questions were sufficient enough. Before I knew it, she was back in the room. Luckily, it was only to stimulate the needles and leave me there to relax some more. This time, I actually nodded off.

Before I left, she mixed up a bottle of herbs for me. She created a powder with 8 different Chinese herbs. I have to mix this with 4 oz of hot water and drink it three times a day before meals. It looks like crap! It doesn't taste awful, but it's certainly not pleasant! It has the same taste as an herbal suppliment pill, except much, much stronger! It helps to plug my nose, but as soon as I let go and breathe, I still get the smell and feel the taste in my mouth. The herbs are supposed to help me bleed better, shed my endometrium lining, and then rebuild it. She directed me to eat hot (temp, not necessarily spicy) foods while I'm on my period to also help blood flow. After that, I need to eat lots of fuits, but no refrigerated. I also need to stay away from fatty meats.

I go back to see her in about a week and a half. We need to figure out when exactly I ovulate, which is not an easy thing for me since my body is so kooky. Once we get that figured out, I'll have to come in for more acupuncture and different herbs. I feel hopeful talking to her. It also helps that I've been reading about it and know someone who's gone through the same process with successful results. If anything, I'm sure all the acupuncture and herbs will renew my body and give me a sense of energy, health and wellbeing. How can I lose??

Infertility Woes

i haven't posted anything about this, but i feel the need to vent a bit.

DH and i have been trying for a baby for about seven months now. the problem is that my body doesn't seem to want to cooperate. since going off the pill, i haven't been able to have a normal period. maybe some spotting and at very lengthy cycles.

my obgyn, who i love, who saw me thru' my cervical cancer days, has been treating me with provera and clomid. the first month was all screwy because after the provera, i never got an actual period, just some spotting. didn't know if we should have called that a "period" or not. dr. said not to take the clomid because the lining of my uterus is most likely too thin and so needs to be fluffed. good medical term, "fluffed".

and so i was prescribed another medicine, Premarine (named so because its from Pregnant Mare Urine... yup, you got it folks, horse pee!) and immediately after that i was to take more provera to bring on that celebrated period. again, i only got spotting, but we counted it as day 1. a few days goes by and on day 5-9 i take the clomid. all pills are done for a few weeks.

we have a flow chart on our fridge that we are supposed to follow. our sex life all scripted out for us (romantic, right?). so we follow that flowchart almost to a T. the last day got mucked up because i was sick and nauseous but we made up for it the day after that.

and so the waiting began.... i was to expect menses any day from CD #28-30. those days came and went w/ no sign of a period. of course i peed on several sticks in the meantime to see if i was prego. i felt like it~ exhausted, dizzy, nauseous, slightly crampy. but, to my avail, all sticks of pee were negative. on the flow chart it said to try again on CD 35, which i did~ still negative.

ARGHHHHHHH!!!!! where the fuck is my period?!?!?!


so, i called up my doc yesterday and left a message (because that's what the flow chart says to do). the nurse called me back and said they're going to try one more cycle of provera and clomid. this time instead of 50mg we're upping it 100mg. research shows that those on clomid should ovulate during their second treatment (if not on the first). if i don't ovulate this time around, my dr. is referring me to a reproductive specialist.

i'm not sure how i feel about that. my immediate thought is $$$. however, i'm also thinking specialist=knowledge. perhaps enough to figure out what my problem is right away (wishful thinking, i know).

in the meantime, i'm going to see an acupuncturist today for a consultation. at bunco last month, a friend of mine suggested that i try acupuncture for infertility. she then sent me a ton of information thru' school mail. in there was a certificate for a free consultation. i've been reading up on it, and at the very least it should help me relax. apparently w/ infertility it could be because of a Liver Qi stagnation. this apparently happens to people who've been on the pill for awhile. it causes the blood to not flow as freely and symptoms include irregular periods w/ light flow or clotting, worry, stress, sighing and headaches. acupuncture, done at the right time of a woman's cycle, is supposed to free up this meridian and allow the blood to flow more smoothly.

worth a shot :o)