My Traditional Chinese Medicine fertility diagnosis

Welcome visitor from to Getpregnantblog.com .

“Many of the great achievements of the world were accomplished by tired and discouraged men who kept on working.”

In March 09, we decided to be very focused about our use of Traditional Chinese Medicine to help enhance our fertility. So in April, we enlisted the services of an internationally recognised Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner who focused on resolving fertility issues and helping women like me have healthy babies. As she is based in another country, we have not been able to meet face to face but have spoken on the phone and filled out pages and pages of diagnostic information. She then emailed my diagnosis and a very comprehensive treatment plan. After applying the plan for a couple months, we will have a follow-up consultation with her to adjust the treatment if necessary. Of course I am hoping that I wont need a follow-up because I will be pregnant with our first baby.

When you first encounter Traditional Chinese Medicine it seems in stark contrast to Western Medicine. The Western doctor just asks about the specific complaint and sometimes might never even physically examines you – and only occasionally looks at you. They rely on blood tests and results from imaging machines to formulate a diagnosis. TCM was a bit of a surprise to me as it really considers the entire body as a composite of connected systems. TCM looks at all sorts of aspects of your body including things such as the colour and firmness of your tongue, how frequently you urinate, how well you sleep, how anxious you are, if you get heart palpitations, what your pulse sounds like and how hectic, stressed or peaceful your life is.

With respect to fertility issues, the Western doctor usually asks only one question about your period – when did you last have it? TCM on the other hand investigates a whole host of issues including how long your period is, what the flow is like, how much pain you get, whether or not you get spotting, whether or not you get clots, what premenstrual symptoms you get and when. I found it refreshing to be treated as a whole person and to have a doctor take note of all the issues which I myself have wondered about – like the fact that my period disappears on day 3 but returns on day 4.

Based on the book I had read previously I had diagnosed myself with Liver Qi stagnation and Blood stasis. My TCM doctor confirmed this diagnosis and also added in Kidney Yin deficiency. My treatment plan was almost overwhelming. It included a specific herbal prescription – one for the follicular phase and one for the luteal phase. Each contained about 15-20 different herbs! Wow!  It also included acupuncture and the use of specific supplements, some of which I had never heard of. It also included self-massage techniques, dietary enhancements and restrictions, breathing techniques and meditation techniques.

Tomorrow I will share with you which components of the treatment plan I have implemented and how my first month on Traditional Chinese Medicine worked.

Related Topics

Posted in Fertility | |   | 1 Comment »

This entry was posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 at 4:36 pm and is filed under Fertility . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.