IVF Ithaca NY

Infertility

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By Miki Shima, o.m.d.

Over the 23 years I’ve been in practice, I’ve helped hundreds of couples become pregnant without high-tech or pharmaceutical interventions. But many of my patients also add Chinese medicine to conventional fertility treatments to increase their effectiveness and alleviate some of the side effects.

Looking eastward has another benefit, too. In the rush to develop increasingly sophisticated ways to treat infertility, doctors often skip over a critical element: bolstering the patient’s overall health, which can suffer in the course of treatment. Where Western medicine concentrates solely on the reproductive organs, Chinese medicine works to strengthen and balance all systems of the body, using a combination of acupuncture, herbs, and nutritional supplements.

Here are some of the fertility-related questions I hear most often.

Q: I’ve been trying to conceive for one year, so far unsuccessfully, and I’d like to avoid the hassle and expense of conventional fertility treatments. How effective is Chinese medicine alone in helping women get pregnant?

A: That depends on several factors. Your first step should be to see your gynecologist for a few exams. She can check for any physical obstructions that might be preventing pregnancy, such as a blockage in your fallopian tubes, and assess your levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), which affects ovulation, to make sure you haven’t entered early menopause. If your FSH levels are above 10, your chances of getting pregnant without any kind of conventional fertility treatment are very small; if you have high FSH levels and an obstruction, your chances are essentially zero.

However, if your FSH levels are 9 or below, and there are no physical obstructions, traditional Chinese medicine alone can substantially improve your odds. For instance, if you are between the ages of 35 and 40 and your FSH is around 9, you have about a 4 percent chance of getting pregnant without any treatment whatsoever; with acupuncture and Chinese herbs, I’ve found that the probability rises to about 25 percent.

If you do need to see an infertility doctor, Chinese medicine can still help. Many of my patients are women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) or egg donation, and I’ve found that adding acupuncture, supplements, and herbs to the mix can raise their success rate by about 15 to 25 percent. One recent study from Germany reported that women who received a regular course of acupuncture immediately before and after in vitro fertilization were 58 percent more likely to get pregnant than those who underwent IVF alone.

Q: Will the fertility herbs my acupuncturist gave me interfere with the fertility drugs I’m taking?

A: No, with one exception. The drug Lupron is prescribed to shut down hormone production (as part of IVF treatment), so herbs that promote hormonal activity can interfere with it. I tell my patients to stop all herbal treatments while taking this drug.

Q: Are there a...

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