Acupuncture and IVF Archives

Today is Day 7 of my cycle and the 6th day of follicle stimulating injections. I had my first ultrasound and blood test for cycle 9 yesterday. Goodness my IVF cycle count is getting on the high side.

The ultrasound was interesting – they spotted 16 follicles in the right ovary and 14 in the left – the largest follicle was getting close to 16 but the rest were much smaller 11 and 12 and some still unmeasureable. Its really all meaningless at this point because the follicles have a lot of growing to do before egg collection.

As a consequence of one follicle being slightly larger, I had to take my first antagonist injection this morning to prevent ovulation. I had wanted to do a photo blog of it this time but I got camera shy. I thought it might be a novel twist. Maybe another time. Although I am not sure I want to expose my belly that is starting to bloat and become bruised from the treatment to the world. This injection is not too bad, relatively painless but it takes a bit more pressure to pierce this particular needle into my belly and the injected area tends to be quite itchy for an hour or so. I’ve done my second injection for stimulating my follicles tonight and will be back to the clinic tomorrow for another ultrasound and blood test.

Once I have a date set for egg collection, I will be ringing my acupuncturist for some treatment before egg collection and plan to have some more treatment around embryo transfer time. I didn’t do this treatment the last few cycles – mainly due to the fact that I developed an aversion to needles and that I had to drive for an hour in peak hour traffic just to get treatment. I figured the stress of the journey worked against me. However, acupuncture seriously is about the only other thing that has been documented in studies to assist in conception. My new acupuncturist seems quite capable too and specialises in gynaecology of Chinese Traditional Medicine from Beijing University.

Over the past few years, there has been much debate over whether acupuncture is effective in improving the success rates of IVF.

A review of seven clinical trials of women who had acupuncture while undergoing embryo transfer suggests that acupuncture may increase your chance of pregnancy. The studies covered over 1366 women and compared acupuncture, given within one day of embryo transfer, or no additional treatment.

The trials revealed that acupuncture given as a complement to IVF increased the odds of achieving pregnancy. In this study, one in ten women or an additional 10% achieved pregnancy, however other studies claim success rates of 65%.

An approach such as this, would mean that acupuncture could be seen as an alternative method that may help improve the success rates. Acupuncture has been used in China for centuries to help regulate the reproductive system. The earliest books on acupuncture date from 2500BC.

Further information on the study can be found at Science Daily. Alternatively, readers might be interested in viewing a Catalyst transcript on the ABC which features the benefits of acupuncture and IVF.

Readers interested in learning about acupuncture and acupressure can also visit Pathway2Pregnancy.

Antagonist IVF Cycle and Acupuncture

Acupuncture Increases IVF Success Rate