Monday 12 August 2013

Happy Pincussion

The latest in fertility news (dum, dum, dum.....) This time, an update from the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)  side.

I saw Dr. Q for a Cycle Day 2 appointment. It wasn't planned that way, but AF decided to show up after 19 days this cycle.  I wasn't exactly surprised that I had a short cycle although I was hoping my suspicions were wrong.  After my first appointment with Dr. Q, Day 10, I used my fertility monitor and it gave me a very high number, which implied that I had already ovulated, or more likely attempted to ovulate, probably around Day 7 (the Ovacue and how it works).

Anyway, AF had rather convenient timing since we were able to plan for the rest of the cycle at this appointment. I had a treatment today, and have 3 more scheduled for this cycle: Day 6, Day 9, and Day 11.  I am getting quite used to being full of needles  and am able to relax, although I still have a fear that she will leave one in my hair. I have to shake my head out thoroughly after every appointment.

Mr. Turtle hoped to talk to Dr. Q this appointment, but she was busy and he had to run to another appointment, so she just missed him.

Obviously 19 days is far too short a cycle. On the other hand, this period arrived with practically no pain or cramps at all, and there are fewer clots, which Dr. Q considers a good thing. It is a good thing even if all it means is I am less miserable! Big clots are usually accompanied by nasty cramps and discomfort.  The colour also turned bright red faster. Other apparently good news is that I have been less cold lately.

Dr. Q said to eat an egg daily (already doing that, cause I like eggs) and to eat chicken soup a couple times a week. It is supposed to be especially good during a period.

I mentioned Dr. Cotter's stance on herbal remedies to Dr. Q. Dr. Q's response was that nothing should be taken during an IVF cycle, but since I am nowhere near having an IVF cycle scheduled, they would not do any harm. Plus all these remedies have been used for 100s of years, etc. I was curious what she would give me so I didn't object. Here's what she gave me: (cost: $22.00)

This one is 8 pills/ 2X a day for days 1-5. Interesting name, "999". 9 is my lucky number.


Lots of interesting ingredients, including, erm, poo.


Next is Day 5-14, 1 bag 2X a day.



No poo, but 2 kinds of branches.  Well, I can't remember the last time I found a medication funny, so this should be good  for stress, anyway.


I should add that since every patient is unique  in TCM, just because Dr. Q gave me this stuff doesn't mean that every other infertile would be given it.

It so happens that my MIL, also a TCM practitioner, is visiting so I ran the herbs by her and asked if there was anything I should be concerned about. She said no, they were typical herbs to reinforce basic health.  So I thought it wouldn't hurt to take them for a cycle when I'm highly unlikely to be pregnant anyway and see if there is any effect on my menstrual cycle.  

Dr. Q's next advice was about trying to reduce stress and anxiety. She said that wanting or insisting on control is a major source of stress.  I didn't think I was projecting my control freak personality from the treatment bed, but I guess.....Or maybe Dr. Q has a more than a passing familiarity with fertility patients and their demons and figured she might as well mention it. She recommended meditation and prayer as a way of letting go. Organized religion is not a part of my life and it is extremely unlikely it ever will be (that's a whole other story).  I can't say I understand much about prayer or meditation either.  But I do have activities I do to relax and/or redirect my thoughts, which I feel are as effective or more so for the kind of person I am.

Still, I think I grasp the gist of what she was saying, which was to enter into a state of mind where I can be calm and accepting of what is going on with my fertility. I am not going to get pregnant at a certain time because I want to be. I am not guaranteed to get pregnant because I take something or do something or "fix" my problem in some way. I think I've actually gone some way toward accepting that already because nobody knows any way to fix my problem anyway. The best way forward from here that I can see is to do a series of things to try to improve my reproductive health, coupled with the best that modern science can  come up with.  I am not stressing about why we are not conceiving a baby because, well, it has been explained  to me in detail why we cannot do that. I do get a little sad or grumpy sometimes, though. Some days I'm more patient and accepting than other days. But that is why we work on things.

The only thing about stress and TCM treatment that seems a little incongruous for me is that in order for this to effective I have to monitor a lot of things. Cervical mucus, period flow and colour, when I go pee, etc. etc. I am OK with that, but monitoring is one thing that tends to increase my stress. My stress level usually goes down when I ignore what my body is doing as much as possible, but then I don't have anything useful to tell to doctors. So it will be an interesting challenge to be detail-oriented without obsessing over how things might be going "wrong."

Anyway, I'm pretty optimistic about lowering stress, but the fact remains that my stress is lower with a plan, even if the plan might change. And on that topic, no word yet from The Fertility Clinic on the Fragile X test. I left a probably pointless and annoying message asking if they were still going to call me back when they have the result. Because I felt like it.  They were nice enough to phone back on Tuesday and let me know that they still do not have the results but they should have them soon. I also had a message on my phone of someone singing in an operatic voice about pirates. That is not related but it is just absurd enough to share.

13 comments:

  1. Good luck lowering your stress levels. I know it is a lot easier said than done! I am trying to do the same thing. I completely agree with you that it is a lot easier to lower stress levels when you are not monitoring everything so closely!

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    1. Yeah, I'll just have to find ways of creatively distracting myself. I plan to think of it as health maintanence/ improvement not ttc as such.

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  2. Great news that your second appointment with Dr. Q went well! I hear you on the cycle monitoring causing more stress. But it's a tricky situation because like you say, no monitoring means having a lot less information about what's going on with your body. I think it's wonderful that you are approaching this from different angles, both with Western medicine and TCM. Hoping good things are ahead!

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    1. Me too! I hope the two approaches don't get too confusing or stressful but at the moment it feels like two sides of the same coin.

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  3. OMG excrement?! Does it say from what? Does it mean excretion or is it really excrement?! I mean if it work, hey. Awesome. But I always wonder how people discover things like that!!

    How nice to have your own personal TCM consultant! I hope you find a way to monitor and relax. I don't know how because monitoring makes me stress, too, but I hope you find one!

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    1. Lol It means poo, yah. I know, you can imagine the conversation back when:

      Patient: um doc, I've been taking that medicine but still not feeling great....
      Doc: hmmmm, I see. Well, maybe we need to add something to it....ummmm....how about squirrel poo?
      Patient: sounds good to me; I'm all about that cutting edge medicine...

      .....or something.

      Yeah, I'll think I'll just have to not take the monitoring very seriously. I mean in the heavy emotional sense.

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  4. I spent my hour at my acupuncturist praying and staring out at the sky and nature. I know you said you don't pray but instead maybe say all the things your thankful for or the positives that you can think of? I dunno why but I felt completely at peace at the end of my appointment today I like to think it will make a difference. Hope you can find your zen :)

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    1. Hi Kasey, thanks. I think I could pray by giving thanks or by repeating a mantra. I just can't do it in a specific religious context, because of my own experiences. It is good to reach a state of peace and acceptance though and it can be very hard to do when ttc. I'm glad you found that peace!

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  5. Poo??? And I thought injecting myself with nun pee was bad...I think that one wins, hands down.

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    1. Yeah!! I'm the winner LOL! I read the background to the nun pee medicine, that was actually pretty interesting.

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  6. I thought you were joking when you mentioned 'poo', until I looked closer. Out of curiosity I went to google 'trogopterus xanthipes' (which is what it says) and got 'Complex-toothed flying squirrel'. So it turns out you're eating squirrel poo. Hope that doesn't stress you out further :)

    "In Traditional Chinese medicine the feces of the squirrel, known as the Five Spirits Grease (五靈脂, wǔ líng zhī) are believed to help against ulcer in the duodenum."

    Hope you can find your own way to de-stress, be it meditation or something you enjoy. I personally find that doing something that requires lots of energy/concentration helps. Being physically/mentally tired out helped me to sleep better and think less about TTC.

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  7. Thanks for the research Ariel. Flying squirrel droppings, eh. Well there's a first for everything. No, I'm not stressed; I don't think I've come this far to be done in by squirrel poo. I figure if I'm going to try something I might as well give it a good chance, within reason. I'm reasonably sure the pills won't do harm and they are not expensive; A pedicure costs more. Although I think my main motivator is actually curiosity.

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  8. Oh, and I totally agree about doing something that requires energy and concentration as a de stressor. Another reason I love playing music and dancing!

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