My Acupuncture Experiences and question

Deelylah · #1 (**permalink**) 06-23-2004, 07:08 AM

Hi everyone,

This past week, I went to 2 different places that did acupuncture and I'm
not really sure if I feel differently or if I even want to continue with
it. I have read all the benefits and how it is suppose to help
Infertility. It doesnt' seem that bad per session (except for the first
one I'm going to tell you about) but when they want you to go there 1-2
times a week, it adds up to be quite a bit of money.

The first women I went to, charged $150.00 for the first visit and then
thereafter $65 for each session to be done once a week. Boy do I feel
stupid for paying all that...wasn't til afterwards that I called around
and saw that most people charge 75-80 the first visit.

Anyways the place was nice, sheets on the bed, looked like a massage room
with nice music playing. I lay on my stomach with my shirt pushed up and
I was wearing a long skirt so she put about 8 needles along my spine and
my feet. She then put this heat lamp on me for about 20 min where I just
relaxed. It was soothing. She then took the needles out and told me she
was going to give me a back massage to get the blood flowing. Okay sounds
good. So normally someone giving me a massage stood up next to me,
however she acutally climbed up on the bed and bent over me and gave me
this very serious hard back rub. I wasn't sure if that was how it was
suppose to be or not but I was looking forward to her stopping.

Then I turned over and she put another 8 needles or so in my feet, knees,
arms and hands. Again I relaxed another 20min or so and after taking the
needles out, she gave me a little head/neck massage for a few minutes.
That part was relaxing. So I left there with an appointment for the
following week but I wasn't really sure if I liked the whole thing or
not. With that being my first one, I didnt have anything to compare it
to.

So I called around using a list given to me by my insurance company. The
companies listed were to give a discount if you had bCBS. So I found
this one clinic that was run by a husband and wife team and when I called
the guy told me because I had that insurance each session would only be
$45.00. Great I thought and he seemed really nice so I booked an
appointment.

I went to this 2nd place yesterday. First impressions...I could
definately notice why the first place was alot pricery than the 2nd
place....it didn't give me that warm comfy feeling when I first walked
in...more of an office atmoshpere.
In the room he had a massage bed also but no sheets like the other woman
had...instead he had a roll of white paper which one would just tear off
a big piece of it and lay it on the bed. I was asked to fill out a form
and instead of the usual clipboard one would expect to leanon, I was a
handed a beat up looking telephone book. The guy himself seemed to be
very knowledgable but he had bad teeth and it was all i could do to keep
from staring at them. lol.

The treatment was good..I think. He used 25 needles. He didn't offer any
blankets or sheets so I found myself lying there and I kept getting the
chills all through out my body. He did have nice music playing but the
chills kept taking me out of the relaxation I found myself in. A couple
of times I almost drifted off to sleep and then the chills hit me.
Finally the time was up and he took the needles out.

He then told me he would like to see me come to the office twice a week
and offered me 2 visits a week at $60.00. Which is an awesome deal but
it adds up quick and I don't know if I can commit to 2 times a week. Its
also like 20min from my work but in the opposite direction of my house.
So its not really close by and why don't these people offer w/end appts??

I called him early this morning when I knew they weren't in the office
yet and cancelled the whole thing with him told him it was too much time
wise and too much money. heh.

If you took acupuncture did you feel different after each session because
I don't think I do. I mean I want to but I dont know if just wanting to
feel better is enough to actually make me feel different.

hmm does that make sense?

Anyways...right now I'm not schedule for any more acupuncture and not
really sure how I feel about that right now.

If any one has any feedback on their experience, I would love to hear
about it.

Thank you.

Hope2bsoon · #2 (**permalink**) 06-27-2004, 06:39 AM

Sorry - this is long:

The price probably depends a lot upon where you live. I live in central Florida and there aren't but a couple licensed acupuncturists that report specializing in infertility. The one I settled on is an hour a way from my home and work. I have been going to mine since February after reading about increased odds with IVF/acupuncture combo since it looked like we would be doing IVF sometime this year (now scheduled for August). She didn't charge me for the consult and we settled on 1 X/week at $85/session. Her office is really beautiful too, but I'm not really into fru-fru so that doesn't impress me much (or at least I like to think it doesn't). She charges $75/session for pain patients, I think that usually they come in more often. She sticks between 5-12 needles in my feet, legs, belly, arm, and top of my head (not always in the same places). Placement and amount depends on your issues. Mine are cold uterus, liver stagnation, and something with my kidneys. She deduced this during the consult by having me fill out a lengthy questionaire that asked things like, "are your hands and feet cold most of the time", do you have insomnia, blah, blah, blah. She also puts these smolder sticks on me from time to time, and puts these tiny leave in needles in my ears (uterus points). During the sessions we discuss what is going on with my tx's with the RE, what test results say what, what I'm eating, what is going on at work, and she incorporates this into her tx. I'm taking the next month or so off from fertility drugs and she said she feels like this is her chance to help get me pregers because she says the drugs are not in concert with her treatments and actually work against the whole TCM energy thing. She is having me come in twice a week for same price (kinda buy one get one free) and she is doing some other things (kinesio something or rather) and realigning some points in my back with this thumper thing. I may have given up a couple months ago but for one thing. She has really helped with my cramps from endo. The RE started giving me narcotics which I hated taking but had to from time to time because I couldn't function, of course then I was hung over the next day and couldn't function but at least I wasn't in pain. Using ultrasound, she has gotten the cramps to where I can manage them with tylenol. I plan to continue through the IVF. The only studies I've seen dealt with one acupuncture session directly before and after the embryo transfer. But I figured it couldn't hurt to try it. I recently met one of her other fertility patients that was referred to her by her OB while pregnant with twins. She is totally convinced acupunture is the only reason she carried them through term. I guess you gotta have some faith in what ever it is you choose to do.

I would suggest asking where they were trained for fertility tx, what courses have they taken to keep current, how many fertility patients they treated, how many got pregnant, what the course of tx was, etc. Mine contacts other acupuncturists around the country and talks to them about what they are doing which I like. I think physicians, what ever they practice, get stuck in a rut. You might even ask to speak with a former pt. or at least see a letter of reference. If you go back to the first person, make sure she is a licensed massage therapist and is trained in pregnancy massage. My acupuncturist talked to me a lot early on about certain pressure points that should not be messaged when your trying to conceive because my DH gives me "backrubs" often (god bless him). I had a professional message once and didn't like it because it was too hard. If you feel the second guy was qualified enough, (bad teeth or no - just don't use him for dental problems

) maybe you could bring your own comfort things with you. If I thought I could get a discount at my place, I would bring in my on blankie and pillows, heck I would even clean the room. The fact that you were falling asleep seems to be a good sign to me. You should be relaxing. Also you might tell him you were cold. Some people get hot with acupuncture so that might mean different points for you.

HTH!
~Hope

Jujube63 · #3 (**permalink**) 06-28-2004, 06:43 PM

I'm so glad to find you girls talking about this, cuz I'm in a similar dilemma.
I tried accupuncture about 3 years ago and it did nothing for me. I actually had a pretty bad experience with it which I won't go into cuz it's no longer relevant (I feel)
I saw an TCM accupuncturist about a month ago 3 times. He was okay, but I did not feel very different from it. I also took dong quai capsules he recommended until I got a cold and then stopped. He seemed to know what he was doing, but did not claim to know a lot about infertility. He also did not make any dietary suggestions, even though I asked.
Now I'm scheduled to see a diff accu tomorrow for the first time. He claims on his website to treat infertility among many other things.
I found him on www.acufinder.com, by typing in my zip code....it might be a good thing for you all to search out too
Anyway, I'll let you know how it goes.
Mmmm...not sure massage has anything to do with accu, but I will say that the board I co-host TTC after Multiple MC's has a couple of grads who graduated following accu. One of those grads insists that the best accu practiotioners are actual Chinese practitioners trained in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine)
That's what I'm trying to adhere to and find the right one (maybe this second one will click)

Hope2bsoon · #4 (**permalink**) 06-28-2004, 06:53 PM

Good point! I found mine in acufinder.com too then checked my state's licensing website just to be sure. In my state I found only DOMs can legally do acupuncture and they have to go through 3 years of training plus clinical experience. I figured anyone that goes through that has to know something. I also checked out the school she went to and looked into their philosophy to see if I agreed. I do that with my regular doctors if I have the chance. I too have heard folks talk about using only asian practioners but since I wasn't too into doing chinese herbs I wasn't really concerned. You just got to go with who your comfortable with in the end I guess and realize there are no guarantees. I've been with my RE for 2 years now and still not pregers.

Jujube63 · #5 (**permalink**) 06-30-2004, 06:36 PM

I'm not sure if I've set my expectations too high, but I just "fired" my second acupuncture practitioner...after the FIRST visit. He was on acufinder.com and I liked his credentials, website, etc. So I called to make an appointment and asked how much for first visit (this is something you learn to do or else), and he said $60.

Fine, I made the appointment, which was last night.
When I arrived he had me fill out paperwork blah blah blah, and one of the "papers" outlined a payment schedule showing "a deal" if you pay for 10 visits up front. Then I noticed that he charged separately for everything he does: needles-$30; moxibustion-$30; cupping-$40, etc.

WHAAAAA???

So I ignored that sheet and went through my treatment, which seemed okay, he seemed pretty competent w/the needles, and read the two pages of history/symptoms I had prepared before arriving. But no dietary counseling, not very many questions, and then there was the language issue. Unfortunately, he could NOT speak English hardly at all. He kind of faked it. Normally, I am VERY good at understanding English spoken by a variety of accents, but it was not the accent--he doesn't really speak it except for the basics. This is a problem, because I really need to know stuff.
Needles were fine, ear herbs pointy things were fine.

Sorry Sorry Sorry I'm rambling.

At the end he called the PRICE sheet to my attention and started adding up everything he did and said it would be around $120 and I should consider the "10 visit package"====$600, payable right now. His English was suddenly very clear.
At this point I quickly and politely said no, but thank you, you told me last night it was $60, and that is what I am paying you. I will call you once I know my schedule to make next appointment (I really wanted time to think it through before I actually fired him--give him benefit of doubt, etc)
He said okay, and I left.

By the time I got to my car I was furious and sure I will never step foot there again.
Man oh man, my bad luck w/RE's is definitely bleeding over into alternative land.
*tremendous cussing*
So that's where I'm at folks.
REAAALLLLy feeling like giving up.

deeceetoo · #6 (**permalink**) 07-01-2004, 10:25 AM

Judy,

I hear ya about bad calls. Have you ever thought to do your own acupressure? There are tons of books out there that will cover how it needs to be done. I've done it when I've not been able to get to my acupuncturist. And I may have to give up my acupuncturist soon because DH just announced that he wants us to do 3 more IVF rounds after the next. Sigh.

Hope2bsoon · #7 (**permalink**) 07-01-2004, 06:27 PM

Good for you for standing up for yourself! You should make a complaint to your state's licensing board and also with acufinder.com. I'm sorry for your bad experience. I have really liked my DOM and think I will continue to use her for other issues (such as pain) if the need arises. Better acupuncturists make contact with one another. If you really wanted to try to seek one out you might think about contacting Radine Lewis' practice in Texas (she wrote the Infertility Cure and is very well known) and see if they can't recommend someone. Some of the ladies that post here go to see her I think.

D - You sound apprehensive about IVF. DH and I are embarking on that now, we are scheduled for August. I'm very ambivilent and change my mind every other day. It really has my anxiety up and I'm considering throwing in the towel. Good luck with whatever you decide.

~Hope

Deelylah · #8 (**permalink**) 07-06-2004, 10:28 AM

Hi Ladies

Sorry took me so long to respond. Thanks for your responses. Very informative and Judy I am happy I am not the only one that has been having trouble finding a good acupuncture. But I *think* I finally found one and hopefully you will too!! If you live in Mass, I can send you their name and info....

I was telling a friend of my acupuncture Adventures thus far and she also was TTC lady. She recommended the person she went to and got pg that same cycle that she went to her. So I emailed this new acupuncture person, Robin, and she responded the next day. She charges $60 a session. She invited me to come in for a free consultation just to meet her and see if I liked the place, which I did. She ended up having a last minute cancellation so she did one session as well (which I paid for). Anyways...she was very nice and very good. Used about a dozen needles, feet, legs, belly, hands and ears. She explained everything to me and also gave me hints on what to eat. (Green leafy veggies cooked and brown rice etc). I've booked 3 more appts so far and am pretty confident I will like her enough to continue through my cycle.

She also told me that she would do some of that acupuncture where you light the needles on fire...sounds interesting. she says alot of people really find it relaxing so I'm looking forward to it.

I have also picked up the book "The Infertility Cure" by Randine Lewis It explains in detail about TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), more on what you should eat and the like. Has been a very easy read so far.

Dee