Adventures in Acupuncture

September 26, 2012:  Cycle Day 26:  So today my work schedule was a little off because I had an appointment for acupuncture scheduled for midday.  So here's the breakdown:  It took me about an hour to get there, but I didn't get lost thanks to my trusty GPS.  The office is not in the safest of locations, but oh well.  The office itself is very  nice and neatly decorated.  The main focus on the wall is Da Vinci's drawing.

They had obviously been burning incense in there, which immediately tightened my chest up.  So the acupuncturist calls me back to her office.  I must admit I was expecting her to be a bit less voluptuous, i.e. overweight, but she was down to earth and she was real, and that's all that matters.

She took her time with me going over all of my medical records and the main reason I was there, which was fertility, of course.  We even got sidetracked talking about gluten-free because she eats gluten-free as well.  Basically her conclusion of me is that all of my health conditions are related to one thing and that is inflammation in my body.  I was honest and told her about my sugar addiction.  She said the best thing for me to do was to stop eating sugar at least until after the embryo transfer.  Funny how I have heard this from so many medical professionals, but have yet to make it more than a month without caving.

She then directed me to the bathroom to empty my bladder and then to the acupuncture room to undress (everything off except for bra and panties).  She showed me the needles and the tube that they use to put them in.  I couldn't believe how small they were, and they are very flexible too.  She took my pulse and asked me to stick out my tongue so she could look at it and in my mouth, I guess.  She then took her time explaining and letting me know each time that she was going to place a needle.  I think she put one in the top of each foot, one in the back of each hand, and several in my right ear.  I only really felt one or two of them, and it wasn't bad at all.

Now the problem is that I have been on baby aspirin for the fertility treatments, so my ear started bleeding.  She then turned the lights down and said someone would check on me in five minutes.  It was very relaxing and there was some oriental music playing on a little boombox in the room.  I tried to lay there and relax because at this point I did not realize that my ear was still bleeding.  Then, I hear the distinct sound of "ping", "ping".  Two of the needles in my ear fell out.  When her assistant came to check on me I told her and she said that she would tell the acupuncturist, but no one came back in there until about 25 minutes later when she returned to take the needles out.

Overall it was a good and relaxing experience.  I can't really tell so far if I feel any different, but then again I don't know what the time frame is or how many treatments it takes.  I have an appointment to see her tomorrow for another treatment and will hopefully find out from Dr. Nichols a potential time line for my retrieval/transfer, and then I can decide if I want to have the acupuncturist come to his office and do a treatment before and after the transfer.