The beauty of Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is that its whole philosophy is built on something often ignored by allopathic medicine, that a one size fits all approach isn’t necessarily the answer. It focuses on what is important in treatment - the patient. Practitioners look for patterns and treat according to how the person is presenting as a whole being.

What does the research say?

There is plenty of research to say TCM is beneficial for fertility. Various studies from outside of the IVF setting have shown;

Patients presenting with unexplained infertility had a conception rate of 60.9% when treated with acupuncture and herbal medicine [1]
Acupuncture has been shown to improve the structure of the endometrial lining – an important part of successful implantation [2]
Animal studies show immune markers, important for implantation are improved after acupuncture treatments [3]
Women who undergo acupuncture have a statistically significant increase in their fertility awareness [4]
Time to conceive has been found to drop drastically, (up to half) in women undergoing an acupuncture protocol [4]

What is your diagnosis?

TCM practitioners look for patterns. These patterns are not pigeonholes, more of a guide. There are so many patterns, and these patterns often present in conjunction with another.

The following are the 4 patterns I see most often at The Fertility Suite. If you can see a TCM practitioner, you will have a whole lot more information about your body, what it is trying to tell you, what it needs and how to best support your health, but this is a great starting point to help make decisions a little more specific to your own body.

Are you…

Tired and wired

Women who are tired and wired may come across as energetic and perhaps a bit frantic or jittery, but there isn’t really anything substantial underneath that energy. They tend to be more prone to dryness, like having dry skin, nails or hair. They may run a little warmer, may feel thirsty and tend to be a bit of restless sleepers.

Fertility: Periods tend to be short with a light flow. There may be little cervical fluid around ovulation.

BBT chart: temperatures tend to be higher generally, or may have a shorter follicular (first) phase. Occasionally tired and wired women will present with a triphasic chart indicating recurrent early miscarriage.

Further investigations: Tired and wired women don’t typically respond well to Clomid or Letrozole and in fact may notice thickened cervical fluid with Clomid therapy. Women with low estrogen are likely to be tired and wired and may have FSH may be high and women with low AMH are often in this group.

Easy diet adds and lifestyle changes for Tired and Wired Women

Moistening foods like walnuts, black sesame seeds and seaweeds
Consciously increase water intake
Think more about downtime and making time for recovery.
Often do well on Ubiquinol or other antioxidants and a vitamin D
Consider modified version of lui wei di huang tang, and weekly restorative acupuncture.
Exercise often needs to be reconsidered, with more gentle exercise all cycle round.

Blocked

Blocked women tend to be irritable and tense. Stress tends to manifest physically, they may be teeth grinders or get tension headaches for example. In clinic, these women are often prone to inflammatory conditions.

Fertility presentation: Blocked women seem to struggle around the times of big hormonal changes - premenstrually and around ovulation. Blocked women often complain of PMS - mood swings, frustration and pain but feel better once the period starts. They can have Mittelschmerz or moodiness around ovulation. Periods are often clotted or stop and start.

BBT Chart: If your BBT is inconsistent month to month, or you have a saw tooth (zigzag) pattern pre and post ovulation, this might be you. Cycles can be irregular in length and bleeding.

Further investigations: This pattern is often seen in women with endometriosis, fibroids or breast tenderness. Can have high cortisol levels

Simple diet adds and lifestyle changes for Blocked Women

Finding a stress release - exercise, writing, mindfulness
Blocked women usually do well on activated B vitamins
Increase greens, look for sour tastes, include citrus

Damp

Damp women can feel bogged down. They can feel slow, tired, and have problems with concentration and memory. They tend to be calm, but can have a tendency to worry and over think. There may be digestive issues as well.

Fertility presentation: Periods are often short and light. Throughout the month there may be plenty of cervical fluid, but very little of the stretchy or slippery type we associate with the estrogen rise of ovulation.

BBT chart: The chart is often mono-phasic (anovulation) or has a long follicular phase. Ovulation day shifts from cycle to cycle.

Further investigation: This pattern is often seen in women with blocked fallopian tubes, PCOS or Pelvic Inflammatory Disease.

Simple diet adds and lifestyle changes for Blocked Women

Create a regular movement habit
Limit sugar intake
Remove or decrease dairy intake
Adding foods like mushroom, celery, berries, kidney beans will benefit damp women.

Depleted

Depleted women look, well, depleted. They are often pale looking can be prone to dryness. Despite being tired, depleted women often don’t fall asleep easily.

Fertility presentation: Depleted women tend to have light periods, or pinky coloured bleeds, or amenorrhea, (absent periods). They often feel vulnerable and sad leading in to the period and tired once bleeding starts.

BBT Chart: A long follicular phase is quite common for depleted type women. Cycles might be long.

Further investigation: May find low iron, thin endometrial lining or low estrogen.

Simple diet adds and lifestyle changes for Depleted Women

Often depleted women benefit from including some red meat into their diet. Failing this, they do well with an iron supplement or B12.
Depleted women do well with Vitamin E supplementation and activated B9.
Iron building vegetables like spinach and nettle
Easy adds are kidney beans, black sesame seeds, dried apricots

Need more support working out the best days to conceive? You can read that right here.

Feeling overwhelmed with the whole thing? You can read about the scientifically proven way to enjoy life while trying to conceive here.

References

Park JJ, Kang M, Shin S, Choi E, Kwon S, Wee H, Nam B, Kaptchuk TJ (2010). “Unexplained infertility treated with acupuncture and herbal medicine in Korea”. J Altern Complement Med. 16(2):193-8.
Shuai Z, Lian F, Li P, Yang W (2015). “Effect of Transcutaneous Electrical Acupuncture Point Stimulation on Endometrial Receptivity in Women Undergoing Frozen-Thawed Embryo Transfer: A Single-Blind Prospective Randomised Controlled Trial”. Acupuncture in Medicine, 33(1), 9–15. https://doi.org/10.1136/acupmed-2014-010572
Gui J, Xiong F, Yang W, Li J, Huang G (2012). “Effects of acupuncture on LIF and IL-12 in rats of implantation failure”. Am J Reprod Immunol 67: 383–390
Cochrane S, Smith CA, Possamai-Inesedy A, Bensoussan A. (2018). “Prior to Conception: The Role of an Acupuncture Protocol in Improving Women’s Reproductive Functioning Assessed by a Pilot Pragmatic Randomised Controlled Tria”l [published correction appears in Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2018 May 2;2018:2343604]. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. Doi: 2016;2016:3587569. doi:10.1155/2016/3587569

Your Fertility Pattern. Supporting conception naturally through TCM