# Chinese herbs after ET



## swissbump (Mar 19, 2010)

Hi 

My acupuncturist wants me to take Chinese herbs during my 2 week wait, has anyone else done this? Or any advice? EC is on Monday.

Swissbump


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## nevergiveuphope (Feb 28, 2010)

Hi swissbump. Hope you are Ok. I don't know anything about chinese herbs but i would be reluctant to put anything new into my body during my 2ww. It's hard and the waiting drives you crazy (i'm on day 7) but the advice i think is just to try and carry on as normal, eating and drinking heathily. I wouldn't experiment with any herbal medicines I hadn't tried before. Good luck for monday. Are you hoping to have a fresh transfer straight away? I hope it all goes ok for you xx


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## ☼♥ Minxy ♥☼ © (Jan 13, 2005)

Hi there

The majority of clinics strongly advise against taking form of herbal remedy (including Traditional Chinese Medicine - TCM) when undergoing treatment and/or taking hormonal medications or fertility drugs as the herbs can interfere and react with the prescribed medication....and that includes during 2ww. Herbal remedies have not been tested so it's unsure of their safety when having treatment. During the 2ww you should treat yourself as though you were already pregnant.

I'm a great believer in complementary therapies, such as acupuncture and herbal remedies, but am very cautious regarding herbs/TCM when undergoing any treatment. I've not had acupuncture for some time now but used to have regular sessions from several years whilst on clomid (to boost ie release more eggs) and through 4 of my IVF/FET treatment cycles. My acupuncturist at the time was (is!) a qualified and registered practitioner of acupuncture & TCM (and he actually teaches these at degree level) with sound knowledge working with fertility issues and IVF/ICSI/FET...however, when I discussed with him my concerns about taking TCM whilst having IVF/FET he completely understood and said he would never advise taking them whilst having fertility treatment...he said that IVF is an already complex process and he wouldn't want to complicate things further.

I came across this policy from CARE clinics when I was doing some searches ages ago....

"We have recently seen a number of couples who had unexpectedly poor fertilisation following IVF/ICSI having previously had good fertilisation rates. Close questioning revealed that the patients had recently started taking Chinese herbal medicines and these were the only identifiable changes in their cycles. Recent advice from the Committee for safety of medicines has highlighted the variability in quality of ingredients in these medicines and more worryingly, on occasions high levels of heavy metal and other toxic residues.'

'It is therefore CARE policy to advise patients NOT to take ANY Chinese herbal medicines in the run up or during the treatment cycle as these could seriously affect the outcome of the cycle."

There is also this post from some time ago from another member...



Mands said:


> hi
> just been reading this post and wanted to add some personal experience and feedback I have received myself (sorry it's so late after the original postings)
> I love my accupuncturist, I trust him and have been seeing him for years for various things, including stress, and I believe he has helped me tremendously. After reading The Cure for Infertility by Randine Lewis, I also realised that my accup'ntrst diagnosis of me, fitted in perfectly with all of my symptons. I had raised fsh and ARGC would not treat me until it came down under 10. So I started taking the herbs that my guy recommended for me - my fsh came down to 13 then 7.8 (from 1. However, I responded appallingly (I never respond 'well' but this was much worse). Only 5 eggs - all black, and one 1 of those made it to embie stage.
> Since then, I have worried nonstop that I made things worse for myself, who knows? Sadly, I don't have the time or money to take another chance with ARGC - to see if now, herb free, I respond better to their protocol.
> ...


Zita West, who recommends acupuncture with IVF, also advices against combining chinese herbs with IVF and she works closely with the top clinics, including The Lister, stating...

"Please note we do not use chinese herbs at the Clinic as our programme is directed towards nutrition and supplementation. The reasoning behind this is that do not know the interections of the herbs with IVF drugs"

Obviously this is all my own opinion (based on info picked up from specialists/complementary therapists/books etc) and ultimately only you can make the decision as to whether you want to consider taking herbal remedies through treatment...you need to make an informed choice.

If you have a read of the Complementary Therapies board you'll find more information...

http://www.fertilityfriends.co.uk/forum/index.php?board=389.0

Good luck
Natasha


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