Recently I blogged about how we at The YinOva Center help couples going through IVF. Some of you emailed or called and asked if we would offer a discount for people who are scheduling an assisted reproductive technique and need to book a series of appointments. We hadn’t thought of this and are grateful for the suggestion. The answer is YES! We are happy to support you in this way. So if you are doing an IVF cycle or IVF with donor egg here are our suggested treatment schedules which you can purchase ahead of time as a package.

Although you will buy your treatments ahead of time you don’t have to schedule all your appointments up front because timing will vary according to your cycle. Also we want to reassure you that should your procedure be canceled we will be happy to give you a refund for the treatments that are outstanding.

We are happy to offer you a discount on the following packages of treatments with YinOva Acupuncturists Margaret Sikowitz, Liz Carlson and Marie Amato. Because timing your treatments is important you may see any or all of our practitioners depending on who is available at the time that fits your ART schedule. To schedule some or all your appointments with Jill Blakeway please talk to our manager Mark Radoncic who will be delighted to help you.

The YinOva IVF Support Package

1 Initial intake prior to start of IVF
1 Acupuncture treatment during menstrual phase, if applicable
2 Acupuncture treatments during stimulation phase
2 Treatments (1 prior to retrieval and 1 prior to transfer; these should be scheduled about 24-48 before retrieval and transfer)
1 Treatment after transfer (24-48 hours after transfer, not the same day)
1 Treatment during luteal phase (usually around cycle day 20-28)

Package Value – $955 YinOva Discounted Price – $850

The YinOva Donor Egg IVF Support Package

1 Initial intake prior to start of IVF
1 Acupuncture treatment during menstrual phase, if applicable
1 Acupuncture treatment to enhance uterine lining (more if necessary)
1 Treatment after transfer
1 Luteal phase treatment

Package Value – $610 YinOva Discounted price – $550

All of these treatment packages are also offered to current patients without the initial consult fee.

ART Packages for Current Patients without the Initial Consult Fee

IVF Package – Package Value – $805 YinOva Discounted price – $725

Donor Egg Package – Package Value – $460 YinOva Discounted price – $415

So thank you YinOva patients for a great suggestion. It is our pleasure to offer you these discounts and as always we appreciate your faith in us. We are happy to support you through your IVF cycle.

Patients who have been diagnosed with unexplained infertility often find it a great relief that their seemingly random collection of symptoms make sense from a Chinese medicine perspective. They have usually undertaken a battery of tests by the time they visit us at the YinOva Center and their first question is, “If nothing is wrong, why am I not getting pregnant?”

Chinese diagnosis is based on identifying patterns of disharmony so an acupuncturist will look for signs that have meaning when seen in relation to each other. Two of the most common patterns in women with unexplained infertility are Liver Qi Stagnation and Kidney Yang Deficiency. In our book, Making Babies: A Proven Three Month Program for Maximum Fertility, Dr. David and I called these the Stuck Type and the Tired Type. You can identify your type by taking this quiz on the book’s website.

The Stuck Type describes someone who manifests stress physically. Often they have tension headaches or nervous stomachs, which are signs that they have become tight like a pressure cooker and qi is not flowing smoothly. This lack of flow can lead to unsmooth hormone transitions resulting in symptoms such as PMS. At the YinOva Center we give these patients a very well known Chinese formula called Xiao Yao Wan and treat them with weekly acupuncture to move qi. We know they are getting better when they no longer have PMS and many of them then go on to get pregnant.

The Tired Type describes someone who has metabolic issues that effect their reproductive hormones. They usually complain of fatigue, feeling cold and weight gain. At the YinOva Center we put them on a warming herbal formula and suggest they eat warming foods. We give them weekly acupuncture often with moxibustion, a warming herb. We know that they are getting better when they tell us they have more energy and that their hands and feet are not cold anymore. At that point many of them go on to get pregnant.

Both these types can result in problems that can be identified by conventional medicine. Women who are the Stuck Type can have elevated prolactin levels and women who are the Tired Type can have low thyroid hormone. However in many cases the imbalance is sub-clinical and not picked up by medical testing. That is a great reason to seek out an acupuncturist and herbalist in order to correct patterns of disharmony that may be minor but are subtly impeding your fertility.

In our new book Making Babies: A Proven 3-Month Program for Maximum Fertility Dr. David and I warn women not to rush into IVF. In our experience many women who undergo costly and exhausting IVF treatments don’t actually need them. You can read more about our views in this interview we gave to the UK Sunday Times.

This has caused some of my patients to ask me if I am “anti-IVF” and I’d like to use this article to set the record straight and let you know that I believe modern assisted reproductive techniques are truly miraculous for couples who need them. The risks involved are very small and well worth taking when you consider the benefits. At any given time about 25% of our fertility patients are undergoing IVF so here at the YinOva Center we support hundreds of women each year who are using these technologies. We are thrilled when you are successful and happy to play a small part in that success.

Does having acupuncture increase the likelihood of success with IVF?

Clinical research seems to suggest it does. One German study took 160 women undergoing IVF and split them into two groups. One group combined acupuncture with IVF and one group did not. Interestingly the group that did the acupuncture had a 50% better outcome than the group that did IVF alone. You can read a BBC article about this study here. In 2008 research published in the British Medical Journal showed that women doing IVF who underwent acupuncture were 65% more likely to have a successful embryo transfer compared with those who underwent a “sham” version of the treatment, or no extra treatment at all. You can read about this study here.

How does acupuncture help an IVF cycle be more successful?

Here at the YinOva Center we use acupuncture every day to treat those of you who are undergoing IVF and we are proud of our success rates. Our positive experiences are echoed by recent research which shows that acupuncture can promote the circulation of blood in the pelvic cavity and improve ovarian function. Acupuncture may also be beneficial in promoting follicle production, enhancing uterine blood flow and thus improving uterine lining thickness and decreasing uterine contractions after embryo transfer.

How does IVF support at the YinOva Center work?

Whilst acupuncture works for some people straight away, it doesn’t necessarily work over night and the effects tend to be cumulative so, ideally, we would like to see our patients once a week in the two months leading up to IVF. If this isn’t possible, it’s still worth you coming in to see us when you start your IVF cycle. We see our patients twice a week when they are taking the follicle stimulating drugs and we like to schedule a treatment before egg retrieval as well as another before embryo transfer. Finally we ask our patients to come in for treatment 24 – 48 hours after embryo transfer so that we can do an acupuncture treatment to prevent uterine spasm.

Should I take Chinese herbs during IVF?

The quick answer is no. Very occasionally, here at the YinOva Center, we do prescribe herbs for a patient going through IVF if she has a history of poor response to the stimulating drugs and if her doctor agrees. However, for most people the herbs can make your response to stimulating drugs unpredictable and we have found that most reproductive endocrinologists would prefer you not to combine them with IVF treatment.

How can I find out more?

Feel free to call us at the YinOva Center and ask to speak to an acupuncturist. All of us have years of experience in women’s reproductive medicine and we all treat women undergoing IVF on a daily basis. We are always happy to talk to you about your concerns.

If you have visited our center in the last week you will already know that there are advanced reading copies of our book available in the waiting room. Making Babies: A Proven 3 Month Program for Maximum Fertility will be out on August 12th and you can reserve a copy by clicking this link to amazon.com. Both Dr. David and I are thrilled with the way the book looks and patients who have read advanced copies have told us that they find it clear and helpful so we are hoping that it will be useful and informative for many of you. To our knowledge this is the first time a doctor and an acupuncturist have collaborated in this way so we hope it answers the many questions people have about how to get the very best out of both systems of medicine.

Some of you may also know that we are expanding into bigger space within our building. Margaret, Liz, Marie, Jane and I are delighted to be moving downstairs to the ground floor where we will have the luxury of a much bigger space. The move will take place on June 1st and will not disrupt our work schedule so there will be no interruption in ongoing treatment. We are all so excited to be moving and want to thank you, our patients, for your continued enthusiastic support. We have incorporated much of your feed back into our new design and we think you’ll like our spacious new treatment rooms and airy waiting room. We look forward to welcoming you all to our new office.

In other news, I will be the guest teacher at a phone circle for Fertile Heart this Wednesday at 9.00 pm EST. The topic will be Integrating East and West: Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine for Maximum Fertility. Even if you are not a regular visitor to the Fertile Heart Website you can sign up to attend the phone-in by clicking on this link. The cost is $10 and after registering you will be given a number to call so you can take part in the phone circle. I’m looking forward to answering your questions and what should be an interesting discussion about how to use Chinese medicine to enhance your fertility.

For most of us the New Year is a time to think about the changes we want to make in our lives. Many of us resolve to drop some bad habits or pick up some good ones. Here at The YinOva Center we hear from a lot of people who are trying to give up smoking. We understand that quitting smoking can be really tough and we want to support you in whatever way we can.

So can acupuncture help? The answer according to clinical research is mixed. This study published in the journal Preventative Medicine found that it could. It followed a group of people attempting to quit smoking who received acupuncture twice a week for 3 weeks and compared them to another group of quitters that received no acupuncture. The acupuncture group fared significantly better when compared to the control group. However other research studies such as this one have found that acupuncture was not particularly effective for smoking cessation. If you keep looking at the research you will see many conflicting studies. Some find acupuncture effective and some don’t. How confusing!

Although the studies seem to contradict each other they do reflect our experience here at The YinOva Center. Some of our patients find acupuncture very helpful. They find it takes the edge off their nicotine cravings and gives them the support they need to resist temptation. Other patients enjoy their relaxing treatment but find it isn’t enough to get them to quit. I always tell my patients that when it comes to stopping smoking acupuncture can be supportive but it isn’t a panacea. It can help you with cravings but it won’t replace will power.

So if you’ve made up your mind to stop smoking and want some extra support we’d love to see you here at the YinOva Center. We have found that 2 treatments a week for three weeks seems to work best. We focus on points that calm cravings as well as those that calm anxiety. We also address any symptoms that come up. For example many smokers who quit to protect their lungs are disappointed to find that initially they develop a cough as their lungs expel years of accumulated gunk.

So if acupuncture alone is not the magic bullet, what else can you do?

Here is the advice we give our YinOva patients:-

• We love these people who run a 1/2 day stop smoking course in New York City and all over the world. Founded in the UK they use a combination of cognitive and behavioral therapy and hypnosis and have great success rates. They also have an online course that many of our patients have found really helpful.
• From the same people comes a book, The Easy Way to Stop Smoking: Join the Millions Who Have Become Non-Smokers Using Allen Carr’s Easyway Method. Both Ashton Kutcher and Ellen DeGeneres claim to have quit smoking having read the book. One of my patients skimmed through the book standing up in Barnes and Noble and quit there and then!
• In our experience the best way to quit is cold turkey. Patients who try to cut down their cigarette consumption usually find that it creeps up again.
• Quitting to make someone else happy almost never works. You need to find a reason to do this for you. Talk to us and let us help you get in touch with all the reasons why you are worth taking care of.
• Note that cravings last only a few minutes so ignoring them uses less will power than you think. Distract yourself for a couple of minutes and you should feel much better. We asked some of our patients what they did when they were experiencing a craving and here are some of their suggestions. Chew sugar free gum, eat a carrot, light a candle, focus on taking 10 full breaths, wash your hands or have a shower.
• The worst cravings only last a week. Take it one day at a time and know that by the time you have reached day 7 you are over the worst.
• Many of our patients have found that drinking alcohol weakens their resolve. In fact in studies 50% of relapse is related to alcohol use. Its best to avoid situations where you are drinking and other people are smoking, especially for the first few weeks.
• Find ways to calm your mind. Take up yoga, adopt a regular meditation practice, have a reiki treatment or go for a run.
• Don’t skip meals. When you were smoking you may have replaced a meal with a cigarette. It allowed you to avoid the feelings associated with low blood sugar. Now if you miss a meal you may feel irritable and unable to concentrate and your mind may trick you into having a cigarette to make you feel better.
• Convince yourself that there is no excuse for a relapse. Nicotine never makes anything any better so no matter what life throws at you don’t use it as an excuse to start smoking again.
• Acupuncture, whilst not replacing your own will power, can help you manage cravings so feel free to come in and see us for a course of 6 treatments.
• If you do slip up and have a cigarette, simply start again. Don’t beat yourself up or decide it’s impossible. Just get back on track. Many of our patients who have successfully given up smoking made several attempts before they finally quit for good.

Good luck!

Although people often refer to a UTI as a bladder infection, any part of the urinary system, including the kidneys, can become infected. The most common infection, however, is in the bladder and urethra and accounts for 8.3 million doctor visits each year. A UTI is more likely to affect women than men, for anatomical reasons, and at our center we see many women who suffer from repeated chronic urinary tract infections.

Continue reading…