Hi,
I don't have the ultimate success story for you.
But I am an avid acupuncture patient :)
I started acupuncture 2 years ago (unrelated to fertility at that point) to help with anxiety and it helped immensely.
Fastforward several months later and I had surgery to remove an ovarian cyst and woke up to find out I have Stage IV endometriosis.
The ob/gyn was very dismal about it and told me that getting pregnant will be a great challenge. And that I should take Lupron for several months to quiet down the endometriosis and then go on Clomid to superovulate.

I am very sensitive to medications. As a child I couldn't even take cold medicine without feeling "weird". And I have a history of depression. So I decided not to follow the ob/gyn's suggestion.

Instead, I found an MD who solely does acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine. Within months I no longer had any pelvic pain. And by last summer I felt the best I had felt in my life....ever :) Emotionally and physically.

We were very surprised in November 2012 to find out I was pregnant. I really thought it wasn't possible because of the endo & my age. (I'm 40 years old.)
Unfortunately that pregnancy ended in miscarriage. It was a blighted ovum.

I ended up having surgery because they weren't sure if it was ectopic. And the silver lining of the surgery was that I found out my ovaries and tubes look good. So I woke up to much more hopeful faces than I had when I woke up from that surgery (w/the endo diagnosis) earlier in the year.

I did get pregnant again....April 2013. But at 4 weeks 5 days I lost that pregnancy.

So I don't have the ultimate success story for you.....yet :)

But I do believe that acupuncture has helped me immensely both physically and emotionally.
And I believe it has helped make conception even possible. Something I was starting to believe could not happen.

Acupuncture is very relaxing...gives a heightened sense of wellbeing....does not hurt :)....no side effects.

So I can't rave about it enough :)

My periods were regular to begin with so I can't speak firsthand to that question.
But I do know that acupuncture can help regulate periods and can help with ovulation for women who are not ovulating.

In fact, ironically, I just talked to the nurse at the acupuncturist's office about this a couple weeks ago. Because I was curious how else they are able to help patients who are TTC.

We have gone to an RE for consults over the past year but have not done any treatment. He feels we can do this on our own naturally. Of course that opinion could change over time.

And that Clomid is not a good idea for me because I am prone to ovarian cysts. And that IUI does not help women with endometriosis. It's more for male factor infertility.

I wish you the very best with your appts!

After not having a period on my own for 5 years, it regulated me to a 28 day cycle within the first month if I was treated every week.

I used acupuncture along with my IVF cycle. It was very relaxing and is supposed to help a lot of women. We did get pregnant with that IVF cycle so I only have positive things to say, although we used IVF and I know you are describing acupuncture without the IVF.

Best of luck!!

I started acupuncture a year ago when I started infertility treatments and iui's. (I'm 36 and have low amh and endometriosis.) Immediately, it helped my anxiety. My 3rd IUI took but I miscarried at 6 weeks. I kept up with the acupuncture and am currently 11 weeks pregnant with twins from my first IVF cycle. My acupuncturist worked hard to help increase my ovarian function. She even came to the transfer with me and did 25 minutes of acupuncture before and after the transfer. I got better results from the whole cycle (# of mature eggs, fertilization, embryo quality) than anyone was expecting. My RE is still surprised. Whatever you decide to do, I wish you the very best with your journey. (And I HATE insurance too! Ours covered the IUI but we had to pay for IVF. Fun times.)

I am happy that there are alot of raving reviews. I just wanted to say that i'm glad you are going for a consult. I spoke with an acupuncturist who specialized in infertiltiy, and he recommended twice a week for atleast 6 mos to show maximum improvement. That would've been an extra $200 a month for me, something that I can't afford, so I haven't went at all. Numerous people that I know have done it, but haven't felt like it improved their fertility, but if you give it a try and find out that it relaxes you, then that in itself could be a wonderful benefit!

Thanks Ladies :) I appreciate all the positive stories!

I've also been seeing an acupunturist for a little over 2 months now. I'm taking herbs she gives me to help strengthen my lining and balance my body. We haven't had any success yet fertility wise, but she said it may take a few months for my body to get back in balance. Overall though I've been feeling less anxious and more centered since I've started it so I would recommend it whether or not it helps us get pregnant. The nice thing is sometimes your insurance will cover it as long as they put you down for back pain or something like that, rather than infertility, and since I have both it works out. Good luck to you!

I have mixed feelings on this (I just posted something on this in my journal). I have done acupuncture on and off for years, mostly for anxiety and bad periods, but I started seeing an IF acupuncturist in the spring who has many, many success stories with getting women pregnant in their 40s. I did it before both of my ERs and both of my FETs. After 6 months of acupuncture, I can't say that its helped my IF, mostly just relaxed me and helped with anxiety, but more than anything, drained my wallet! It's expensive and not covered by my insurance. I do feel acupuncture can be helpful for some ailments, and maybe even IF, but I don't feel that its helped me with getting pregnant. Good luck to you!

I'm not a fan... but I have to admit #1 I got 38 eggs on my ER and #2 my anxiety went way down. So if I was faced with another fresh cycle I wouldn't hesitate to use it again.

So many people have positive stories, there must be something to it. I live in a small town and I think our local guy isn't that experienced. I hope you find someone you are comfortable with :-)

Good Luck!

I did acupuncture with the last two of my cycles and I got pregnant on both. I have a high rate of miscarriages and I miscarried first cyclecare and out of three Grade A embryos I now have my son. My acupuncture DR specialized in infertility and I remember him running electricity through my body which doesn't sound too relaxing when said out load but it was very relaxing. Acupuncture helped supposedly with the egg growth, anxiety and stimulation on the ovaries. I also have a friend that did it with IUI and she has a girl and twin boys. Good luck!

My mother is an acupuncturist but she hasn't treated me for infertility as that is not really her area so I see another acupuncturist when I can (funds & time is limited) but in saying that I know it does work for pain as I have been in a great deal of pain before and from 1 needle the pain has disappeared for good. So since i know it works for pain, I believe it could also be beneficial for infertility. Some people may say it didn't work for them as they never got pregnant but obviously they may also have other factors involved. My RE says there is no proof it helps but I do it anyway. Thankfully my mother is about to study the infertility side also so I will be able to save some $.

I wanted to mention that my acupuncturist does acupuncture + moxibustion which involves lighting (with flame) moxa (herbs) at certain acupuncture points. This can be even more effective than acupuncture alone.

I also wanted to mention that my acupuncturist is an MD....so my insurance ends up covering it. If that's something you found near where you live....an MD acupuncturist you might have a greater chance for insurance coverage.

On a non-fertility note...acupuncture has been very helpful to some other members of my family. For back issues....sinus issues.....chronic fatigue and irritable bowel syndrome.

A lot of times in terms of fertility some women will say it didn't help them fertilitywise but it helped them manage the stress of IVF, etc.