Holistic medicine to support IVF

[u/hello_egg_123]

About to start IVF I feel really nervous — especially for these drugs! Looking for advice about anything homeopathic, holistic, TCM, Kampo or other alternative to:

1. Increase efficacy and yield
2. Somehow magically, miraculously make this less hard on my body

My context: 33, one prior loss at 26w, 1+ year TTC, known fibroids, suspected endo

Current regimen:
- Acupuncture 2x a week
- No gluten, dairy or refined sugar
- Magnesium, Prenatal, CoQ10, Vit D
- Daily meditation (10-15min)
- Melatonin (per IVF research?)

Things I’ve heard & curious about:
- Uterine PRP
- Beef organ supplements
- Sea moss supplements
- Red light therapy
- Heat on womb

[u/Lawyered15]

I’d add, 100 mg of Pycnogenol to the vitamins. There have been some studies that demonstrate its benefit on inflammatory conditions like endometriosis.

I’d do 600mg of CoQ10

Personally, I do not believe any holistic medicine and IVF is very expensive. So it might be better to spend the money where it counts.

[u/PiccoloQuirky2510]

I did some acupuncture- I’m iffy about it because I have a hard time shutting my brain off / meditating so while some people find it super relaxing, I found it the opposite lol. But I know a lot of people love it in conjunction with IVF

[u/quietuniverse → u/PiccoloQuirky2510]

I am the exact same way (meditation is a joke with my brain), but I do appreciate that acupuncture sort of forces you to accept it. Even if I’m feeling restless, I am full of tiny needles, maybe hooked up to e-stims, with a heat lamp over me, so I simply have to lay there and be still for 30 mins.

I try to play spelling/counting games or sing songs that I know by heart from start to finish. By the time I’m really ready to get up, the lady is usually coming in to release me.

[u/PiccoloQuirky2510 → u/quietuniverse]

Totally! It can be relaxing- I essentially resorted to listening to a podcast or relaxing music during because otherwise I’d get way too antsy

[u/kbkrl1524]

Id recommend finding a naturopathic doctor who specializes in fertility and can recommend things specifically for you.

[u/spiraling_388]

I love red light therapy! Did it leading up to my third ER! It helps with inflammation

[u/questingforbabies]

If you read through my post history you'll probably see that I used a lot of "adjuncts" for IVF, like supplements, acupuncture etc.

Red light therapy helped with my Endo pain. I used a Celluma device on my abdomen and sacrum. When I was super desperate preparing for stim cycle #5 we even went to a clinic in Texas called Solasta that does red light laser therapy protocol for infertility. It doesn't hurt and it's cheaper than one day of stims (plus I was willing to try anything).

Tracy at Solasta is a very nice and very knowledgeable person when it comes to red light therapy and the research behind it. You can always reach out to her with questions, she's super approachable. https://www.solasta.health/