Chasing Pitter Patters: This Week's Menu

Sunday, June 13, 2010

This Week's Menu

Here's my TCM fertility herbal pill menu for the week:

What you see in the picture is what I take - in ONE day! These meds are suppose to tonify my organs so that they will produce all the right hormones at optimal levels to support the growth of very good quality eggs. All the stuff in spoons are prescribed by Dr.NeverGiveUp and consist of 4 different types of formula. Note that big-ball pills on the lower left are different from small-ball pills on the lower right! (Get to know your medicine! LOL!) Initially I thought they were all the same! All the stuff in the middle on the plate itself are my own supplements...

Separated into two doses.

Taken twice a day.

With gallons of water.

And a prayer.

3 comments:

Nic said...: OMG, that is a lot of meds! I hope that is it is worth it and they work!!; Monday, June 14, 2010 5:13:00 AM
Lisa said...: Hey Zen Girl! Thanks for your comments on my blog :) I'll be following your story now as well. Your daily intake looks a lot like mine :)

You asked about Royal Jelly on my blog. I started taking it about a month ago and don't "feel" any different but I have read up on it quite a bit and its suppose to do wonders for egg quality and also sperm quality (I have hubs taking it too). I was using a mixture of royal jelly and bee pollen in honey but since my most recent trip to the states (you can't find any of this stuff in honey in Canada), i am now using a mix of royal jelly, bee pollen and propolis. It is terrible tasting but at this point, i'd do just about anything!

By all accounts, you're supposed to take this for 3 months prior to ivf but I've read stories of women with a horrible history of egg quality issues having taken it for 1 or 2 months prior and still having better results. I'm heading into my first IVF in August (hopefully) so i'm not sure that egg quality is an issue but they can't seem to find anything else and I've already had 3 m/c's so i'm taking matters into my own hands!

Anyways, hope that helps - i'll look forward to following your story!; Monday, June 14, 2010 7:44:00 AM
Rachel said...: WOW, you are brave. How does your stomach handle all the meds? Just looking at the picture send my stomach in to knots.
It will all be worth it.; Tuesday, June 15, 2010 3:03:00 PM

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Oct 20, 2008--1st consultation w TCM doc. Diagnosis: blood stasis, cold condition, cold uterus, hormonal imbalance, wind, low kidney ying and yang. Started acupuncture & herbs right away. Continued with daily herbs, and acupuncture twice weekly. Husband also treated for low sperm morphology. We decided to have break from TTC for a few months

Nov 19, 2008--1st period after starting TCM. Miraculously no pain!

Dec 20, 2008--2nd period after starting TCM.Again no pain, but unusual bleeding for 19 days.

Jan 28, 2009--3rd period after starting TCM. Mild ache for 1 day, heavy flow. Started TTC this cycle.

Feb 16, 2009--Ovulated naturally

Feb 26, 2009-- Last TCM session before vacation

Mar 1, 2009--Departed for vacation

Mar 10, 2009--Discovered I was Pregnant! Jaw dropped! Hit jackpot right away after resuming TTC for only 1 month!

Mar 14, 2009--Spotting started, off and on for 2 weeks

Mar 25, 2009--Miscarriage. Coupled with severe gastritis. Thought I was going to die!

April 20, 2009--Resumed TCM treatment w daily herbs and acupuncture twice weekly

May 11, 2009--1st period after miscarriage. Pain from hell for 3 days. Cramps, heavy flow, clots.

June 15, 2009-2nd period after miscarriage. Excruciating pain for 3 days but 30-40% less than previous period. Clots, flow moderate. No ovulation detected this cycle.

July 26, 2009--3rd period after miscarriage. Pain for 3 days but 30% less than previous period. Clots, flow moderate.

Aug 19, 2009--Ovulated naturally

Sep 2, 2009--4th Period after miscarriage. Pain for 2 days, 50% less pain. Clots, flow moderate. TCM doc's conclusion - progress slow due to wind & obstruction of channels still present from miscarriage.

Sep 7, 2009--1st Moxibustion for more aggressive treatment. Continued for 5 consecutive days. Significant increase in heat levels in body. After 3-day break, had 6 more moxibustion sessions.

Sep 19, 2009--Ovulated naturally and earlier on CD19

Oct 4, 2009--5th Period after miscarriage. 1 day of pain only! Woohoo! Pain intensity less than previous month and no clots-Getting better! Completed total of 12 moxa sessions this past cycle.

Oct 12, 2009--Started moxa for current cycle. Eventually completed 10 moxa sessions. Qi and heat levels good. Hand injury on Oct 15 had minimal effect on my general condition. Had a round of anti-biotics and tetanus shot for hand.

Nov 6, 2009--Treated yeast infection with Canesten 1-Day pessary which caused significant bleeding. Consumed 2x150ml of cultured milk for 3 days to build up good bacteria that anti-biotics destroyed.

Nov 9, 2009--6th period after miscarriage. Horrible relapse in pain that lasted 5 and 1/2 days, although pain intensity same as previous month. Heavy flow, clots even on CD6, gastritis, lower back pain. Disappointed is an understatement.

17 Nov, 2009--Started 1st moxa for new cycle ie:7th cycle since miscarriage. Completed 8 moxa sessions almost consecutively. Did not even ovulate this cycle.

11 Dec, 2009--Started spotting for 9 days. No sign of red flow. Can we even call this a period? If so it would be my 7th period after m/c

Jan 2010--No idea if I ovulated because we went on vacation in Boracay and did not care.

10 Jan, 2010--Crap! Period came during my last 2 days of vacation in Boracay. Took painkillers at the first sign of pain (2 days). Flow was a little heavy at first, then moderate and was over in 7 days. Red fresh flow. No clots. Yay!

22 Jan, 2010--1st visit with new acupuncturist ie 2nd TCM doc. Only medicine prescribed.

25 Jan, 2010--1st acupuncture session with new acupuncturist. Nearly died from pain.

27 Jan, 2010--My elusive egg reappeared! I finally ovulated naturally again for the 1st time since Nov 09.

5 Feb, 2010--New acupuncturist claimed there was a 90% chance I could get pregnant this cycle. Yeah right!

11 Feb, 2010--Got my 8th period after m/c. Usual awful AF-cramps, heavy flow, clots, but finished efficiently within 7 days

15 Mar, 2010--After obsessing about my egg being MIA again, the OPK finally turned positive on CD 33.

29 Mar, 2010--Another BFN. AF brought 2 days of pain but the flow is more normal and with occasional clots.

26 Apr, 2010--New TCM fertility specialist-TCM doc No3. Diagnosed with adenomyosis and 3cm fibroid from u/s. Started new herbs right away taken in capsule form, daily. No acupuncture prescribed.

3 May, 2010--10th period after m/c. No sign that I ovulated. Fibroid swelled to 4.8cm on u/s on CD 1. Two days of pain but was greatly minimized by TCM herbal cramp medication. Amazed that herbs work for pain! The flow is normal. I think TCM has helped regulate the blood flow.

22 June, 2010--11th period after m/c. Ridiculously long 50-day cycle with ovulation on CD40. Two days of AF pain but was greatly minimized by TCM herbal cramp medication. Blood flow good and moderate. Gastritis was awful though.

2WW - 2 Week Wait

Adeno - Adenomyosis

AF - Aunt Flo (period)

ART - Assisted Reproductive

Technology

BBT - Basal Body Temperature

BFN - Big Fat Negative

(not pregnant)

BFP - Big Fat Positive

(pregnant)

BIL - Brother-in-law

CD - Cycle Day

CM - Cervical Mucous

DH - Dear Husband

DPO - Days Past Ovulation

Endo - Endometriosis

FIL - Father-in-law

Golden Child- my sis-in-law's 5 yr

old daughter

@ Her Royal Highness

IF - Infertility

IVF - In Vitro Fertilisation

HPT - Home Pregnancy Test

M/C - Miscarriage

MIL - Mother-in-law

Moxa - Moxibustion - TCM

therapy where

acupuncture needles

are indirectly heated by

a burning cigar-like stick

made of muwort herb

O - Ovulation/Ovulate

OPK - Ovulation Predictor Kit

POAS - Pee On A Stick

SIL - Sister-in-law

TCM - Traditional Chinese

Medicine

TMI - Too much information

TTC - Trying To Conceive

U/S - Ultrasound