I Drew a Picture of My Period

F and I waited over a year before we made an appointment with an RE and began diagnostic testing for the cause of our infertility. Because of my age, (still young but at the age where fertility begins to dramatically decline--did you know that age is younger than 35? I didn't) and lack of insurance coverage for infertility, we decided that we could do some testing, continue to try naturally (maybe it will just take a really long time because of that age and decline thing) and then make some decisions if we approach the two year mark. This decision to wait was part practical (financial, logistics, etc), part denial and part overwhelming fear of treatment (failure). As we approach our two year mark of ttc, I am in the midst not of conventional treatment (though I will be next cycle), but acupuncture treatment. And I am fixated not on numbers and monitoring, but on the length of AF, the color, the quality, the amount...mostly due to the conversations I have about the subject of my period with my acupuncturist.

Today I had one of those conversations. I even drew a picture to show my acupuncturist how much of a pad I filled up in four hours on cycle day 1, cycle day 2 and cycle day 3. Barely any on, cycle day 3. AF was light this time, maybe the lightest ever. It makes sense to me that light periods would suggest a thin endometrium. It makes sense that my acupuncturist would consider a light period a symptom of something in TCM called a blood deficiency and treat me accordingly. It makes so much sense that it worries me. Does it make so much sense because it is so simple (no negative value attached to the word simple here)? Because what I have learned from infertility and lack of conception (which seems equally simple and effortless) is that infertility treatment and diagnosis is not simple.

Is a light period a symptom of an inadequate lining? It sounds so clear cut, so black and white--if only cause and effect could explain or solve my unexplained infertility.

The things is, I believe in acupuncture and herbs. At least I get answers and explanations and treatments that actually treat something. A diagnosis of a blood deficiency +/- some other deficiencies and damp cold feels so much better than being told, "everything is normal, you're perfect; try again."

So here is my treatment, in addition to weekly needle sessions, until ovulation--a list of my pre-ovulatory herbs ( I am on cycle day 8).

Dang Gui/Angelica-- a common herb for both fertility and menopause with possible hormone regulating qualities and effects on the uterus similar to estrogen. It nourishes and invigorates the blood.
Bai Shao/White Peony--also nourishes the blood and liver and is used to treat night sweats and uterine spasms.
Bai Zhu/Atractylodes--is used to treat fatigue and spleen deficiency
Du Zhong/Eucommia and Tu Si Zi/Cuscuta-- yang supplements that may lower FSH in women with blood and kidney yang deficiencies. Du Zhong treats cold patterns and promotes circulation.
Gui Zhi/Cinnamon Twig-- has warming qualities that promotes circulation of blood
Huang Qi/Astragalus root--treats weakened immunity, stress and is used to help the body repair tissue and organs and is often used on patients with blocked fallopian tubes
Fu Ling/Poria--treats fatigue, strengthens the spleen and relaxes smooth muscles
Gan Cao/Licorice--also has warming qualities, is thought to be anti-inflammatory

Herbs also have added effects used in formulas and in combination with each other. This information was taken from the book, The Infertility Cure and from Yin-Yang House, which provides an online herbal database.