Acupuncture for High FSH, egg quantity & quality

The quality of the eggs depends on two things: the integrity of the DNA and the environment in which they were developed during the follicular phase (the first half of the cycle). The integrity of the DNA is genetically predetermined and is subject to damage by chemicals we are exposed to over the years, as well as the degradation with age. Even though no improvement can be made on the integrity of the DNA, there is a way with acupuncture and herbs to improve the environment in which the follicles were developed.

Introducing Acupuncture for Infertility Protocol developed by Daniel Lee here in Laguna Hills, CA. This protocol involves maximizing the blood flow to the ovaries to ensure a constant and steady supply of hormones and nutrients they need for the normal growth. This goal is accomplished by relaxing the patient's whole body, thereby reducing the competition of the blood flow to the rest of the body and allowing more blood flow to the ovaries at the same time.

This protocol was inspired by the same principle we use daily in running the landscape irrigation system for a house. If our goal is greener grass in the backyard, we first need direct more water flow to the backyard. That means increasing the watering time or turning up the flow volume for the backyard, and at the same time reduce the watering time and decreasing the flow volume to the front yard, if the water supply is limited. When the egg-bearing follicles are bathed with constant, uninterrupted supply of hormone and nutrients they will flourish. Among the infertility patients who have high FSH or are advanced in age and have poor egg-production, some are unfortunately have DNA issues that can't be helped. My heart goes out for them. However, some of these patients can see an improvement when Acupuncture for Infertility Protocol is applied. The best way to find out if an infertility patient can improve the egg quality or quantity is to try this Protocol. If it works, the patient will have a baby with next IUI or IVF. If it does not work, the patient will have the comfort of knowing that she has done her best in giving her eggs the best environment to grow and that it may be time to move on to the next step such as donor eggs.

The following are a few examples of applying Dr. Lee's Acupuncture for Infertility Protocol on his patients in year 2004.

Follicle Quantity Tripled from 3 to 12. (Case #: D317B0441)

This is a 41-year old female with FSH of 10.6. She failed 3 IUI cycles. She then tried 3 IVF cycles, but each time it was converted to IUI due to low follicle count of 3. Patient was given choice of using acupuncture with IVF or IVF only with donor eggs. She chose acupuncture with IVF. After 10 acupuncture treatments with Dr. Lee along with Chinese herbs for 5 weeks starting from mid March 04, her balance was restored in later April 2004. She took one month off then restarted 4 more acupuncture treatments during her next IVF stimulation period. To her surprise, she had 12 follicles (3 times more follicles than at in all three previous attempts) over 20 mm, with a uterine lining over 15 mm at the time of retrieval. There were 7 eggs retrieved, of which 6 were mature and 5 fertilized. Three days later, she had 4 embryos with grade A and 1 grade AB. Two weeks later, she was pregnant. She continued with 8 more acupuncture treatments to prevent miscarriage. She is still happily and securely pregnant at week 12 when she was discharged from acupuncture treatment.

Fertilization Rate Increased from 40%~50% to 78%.

(Case #: K515R0433)

This is a 33-year old female with FSH of 11. She failed 3 IVF cycles. She ended up with only 3 embryos out of 6 mature eggs (50%) in her first and third IVF cycles. She had 2 embryos out of 5 mature eggs (40%) in her second IVF cycle. After 8 acupuncture treatments along with Chinese herbs from Dr. Lee for 2 1/2 months starting from mid May 2004, her balance

was restored at the end of July 2004. At the same time period, her husband also had 6 acupuncture treatments to improve sperm quantity and quality. In her next IVF cycle following Acupuncture for Infertility Protocol, she had 9 eggs retrieved and out of which 7 were fertilized or 78% fertilization rate. All 7 embryos survived to day 3 with 6 to 10 cells in each and grade A+ to B-.

She is now 6weeks pregnant with twins.

High FSH (33) Pregnant with Acupuncture and Herbs Alone.

Case#: J308S0440)

This is a 40-year old female with a high FSH of 33. She failed 5 IUI and one IVF cycles. She was on day 3 of stimulation for her first IVF when she was first seen in my office. She had no previous acupuncture treatment to normalize her imbalance and was asked not to take Chinese herbs by her Reproductive Endocrinologist. Despite 7 acupuncture treatments during her IVF cycle, she was not pregnant. Because of the high FSH and her age, 2 REs advised her that she would have less than 1% chance of pregnancy with IVF using her own eggs. She decided to try acupuncture and herbs alone to reduce her high FSH. After 14 more treatments and taking Chinese herbs from Dr. Lee, she was pregnant within 3 months. She was discharged at week 15. She had a full term pregnancy and gave a birth to a girl weight 8 lb.

P.S. Weeks before her positive pregnancy test, she had made many inquires about donor eggs.

Anther case of High FSH of 31 age 38 pregnant naturally >

Record case: HIGH FSH of 56 age 40 pregnant naturally >

More case: High FSH of 33 age 41 pregnant with IVF and acupuncture >

More case: High FSH of 32 age 36 pregnant naturally >

More case: High FSH of 95 age 39 pregnant naturally >

Unilateral Ovarian Deficiency:

Acupuncture helps to balance the size of Follicular in Different Ovaries.

To increase the chance of pregnancy, it is better to have 8 to 25 follicles during IVF stimulation. However, the number of eggs that are mature depends on the uniformity of the size of the follicles. If one ovary has fewer and smaller follicles than that in the other ovary during IVF stimulation, it is what Dr. Lee calls UOD or unilateral ovarian deficiency. Over the years in treating infertility in Laguna Hills, CA, Dr. Lee has developed an unique acupuncture technique and acupuncture point combinations called "Selective Ovarian Follicle Acceleration" or SOFA to speed up the development of follicles in the deficient ovary in order to catch up with the rest.

Here is an example (Case#: V915H3204):

A 33-year old female had 4 acupuncture treatments to correct her imbalance prior to her third IVF. On day 4, the ultrasound showed 3 medium size (7,8,10 mm) follicles in the right ovary and only 1 (6 mm) follicle in the left ovary. Dr. Lee gave the patient an acupuncture treatment with SOFA technique on day 6. The ultrasound done on day 8 showed the left ovary had produced additional 6 follicles (11, 12, 12, 13, 13, 14, 15 mm) while the right side has only increased by 1 additional follicle. She ended up retrieving 11 eggs with 9 mature and 8 fertilized. All 8 embryos turned into blastocysts on day 5.

Not all patients respond. There are also cases where no improvements were achieved in age group as young as 30 to 35 after applying the Acupuncture for Infertility Protocol.

The bottom line: Among the "sub-responder" patients, those with sub-optimal blood circulation to the ovaries or uterus due to either stress or other internal imbalance, can respond better in future IUI or IVF cycles with optimized blood flow-ensuring the delivery of the injected hormone to the ovaries and/or uterus after applying the Acupuncture for Infertility Protocol in advance.