Case Review – Endometriosis
Advanced Maternal Age
Dehlia presented for treatment for unexplained
infertility.
Impending Miscarriage
Another Berkley Baby!
Naomi came to the Berkley Center for Reproductive Wellness with the main complaint of endometriosis and primary infertility. Naomi is 37 years old and had a laparoscopy one year ago to address the endometriosis. At the time that Naomi presented at the Berkley Center she had no indication of pelvic distortion as a result of either the endometriosis or the laparoscopy. And yet, after one year of trying-to –conceive after the laparoscopy she was still not pregnant. Her husband was ruled out as a contributor to their case; he had a normal semen analysis.
My interpretation of the case: Naomi has an autoimmune disease (endometriosis). Even though the ectopic endometrial adhesions were eradicated with the laparoscopy, she still had the underlying disease. Endometriosis is, for the most part, incurable. People with this disease have a chronic inflammatory state in their uterus (physicians: please read as Th-1 chronic pro-inflammatory cytokine distribution in the uterine cavity).
I treated Naomi with acupuncture and herbs. The herbs that I used have strong anti-inflammatory properties. Within six months of treatment under my care Naomi conceived. Nine months later she delivered a beautiful baby boy named Tommy. Have faith and remember, there are always options. Your challenge is to find them.
Paula presented to the Berkley Center for Reproductive Wellness with secondary infertility. She was 40 years old at the time she presented. She had been pregnant once in 2007 and once in 2008 as a result of in-vitro-fertilization. Both pregnancies ended in first trimester miscarriages.
She was diagnosed with a uterine polyp and underwent a polypectomy in 2007. Male-factor was ruled-out . Paula had regular 28 day menstrual cycles. She reported severe clotting in the menses. She also complained of frequent urination with accompanying urgency. She had an "average" libido and a "poor memory." Paula stated that she experienced bloating and abdominal discomfort after eating. She also suffered with generalized anxiety.
My traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis was spleen and kidney dual vacuity with damp accumulation; stagnation of qi and stasis of blood. My treatment principle was: tonify the qi and drain damp, quicken the qi and blood and transform stasis.
I treated her with acupuncture and the following herbal medicine formula for three months:
- Dang shen
- Bai zhu
- Fu ling
- Zhi gan cao
- Ba ji tian
- Gou qi zi
- Cu chao xiang fu
- Dang gui
- Mu dan pi
- Xiang fu
- Bai shao
- Crush chao suan zao ren
Today’s Message: Once you choose hope, anything's possible. Christopher Reeve
Dehlia presented for treatment for unexplained
infertility
Dehlia presented for treatment for unexplained infertility. At the time she came to the Berkley Center, she and her husband had been TTC for 14 months. She was 33 years old as was her husband. There was no diagnosable pathology evident from either of them from a Western medical perspective. In August of 2006 she did an insemination with 100mg of Clomid whereupon three follicles were generated. This IUI failed.
Some of her symptoms included cold hands and feet, and night sweats, and she craved sweets. Her bowel movement manifested every other day. She stated that she had vaginal dryness and decreased libido. She further complained of lower back pain.
From a traditional Chinese medicine perspective, her diagnosis was spleen qi and kidney yin vacuity. The treatment principle was: supplement and warm the spleen, harmonize the center and boost qi, fortify the kidneys, benefit yin, clear empty heat and facilitate conception.
I used the following herbal formula:
Dang shen
Chao bai zhu
Bu gu zhi,
Fu ling
Zhi gan cao
Shu di
Nu zhen zi
Ba ji tian
Han lian cao
Zhi mu
Using this prescription with acupuncture twice weekly enabled Dehlia to conceive naturally. She now has a beautiful, healthy little guy!
PS: She is back at The Berkley Center for Reproductive Wellness trying for kid #2!
Impending Miscarriage
Laura, a 40 year old patient presented to The Berkley Center for Reproductive Wellness with the main complaint of subchorionic placental hematoma. This disorder entails a placenta is covered with a blood clot. In Laura’s case the blood clot covered 75% of her placenta. This is dangerous because the blood clot prevents new, fresh blood flow to the placenta depriving it of nutrients necessary to maintain the growing fetus. This is a major cause of IUGR or intra-uterine growth restriction and fetal demise.
I treated Laura with acupuncture and herbs for three weeks. The fetus is now larger than the clot which means that the baby is doing well and is likely to thrive. I am very proud of this case and thrilled with its outcome.
Mike
Another Berkley Baby!
‘J’ is a thirty-eight year old female with an FSH of 20.8 and an E2 of 90 who was TTC. She attempted to do two IVF cycles. One ended up with empty follicles, and the other was converted to IUI due to poor ovarian response. Her doctor insisted that IVF with donor-egg was the only solution. I found her a doctor who would do an IVF with her own eggs. ‘J’ spent $4000.00 on reproductive medicine in preparation for the IVF cycle.
She has been under my care for two months receiving acupuncture treatment twice weekly and taking herbs twice daily.
The day that she received her $4000.00 worth of medicine from Freedom Drugs she discovered that she was pregnant!
Another Berkley Baby!
