When should you start acupuncture for IVF?

Early in the year, we see an influx of patients starting IVF and we get asked this question quite often… When should I start?

Well… like anything it depends. Here at the Tennessee Center for Reproductive Acupuncture in Knoxville, TN, we take into account a few things when making a treatment plan including:

• Type of cycle (FET, retrieval, fresh transfer, etc)

• Patient fertility history.

• Patient preferences: Cost, travel time, etc.

But, we’ll go through general guidelines to help you get an idea of what to expect.

IVF Retrieval Cycle

This includes Mini-stim IVF (MSIVF), Natural cycle IVF (NCIVF), Fresh transfer IVF, or a retrieval where egg or embryos are frozen.

For any type of cycle that includes a retrieval, we recommend starting acupuncture 1-3 months prior to the baseline for the cycle. The difference in timing comes down to a few factors:

• Ovarian Reserve

• Egg/Embryo Quality Concerns

• Fertility History including prior failed or successful cycles

• Prior acupuncture treatment history

In the case of diminished ovarian reserve (DOR), premature ovarian failed (POF), or age related ovarian decline, the concerns regarding egg quality we recommend acupuncture starting 3 months prior to the baseline of the retrieval cycle. The 90-day window is critical because the follicles recruited for a specific cycle actually begin their journey months in advance. Intervening during this "pre-antral" phase allows acupuncture to influence blood flow and nutrient delivery to the developing oocytes.

For women who are younger, with good AMH and/or FSH levels, those with exclusively male factor infertility starting acupuncture 1-2 months prior to the baseline of the retrieval cycle is usually adequate.

In more nuanced cases that might have a mix of factors, we look at fertility history including prior cycle results, time trying to conceive, underlying conditions (thyroid disease, autoimmune factors, etc) to determine a treatment plan.

For our patients who have done acupuncture leading up to the IVF cycle either for prior natural, medicated, IUI, or IVF cycles, we take that into consideration. If someone has done quite a few cycles with acupuncture, there is often room for a break or a reduction in frequency leading up to the retrieval cycle. Reproductive acupuncture’s benefits are often cumulative over time.

Frozen Embryo Transfer

This includes frozen embryo transfer (FET), donor egg cycles, donor embryo cycles, and surrogacy.

For frozen embryo cycles of any kind, we recommend acupuncture 4 weeks prior to the baseline of that cycle or about 6 weeks prior to the transfer. The goal is to receive between 9-11 treatments prior to the embryo transfer. This is where research shows the largest improvement in pregnancy rates.

But what if I’ve already started the cycle?

It is never too late to begin acupuncture. In fact, just doing acupuncture before and after embryo transfer can improve pregnancy rates on its own. In cases where the timing is less than ideal due to starting late, travel, work, etc we take everything above into consideration and craft a treatment plan that will optimize the time we do have in the cycle.

Scheduling:

Because we work exclusively in the fertility space, we work hard to make our schedule work for our patients and will do what we can to make sure we can see you when you need to be seen. We do have online scheduling available and are more than happy to schedule over phone or email as well. If you don’t see an appointment time online that works for you, please reach out and we will see what we can do to support your scheduling needs.