Infertility

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Infertility

You’ve been trying for months, and still there’s no baby on the way. You’re beginning to wonder if you and your partner are infertile.

Most doctors won’t even diagnose infertility until after a couple has tried to conceive for a year. They advise that women ages 35 and over seek medical help after six months, however, because of natural declines in a woman’s fertility.

Male infertility is the problem about 35 percent of the time. This can include having too few sperm or sperm that are too weak to swim the distance to the fallopian tubes. Another 35 percent of infertility cases involve the female reproductive system, with problems such as blocked or damaged fallopian tubes and lack of ovulation. These conditions have many causes, including endometriosis, hormone deficiencies, infections, cysts and sexually transmitted diseases. In 30 percent of cases, there is a combination of problems, or the cause is unknown. The natural remedies in this chapter—in conjunction with medical care and used with the approval of your doctor—may help improve the possibility of conception, according to some health professionals.

See Your Medical Doctor When... You are a woman under age 35 and have been unable to conceive in a year of unprotected intercourse. You are a woman age 35 or over and have been unable to conceive after six months of unprotected intercourse. Your menstrual periods are scant or irregular and your cervical mucus doesn’t change. Your medical history includes pelvic infections, endometriosis, polycystic ovary disease, abdominal or urinary tract surgery, excessively high fever or mumps or measles. You have used an intrauterine device. You or your partner has suffered from chlamydia. You are a woman and are producing milk or have male pattern hair growth on your breasts, upper lip or chin.

Flower Remedy/Essence Therapy

“In ancient cultures, the pomegranate was a symbol of fertility,” says Cynthia Mervis Watson, M.D., a family practice physician in Santa Monica, California, who specializes in homeopathy and herbal therapy. She recommends the essence Pomegranate to women who are trying to conceive. “It has a balancing effect on the female reproductive system and is also good for emotional issues surrounding sexuality and motherhood,” says Dr. Watson.

Flower essences are available in some health food stores and through mail order (refer to the resource list on page 635). For information on preparing and administering flower essences, see page 37.

Food Therapy

Eat more oysters, advises Julian Whitaker, M.D., founder and president of the Whitaker Wellness Center in Newport Beach, California. While there’s no evidence that this much-ballyhooed “aphrodisiac” can increase libido, there is proof that the high zinc content of oysters may strengthen sperm count and motility, increasing chances for conception, according to Dr. Whitaker. He says you’ll get nearly the entire Recommended Dietary Allowance of zinc from just one oyster. He suggests lean red meats and crab as other good sources of zinc.

“It’s also good to eat more fruits and vegetables, which are high in vitamin C and other antioxidants,” says Dr. Whitaker. “A lot of male infertility is due to oxidation, which can weaken or kill sperm.”

For other food sources of zinc and vitamin C, see “Getting What You Need” on page 142.

Homeopathy

Infertility should be treated on an individual basis by a homeopath or fertility specialist, write Andrew Lockie, M.D., and Nicola Geddes, M.D., in The Women’s Guide to Homeopathy. But they add that there are several homeopathic remedies you can try while waiting for professional care. They suggest taking a 30C dose of one of the following remedies every 12 hours for up to seven days.

If you’re a woman whose breasts feel tender, with pockets of hard swelling, and whose desire for sex is ebbing, try Conium, say Dr. Lockie and Dr. Geddes. They say that Lycopodium may help if you have a dry vagina and tenderness in your lower abdomen over the right ovary. If you feel weepy, chilly and irritable, have a lack of sexual desire and have irregular periods accompanied by a sensation that your womb is about to drop out of your vagina, they suggest trying Sepia. And if you’ve had a previous miscarriage before 12 weeks, try Sabina, they say.

All of these remedies are available in many health food stores. To purchase the remedies by mail, refer to the resource list on page 637.

Imagery

In his book Healing Visualizations, New York City psychiatrist Gerald Epstein, M.D., suggests this visualization to help women overcome infertility. Close your eyes, breathe out three times and imagine walking into a beautiful garden. There you find a tree and a stream of flowing water. Bathe in the water, allowing it to enter and clean all ova, or eggs. Then sit under the tree and enjoy the sunshine and blue sky reflecting through the leaves. Look up to your right and make a prayer for what you want. Do this quickly. Then ask your mate to join you in the garden. Lie down under the tree holding hands. Picture a blue light forming a dome over you. Now go out of the garden holding hands, cradling a child between you.

Do this imagery for two to three minutes once a day for seven days, beginning at the middle of your cycle.

Reflexology

On your hands or feet, work the reflex points for the reproductive system, diaphragm, spine and pituitary, parathyroid, thyroid and adrenal glands, says St. Petersburg, Florida, reflexologist Dwight Byers, author of Better Health with Foot Reflexology.

To help you locate these points, consult the hand and foot reflex charts beginning on page 582. For instructions on how to work the points, see “Your Reflexology Session” on page 110.

Vitamin and Mineral Therapy

The antioxidants beta-carotene and vitamins C and E can increase sperm count (the number of sperm) and motility (the sperm’s ability to swim into the egg), says Julian Whitaker, M.D., founder and president of the Whitaker Wellness Center in Newport Beach, California. In fact, he says, studies show that large doses of supplemental vitamin C can actually reverse some cases of male infertility. He recommends taking at least 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C each day, as well as 400 to 800 international units of vitamin E and 15 milligrams (25,000 international units) of beta-carotene.

And try taking 30 to 60 milligrams a day of zinc, which may also help increase sperm count, says Dr. Whitaker.