IVF:

Finally, there was the reader who is peri-menopausal at the age of 31. She’s about to start a cycle of IVF, and she wondered if readers had any suggestions to help improve its chances of success. Her doctor has advised her to take 75mg aspirin daily. One reader suggests self-hypnosis as a way of reducing the stress that will probably be caused by IVF therapy. Native remedies for fertility include royal jelly and maca, which is used by tribes in the Andes. Another reader is concerned by the suggestion to take aspirin, as this can cause a miscarriage. She can also improve her chances with a change of diet. Don’t touch white bread, white rice, white pasta, cakes, white sugar or sweets, and supplement with 15 drops of Agnus Castus with half a glass of water every morning. Another reader, who describes herself as a ‘surrogate granny’ to seven IVF babies, heard from the mothers that the number and quality of their eggs improved with reflexology. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) can also help the IVF process, which ideally should be started around three months after the start of TCM treatment. One reader recommends Dr Zhai, a TCM doctor who specializes in infertility problems. Her website is: http://www.zhaiclinic.co.uk. Another important figure in the field is Dr Marilyn Glenville, who has advocated natural solutions for infertility for years now. One reader says that terms such as ‘peri-menopausal’ are only “circumstantial definitions” and, along with amenorrhoea and irregular periods, can be corrected with nutrition, herbs and homeopathy. One reader also wonders why it is that doctors constantly prescribe 75 mg of aspirin. Could it be because they’re trying to help get rid of stock that had been earmarked for pediatric use, she wonders, with more than a glint in her e-mail.