Cost of naturopath

I am interested in your opinions on what you think is reasonable with regard to the cost of alternative therapies. Basically after clomid I went to a naturopath that also does acupuncture as I thought this could be a good way of keeping my pms at bay while we wait to see the new FS next month.

She has put me on a few different vitamins and some chinese herbs for menstrual pains but the cost has been freaking me out

The first week was $190 being initial consult plus herbs, I thought fair enough that's a bit dearer than I thought but it was the first one. The second consult was $150 approx because she decided I needed herbs to get bowels working, but I ended up with diarreah so bad that I bleed from the rear. THen the third consult she decided I was about to run out of herbs so it was $150 as well :eek: so it will end up being about $600 per month if I keep this up. DH has gone slightly mad about it and thinks it is a rip off, considering we need IVF anyway.

Her big selling point is that she will help me improve the quality of my eggs for IVF? does this sound right to you all? Does anyone else see a naturopath and was it this expensive. I have seen others in the past and found them expensive but can't remember if they were this bad.

Jane,

Sorry to butt in here but I've had experience with naturopathy while TTC and on IVF. Yes they can be expensive, I agree. I paid about $90.00 a visit and I felt that even that might have been too much at the time (medical costs do mount up don't they?)

The first naturopath I saw was a very nice person and helped me with a few dietary issues but I stopped buying and taking the herbs because they mucked up my cycle and after almost 12 months of seeing her, I still had not fallen pregnant. The only other time I consulted a naturopath was during IVF when she gave me some acupuncture. I don't know whether it helped or not but I got pregnant on my first IVF cycle.

(Just make sure that you tell your fertility specialist about the herbs as you don't want anything interfering with your IVF cycle).

Just one thing concerns me: I don't know how she can make a claim that your egg quality will improve by taking the herbs. Your egg quality is determined by your age. It would be more accurate for her to say that if your nutrition is of the highest possible quality, then you will be giving yourself the best chance of a healthy pregnancy and baby.

I think in terms of cost, you might need to weigh a few things up ... do you feel it is helping you? If so, maybe it is worth the extra money in the short term. Are you able to claim any of it back on private health? My fund gave me some of the costs back for my acupuncture for example. If you don't think the treatment is helping you either physically or mentally (sometimes the care and support of a practitioner who isn't restricted to fifteen minute appointments can do one's mental state a world of good), maybe it is not worth the extra money you are paying. If you'd like to keep up the treatment but think her prices are a bit steep, perhaps you can find another practitioner?

Cheers and good luck with everything.

Mel

Hi Melbo
I don't think you're butting in at all and am grateful for your reply and input.

I do think she is expensive which I think I could put aside for a bit if it wasn't for the egg comment. I have seen other naturopaths in the past but am sure that they weren't as expensive or mentioned egg quality. I think it's one of those things where a few factors are starting to weigh up against her and my alarm bells are starting to go off and I am questioning the value of it. I think I am getting a bit cynical, it kind of feels as though she can't do the normal "we'll get you pregnant routine" with me as DH isn't "fixable" so now she is going down the scare mongering path.

Gosh I sound like I don't trust anyone, but after years and years of endo I am a bit guarded with these sorts of things if that makes sense.

hey darl: i saw a naturopath for a few months and nothing changed for me. They are very expensive and seem to take a long journey approach and try different things when really who knows if its going to work?

in the end i realised if i am spending this much on natural therapies that may not work, i may as well be speding the money on ivf which has a greater chance of working for us.

ihope you work it out :hug:

No, you don't sound cynical at all. I'm also an endo chick. I was given some completely absurd advice from a naturopath about managing this condition so I understand where you're coming from.

Sounds like you've made a decision about this woman. I'm sure you won't have any trouble finding a more suitable practitioner.

Mel

danni - DH has gone a bit off his chops about it, like you wants to use the money for IVF, you're right too about the lack of evidence.

She has even got me booked in for the next 6 weeks so I dont miss an appointment, bit OTT

Melbo - I think I have made up my mind, but I don't want to throw in the towel, it's hard when you think the outcome of not doing something = not getting pregnant, which is why I use you guys as a sounding board

mine was ott too and always booking me ahead! its such a hard decision. Originally i wanted to try anything that was natural to conceive. The thought of ivf really upset me thinking i wouldnt make a good mother if i couldnt conceive like "normal" women.

Now i have finally come to understand that ivf is not all that bad- and so what if i can fall pregnant the "old fashioned way"

i guess it makes our future children just all that little bit more special :)

danni - my gynea patted me on the back and said don't worry about doing it the new fashioned way as long as you get there, I thought that was a cute way of putting it

We are "new-fashioned" women

exactly :D

Jane I went to a naturopath (who also did acupuncture) who specialised in fertility problems & whose pet subject was womens fertility about 4yrs ago after going on Clomid for 12mths with no results. After 2yrs of trying we were game to give anything a go, plus a friend recommended her & she had fallen pg with her after about 4mths. I wasn't expecting miracles coz my cycle was all over the place ~ anywhere from 44 - 80 days long & only seemed to ovulate every 2nd or 3rd cycle.

After 8mths with her, & taking chinese herbs every day & acupuncture once a fortnite she had my cycle back to a regular 28day one with ovulation occurring every month ~ she cost me about $150 for my initial consult including herbs, then about $62 every fortnite after that.

My bonus is that after 11mths with her we conceived our son, so for me it was totally well worth it & worth every dollar we spent.

Like Melbo my concern is her saying that she can improve your egg quality as the naturopath I saw told me that they can't improve things like egg quality, whereas with men they can help to improve sperm. And it sounds like you guys are pretty definete on the IVF path so I would be wary about her telling you about the eggs. I agree she could maybe help you get healthier to help carry a baby better for your body.

Wishing you every success with the decision that you make (although it sounds like you have pretty much made your choice) & every success for your future.

Thanks Kirsty for the comparison, I think that's a bit more along the lines of how much I was expected, and I am now concerned about the egg comments, which I should have picked up on at the first consultation but me being the desperate fool that I am came home telling DH, she can improve my egg quality to help IVF work, which in hindsight I had never heard before so I should have realised then. It sounds like you had fantastic results, one thing I did want to achieve was a more regular cycle which I did one other time through acupuncture but the woman kept telling me I was "fat", so I never went back.

DH and I had a talk last night about it as I told him what you guys thought and he said he is happy for me to see someone but not at this cost and not if they are going to make unsubstanciated claims like that of the egg quality.

Melbo - did MIVF recommend the one that you saw or did you do your own research on it?

Jano

My naturapath sends me my herbs and i think it costs about 105 including express post...i had great succes with the herbs relieving my endo pain,,, i am yet to start back on them after this op, but i will be calling her so she can review my formula now we are going to be back on the TTC path again and the endo has gone... personally i think this is very expensive what you are being asked to pay...

take care love leis xx

Kirsty, I'm so glad the naturopathy route worked out for you. It must have been a relief to come off the Clomid because I have heard it is hard on the body. I think those tonics the natural fertility practitioners prescribe do help with irregular cycles. I don't think they worked with me because mine were not irregular to start with so I am not sure exactly why I was prescribed them. =)

Danni and Jane - yes I had those feelings of "failure" because of all the trouble I had getting pregnant but as you say, in the end it doesn't matter. I have had IVF, a c-section and I wasn't able to breastfeed but none of that is of any consequence in the end. The beautiful baby in your arms is the only thing that matters.

I wish you every success and I hope we hear some good news soon from you lovely ladies (you too Leis, my love).

Mel

PS: Jane, our posts crossed! In answer to your question, I found the acupuncturist by myself (her practice is actually near my clinic in East Melbourne and also close to where I work). I found out from her that my doctor has suggested to many of his patients that acupuncture might help so she had seen quite a few of his clients over time. I know when I mentioned to him that I was having it, he wasn't disapproving as some might be.

Leis, it is and these aren't even herbs, it's mega doses of vitamin e, zinc, fish oil and the only herbs she gives me are those little black round pills (chinese) and they are the cheapest part. I am not holding our much hope for a pms free month this month

Melbo - thanks again

Hi Jane,
I use another site where the women are older and have tried many IVF attempts. Many of them have been to an acupuncturist in Balwyn (not sure if she is a naturopath as well) and she seems to be seen as one of the alternative fertility experts in Melbourne. I can't remember her name but let me know if you want it as I can easily find it.
There is also a naturopath I have been to in Nunawading who has a good reputation with fertility issues. I went to him once and did not go back as he said I was very healthy and he could not treat me for anything related to helping my fertility. (so that was refreshingly honest!) There is a lady in my mums group who went to him. She is overweight and was on metformin for a while with no success. He put her on a gluten free diet and gave her lots of other herbs and she got pg twice but miscarried and now is 43 and due to have a baby in 3 weeks. She absolutley believes his treatment got her body right to be able to carry this pg. Again, I can give you his name. He certainly wasn't as expensive as you described.
As for improving egg quality, some alternative practitioners say that can be done but there is no scientific evidence. I took the herbs that the "amazonian medicine woman" who was on the news last year prescribes. It cost me about $2,5000 for 4 months worth. We only gave it about 3 months to see if it would work as I am 44 and had been trying to conceive number 2 for 3.5 years (after having no difficulties conceiving number 1). So we just did our first IVF cycle and it worked! I got 14 eggs which is pretty miraculous for my age so maybe her herbs had some influence, but we will never know as I had not done IVF before so have no comparison.
sorry, didn't mean to write an epic. I guess it comes down to the fact that if DH is not "fixable" - I think was the word you used - then IVF is the way to go. but naturapathy can only help your general health. the only thing is, they don't like you using anything else while doing IVF.
I have been lurking and following your journey a little in LTTC so I know you sound very ready for something positive to happen. I hope you get there soon.

Jano.. OMG i can't believe that woman called you fat.. i have seen photos of you honey and you are not FAT... what a tosser of a woman...About improving egg quality.. well my naturopath got me onto MACA which is a vile tasting powder that is suppose to improve egg quality...it is from the amazon.. so maybe it is similar to that stuff that the other ladies have used... it is only 20-25 dollars per jar and you take two teaspoons a day mixed in with yoghurt.. i am going to get back on the macca path soon.. maybe you could try that also, or check out the fertility naturopath that i see.. search her company name and check out her website.. (can't post website here due to rules) fertile mind and body... she helped me so maybe she can help you for half the price...

love leis xx

Jane I am a big girl & my acupuncturist never said anything about my weight affecting the effectiveness of the acupuncture ~ what a nerve.

Anney - I should clarify that DH isn't fixable in that he has varicoceles which affect his sperm count, motility and he also has high abnormalities. He has had the embolisation procedure done to see if this helps improve things for him but so far we have not seen an improvement (ie still not pg), but will know for sure in a few weeks when he has a repeat SA. If his results don't improve our best chance is IVF/ICSI.

Anney and Leis - yes that cow of a women did nothing for my self confidence. I am big in that I am quite tall and solid but haven't been called fat since I was in grade 3 and according to healthy weight tables am 8 kilos overweight so hardly fat and if I was she should have chosen a better way of letting me know she thought I could lose a few kilos

I tried a Naturopath before going thru IVF. Each monthly visit was costing me $50 which included the meds. I saw her for a year, specifically for infertility, as she specialised in this field. Although i felt fantastic, and the best i ever felt - (health wise) it did not give me the outcome that i was hoping for (a pregnancy).
It does seem expensive, perhaps things are dearer in Melb??
I have heard however that acupunture does increase your chances of falling preg, and you can even use it with assisted conception.
Good luck to you.

Hope you don't mind me intruding here.

I've just started seeing a homeopath (same thing I think) who has put me on something to help my cycles settle (googling it today I realise Agnus Castii is Vitex, which is what other people here have recommended) and he's also said when I start TTC then there are other things that can help: he claims he's helped other LTTTCers with it too. Well, I'm going to try it: can't hurt, but also no background fertility data for me so I won't know if it's just down to the herbs and stuff.

Over here it cost £50 for the first consultation and £35 for subsequent half-hour consultations, then an extra £5 for any prescription I need. In Aussie money I think that's about $110-120 for the first consultation and $80-90 for subsequent ones, with prescriptions being $11-12. If it works then money well spent, he's also said that we will at some point hook me up to some Vegas Nerve machine to measure my sympathetic and parasympatheic system, so that will be fun! However, I live in the more expensive part of the UK and if I were back Oop North I wouldn't spend that money.

Reflexology is also a great help for relaxing and pregnancy - it's about stimulating the area in the middle of the sole of your foot, but I'm not 100% sure as to exactly where.

Best of luck to you all - can't think of a bunch of girls I'd rather see getting their BFPs!

is your naturapath registered with the private health care company you are with? Just that quite a few of them are and you get a rebate back if your cover does include natural therapies.

I'm on organic vitamins & supplements but they are thru our own company, but I do regularly have accupuncture and tcm treatments. Usually I find out what I need and then go into uni and grab them from the dispensary there at cost. I'm studying for a Bachelor of Health Science with a major in natropathy which means I have access to the herbs etc.

Hi Jane
Sorry I didn't see your post earlier.

I am seeing both a naturopath and an accupuncturist for assistance.

My accupuncturist is a member of the Ausrtralian Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine association. Any acupuncturist not registered with this organisation is probably one to steer clear of. My acupuncturist charged me $45 per treatment and I had upto 3 per week for an hour each. I didn't want to take herbs that might interfere with IVF drugs, told her this and she was very happy not to prescribe TCM. There have been at least 3 articles in medical journals this year alone showing that accupuncture on the day of ET assists with implantation. The journal articles also detail exactly which points are used. Any alternative practitioner worth their salt will provide something to back up claims like - we can improve your egg quality.

My naturopath charges $75 per session and the herbs are extra. I pay about $27 for supplements and $35 for tinctures she makes up. She is also registered with a number of professional associations.

And I guess the MOST IMPORTANT thing to say is that if you have doubts about your practitioner it can affect their treatment of you. You need to be able to trust your practitioner explicitly and implicitly in my view or your own head will interfere with the treatment. I know that I have certainly ditched some naturopaths because I lost faith in them.