Unlocking Fertility: Dr. Susan Fox on Acupuncture and Wellness

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:00:00

So my name is doctor Susan Fox.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:00:02

I'm a doctor of acupuncture and chinese medicine in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:00:07

And for the past 23 years, my focus has been helping women, people, couples, improve their fertility, their fertile health, whether they're trying to conceive naturally or whether they intend to go through advanced reproductive therapies like IVF.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:00:24

And it's been my pleasure and honor to really have that support for these people, because it's a rocky road for them.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:00:33

And having someone and something in their corner that actually has actionable outcomes that improve their success is so rewarding.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:00:42

Unlike many backstories, I did not struggle with fertility for myself, however.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:00:50

It was really just one of those right place, right time moments, in that when I started my practice, I happened to open up shath across the whole from an IVF center.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:00:59

And in that year, the research was just beginning to come out how acupuncture was improving IVF outcomes with just a simple procedure done 20 minutes before and 20 minutes after their IVF transfer.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:01:16

And so that began the journey.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:01:18

And of course, over these 23 years, we have learned more about how and why in that it is not just necessarily this one simple treatment.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:01:27

In fact, we don't use that one simple treatment anymore.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:01:29

We tend to use about at least nine treatments prior to an IVF retrieval and then another one for an IVF transfer, because it's really about improving the quality of this person's whole health, reproductive health.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:01:44

And therefore, the follicles in the eggs that are coming with, ideally, we would begin about three months prior, because that is the arc of what we call folliculogenesis.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:01:55

So the eggs that a woman is going to ovulate this month and next month and the following month are already sort of in play.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:02:05

There's this thing concept called the primordial pool, where all of our eggs are, are resting until such time as they're recruited each month.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:02:14

But what we do today will have an influence on the follicles and then the eggs that are ovulated, as I say, 30, 60, 90 to 120 days.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:02:24

And when you think about that conversely, right, that means that if we're not doing anything beneficial and we're doing things that are harmful, like exposing ourselves to toxins in our.

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In our everyday products, pesticides and food products, poor water quality, poor sleep and wake lifestyle, then we are having a.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:02:46

,: 9120

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:02:52

That being said, I want to just highlight that any improvement that starts now has a beneficial effect.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:03:00

So if there are listeners who are saying, I don't have 120 days to wait, because for some reason, sometimes there really isn't 120 days to wait.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:03:08

Our bodies are magnificent in their ability to detox and heal and restore.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:03:13

And this is not just me saying it.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:03:16

And it's not just ancient chinese medicine saying it.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:03:18

I just, before this call, pulled up a study that just released that talked about how improving our health with something as simple as coenzyme Q ten improves the outcomes of someone with what's called diminished ovarian reserve.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:03:34

Oftentimes, that is a person of older years, but not necessarily.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:03:38

I think the message that I really want listeners to hear is that with an IVF cycle, as brilliant and miraculous and wonderful as it is, these doctors can only stimulate eggs follicles in the condition they are, can only then retrieve them in the condition that they are, can then only produce embryos in the condition that they are.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:04:03

And so that's why, oftentimes, there needs to be multiple retrieval cycles because of the condition that they are.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:04:10

I know I'm sounding rather redundant, but that's the place where we change quality.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:04:16

And I say that with a bit of a hesitancy, because there is no research that proves we change quality.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:04:23

There's just clinical evidence.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:04:25

Time and time and time again, we'll see improved amH levels, we'll see improved follicle counts.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:04:32

And it just bears the question, if there's not double blind, placebo controlled studies proving that it doesn't, how can you?

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:04:40

Or that it does, how can you prove to me also that it doesn't make all the difference?

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:04:45

And you just ask any human being.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:04:47

We know innately that when we feel better, when we're taking better care of ourselves, all of our tissues are better.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:04:53

That's my passion.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:04:54

That's my mission, is that I don't want for someone to just have a positive pregnancy test or just a decent pregnancy and, okay, delivery and postpartum.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:05:05

But oftentimes, postpartum can get tricky.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:05:07

My mission, my legacy, is that we are at a pivotal point, it is tipping point, time to either improve the health of our children and our communities and our larger communities and our whole governing bodies at large, which then extends to how we treat the planet by making these changes now, forever.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:05:33

Chemicals, formaldehydes, parabens, phthalates.

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We're putting them on our skin, in our mouth when we brush our teeth.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:05:41

We're putting triclosan in our mouth, for goodness sake, if we're not careful.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:05:45

So that's where I feel so passionate that we really do need to make this change.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:05:50

Now is our responsibility for the health of our future.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:05:55

Awareness and action.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:05:57

We have, I think, a decent amount of awareness.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:06:01

Not everyone.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:06:03

We also have habits that we don't want to give up.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:06:06

Right.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:06:07

So I see it in the.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:06:10

All the time.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:06:10

Someone will come in with autoimmune disorder and I'll say, gosh, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but for your health, your follicle health, your embryo health, your baby's health, you will want to go gluten free because we know that it's an inflammatory agent and it will trigger that autoimmune activity, especially when it affects the thyroid.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:06:31

And that person will sit across me and say, I don't want him to give out my bread.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:06:35

And I'll say, well, there's nobody who's going to make you, but do you want a healthy baby?

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:06:41

Because there is a genetic predisposition toward this.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:06:44

So it's.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:06:45

We have.

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We need more information.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:06:47

We have it.

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It's out there.

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We just.

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We just need to go look for it and then take action.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:06:52

We need to vote with our dollars.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:06:54

And ironically, when we vote with our dollars again, the other argument is it's too expensive to go organic and to get these other products, but in fact, it's not.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:07:04

Our produce has become much more accessible, as in Costco.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:07:09

If you can't find it fresh, that's fine.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:07:11

Get it frozen, because frozen is just picked and frozen, so it's about as fresh as can be.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:07:17

So there really are ways in which we can get organic foods without it kind of breaking the bank.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:07:23

We don't have to go to farmers market.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:07:24

I mean, that's a lovely experience.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:07:25

Right?

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:07:26

And we can go to some of the bigger name brands, but it can impact some of the other brands, Target and Walmart, and they'll all have, you know, their frozen food section.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:07:36

Just reach for the organic.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:07:37

And, you know, when we eat organic or grass fed, we organic, free range, wild caught, we don't need to eat as much because that's the other side of things.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:07:49

Right.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:07:50

We tend to overeat in our society.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:07:53

And part of it, I don't want to create a judgment because part of it is that we're eating, but we're malnourished.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:08:00

So there's a part of our bodies that's saying, I need more because I don't have the nourishment.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:08:04

But if we eat properly, then healthfully and drink healthily water, then we won't be having these cravings and our brain won't be saying, I need more glucose fast because you just gave me garbage.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:08:17

And, you know, and again, in terms of expense, some of it, we can just make do on our own.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:08:23

You know, we don't need to go buy high level organic products.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:08:28

We can make our own.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:08:29

And there are recipes out there on the Internet, our own face wash, our own shampoos.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:08:36

Personally, I'm a little lazy, so I will buy and I will pay what might seem like a premium dollar, but then my hair is not leading, is not falling out, or I'm not getting a disease, or I'm not getting a poor microbiome that's leading to receding gums and cavities and mouth ulcers.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:08:57

That also affects our whole bodies, our oral microbial, affects our gut microbiome, vaginal microbiome.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:09:05

We're not separate.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:09:06

years, when: 2020

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:09:27

So I designed a course that has all the modules in it.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:09:32

So, for instance, you can do your own acupoint stimulation without needles.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:09:37

You can do it with an infrared light, you can do it with a tens machine.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:09:42

And because infertility and IVF is a stressful experience in the course, I also included sort of mind body guided meditations.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:09:51

We've seen in research, again, that it can be as stressful to struggle with infertility as it is to struggle with a cancer diagnosis or some other life threatening disease.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:10:02

The data is there to back that up.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:10:04

So I wanted to make sure I added that mind body component.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:10:08

And then there's a series of qigong, all of which are designed to help a person recognize where in a menstrual cycle she is.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:10:16

And I'm going to use the pronoun she, so forgive me, and then have a mind body relationship with what's going on right now so that she can influence what's going on right now so she can include this targeted circulation to her overseas from the end of her menstrual flow to either ovulation or egg retrieval in a cycle.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:10:40

And it's been so rewarding.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:10:42

It's not about taking my word for it.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:10:44

On my website, there are testimonials from these women who have just been told, forget about it.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:10:50

You need donor a, you're too old and they're conceiving naturally or having.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:10:56

In one case I'm thinking of went through IDF unsuccessfully two times this happened.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:11:01

Coworker with their first child, unsuccessfully.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:11:03

Did the program, was able to get pregnant two years later.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:11:07

Fast forward.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:11:08

Did IVF without the program unsuccessfully came into the program and then was able to get pregnant again.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:11:14

So rocket science, but it is science.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:11:17

So this is step by step, each week of your cycle.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:11:21

It includes, these are the foods that are ideal to eat at this time in your cycle.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:11:26

And this is why it's through the filter, the lens of chinese medicine.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:11:29

That's my area of background, and I use what's called a five element model of chinese medicine that also includes the emotional component.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:11:37

Because we're not all cookie cutter, we're not all the same.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:11:41

If you and I have a problem, we may respond differently, and I may respond with anger and irritability, and you may respond weeping and crying.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:11:52

And those responses, those emotional responses, will help me in the five element chinese medicine model.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:11:58

Say, ah, this is your five element constitution, if you will, your proclivity, and here's how you can help support that.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:12:06

Again, it just empowers us to be able to say, ah, I'm seen and I can help myself and I can help others.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:12:15

I'm going to give western medicine a break and say, they're as caught up in the problem as we are in that.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:12:22

How can you give all the information in a seven minute consultation, which they're required, make sure that they process all of these patients?

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:12:31

And so, and they're not trained.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:12:34

They're not trained in nutrition.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:12:35

They get in their, whatever.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:12:37

Eleven years of training, maybe 20 hours, if that, of nutrition.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:12:42

So that's like asking your mechanic to do cardiac surgery, open heart surgery, right?

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:12:46

So we just, you know, we need to support each other.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:12:50

And that's, if I may, again, I'm excited about this thing that I'm doing in that I'm putting together a summit, an immersive series.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:12:58

It will air in January.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:12:59

And I brought together IVF docs, reproductive urologists, naturopathic physicians, gosh, IVF coaches, acupuncturists, psychiatrists, to show that we are really in our field, arms linked in wanting to support our patients and give them our clients, whatever we call them, and give them the best care and outcomes.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:13:22

Because I think out there in the world of the Internet with searches, it can really feel like we are each at odds with each other, really, when you're understanding the inner circles, if you will.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:13:35

Maybe there are some outliers who want to say IVF bad, only natural conception good, or vice versa.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:13:41

And those who are in the IVF field saying those people are dangerous because you might be missing your window.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:13:47

Neither is 100% correct, and both have rationale.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:13:51

I really like to see and share that we really do work together on behalf of our patients.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:13:58

I'll be sure to share with you when that drops.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:14:01

And with your permission, I'll share with you the links to my website.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:14:05

There's actually a quiz that someone can take for their five element constitutional type.

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It's just called yourfertilityquiz.com.

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and you'll get a report that says based on your answers, this would be your five element fertility type.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:14:19

And here are some ways in which you can help sort of get yourself back into balance.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:14:22

These are ways you might find yourself out of balance.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:14:24

These are ways you can find yourself back into balance.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:14:26

And that's all free.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:14:28

And then if somebody says, oh, I'm really interested in this, and I really want to concede, then the course is there for you.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:14:34

Include it in the course includes these devices that I talked about, these infrared machine and tens unit.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:14:38

Because that's another thing.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:14:40

And you probably call running for all of these appointments when you're trying to have a work life in a relationship.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:14:48

It's crazy making to have to do all of these appointments.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:14:51

So to be able to just do it when you wake up in the morning or before you go to bed at night, and know that you really are doing as much, if not more, because you're doing it six times a week, not once or twice a week, to really improve your outcomes.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:15:06

I think that that is so helpful and empowering.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:15:08

I wish that there would be more comprehensive centers because you do need to physically go into the IVF facility.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:15:16

So to be able to really have something like my program be part of the experience when you walk in the door, because you need to get your labs, you may need to get some diagnostic testing, you may need to get some treatment before you go through the actual stim.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:15:32

All of that time you can be using to improve your outcomes.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:15:36

So I wish, if I were, if I ruled the world of IVF, then every center would have this accessibility.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:15:46

Again, you don't have to be physically in the office because that's more time, but just to know that this is available for you so that you can improve your outcomes.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:15:54

And once again, this is where I get on my soapbox.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:15:57

Not just your outcome, but the future.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:16:00

I mean, really the future of our world is dependent upon how well you improve your whole health and your fertile.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:16:08

And once again, I even challenge the word infertility, because I really think we're struggling with subfertility based upon our lifestyle, based upon toxic load.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:16:18

If I were to just say it in one word and all of that could be reversed, we could reverse infertility.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:16:28

There'll be people who are going to need IVF, same sex couples.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:16:33

If somebody's had a diagnosis of cancer and needs to quickly harvest some eggs or embryos, there will be a place for that.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:16:42

Or if somebody just starts later in life, nature is dictating that later in life, from the ages 36, 37 to 43, which is a pretty large contingent of people starting for the first time.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:16:56

Life is just presented that way.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:16:58

They are going to benefit from IDF, they are going to benefit from the insurance policy, if you will, of having embryos in storage for when it's time to grow their family.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:17:07

And I don't want to share too much of my personal belief system, but just to say, in a nutshell, we wouldn't have IVF if the greater intelligence, power, God, whatever you call, didn't say, okay, you little ones, you little humans, we're going to let you figure this out.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:17:22

Now.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:17:24

It didn't come out of the blue.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:17:28

Any idea that comes into form that then develops into all the way to science existed.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:17:35

And so I think that IVF is something that we've been given permission to step into you, which is why I feel that it is really a blessing for so many.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:17:44

I think that perspective lets me take this boogeyman image out of it, that there are evil doctors at play and at prey here.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:17:55

And I just think that's impossible, Frank.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:17:59

Whether it's political discourse, public discourse, kitchen table discourse, and that's maybe a silver lining to the dilemma that we're all living through, is that it really has elevated the conversation and it is kind of a current hash metoo movement where I, even in this summit that I just mentioned I'm putting together many of these guest expert speakers revealed that their families were IVF families, or that they had struggled with infertility.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:18:28

And it's really so beautiful, because I didn't know.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:18:32

I mean, I know these people as professionals, and that they would reveal this as part of their presentation was just so heart centering and connecting.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:18:40

It makes us all realize we're all in this together.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:18:43

And if I may, I just had a thought, because I think for the topic here, how I ally my other big dream is to have this be also in the awareness of the employee benefits manager, human resources department, we're seeing lots of, you know, lots of movement, and it's wonderful toward providing fertility benefits through the corporate world.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:19:07

And yet, once again, if you're just paying a claim, then you are still working with this person who is having her IVF experience back to my beginning, exactly how she is, which is then going to need multiple retrievals, which then becomes a bigger expense.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:19:25

If you're listening out there, any employee benefits managers or directors, you could pay for one retrieval cycle versus three retrieval cycles, which is to say 30,000 versus about 100,000.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:19:38

And all the time that it takes for that person to be out of the workforce fully, and the emotional toll that this is taking on this person, that employee is going to be like, oh, my goodness, it's not just for money.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:19:51

You actually care about me as a human being and my experience.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:19:55

And then that person is going to be more, I would say, in gratitude to the company itself, to the company culture.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:20:03

If you had to go into your human resources department, say, you know, I need to do idea for whatever reason, and that employee benefits manager or the department itself had this all spelled out, you almost immediately have an experience of, oh, it's going to be okay, as opposed to, oh, boy, here we go.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:20:24

You know, we're just going to throw spaghetti at the wall and see what happens.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:20:27

All that anxiety that produces, and it wants to get all that time away from work and productivity, that's what.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:20:33

That's what would get me on board if I were the employee benefits manager or the company owner or the CEO of a big conglomerate.

Doctor Susan Fox: 00:20:41

When you're dealing with thousands or tens of thousands of people, you're going to save millions of dollars and you're going to earn countless, it's just incalculable amount goodwill and trust with your employees.