Infertility woman with lupus becomes pregnant

Monday last week, Cynthia (female, age 42) called me excitedly for a good news: she became pregnant!

Cynthia has married with her husband for 7 years, but never got pregnant although they have been kept trying. In 2010, red spots appeared on her cheek and neck with rash and itchy. She was first diagnosed as allergy, but the treatment did not help and the red spots gradually spread to her chest late last year. She changed the doctor, and finally was diagnosed as lupus by the end of last year. The Rheumatologist prescribed her plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine) and steroid. She did not want to take steroid because of its side effects. After she took plaquenil, the red spots spread more and she felt more itchy. Therefore, she started to look for alternative treatment, then found me through internet. When she came, she told me that her back head, neck and shoulders were very tight and pain, and the skin below her nailed were also affected.

Lupus is an immune disordered diseases. If it is not well controlled, it will not only gradually affect the vessels, muscles and joints but also impact the functions of nerve and hormone, then internal organs due to spread of inflammation.

In addition to the combined treatment with acupuncture and herbal formula, I also gave her pricking blood therapy when she came for acupuncture treatment twice per week. I told her that my treatment will improve the circulation of Qi and blood, which means to regulate the function of the neuro-endo-immune network. Only with one session of acupuncture, she felt the pain and tightness on head, neck and shoulders were significantly reduced. After few sessions of treatments, she said she felt no more itchy, and the redness was gradually reduced. However, the redness became once worse before her period came. I told her it has been found that levels of female hormones related to the symptom. The symptom became settles down after her period ended. At this time, I added two points to regulate her hormone. After about two months treatment, her skin redness become much less, looks almost normal when she got up in the morning. She told me that her relatives who saw her during Christmas were surprised at her skin improvement when saw her in March.

On April 2, she called me about her pregnancy. She said her husband was tearing after she told him the excited news. She asked me whether need to continue the herbal formula. I told her when become pregnancy, the progesterone becomes higher, thus most pregnant women have much less or no symptoms during their pregnancy, therefore, no need for herbal medicine now. She told me that she did feel very well, almost normal now. But I reminded her to be careful especially during the first trimester of her pregnancy because of her age.