Hi there
I am soon to be a qualified reflexologist- next month. I used my friend to practice on - not as a case study as I felt it was not right. Can you please tell me if I was wrong...........she is on Clomid and she smokes! I am no baby expert apart from having 2 of my own, but having read alot of midwifery/maternity info and hope to go down that path with maternity reflexology and fertility/infertility issues, I just did not want to treat her as she was smoking too. I am just recently friends with her - her daughter is friends with my daughter and I felt a little uncomfortable with her smoking also. It is not up to us to judge people who smoke or any other issue for that matter but I was a little uncomfortable with it and I assume a major factor for her not getting pregnant 'could' be the smoking? I would be grateful for your help. I so wish her to get pregnant and wish her the best of luck but surely smoking is just adding more problems? I did say that it is best for a healthy lifestyle, partner to take zinc, cut out smoking, exercise etc etc, as a friend. But she has not listened to me! It just makes me cross she is not helping herself. What can I do. She has just finishedher 2nd cycle of Clomid and I did not treat her whilst she was taking it. I did not feel at ease whilst she was taking Clomid to treat her.
Just to clarify - after I keep waffling ..... should i have continued to treat whilst taking Clomid. There are many posts I have read about not to treat / to treat whilst taking infertility drugs, but what are the facts here how many people would as reflexologists actually treat a client who is taking Clomid or similar drugs.
HELP!! PLEASE I am confused. When I do maternity reflexology I am sure it will all become clearer but for now - I just so want to help her.
Thanks so much.
Waffle over
Dear TJG
Congratulations on nearly qualifying. I'll be due to qualify (hopefully) in July this year.
I hear what you're saying in your post and I am treating my best friend as a case study who is in a very similar position. She is hoping to be prescribed clomid by her GP soon and I have mixed feelings about this, but she is in her mid 30s and is not desperate to have kids, but also recognises that if she's going to do it, it needs to be now. Possibly unlike your friend, she has PCOS and suspected endometriosis so clomid could help her. I hope to continue treating her throughout and ideally into her pregnancy, should she achieve it, way past a case study basis.
I feel the benefits of having someone there entirely concerned for your wellbeing far out way the potential concerns about treating a client taking clomid. You can only offer your best and informed advice concerning lifestyle choices and I feel smoking cannot be the only factor at play in this situation as so much can affect your endocrine system to throw it out of balance, let alone any other physiological/mental factors. As long as I have known my friend (more than half my life now!) she has had problems with her menstruation and that has continued despite all sorts of factors that we have gone through as we grew up.
I'm waffling now too, but you should feel confident to treat this person irrespectively because you obviously care about her (enough to ask the question), but don't be down on her about the smoking. Trust me, she knows the risks and she will give up if her need is great enough. Ditto the exercise, etc. I feel exactly the same as you, and am currently throwing information at my friend about the best nutrition, coping mechanisms for stress, etc, etc, for her condition, but if she doesn't want to take any of these things on board, that is her decision and I have to respect that, but at least I can wholeheartedly say I tried!!
Good luck with the course in September and I hope this gives you some confidence!
Love
JoJo
Hi,
Giving a reflexology treatment while a client is taking Clomid seems very contradictory. So does smoking!!
Reflexology is trying to balance the body and encourage a monthly cycle producing one egg at a time. Clomid encourages more eggs to be produced and so, both treatments would compete with one another. Best to stop treatments until the course of medication is completed is my understanding.
As for smoking. Well!! I'm afraid I am not very tolerant of smokers. It is their choice of course, but if someone came to me wanting help I would expect them to at least cut down. I would never tell them to give up (far too stressful for them and it is not my place to do so) but they would have to work with me not against. Ethically I don't think I could refuse a smoker any treatment after all, the treatment may help them to cut down.
Maggie xx
As someone who suffers from infertility reflexology is always something that I've been told is a good thing.
Dearest TJG,
Interesting case indeed.
I'll try to leave here my thaughts, which I hope they would be helpful.
Before I answer, here are my warmest words to you. Since I have the privilege of having met you personally during the Maternity Reflexology last month, I know how much responsibility, concern and attention you put in your patients. This is a great privilege for them and they should consider themselves fortunate for having you as their practitioner.
Regarding the case you bring:
First of all, I would suggest to call the physician who prescribed the Clomid and ask him what would be the possible effects of taking the medicine while smoking. As a Reflexologist who doesn't smoke (stopped 24 years ago) I also consider that it is not my task as a practitioner to judge whether it is positive or not to smoke whilst taking Clomid. Yes, I know that it will be prejudicial in any case, but what can I do? My answer to myself? Nothing.
As a Reflexologist, I must know about medicines, however, I must refrain from giving any advice (yes probably an opinion) about them. This can always be a controversial point and from the ethical point of view, we need to be careful.
Should I refuse to treat her? I'd personally never do that.
Otherwise, I would be judging her own sense of freedom. As a practitioner, I should protect my patient's choice. Yes, of course, he or she would always know from me my personal opinion, in this case opposite and negative, but even that I don't like it, it will be their decision and I will respect it.
One more thing that we must take into consideration is the amazing nature of human beings. On one hand, we can say "I want a baby, I want to be pregnant", but on the other hand we would be doing exactly the opposite of what science has defined as prejudicial. All human beings, you and me, all of us, have a certain, even minimal sense of self-destruction. How does it act and how heavy is the role of this attitude to life is up to every one.
I've seen many couples that, when coming to Reflexology treatments, can surprise you with the double language of, when coming together, on one hand saying we want a baby, and on the other hand, when they are alone with me inside the 4 walls, admit that they are not prepared to fall pregnant, that parenthood is far from them, and that they only come for the treatment because in order to please their couples, but deep inside they don't want to be parents yet.
As Reflexologists, we have a great privilege: we have the time to listen to our patients. If we also are analytic, comprehensive and sharp, we will be able to understand between lines and understand our patients better in every sense. It only takes time.
And in many cases, subfertility starts on the wrong timing to be parents, even if we talk about the second baby.
Always give Reflexology to your patient. It will always help. Always.....There are no rules. It is not mathematic. In the mathematics of Reflexology, one plus one equals three.
Hi Moshe
Thank you for your reply. My word I posted this 12 months ago and forgot all about it. Having qualified since and also been to your wonderful course. I have since worked with a couple of ladies who are having difficulty conceiving and now trying to encourage the man in their lives to have a treatment too. Since writing this post a year ago I have learnt alot but unfortunately the lady in question still has not conceived but is going down the IVF route as did her sister a few years ago. Our paths do not cross now as much as it did, but hopefully in the near future she will have some good news.
Many thanks
T x
Hi TJG
Oooooops!
Yes, now I saw that you posted this message a year ago....
I saw Feb.19th, didn't pay attention to the year. 🙂
Sorry for that.
Moshe