The acupuncture needles, herbs, and probiotics that Anne Biris gave me literally changed my life. I originally came to Anne for acupuncture as a support for my IVF fertility treatments. When I arrived at Anne’s office, I had short cycles lasting around 21 days, it was not clear that I was properly and regularly ovulating, and stress and anxiety in my life were affecting my fertility. Anne thoroughly listened to my medical history and thought about the best treatment. Anne’s extensive knowledge of holistic medicine and of Western medicine, with a deep respect for both, truly impressed me and made me feel that I was in hands that I could deeply trust. Anne immediately decided that, as opposed to the common practice in the acupuncture fertility world of hyperstimulating the ovaries with the needles in order to powerfully force more blood flow there, I needed a very relaxing treatment tailored for my body. Anne correctly deduced that my very high stress and anxiety levels had already aggravated my ovaries, redirecting blood flow away from them as stress will do. Moreover, given that I had recently had surgery to remove endometriosis, Anne felt that my ovaries had been through enough trauma and really needed to relax in order to maximize my fertility. She was able to tailor a treatment that did not hyperstimulate my ovaries with huge amounts of blood flow, but instead relaxed them while still directing the blood flow to them. Anne also put me on a combination of herbs that she said could very likely lengthen my cycle. A longer cycle would mean that I could have later retrieval during my IVF round which would also mean that the chances would be higher that the eggs would have more time to develop and stand a better chance of getting properly fertilized.

Within only 3 months, I could tell with my ovulation tracker that I was properly ovulating every month and I was having 28 days cycles like I had not had in over a year. In fact, we had more success with Anne than our doctor had even thought possible; We naturally got pregnant on our own during the first few months of treatment with Anne. We still needed to do IVF in the end. It was because of Anne’s treatments that I was able to recruit more eggs for retrieval than I had in prior months, we had later (healthier) retrievals that aligned with when I would have naturally ovulated in a natural cycle, and our results deeply impressed and thrilled both us and our doctor.

Anne’s guidance and insight counseled us through decisions we had to make with our IVF Doctor who had been pushing us to use stronger medications and other approaches that we pushed back on with Anne’s kind, and gentle encouragement. Anne was a constant source of support and knowledge, helping me calm my nerves when things looked unusual and I had fears that I was entering perimenopause. In one instance, my IVF doctor was concerned that I was borderline hypothyroidic. She put me on a classical prescription medication to fight it and that medication actually had the opposite effect and made me intensely depressed and lethargic. While my PCP figured out this mystery and took me off of the prescription medication for hypothyroidism, it was Anne’s enormous guidance and assurance that allowed me to completely naturally control my hypothyroidic tendencies. Anne counseled me on what to eat, how frequently to exercise, and many other factors.

Several years later, we have had enormous miracles and successes with our IVF journey and I am still having very healthy cycles. I truly do not know what our fertility would have looked like if I had not walked into Anne’s office. I jokingly call her my Guardian Angel. Anytime something random comes up, like a bizarre stomach ache that I’ve had for a month or so, Anne always has an excellent remedy either with diet modification or herbs or probiotics. It has gotten to the point where I trust Anne’s advice and insight as much as I trust the advice and insight of my Western doctors. Ann’s approaches simply work and you can see it in your own health.

Although I have never been to Anne for pain management, I spoke to many veterans in her waiting room who were there for that. Many of them shared that nothing else in the world could reduce their aches and pains from war injuries like Anne’s needles. Many of them are addicted to her and look forward to their treatments every week so they can live a more enjoyable life.

Beyond all this, Anne is a truly kind, caring, and inspiring person. I always look forward to speaking with her and catching up. I truly consider her a friend and a healer.

– Ann Arbor, MI