vitamins and supplements to boost fertility???

cheverian87

Hi ladies, I haven't been on the board for a couple of months. 
So my cycles have been a little wonky since my miscarriage which I understand can be a bit normal. My 2 year old son also weaned himself in February so I am hoping that will help my cycles regulate a bit! 
I have been temping since my miscarriage and found out my luteal phase has been a bit on the shorter side, especially my last cycle it was only 9 dpo! So this past cycle I started taking b6 and Vitex. My doctor wouldn't really help me other than do blood work to confirm I am ovulating. Which he said he knows I ovulate due to my son and I have been pregnant since. He said they don't treat low progesterone! 
I believe the b6 and Vitex helped me ovulate earlier and lengthen my luteal phase to 13 dpo. I just got my period on 14 dpo. Bitter sweet. I was really hoping this was going to be the cycle. I was hoping to have a baby before December. It now looks like its out of the question. It is upsetting but out of my control and trying not to dwell on it. 
I had another lady in a group I am in on Facebook suggest that I MAY have a weak ovulation... so I am thinking of taking COQ 10 and zinc. I am trying to boost my fertility the most natural way as possible. But hoping at the same time that I am not doing more damage than good?? 

Anyone else in the same boat? looking for ways to help themselves conceive anyway possible..? I am also looking for ways not too stress so much over TTC... I believe me being so stressed is really not helping the situation! 

mylittleversailles

I take a fancy prenatal vitamin - Rainbow Light and drink a litre raspberry leaf tea daily. I've been taking the prenatal for about a year and half now, long before we started TTC and -totally unbeknownst to me- the raspberry leaf in it made my periods less painful and shorter, so I started on the tea after my loss. My husband takes folic acid and zinc. Nothing major, but he's also pretty young.

BrightenMySky

Have you thought about acupuncture?  I see someone who specializes in fertility (both IVF/IUI/medicated cycles and natural cycles).  She has also suggested diet changes in line with Traditional Chinese Medicine principles.  

Based on googling, I decided to start taking CoQ10 after my miscarriage.  

Neikoda

cheverian87 I know that the suggestions I'm going to make aren't the most natural and that you're having some issues with your doctor but I wanted to let you know of my experience and what steps my doctor and I are taking to give you some incite into your situation. 

A 9 day LP is generally considered too short and is known as a Luteal Phase Deficiency that is often treated with progesterone. Since this is shortly after loss, it may take time for your cycle to re-regulate to an appropriate LP but mine has permanently changed since my second loss. In order to lengthen mine, my doctor prescribed 100mg vaginal suppositories twice daily at 3DPO. It extended my LP to 13 days. I did the 21 day blood test to confirm ovulation and good progesterone levels post-O. Many suggest Vitamins B6 and B12 although I take these daily and it didn't show any difference for me personally. 

As far as egg quality, this is also a concern of my doctors. Even though I ovulate on my own, since I MC shortly after implantation, there is a chance of a quality issue of my eggs. I have gone through extensive other testing to rule out other issues aside from my APS. This cycle, she is starting me on 50mg of Clomid to assist with the quality of my eggs even though I ovulate regularly. It does increase your chance of multiples to 10% but has shown to be very effective in producing healthy eggs.

AL_TwinCities

I recommend reading the book Making Babies. It was co written by an RE and an acupuncturist, so it covers both Eastern and Western practices. It has little quizzes you take to see what your fertility type is, and they give recommendations based on the fertility type. Supplements are included in those recommendations.

NamelessAria

I also take the Rainbow Light prenatal. I've been very happy with it so far. The only thing I'd say about it is that you may want to take a separate DHA supplement with it (I just take a fish oil supplement) and you also may want to take a separate vitamin D supplement if you don't spend a lot of time outdoors and/or eat a lot of foods rich in vitamin D. The vitamin D in Rainbow Light is D2 (a vegetarian source of D) and isn't absorbed as well by the body as standard D3. I started taking a separate vitamin D supplement because I'm not actually out in the sun that often. 

I'd recommend a prenatal if you're not already taking one because most doctors suggest you take one for 3+ months before getting pregnant if you can. I suppose a prenatal could be considered something to boost fertility since it has zinc and such but I've never really thought of it that way.


@BrightenMySky
I've been contemplating trying out acupuncture. Do you feel like it has helped you? What has been your experience with it so far?

BrightenMySky

@NamelessAria I do think acupuncture has helped me.  I had it in conjunction with my second and third IUI cycles (and the third was successful, although it ultimately ended in our loss).  I have gone a few times since my d&c.  My hcg is still pretty high 5 weeks post (and did not fall much from last week), but it is helping me relax, for the most part, although I do need to be careful because just lying there quiet and alone for 30 min can make me anxious depending on where my mind goes.  I also really like my acupuncturist.  I value her opinion and insights. I also feel like making some diet changes in line with her suggestions helped me feel like I had more control in this process in which we have so little control.

lilyaster

I feel like I have to do something different this time, after two consecutive losses.  I am taking a good iron supplement right now after losing a lot of blood with my D&C.  I'm still taking my prenatal.  I'm going to start red raspberry leaf tea and vitex to help get my cycles back to normal because they were definitely wonky after my last m/c.  I also just ordered COQ10.  I ordered a fertility vitamin for DH to start taking.  It does give me the illusion of some control in this process, and I can only hope it helps.

SnobunnieMel

I take a lot of vitamins from fair haven health. I used their fertilaid, fertile CM, ovaboost and myo-inositol when we started trying. I have PCOS and I chalk it up to them helping me ovulate and we got our BFP for our loss on our second month after IUD removal. I didn't ovulate the first months and with those the first month an egg was there it worked. I started taking all of them already again in prep to start trying. They may do nothing and it might all be in my head but I think the myo-inositol and ovaboost both helped regulate my hormones. 

MWoodside

I have PCOS and MTHFR mutation (homozygous 677t). So I don't take a traditional prenatal since I shouldn't be taking folic acid.  I take the following supps/vits all the time: omegas, twice daily multi, vit D, baby aspirin.  When I want to ovulate I add: chasteberry 3x/day, ioderol, chromium synergy. This is all under the direction of my holistic leaning GYN (who I left my RE for).  This works well for me as I've gotten pregnant 4 times on this regimen (2 losses, 2 successful pg).

I was thinking about adding in EPO from CD1 of my next cycle to increase EWCM, not sure yet.

cjt121413

I have PCOS. In addition to the Rainbow Light prenatal, I take COQ10, myo-inositol, vitamin D, a B-complex, and fish oil. The book "It Starts with the Egg" suggests the COQ10 for egg quality and myo-inositol for PCOS.

BornReady

Did anyone else note a change in ovulation date taking the COQ10? I have found the more consistently I took it, I ovulated later in my cycle. It looks like some people notice this, but nothing confirmed. The month I ran out and just gave DH the Ubiquinol I ovulated 5 days earlier. Anyways, just curious with you other supplement ladies.

megsbrock

@BornReady I was JUST wondering this myself...I started taking COQ10 only about 10 days ago, and I'm here waiting to O and it looks like it will be a couple of days later than last cycle. Maybe I'm just being crazy, and the supplements can't be taking effect that fast?! I want healthier eggs, yet I don't want longer cycles. Ugh. But of course healthier eggs win out.

BornReady

Thanks @megsbrock I'm glad I'm not the only one. I have been taking it pretty consistently since the miscarriage and just stopped this month and then the much earlier ovulation. Who knows! Good luck  

Kay6519

I take prenatal vitamins and a B-complex because I always tend to be low on B-vitamins. I recently started taking EPO to help with CM. It has helped. I do tend to have more fertile CM now. Although these last two cycles with EPO, I have noticed delayed ovulation. I usually ovulate around CD 13-16 but with EPO my O date has been at CD 19 and 20.

BornReady

@Kay6519  EPO will definitely mess with your ovulation. It is a synthetic estrogen, so take care when using it. I took it one cycle and it majorly messed with my body. 

Kay6519

BornReady said:

@Kay6519  EPO will definitely mess with your ovulation. It is a synthetic estrogen, so take care when using it. I took it one cycle and it majorly messed with my body.



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TB ate my boxes




Good to know! I don't think I will continue using it. My old 27-28 day cycles were long enough to try to wait.

mylittleversailles

I took EPO for a while the cycle we conceived but it gave me a cough of all things, so I stopped before I actually ovulated. I mean, the cough was so bad that having intercourse became difficult. I never get EWCM, except while I was miscarrying, which I thought was a bit cruel of my body. 

BaylieGirl

Does anyone's DH take supplements for their fertility? 

BornReady

My DH takes ubiquinol and a multivitamin. Nothing fancy. @BaylieGirl

MooFish2364

@BaylieGirl my DH takes maca, folic acid, and vitamins c & d...when he remembers. Lol 

fivetimesnoluck

@BaylieGirl He takes a multi-vitamin and my RE wanted him to have more zinc (although there has been no DX for him as far as contributing factors go). The doc's recommendation for more zinc was to take a Cold-eze cough lozenge 2x a week. Interesting, I know, but that's where we are at this point...

fivetimesnoluck

For me, our RE has me on my prenatal, Vitamin E (400 mg, 1x day), and Ultra-Cal Night (1x in AM and 2x at PM). The Ultra Cal, from what I understand, is heavy in magnesium and that's the primary reason for it.

EmilyDee87

I'm still TTC, but I've had success in more fertile CM by switching to organic whole milk! I didnt want to go Vitex right away because I heard it can alter a normal cycle and can also increase the risk of miscarriages... sooo I tried the milk theory. Before switching to whole milk I had about 2 days of fertile egg white CM. After a month of drinking 8 oz every day I now have over 7 days of the perfect CM! Just a sign for me that its working and I am a more fertile environment overall. I've also lost about 3 lbs, go figure!

So the milk theory is: 2% and skim are processed by spinning the fat out of the whole milk. During that process, the estrogen and progesterone cling to the fat (they prefer it on a molecular level) and so 2% and skim do not have the same levels of either hormone. With whole milk you absorb those wonderful hormones like a vitamin. It clearly worked for me. I was also never able to get a positive ovulation test until I started drinking whole milk, whatever that means...

Good luck!