Supplements

jillychris · August 2011

My acupuncturist has recommended I try a DHEA supplement rather than the progesterone my OB had given me. (This is just for my LPD, not an IVF cycle.) I plan to ask my RE at my WTF what she thinks.

Anyone with experience with DHEA? Did it make any difference in your progesterone levels?

She also started me on:

Fish Oil, Vitamin D, L-Argenine, CoQ10

Anything else out there I should consider to improve egg quality?

Edwina.McDunnough · August 2011

Scroll down to the supplements section

https://infertility-veterans.blogspot.com/p/if-guidelines-and-links.html.

DHEA is for egg quantity mainly and quality possibly, supporting your cycles with progesterone is practically a given or it's an easy addition to your protocol if you're not on it.

Mayan2011 · August 2011

Hey sweets!

I haven't been told I have an EQ problem, our identified issue is MFI, but I do take many supplements to make the best eggies I can. I have ran all of these past our RE and he is fine with them. Everyday I take: L-Argenine, CoQ10, Omega 3 (fish-oil), pycnogenol, raw royal jelly, bee pollen, and a prenatal vitamin. I also have a pomegranate juice, berry (usually blueberries and raspberries) and banana protein shake everyday - usually w/ or for lunch.

I only eat organic dairies and try to eat as much organic meat as possible (hard when travelling) to cut out the hormones, steroids, and antibiotics from my diet. I also almost never eat white breads and refined sugars.

WRT DHEA make sure you talk to your RE about it. There are a lot of mixed reviews about it.

Good luck.

jillychris · August 2011

Edwina.McDunnough:
Scroll down to the supplements section
https://infertility-veterans.blogspot.com/p/if-guidelines-and-links.html.
DHEA is for egg quantity mainly and quality possibly, supporting your cycles with progesterone is practically a given or it's an easy addition to your protocol if you're not on it.

Thanks, I will check this out!! I know during an IVF cycle, progesterone is part of my protocol. My OB had also prescribed for the rest of my cycles due to my HUGE amount of spotting/bleeding during my very short LP.

My acu said she would rather me take DHEA than the progesterone. I'm just wondering if anyone has heard, or had any experience with it helping with prog levels.

Delta04 · August 2011

I am taking DHEA right now. Edwina pointed out some good info for you. I have only had mild headaches but they are pretty infrequent. I agree with Mayan - definitely discuss with your RE because not everyone agrees with its usage. If you do a search from the blog given, you can find a lot of posts on this. GL.

jillychris · August 2011

Mayan2011:
Hey sweets!

I haven't been told I have an EQ problem, our identified issue is MFI, but I do take many supplements to make the best eggies I can. I have ran all of these past our RE and he is fine with them. Everyday I take: L-Argenine, CoQ10, Omega 3 (fish-oil), pycnogenol, raw royal jelly, bee pollen, and a prenatal vitamin. I also have a pomegranate juice, berry (usually blueberries and raspberries) and banana protein shake everyday - usually w/ or for lunch.

I only eat organic dairies and try to eat as much organic meat as possible (hard when travelling) to cut out the hormones, steroids, and antibiotics from my diet. I also almost never eat white breads and refined sugars.

WRT DHEA make sure you talk to your RE about it. There are a lot of mixed reviews about it.

Good luck.

Thanks Mayan. I'm also trying the organic route. Previously my fruit, milk and my sugar were organic (the things I have everyday). I just started this week with organic meats. It only makes sense to not add meat and dairy with hormones in it to a body that is having hormone issued. I hadn't really thought about that before! Definitely a bit more expensive, but we're only going to do one more IVF with my eggs, so we want to do everything we can to help them actually get some eggs this time!!

I have my WTF on Friday, so I plan to ask my RE about the others my acu had me start, as well as ask her about DHEA.

UOduckBride2be · August 2011

I am taking most of what the others have listed. The only thing that I would add is that not all prenatal vitamins are created equal, even the prescription ones. I take an all plant-based one that is easier for the body to digest and is higher in several nutrients than your basic PNV, (for example, it actually has enough calcium in it where the majority of PNVs don't even come close. I let my RE take a look at the bottle and he was really impressed). It's pretty expensive, but I can write it off on my taxes with all the rest of our TTC/IF crap. It's called "Super Nutrition PreNatal Blend 2" and I take a total of 6 pills per day.

Edwina.McDunnough · August 2011

jillychris:

My acu said she would rather me take DHEA than the progesterone. I'm just wondering if anyone has heard, or had any experience with it helping with prog levels.

DHEA and progesterone address completely different things regarding your cycles. Studies I have seen all pertain to IVF cycles and quantity.

I can only assume that your acu wants you to look at the cause of your short LP and spotting and not just deal with them, but since you're doing medicated cycles I think it's moot. Unless you're ditching your treatments, I don't see the point of NOT using progesterone to support your lining. It does not do any harm whereas DHEA comes with a host of s/e that you have to deal with constantly. You also need to be on it at least 3 months. With progesterone you're on it when you need it and you stop it when you don't. As far as I know you cannot OD on it, you can get PMS s/e but massive amounts don't hurt you as you'd be making a ton naturally if you were pregnant. I have seen REs ban DHEA for DOR patients even, but I have never heard of an RE banning progesterone.

The most common supplement I've seen for a short LP is B-complex and that didn't do anything for mine. Also, being on DHEA for over a year now, my LP is exactly the same as it has been. I have not had my P2 measured for every medicated and unmedicated cycle so I have no quantifiable information regarding your question.

krod2010 · August 2011

Please look into 7-Keto DHEA. It doesn't convert to antrogens. I use Pure Encapsulations. My herbalist/acupuncture recommends the 7-Keto DHEA since the DHEA can create too much heat in some people. This is from my RE's blog:

1. Consider high dose antioxidants. You can buy a supplement similar to Total Fertility.

2. Consider acupuncture and hypnotherapy

3. Consider taking 7-keto DHEA 75 mg daily. 7-keto DHEA is different than DHEA because it doesn?t have the testosterone side effects that DHEA will have and you can?t find this in most vitamin stores. You have to buy it online.

4. Consider melatonin 3 mg per day. Only one Japanese study showing that there could be an improvement in egg quality as a result of taking it because it is such a potent antioxidant. Can?t hurt, may help.

5. Consider taking resveratrol.

6. Stop smoking and limit caffeine and alcohol intake.

7. Maintain a normal body mass index. You can calculate your BMI here: https://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/

8. Consider adding human derived growth hormone to your treatment protocol.

No one really knows what the right dose is for any of the recommendations I have listed above because there haven?t been enough studies done on the subject. I wish we were at the point where we could take human derived stem cells and inject them into ovaries to make them generate new eggs (the research is there in the mouse model but women will unlikely be able to benefit from this research for generations to come).

Want a personalized experience?

Supplements

Re: Supplements

Choose Another Board

Search Boards