Melatonin: Fertility and Egg Quality

MsGMChick · October 2011

I sometimes have trouble sleeping (and I use to have circadian rhythm sleep disorder) and started taking melatonin sporadically through the last year or so. It never dawned on me that it could be effecting fertility since it's a hormone that can influence lh, fsh, thyroid funct, etc. So I plugged it into Google and searched around! Here's some interesting facts..

While melatonin can lower fsh and raise prolactin in some women, small studies have found that it helps improve fert rates in IVF pts and can help egg quality.

Melatonin, is a natural hormone produced in the pineal gland in the brain and helps regulate sleep patterns. By resetting the internal body clock it can help insomniacs to sleep better. It is also helps in cases of seasonally affected depression. Most people know it as an over-the-counter or prescription medication to help conquer jet lag, but melatonin may now have a new use.

Scientists at the World Congress of Fertility and Sterility in Munich, September 2010, heard that women with poor egg quality having IVF treatments who were also treated with melatonin were more likely to get pregnant.

The Study
Poor egg quality is one of the causes of infertility in women and up to now there has been no treatment available to help this condition. However it seems that melatonin may now be able to do the trick. Apparently melatonin helps to improve the quality of the egg by reducing the level of an oxidizing agent called 8-OHdG in the egg. Researchers found that women taking 3mg of melatonin before their next IVF cycle had 50% of their eggs becoming fertilized compared to less than 23% of the eggs of the control group. Following embryo transfer, 19% of the women taking the melatonin became pregnant compared to just over 10% of the women who didn't take it.
Although this was a small study of only 115 women at the Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan, the results are nevertheless significant. Associate Professor Hiroshi Tamura, the team's leader, believes that "melatonin treatment is likely to become a significant option for improving oocyte quality in women who cannot become pregnant because of poor oocyte (egg) quality"

The Next Step
The next step in the research, apart from repeating the study with a larger group of women, is to study exactly how oxidizing agents play a part in reducing the quality of women's eggs. This research is particularly significant as melatonin was previously believed to lower FSH levels and increase prolactin levels in most women, which are generally considered to lower fertility. However, other research shows that melatonin helps relieve depression in premenopausal women and may help to restore fertility where thyroid function is also affected.

Melatonin: One double blind study showed that extended treatment with melatonin lowered FSH levels (only in woman with low initial nocturnal melatonin levels) and in some cases restored normal menstruation in early menopausal women.[53] The authors state fertility was restored in the women with resumption of normal menstruation, however, no ultrasonography was done to verify follicular development and ovulation. One Japanese study (IVF-ET) showed improved fertilization rate (50.0% versus 22.8%, p < 0.01) and pregnancy rate (11/56 versus 6/59, result not statistically significant) in poor responders with treatment of 3 mg melatonin daily from 5th day of previous menstrual cycle.

There's also some other stuff out there about it.

Anyone heard of these effects?

Seems that in small doses it can be helpful. But I also saw men shouldn't take it because it can effect motility and count.

lynn0926 · October 2011

Def worth trying. I have a bottle in the cabinet. When I get my next period, I will start taking it on the 5th day. If it cant hurt, it is worth trying to me!

krod2010 · October 2011

My RE recommended I take it with my last IVF cycle (I didn't mostly because I was taking so many other supplements I didn't want to add another one. My RE also does human growth hormone during stims.)

It doesn't hurt to use it. I know there isn't a whole lot of literature about melatonin and egg quality. I think you probably found what's out there!

Mitzi Bishi · October 2011

Good to know if this cycle isn't successful for me. I'd want to chat with my doctor about it before just starting to take it, because as you said, it does affect your other hormones.

Thanks!

MsGMChick · October 2011

Oops, MB, you reminded me.. ALWAYS CONSULT YOUR DR FIRST LOL

I just thought it was interesting and if it could be helpful, I wanted to share. My only piece of small anecdotal evidence is that I had my first bfp after taking it for three months. Then I stopped taking it every night because I changed shifts at work and could sleep again.

theworms · October 2011

my RE rec i take 3mg every night before bed.

GL ladies

solarflare · October 2011

Thanks for sharing this - good info.

lkmiss · November 2011

Just an fyi...I just learned that if you are hypothyroid, you should not take melatonin because it can worsen the condition.

I was just diagnosed and my nurse told me to stop taking it immediately. I had known about the above study and was told that the risk to my thyroid was more serious than trying to improve egg quality.

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