Angus Castus

[Fiore]

After much messing around by my doctor we can pretty much say I am not yet pregnant. I'm getting so sick of him, when I told him I wanted to start trying to conceive he just looked at me like "and I should care because...?" when I needed some advice and what not as I have a history of Spina Bifida in the family. He even told me I was pregnant then told me I wasn't, really annoying!!

So, I'm doing it all alone. And with OH of course, he plays a little part We've been TTC for a year now with no luck. Anyhow, I've decided to go the Agnus Castus route. I got some from boots tonight, has anyone used them before? Does anyone know much about them? I've got the folic acid too of course!

Fi x

 

[iwanta8a8y]

Hi hun, i havent had an experience of Agnus Castus but i have heard about it, so good luck i hope it works for you.

About your doctor, i cant believe he said "and I should care because...?" to you!! If my doc said that to me i would certainly write a complaint about it, man they piss me off, earn too much money for not giving people enough support i say. Getting an appointment with my doc is a nightmare, the NHS are just too understaffed!!

Hope you get your sticky bean soon x

 

[Fiore]

My parter is thinking of forkin out for me to go private until we have a little bundle. I'm starting to think it would be a good idea! The doc didn't even tell me about the importance of follic acid! We've now been trying for a year and I'm not going to see him about it, I don't need him fobbing me off. It really angered me though!

 

[iwanta8a8y]

Oh absolutely, if you can afford it I would go private - if we are still ttc down the line it is certainly an option that we have spoken about. FX for you hun, hope it works out for you.x

 

[vaniilla]

really the health service in this country is so incompetent!! your GP should have offered you more support but alas they treat like they are suffering a great pain by just seeing you its so ridiculous. I think your oh has a good point I would go private if I could afford it as you wont get much if any help if any at all from GP for example my mum had been going to the docs complaining of stomach pains for over a year to the docs and they never offered anything to her!!! this year she went to a private doctor and they told her she had cancer and a massive tumor in her lower abdomen, they were so shocked that nothing had been detected and because it had been left for so long they had to remove all of her womb and ovaries I know she doesn't want any more kids but imagine if she had been trying that would have been a horrible thing to have happen when it could have been avoided. sorry for the rant but I guess I just get angry at how let down people are.

best of luck ttc I hope it happens soon for you

 

[WannaB]

Well that was a waste of a visit wasnt it! If you have a history of Spina Bifida in your family it is recommended that you take double the dose that the average woman does ie: normal dose is 400-500mg per day, yours would be 800-1000mg per day, truly aweful that yor doc didnt even mention it, such a small thing can prevent alot of heartache! As for Angus castus, if your cycle is normal and you are Oing regularly I would stear clear of it, it can throw your homones out and actually mess up your cycle and delay O all together if there is nothing wrong in the first place. Maybe if you could supply a little more detail what your cycle is like and what methods you have tried in the past eg bbt and opks, we might be able to get an idea and see if there is anything you are missing to boost your chances.

 

[jojo-m]

Hi hun,

Sounds like the Dr is really useful!!!! Not!!!!

Anyhoo, so you've been ttc for a year. What is your cycle like? have your charted and got your ovulation date and luteal phase length etc?? I think that needs to be one of the first things you need to establish, then go from there.

I've been ttc 15 months now altogether and since opk's and charts I found out I was late (ish) to ovulate then had a luteal phase of only 9 days. I've also had hormone blood tests done with the g.p and it seems I have a very slight estrogen dominance which could be throwing it all out (got gynae apt on wed so will know more then).

Because found out this i've been taking vit b complex 100 (which has increased LP by 2 days so far) and also took Agnus castus for a week - read some bad things about it so stopped now started it again this month because I decided if it helped i'd risk what i'd read as I have nothing to lose right now! I'm coming up to ovulation time so will have to let you know how it goes! so far no noticable side effects.

Jo x

 

[babyloulou]

Hi- sorry your doctor was so rubbish! He needs a kick up the arse by the sounds of it!!

As for Agnus Castus- I kept getting told how good it was (although my acupuncturist tried to warn me off self-medicating!) so I started taking it (as I don't ovulate at all) and all it did was make everything worse!

About a month after I started it I started spotting on and off constantly- I kept trying as I thought it might just be kicking starting everything - after 4 months it was still the same so I stopped. For the year or so after I took it my cycles went to 70+ days .... therefore I wouldn't recommend it personally- but I know others have had good experiences with it! I think it can be hit and miss and if it's not what your body actually needs it can make things ALOT worse!! It's amazing how much effect herbs can have- I feel like I wasted an extra year because of it! -

I'm still not ovulating though so I can't rule out trying more of these type things again in the future if someone persuaded me!!

 

[Fiore]

Thankyou everyone for your kind replies, I've been so busy with work and xmas lately so sorry for the delayed reply!!

My cycles are really strange. This year they've varied from 25 days to as far as 40 days on one occasion!! It's driving me potty, the thing is that I'm worried about going back to GP. I know he will just fob me off. I used to be able to set my watch on my cycle it was that great! I had a coil inserted though when I was 18 which went very wrong. I'm going to change doctors after xmas I think, see what he/she says about that. Anyhow...

I haven't charted O at all really, I've noticed EWCM some months and not others so promised myself an O predictor kit in the new year.

Vaniila, that's aweful! Your poor mum! When I was in hospital when my coil got stuck into my cervix I was on the ward with ladies who had been through a hysterectemy and they were in agony the poor deers. It's not nice at all, NHS really does suck.

WannaB, I didn't know that!!! My stupid stupid doctor. I'm so scared of making a fatal mistake all because of someone elses incompitence!!!

jojoM, I know I sound so ignorant but I'm not up to speed with all this! I've been just having lots of unprotected sex throughout the month and hoping for the best lol. If I hadn't found this website I would have been totally in the dark. They teach you how to not have babies at school, how about some education on how to have them??


babyloulou I hope I'm one of the lucky ones it works for! I'm just getting fed up seeing 18 year old mums with a screaming baby in the trolley, another baby in her tummy and a fag in her mouth. Me and OH would make such amazing parents and it just seems so unfair that we have had to wait a year for nothing yet these chavs are dropping them by the dozen and getting them hooked to the L&B before they're out of the womb!!

 

[sma1588]

hi hun have you started taking it yet? i think it made me not O and when i had a new cycle it made it to where it was only very light spotting. i only took it up untill day 28 one month then day 14 of another because i thought i was O-ing and i wasnt. ive heard your supposed to stop when u O because it could cause misscarage. but i do think it may have helped regulate my cycles because i now have a looong 55 day cycle but its more on track. people say it usually takes a few months to do anything about conceiving but hen again some people say its happed first time on it

 

[RedRose19]

i think angus castus is a hormone balancer.. so if you have a regular cycle you wudnt really need it..

though if you have loong cycles it can really help.. i was having long cycles so i decided to take it 3 times a day .. one of my cycles ended up being like 100 days long but the angus castus kinda forced my body to ov then to get af but i heard after u ov your must STOP taking it.. then if u havent concieved to start taking it again...

good luck hun i hope this is helpful... i hope u get a bfp soon

 

[jojo-m]

I've come up to Ov time, got +opk cd17 last month, this month after taking Agnus castus I've got to cd17 and nothing so I think its not going to work for me, even maybe make it not work, Its weird because I have stretchy cm but its the white colour I have when its creamy, my temp is still low though but cervix is high so looks like body is ready to ovulate.

I think you can only try these things, especially if you've been trying for a while. Then again my af is quite regular so maybe it will work properly on you. I'm not taking anymore tho!

xx

 

[TaeBoMama]

Well that was a waste of a visit wasnt it! If you have a history of Spina Bifida in your family it is recommended that you take double the dose that the average woman does ie: normal dose is 400-500mg per day, yours would be 800-1000mg per day, truly aweful that yor doc didnt even mention it, such a small thing can prevent alot of heartache! As for Angus castus, if your cycle is normal and you are Oing regularly I would stear clear of it, it can throw your homones out and actually mess up your cycle and delay O all together if there is nothing wrong in the first place. Maybe if you could supply a little more detail what your cycle is like and what methods you have tried in the past eg bbt and opks, we might be able to get an idea and see if there is anything you are missing to boost your chances.

Hey WannaB,

I just want to give you a shout out; thanks so much for all your advice! You're always there to give a word of wisdom for those in need. Thanks.