Any Advice on Vitex?

[rockstarlove9]

Kylasbaby... You are really making my day. Okie dokie i also read something about using progesterone cream and something called maca. I don't wanna get herb or ttc crazy but im just anxious to start a new cycle. I've only been taking the vitex for 6 days however

 

[KylasBaby]

I used progesterone cream as well (starting after O). Not sure if it helped or not but makes me feel better. I still do occasionally. Once I'm term I won't bother. I'm sure it's more in my head. I used maca before but found it gross haha. I used to put it on smoothies and could still taste it. I didn't want to use too much at once this time.

 

[rockstarlove9]

so you used both progesterone and vitex in combination. Did you continue to take the vitex while taking the progesterone or did you stop taking the vitex once you started on the progesterone? Im just asking because i read that the progesterone can cancel out the vitex and delay period and ovulation.

 

[KylasBaby]

No it doesn't cancel it out. They work very well together. Because vitex works to get your body to naturally produce it and the cream works to give you that boost. So while vitex is fixing your body the cream still makes sure you have some if that makes sense. As I said I used the cream AFTER O because yea it can delay things that's why you only use it after. I conceived so didn't need it next cycle but it should only be used from O to AF.

 

[KylasBaby]

https://natural-fertility-info.com/progesterone-fertility-qa.html

There's a question about using progesterone cream with vitex and maca.

 

[rockstarlove9]

I'm wondering when i could start using it because i'm now on cd 73 and im pretty sure just have a very long overdue ovulation. Do you think i could use the progesterone now to start the period and then go from there because if i wait until i actually ovulate i may never get to start?

 

[KylasBaby]

Personally I wouldn't use the cream yet. It could further delay O. 99% of the time you won't get AF without O first so you need to focus on that first. Give the vitex a chance. You're on a pretty high dose, but have only been on it a few days. Give it time.

 

[rockstarlove9]

Thank you so much i ordered some of the progesterone cream online so it'll take me about two weeks to get it anyway which should give the vitex a heafty amount of time to do something

 

[rockstarlove9]

So i upped my dose to 1500mg on vitex around two days ago. Just wanted to give an update on the symptom changes that i have noticed. I have noticed an extreme increase in cm. I'm really tempted to just wear pantyliners as a permenant thing its getting to be a bit much. sorry tmi. My nipples have been sore since about day 3 and they seem to be getting more sensitive. And the cramps are getting progressively worse. Hopefully af is just around the bend because the cramping isn't pleasent.

 

[1nceUponATime]

Hey Rockstar--

I know how you feel, as I am on CD 90! I think I have different issues, because I honestly rarely ever get a natural period......I did two months of vitex with no success. I have read it works miracles for other girls on the internet, and it may very well do that for you, but don't be like me and put all your eggs in one basket. I went into it thinking that it was going to fix everything, and it didn't really do anything.

don't give up on the vitex just yet from what the pill bottle says it can sometimes take up to 90 days to be effective sometimes longer from what ive read on the internet its taken some women as long as 180 days for it to be effective. Have you tried uping your dosage.

I dont know why but my body always seems to get infections when it goes so long without AF and i felt one coming on, so the best thing for me to do was a cycle reset with BCP, which I did. I stopped the vitex because you shouldnt take vitex and BCP together. I took 1600 mg a day.

Hi 1nce sorry your cycles are so long, my longest since coming off of BCP was just shy of 80 days.
Did you have any negative effects from vitex? Or did it just not work at all?
Have you been told a reason for such long cycles, my doctor is mean and won't give me any blood tests so I don't know how bad my PCOS is or whether there is an additional reason for not ovulating frequently.
Tbh I am giving vitex a go in the vain hope that it will stimulate something, all that has happened this far is a acne break out on my back, headaches and a sore stomach at the beginning, I'm giving it a chance till I finish the bottle and if I haven't ovulated by then then I won't take them again as I don't think they are agreeing with me.

I havent yet visited an RE yet, and really only they could determine the problems. My bloods come back pretty much fine except the fact I do not ovulate, my scans have come back fine too (not indicative of pcos or anything)....I did get headaches for maybe the first week of it. I did notice a huge increase in CM and acne...but that's it.

 

[rockstarlove9]

Hey 1nceUponATime... My gyn told me to start taking bcp to regulate my period and im just wondering exactly how that works. I mean bcp's main job is to surpress ovulation so how would taking them reset my cycle plus how would all the extra hormones in the bcps help regulate mine. sorry just venting but i do think it would reset your period or at least cause a withdrawl or estrogen bleed and give you a fresh cycle to start from. I have been thinking about doing the same thing but i wanna first see if progesterene cream in combination with the vitex works plus i kind of wanna finish out the vitex since i already bought it. sorry im el cheapo sometimes. I am currently taking 2000mg a day and the only thing its done so far is give pms but no period. it has only been a week though so im thinking my impatience is getting the better of me. what cd are you up to now?

 

[HopefullyOpto]

Rockstar, I really don't want to be patronising but I think you need to be a little patient, it takes a while for something like Vitex to work because it's not a drug its a herb, therefore it's naturally trying to correct a problem (if it can) your body is probably desperately trying to ovulate but it's probably still growing your follicles. At least give it a few weeks, if you start pumping it will all sorts of things then you might find it just makes things worse.

I am hoping it does something for me, I'm cd17 with no ovulation as of yet but I'm staying optimistic, my last cycle was long and came naturally without vitex so I will see if the 800mg daily makes it shorter this time round.

 

[rockstarlove9]

Rockstar, I really don't want to be patronising but I think you need to be a little patient, it takes a while for something like Vitex to work because it's not a drug its a herb, therefore it's naturally trying to correct a problem (if it can) your body is probably desperately trying to ovulate but it's probably still growing your follicles. At least give it a few weeks, if you start pumping it will all sorts of things then you might find it just makes things worse.

I am hoping it does something for me, I'm cd17 with no ovulation as of yet but I'm staying optimistic, my last cycle was long and came naturally without vitex so I will see if the 800mg daily makes it shorter this time round.

you're probably right, patience has never been my strong suit. i guess i'll cut it back and just finish out the bottle and let whatever happens happens. Guess i should stock on tampons and keep some handy just incase and let my body figure itself out. It just seems like its going to be so hard to do. But i don't want to start obsessing, i mean i already have began to a little bit anyway, and i dont want it to get any worse.

 

[HopefullyOpto]

Yeah I'm very much the same in that in thinking why aren't I ovulating already... Maybe it's not working... Etc
But I have said that if I don't ovulate by the end of the bottle then I am probably not going to continue taking vitex, I have contacted an RE and am hoping that I can visit them shortly for some blood tests and then maybe they can start me on metformin to see if that gets my cycles in some sort of a rhythm, who knows...

 

[rockstarlove9]

Yeah I'm looking into an RE to but I think imma gonna just let my body try and work it's self out until july like the doctor says and if by then nothing happens I'll start pushing for them to give me something to start it. Here's to the end of the vite better. Im gonna continue to take 2000mg just so I can finish the bottle a little quicker. wheb are you seeing an RE?

 

[HopefullyOpto]

No date for the RE as of yet as I have to work out if I can afford it first, I am going without a referal which mean I cannot do it on the nhs, so it's going to be pretty costly. But I think for understanding and peace of mind that it's necessary tbh.

 

[KylasBaby]

Remember vitex can take I think it's 3 months to start working depending on how out of wack your hormones are.

 

[HopefullyOpto]

Hi kyla, yeah I heard it can take a while, and as I'm only taking 800mg a day then I guess it might take a little longer. I'm feeling a little bit more optimistic about it now that my acne is starting to die down a little (thank god!) I have ordered another bottle which is 1000mg per tablet but I will only take one daily as I'm too nervous to take more because I don't want the acne to get worse...

 

[KylasBaby]

I'm not sure about the acne. I know mine got worse but then again I got pregnant so I think that was more to blame lol

 

[rockstarlove9]

yeah that's what i was worried about the cost of the RE and as far as the vitex im starting to think maybe i should just leave it alone as well and see if the period ends on it's on but im uncertain about wether or not i want to. The only thing i am worried about it is that if you take a concentrated amount of it at certain times a day and then you all of a sudden stop as it is suggested when you get pg that my body will go through withdrawal and cause an mc. I have already been through one of those and i kind of prefer not to go through it again if it can be avoided i think ill give it til the end of the month and then go see a different provider and get there advice. Im pretty sure 3 months without a period warrants some type of investigative interaction