Help?! Taking vitex while pregnant

[Aspe]

Hi ladies,

I just found out I am pregnant. I have been taking vitex since November. I read online that people who stopped vitex had miscarriages. Of course, I want to avoid this. What is your opinions on vitex while pregnant? I now have to start materna pills for my pregnancy. Are they safe to take together?

 

[Louppey]

Well firstly I hope what you read on the internet was wrong, seeing as I stopped taking vitex when I got my bfp last week.

Secondly, it's not recommended to take vitex itself when you're pregnant.

So really, you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. You just need to make a decision and roll with it.

 

[Aspe]

You stopped taking it the day you found out?
Were you taking it due to irregular cycles? I was.

I am not sure what to do

 

[Louppey]

Yep the second I got my faint bfp I stopped taking it.

I took it for spotting prior to AF, and i've been taking it for 3 months prior. There's a LOT of conflicting information on the internet but personally I wanted to stop taking it. Of course, i'm naturally worried that could be the wrong choice however I have read a few things about it causing problems with LO and I do not want to risk that.

I've been drinking a tonne of orange juice, as i've heard vit c helps increase progesterone and also eating bananas as they apparently do the same. Leafy green veg helps too. Basically i'm hoping if I switch to a better diet then that will help my body rectify itself. I found this website quite helpful in figuring out ways to naturally increase progesterone (as I believe a lack of this is why I was spotting):

https://sites.google.com/site/misca...sterone-research/how-to-increase-progesterone

At the end of the day, if you're going to mc, then you're going to mc. Nothing you do or don't do will change that. It's all in the lap of the gods now, as they say.

 

[Smiler82]

I never heard that about vitex causing miscarriage if you stop taking it. I used to take it and DH used to run a health store, the advice I got was that really you're meant to take it from AF to OV then stop. It's supposed to help balance your hormones and help ovulation and regulate your cycle, it hasn't got, as far as I know, any benefits for people who are actually pregnant. So if I were you I'd stop taking it. I agree totally with Louppey, that sadly if you are going to miscarry then you're going to. Not because of the vitex, but just because sadly it does happen for reasons totally beyond anyone's control xxx

 

[Aspe]

I have read that you should slowly wean yourself off by 12 weeks. My worry is if I stop, my progesterone will drop dramatically, and therefore, cause a miscarriage.

 

[Louppey]

I suppose it's what your progesterone was like before. I mean I think mine was somewhat low but not awful as I only spotted for 3 days prior to AF but was otherwise pretty regular.

 

[Jamandspoon]

I have read that you should slowly wean yourself off by 12 weeks. My worry is if I stop, my progesterone will drop dramatically, and therefore, cause a miscarriage.

I would speak to your doctor about this, if you have low progesterone your dr can give you progesterone supplements/cream to increase progesterone. However most of what I read when ttc about Vitex is that you should not take it whilst pregnant. I have been on progesterone since getting my BFP, it's not something which is going to harm you or bubs to take and is fine to take whilst pregnant. We're you taking it due to low progesterone in the first place?

 

[MOMRETTIRC]

Hey ladies. I just saw this thread, and even though I'm in 2nd trimester, thought I'd pop in. I got my BFP after my first cycle on vitex (for short luteal phase and spotting before AF) and was also taking B complex. When I got my BFP, I kept taking vitex daily for a few days, then went to every other day for about a week, then every 3rd day, then stopped. I was totally off by 8 weeks. I made sure to take the B complex religiously though. I don't know if this was the correct way to do it, as there is so much conflicting info out there, but it worked for me, and I'm 26 weeks now with a bouncing little fellah in there! Congrats on the BFPs ladies!

 

[Dtswife]

I took vitex for 9-10 months prior to my BFP. I continued taking it at full dosage for 2 weeks, then gradually cut back. I was off it by 7 weeks. There is no evidence it harms the baby, and some evidence that if it's been supporting your hormone balance pre-pregnancy, that it may continue to do so after pregnancy and cold turkey is not a good idea. I used www.natural-fertility-info.com for most of my research starting points while TTC.
End of the day, your baby, your body, you have to do what you feel is right. For me, that was to keep using it.

 

[Aspe]

Dtswife.. Why were you taking vitex? Irregular cycles?

Mom.. Why b complex?

Jama.. My doctor said she could nit offer any advice because she never heard of vitex. I was taking it in hopes of help me cycle. In other words, I was very irregular.

 

[Dtswife]

Dtswife.. Why were you taking vitex? Irregular cycles?

Mom.. Why b complex?

Jama.. My doctor said she could nit offer any advice because she never heard of vitex. I was taking it in hopes of help me cycle. In other words, I was very irregular.

Yep. Horrendously irregular cycles. I ended up using vitex and natural progesterone cream to regulate. Worked EXTREMELY well, and I am very happy with the outcome!

 

[bubbles82]

I think it's a personal choice really, whatever you think is best. I read a lot to try and find out what the best thing to do was and just found very conflicting info and arguments for and against stopping or continuing after BFP.

I took vitex for 3 months due to irregular cycles after BCP. When I got my first BFP I didn't want to suddenly stop taking it, so I carried on, and unfortunately had a miscarriage at 5 weeks. I got a BFP again a few weeks later with no AF in between, and this time I stopped taking the vitex straight away. I just had a scan at 9 weeks and saw baby doing well.

I don't think the vitex was responsible for my miscarriage, just saying what my experience was. It says on the pack I used that they are not to be used if pregnant which is why I decided to stop altogether the second time. I did consider weaning myself off them gradually, but decided they take so long to get into your system and have any effect (recommended 3 months to see full effects), that they probably take just as long to completely wear off, so I think it's fine to just stop them.

 

[MOMRETTIRC]

B vitamins are supposed to help lengthen luteal phase.. not sure the mechanism of action, but my LP was only 7-10 days with spotting starting 2 days before that. The b vitamins (B6, if I recall) is supposed to increase that. I was taking b complex because it is better to take b vitamins in a complex instead of singly. Also, B6 helps prevent morning sickness, and when I tried to reduce after getting pregnant, I could notice I was sicker when I didn't have my B! With the Vitex and the B vitamins, I got my first real Positive OPK and had strong ovulation the cycle I got pregnant (though I didn't ovulate until day 35!)

 

[Aspe]

Mom and dtswife.. How much vitex were you taking a day? Also, were you taking your pregnancy pill the same time? I have got to start centrum materna, but was wondering what you ladies done.

 

[MOMRETTIRC]

I was taking 1000 mg in a liquicapsule once per day. I had been taking prenatal vitamins for about 6 months before TTC. Its actually good to take them before so that you can make sure you have plenty of folate in your body to avoid neural tube defects. Anytime you start taking them is good though!

 

[Aspe]

I think mine is liquid gels as well. The brand name is thompsons. They are 1000 each. You said you were completely off vitex by 8 weeks, right? So how far along were you when you found out? I am only about 3 weeks.

So I should go ahead and start prenatal pills, even though I never had my bloodwork results appointment yet (which is testing CBC, iron, etc)?

 

[MOMRETTIRC]

I was 10dpo when I got my BFP, so about 3-4 weeks, I suppose. If by prenatal pills, you mean prenatal vitamins, then yes, I would start. The neural tube forms really early in pregnancy, so you want to make sure you are getting enough folate (which is in prenatal vitamins). They are definately not going to hurt anything. I didn't get any labs done until 8 weeks. If you have low hemoglobin when you get them done, they will want you to supplement with iron, which is in prenatals anyways. Like I said, I started taking them 6 months before TTC (so about a year before getting pregnant). My iron was great at my first labs, and is still good, though it has decreased since getting pregnant. I still take the vitamins, and will continue to do so after baby is born, while breastfeeding.

 

[Dtswife]

I have been taking prenatal vitamins for a long time as my multi vitamin. They have high levels of folic acid, which you need BEFORE you get pregnant to protect the baby from neural tube defects.
I was taking 1200 mg of vitex capsules when I got pregnant. I cut down to 1000, then 800, then none.

 

[phrumkidost]

I took vitex for a year while I was ttc (irregular cycles, often anovulatory). The last couple of months, I stopped it post-O and then added progesterone cream post-O. I am still taking the progesterone cream, as I had been told not taking it could cause a miscarriage. I suppose it's the same sort of idea -- if there is something in the vitex that helped your hormones conceive than your body may rely on it to carry the baby. But I also agree I've heard the particular hormone in this case is progesterone. I would say have your progesterone tested and see? You could always do just a progesterone supplement (cream or suppository) if need be.