Soya Isoflavones for BFPs - buddies and success stories

[minkysouth1]

Hi,

I'm 41 and trying to conceive child number 4. I have always found ttc to be far from straightforward and had to try for 12 months for 2 of my 3 children, but I used soya isoflavones very successfully with my second child DD1 (8/11). I've used it again this cycle to see if it does the same.

The facts written below come from previous soya posts, but there doesn't appear to be an active SI group at the moment, so I thought I'd start one.

Soya Isoflavones are a natural alternative to Clomid.

Soya Isoflavones are commonly referred to as SI.

Soya Isoflavones are not for everyone, in fact if you have a regular cycle you should not try SI.

If you have been on Clomid (for example 50mg) you should double the dosage for SI (You'd be taking 100mg)

The maximum dose of Soya Isoflavones you can take per day is 200mg.

You only take Soya Isoflavones for a maximum of 5 days early into your cycle. This might be days 1-5, 2-6, 3-7 etc. The latest you may start taking Soya Isoflavones is CD5. Taking it longer than 5 days will have negative effects on your Fertility.

*Always* consult your doctor before taking any new medications.

When to take SI?

You take Soy Isoflavones, like Clomid, on either CD 1-5 , 2-6, 3-7 , 4-8 or 5-9.
If you take soy Isoflavones during the later time bracket, for example CD5-9, you shall strengthen the egg that has already started growing producing a healthier egg. The earlier in your cycle you take It, the higher your chance of releasing multiple eggs but these eggs will not be as mature as the eggs grown from taking Soya later.
A lot of women will choose the middle cycle (3 -7) allowing time for a strong and healthy egg to develop without erasing the chance of a second egg being developed and released.


Which days are better?

1-5 = you produce more eggs, and ovulate sooner, with a stronger ovulation.

2-6 = you produce more eggs that usual, but not as many as taking it 1-5. Eggs may be more mature, and ovulation will be slightly more strong than 1-5.

3-7 = The best of both worlds, a few more eggs, and all eggs will be strong & mature, and ovulation will be alot stronger than 1-5.

4-8 = No more eggs will be produced, but the ones already there, will be matured alot more than usual, and ovulation will be very strong. Ovulation may only be brought forward a teeny bit.

5-9 = You'll have one very mature strong egg, from the ones you already produced on your own. Ovulation will either happen when it usually does, or a few days later, but your egg will be of great quality.

Whilst there hasn't been any research regarding dosage and whether to keep the dosage consistent (just like you would Clomid), or to increase the dosage daily on this particular thread, women are having more luck with increasing dosages. This is a rather small study, with only minimal amount of data. Obviously any data collected regarding Soya Isoflavones dosages do not take things like Male Factor Infertility into consideration.

Soya helps you Ovulate, it stimulates your ovaries. Therefore if you are struggling with Male Factor Infertility the success rates may well be lower.

Please see your Fertility Specialist and or Doctor for more information.

Anybody interested, I'd love some buddies.

 

[minkysouth1]

My stats!

Age: 41

TTC journey: 1st month of TTC this time around ! I have 1 DS (12/08) and 2 DDs (8/11 & 10/14). Wanted to take SI to boost my ovulation as it worked for me before

Dosage: CD3: 80 mg, CD4-5: 120 mg, CD 6-7: 160 mg

Progress: Still waiting. My cycles are usually 26 days and I'm on CD 17. I only started testing for ovulation 3 days ago and no sign, but I think I might have ovulated around CD12. I had CM around then. Fingers crossed!

 

[LoraLoo]

Im not ttc but i took it while ttc my youngest. I fell pregnant on both the 1st and 2nd cycles but mc. Fell pregnant on the third with twins but lost one. Have a beautiful 17 month old from that though.
Best of luck!

 

[ashley2pink]

You said not to take it on a regular cycle but are yours?
I am wondering if this will help me or not. Mine are not regular but I do know I am ovulating. Or at least I was when I had my 7dpo progesterone. It was 19.5. My cycle day 4 estradiol was 44. My cycles are anywhere from 29-39 days. Occasionally they can go a little longer than 39 days though. I wonder if there is no harm in trying the SI? I just turned 34 btw. My first 3 dd's were super quick to conceive and this one am on cycle 7 and am 7dpo atm but not feeling very hopeful.

 

[LoraLoo]

I had irregular cycles too but the soy made me consistently ovulate on cd17

 

[minkysouth1]

The info I posted is from an inactive soya thread, ashley2pink. I personally chose to take it when ttc baby 2 because I had a short luteal phase and it is known to bring ovulation forward. I was never very irregular, but I'd gone nearly 12 months without falling pregnant apart from 2 chemical pregnancies (faint positives that turned to negatives a few days afrer my period was due). It worked last time for me on the second cycle. I think it would be worth researching more of the old soy threads before trying it. Soy works for some people, but not everyone. I'm hoping it'll work for me for the second time! X

 

[minkysouth1]

LoraLoo - I'm very sorry to hear about your losses. Words aren't really sufficient. I'm glad that soy helped you and thanks for your post. It is really helpful for people to get advice from others who have used soy. X

 

[happycupcake]

Hi,

I have done a lot of research on soy because we have had many chemicals and have been trying since August '16, which I know isn't long in comparison to others, but I also know we have a few issues too with a thin lining and I have many symptoms of hormonal imbalances.
I do have a regular cycle but I ovulate on the earlier side of things, one cycle as early as CD9. I read that although for the most part general advice is for those ovulating regularly they shouldn't use soy, I also read if you want to increase chances of a healthier, more mature egg, then it's best to stick to the lowest dose possible. I read of many experiences using it when ovulating regularly but wanting the same as me, using it as per the bottle instructions and it working for them so I decided to take a risk and try it this cycle on a low dose.

I know the advice is to take double the dose of Clomid, so starting at 100mg, but I decided to just follow the bottle instead, sticking to a lower dose to try to improve egg quality but hopefully avoid messing up my cycle.
I read quite a few women who took it when regularly ovulating it didn't actually change their ovulation pattern, and for those it did the majority of them said they ovulated a few days later. Only a couple of people I read it messed up their cycle completely, but this included ovulating regularly and with irregular cycles. It seems quite mixed!
Anyway I took my chances and I'm currently waiting on ovulation. Most average ovulation day for me is CD11-CD12, but it can vary between CD9-CD14. At the moment my chart looks almost identical to my cycle in July when I ovulated CD14, but I had OPKs so close to positive CD9, a huge temp dip yesterday and an equal increase today, so I don't know if I missed my surge and ovulated yesterday. It won't matter if that has happened as we have timed BD pretty good I think, every other day since CD5.
So, just have to hope I didn't mess things up and I actually do ovulate. If I did then obviously I shall just have to wait it out and not use it next time, but hopefully things are good.
Also been drinking pomegranate juice and drinking fertility tea this cycle. Pomegranate juice some say is a natural contraceptive but the majority of women drink it to help thicken their lining, and one blog I read of someone with a thin lining drank it and her lining thickened to 9mm despite nothing else helping before, so I'm hoping this will also help things along.

Good luck to everyone

I guess I should add:

Age: 34 (35 next month)
Cycle: 22nd
Soy: CD3-CD7, 50mg, 50mg, 75mg, 75mg, 100mg

Currently CD12, close to positive OPK CD9, dip yesterday and increase today, so unsure if I ovulated yesterday or if it hasn't happened yet.
Some positive signs: much more ewcm, starting earlier than usual. Far fewer headaches, not as dry down there, pretty strong ovulation pains.

Editing to add here that I got a bfp at 11dpo, first cycle using soy. Also drank the crap out of pomegranate juice, so this may have also helped (I drank it up to a day or so before ovulation because I have a thin lining). Hopefully this one will stick

 

[ashley2pink]

I may have to try it myself. I hope this works for you cupcake! Keep us updated.

 

[happycupcake]

I have positive OPK so looks hopeful it hasn't messed up my cycle

 

[happycupcake]

Just thought I would update:
Positive OPKs yesterday. Temp increase today so thought this was ovulation as my temps don't usually increase this much if I haven't ovulated. But, I have even darker positive OPKs today and even stronger ovulation pains today too, so I don't know what to think! I know it can increase the chances of releasing more than one egg, does this sound as if this is happening?
I would usually see positive OPKs then temp increase but negative OPKs by then

 

[minkysouth1]

Hi everyone. I'm sorry I haven't been online much, but I'm trying to relax and not obsess about the whole process as much as possible. I'm due in two days and I've been getting quite sicky hunger pangs in the morning the last couple of days and my breasts are feeling a little swollen. I daren't test yet, but could it be? I wonder if I'm deluding myself. I'm not even sure I ovulated, but if I did, I've established it must have been at least 11/12 days ago.....

 

[minkysouth1]

Happycupcake - your ovulation signs look good, so I've got everything crossed for you. I looked at your journal and noticed that you talk about having had several early losses. I had two very early ones before opting for soy with my 2nd child and it seemed to make the difference, so good luck! I noticed in your journal that you're studying Psychology with Open University, which is exactly the same thing I did! Also, I notice that you've got Aspie kids and my eldest (aged 9) is currently in the process of being assessed as he has ASD traits. Sending love xxx

 

[minkysouth1]

ashley2pink - did you try Soy in the end?? x

 

[happycupcake]

Happycupcake - your ovulation signs look good, so I've got everything crossed for you. I looked at your journal and noticed that you talk about having had several early losses. I had two very early ones before opting for soy with my 2nd child and it seemed to make the difference, so good luck! I noticed in your journal that you're studying Psychology with Open University, which is exactly the same thing I did! Also, I notice that you've got Aspie kids and my eldest (aged 9) is currently in the process of being assessed as he has ASD traits. Sending love xxx

How about that, seems we have much in common!
Yeah we have had quite a few, but I had a pelvic scan which showed my lining was thin and I had had a polyp also, which removed itself, but that wouldn't have helped when it was there.
I have been using various things to help thicken lining like pomegranate juice up to ovulation, and extra vitamin E and fertility tea, and had also hoped that if soy increased oestrogen this would help too.
I ovulated right on time so it didn't adversely affect my cycle, though there were differences between this and my previous cycles so despite my tiny dose I'm hoping it's helped. If it doesn't happen for us this cycle then I may slightly increase the dose next time.

I started off on a high with psychology, but then all this happened and I couldn't devote myself to both, it was too stressful. When I signed up for it I thought we would have been successful by this point, so I deferred for the time being. Something had to give and I can't concentrate on both, and with all the children at home too.

All three of my bio children have autism to various degrees. Eldest is like me - ASD with Asperger's traits. So high functioning. DS2 is more on the spectrum, but not as much as DD. It's challenging but they're amazing to me, incredibly clever in their own ways, I feel they're all good examples of how wide the spectrum is. I find many professionals get caught up in textbook examples but each child is an individual, and won't present in a textbook manner all the time.
Where is your eldest in the assessment process? Are you in the UK too?

Lots of love and light to you too, and lots of luck for this cycle. I hope you get your positive soon! It's always daunting the thought of testing x x x

 

[ashley2pink]

ashley2pink - did you try Soy in the end?? x

I am going to this cycle! I will start it today since today is day 4 of my cycle. I figure may as well. I went to a fertility specialist a week ago and he wanted to prescribe me femara and do a monitored cycle. But it would have cost around $700. So I am going to try the SI and Black Cohosh and just pray it works.

 

[happycupcake]

Whoa that's expensive! Good luck with the soy, if you Google it you will find many success stories

 

[happycupcake]

Just a quick update: I have positive ICs today, five of them with fmu. I'm 11dpo. Excited but trying to keep excitement under control as this has resulted in so many chemicals I don't want to assume anything at the moment. I marked it down on my chart for records, rather than assuming all will be fine.

Ok, I retested with smu and had another positive IC. Tested a third time (third time lucky and all) this afternoon and got more positive ICs and a positive FRER.
I also drank pomegranate juice this cycle up to ovulation or up to a day or so before, so I think both this and the soy has helped as we haven't had a properly clear FRER since ttc this time

 

[ashley2pink]

Total BFP's Cupcake! I saw your post just now in the March Testers thread. Congrats!!

 

[ashley2pink]

What brand of SI did you use cupcake?