Vitamin B6 - Lengthen luteal phase or increase progesterone

[lisaf]

yeah, I understand the limitations, I just feel a little guilty that I didn't have to lose weight first and other girls do Of course I had to pay, so I guess thats the trade-off?

The HSG can help clear blockages or dilate tubes and make it easier for the egg to travel down... the effect can last for 3 months. If you have a short LP that could help the egg implant before the corpus luteum fails I guess?

 

[ebony2010]

yeah, I understand the limitations, I just feel a little guilty that I didn't have to lose weight first and other girls do Of course I had to pay, so I guess thats the trade-off?

The HSG can help clear blockages or dilate tubes and make it easier for the egg to travel down... the effect can last for 3 months. If you have a short LP that could help the egg implant before the corpus luteum fails I guess?

Don't feel guilty. If I went private and paid for my treatment I'd probably not have to lose weight. I sometimes feel bad for women in the US paying for treatment when we get it here for free... I know you wait longer when you don't pay but you get there in the end.

Yeah I'd heard that about a HSG.... x

 

[besthope]

Thanks ebony and lyns...cp really do suck!! I am not sure why 3 out of 4 months would end in cp!! I have an appointment at the end of the month for a physical with my doctor...I'll talk to her then. I actually called yesterday to try to get in to start some tests..but of course she is away this week on confrence!!! I just find it odd...it has been a year now ttc for this little one...with my other 3 kids never took more than 3 months! I swear it was the mirena that I had a after my last one!

What does the angus cactus do...I wonder if it is something I should look into!

I tried agnus castus too.. its also meant to help with progesterone levels. I had 7dpo blood tests every cycle and the B-vits, agnus castus, chinese herbs, and acupuncture didn't have enough of an effect on my progesterone.
I had 2 suspected chemical pregnancies (could never get in for a blood test before AF came... faint lines on cheap pregnancy tests that never gave a hint of a line at other times).
For me, I had to take clomid to make my progesterone go high enough to sustain a pregnancy. I had to see an FS since my GYN wasn't helping.

I didn't have kids before having my mirena put in so I don't know if it was a pre-existing problem. I know I never spotted before AF before I had mirena. I have found a handful of women who seem to have low progesterone after having mirena removed (I have bumped into maybe 5 across the internet... not significant or anything, and probably the same % of the population that has low progesterone issues anyway, you know? They can develop out of nowhere for many women who didn't have issues before).

So sorry for your cps! Low progesterone can definitely cause them (not the only cause, but if you have low P then it can make them happen).
And of course low progesterone will also cause short LPs and spotting.
Here if you want any advice/support!

@Lisaf,
I just read the above text. I also suffer from spotting; in fact, i am spotting since oct 2010, and as i had written in some of my earlier posts i have been taking b6 on my own .. got any idea if this helps? i really dont know why my GP has not yet given me any medication for low progesterone, though getting low P results twice ...

i have also tried agnus castus for a month but i think this is not gonna help because 1 month duration is far too less for it to have any significant effect on my menstrual cycle ... but i had no choice other than to stop agnus for my gp was to put me on metformin ... for, along with this low progesterone my gp has told me that i suffer from pcos ...

i am getting quite desperate for a baby now but due to this daily spotting, we are just keeping off !!!! any insights?

 

[lisaf]

@Lisaf,
I just read the above text. I also suffer from spotting; in fact, i am spotting since oct 2010, and as i had written in some of my earlier posts i have been taking b6 on my own .. got any idea if this helps? i really dont know why my GP has not yet given me any medication for low progesterone, though getting low P results twice ...

i have also tried agnus castus for a month but i think this is not gonna help because 1 month duration is far too less for it to have any significant effect on my menstrual cycle ... but i had no choice other than to stop agnus for my gp was to put me on metformin ... for, along with this low progesterone my gp has told me that i suffer from pcos ...

i am getting quite desperate for a baby now but due to this daily spotting, we are just keeping off !!!! any insights?

Most GPs/GYNs don't like to give clomid for treating low progesterone if you're already ovulating. In fact, most GP/GYNs really don't know what to do about low progesterone. Mine admitted that if I had low progesterone, he wouldnt' know what to do and would refer me onwards.. but when mine came back low several times, he was quite sure that it wasn't what was keeping me from getting pregnant I had to go off and find an FS on my own. He came to the same conclusion I did and immediately upped my clomid dose.

What were your progesterone results and what cycle day/dpo day were they taken?
Do you get your period regularly?
You could have PCOS, but clomid is also a treatment for PCOS (well, a treatment when you're trying to get pregnant anyway, lol). Metformin usually only helps if you have insulin resistance associated with PCOS.
There are many ways to diagnose it.. by ultrasound, by hormone levels/ratio at the beginning of a cycle etc. There are things that give you indications of PCOS like long & irregular cycles, heavy & painful periods... but those are not a diagnosis.
Low progesterone isn't exactly associated with PCOS though.

The spotting that is usually indicative of low progesterone is usually for a few days before your period is due. Other spotting throughout your cycle is usually not a progesterone issue.

Happy to answer any questions! I'm not a doctor by an means! This is all just stuff I've learned or understood due to my own issues and my own desperate searches for answers when I was ttc.

 

[besthope]

Most GPs/GYNs don't like to give clomid for treating low progesterone if you're already ovulating. In fact, most GP/GYNs really don't know what to do about low progesterone. Mine admitted that if I had low progesterone, he wouldnt' know what to do and would refer me onwards.. but when mine came back low several times, he was quite sure that it wasn't what was keeping me from getting pregnant I had to go off and find an FS on my own. He came to the same conclusion I did and immediately upped my clomid dose.

What were your progesterone results and what cycle day/dpo day were they taken?
Do you get your period regularly?
You could have PCOS, but clomid is also a treatment for PCOS (well, a treatment when you're trying to get pregnant anyway, lol). Metformin usually only helps if you have insulin resistance associated with PCOS.
There are many ways to diagnose it.. by ultrasound, by hormone levels/ratio at the beginning of a cycle etc. There are things that give you indications of PCOS like long & irregular cycles, heavy & painful periods... but those are not a diagnosis.
Low progesterone isn't exactly associated with PCOS though.

The spotting that is usually indicative of low progesterone is usually for a few days before your period is due. Other spotting throughout your cycle is usually not a progesterone issue.

Happy to answer any questions! I'm not a doctor by an means! This is all just stuff I've learned or understood due to my own issues and my own desperate searches for answers when I was ttc.

@lisaf, Thanks!

i do not know where to start from ... but, yes, u are precise in mentioning that most GPs/GYNs do not like to give Clomid to treat low progesterone ... this is something that i have observed after having discussions with my GP. i am at crossroads now .. do not know what to do .. yes, i have PCOS, but i am not too sure if my body is insulin resistant and hence not too sure if the Metformin is gonna work! however, just trying to be as optimistic as i can be ...

i do not know how can i convince my GP to put me on Clomid .. my internet search ALSO has revealed that Clomid is one God Sent tablet ... and has worked wonderssss for many!!! any idea how to convince her?

my GP is trying to refer me to a specialist but this entire process is taking so much time ... i really feel at the cross roads .. do not know what to do ..

i spot almost daily .. and this has been going on for the past 6 months .. all the scans have revealed everything normal inside except for it has confirmed that i have PCOS .. however, i doubt how a scan can diagnose PCOS for they say that the ovaries in PCOS are of slightly larger size .. but i think every woman will have a diff size of ovary so how can they be so sure about this? ... further, my internet research has revealed that this PCOS thingy is somewhat a new finding ... the docs have given a name to a particular set of symptoms as PCOS some 10 years ago ..

any clues to my problems? i do not know how can i come out of it .. i really want to have a day where i feel completely dry inside and outside downthere ... and then wanna try for a baby!!! ... just to add: i have never been on any contraception, ever in my life so all these menstrual cycle changes can not be attributed either to coming off it / going on it !!! ... further, before oct 2010, my cycles used to be extremely regular .. there has only been one big change in my life and it is the relocation from Asia's warmer climate to the Europe's colder climate !!! have read that climatic changes really create havoc inside .. especially with ladies hormoness !!! ...

sorry for making this a bit boring and long .. but, i can really go on and on ... it has been a long misery!!

 

[lisaf]

@lisaf, Thanks!

i do not know where to start from ... but, yes, u are precise in mentioning that most GPs/GYNs do not like to give Clomid to treat low progesterone ... this is something that i have observed after having discussions with my GP. i am at crossroads now .. do not know what to do .. yes, i have PCOS, but i am not too sure if my body is insulin resistant and hence not too sure if the Metformin is gonna work! however, just trying to be as optimistic as i can be ...

i do not know how can i convince my GP to put me on Clomid .. my internet search ALSO has revealed that Clomid is one God Sent tablet ... and has worked wonderssss for many!!! any idea how to convince her?

my GP is trying to refer me to a specialist but this entire process is taking so much time ... i really feel at the cross roads .. do not know what to do ..

i spot almost daily .. and this has been going on for the past 6 months .. all the scans have revealed everything normal inside except for it has confirmed that i have PCOS .. however, i doubt how a scan can diagnose PCOS for they say that the ovaries in PCOS are of slightly larger size .. but i think every woman will have a diff size of ovary so how can they be so sure about this? ... further, my internet research has revealed that this PCOS thingy is somewhat a new finding ... the docs have given a name to a particular set of symptoms as PCOS some 10 years ago ..

any clues to my problems? i do not know how can i come out of it .. i really want to have a day where i feel completely dry inside and outside downthere ... and then wanna try for a baby!!! ... just to add: i have never been on any contraception, ever in my life so all these menstrual cycle changes can not be attributed either to coming off it / going on it !!! ... further, before oct 2010, my cycles used to be extremely regular .. there has only been one big change in my life and it is the relocation from Asia's warmer climate to the Europe's colder climate !!! have read that climatic changes really create havoc inside .. especially with ladies hormoness !!! ...

sorry for making this a bit boring and long .. but, i can really go on and on ... it has been a long misery!!

PCOS got its name because many women with it had tons of cysts on their ovaries. Usually all small cysts and harmless. Many women without PCOS can have the occasional cyst, but they won't have a bunch of them.
Even if you are cyst-free, you could still have PCOS because it comes in a wide spectrum of symptoms. Usually if there are no cysts but the hormones LH and FSH are out of balance then it could still be PCOS. Having insulin resistance can also be another clue that points to PCOS.

Clomid will really help the best if your issues are not ovulating or weak ovulation. Basically, even if you're already ovulating it can give you more eggs to shoot for or just give you bigger eggs. The bigger the egg, the bigger the corpus luteum after ovulation and therefore the stronger progesterone result. Progesterone is important for sustaining the pregnancy, giving you a good LP to allow for implantation and even preparing the lining for implantation.

If your issue is something else, clomid won't really help. Docs are so reluctant to hand it out like its candy is that it can increase your chance of multiples, there is a risk of overstimulating the ovaries which is quite dangerous, and that long-term use has some concerns for cancer (one reason why they only give you a limited number of cycles to try on clomid - this increase is only linked to more than 12 months of use so they usually cap you at 6 months to be safe).

Spotting throughout your cycle is not really something I'm too familiar with. The only thing I can think of is if you have lots of cramps and discomfort, especially with your period that you could have fibroids or something like that which can cause irregular bleeding (sometimes this can be caught on an HSG but sometimes they need a lap & dye...i'm really not an expert on that though!)

I'm not sure when they tested your progesterone, but if you do have PCOS and don't ovulate regularly, your progesterone results will of course come out low if they just test your progesterone on CD21. The number they look for is the number at 7 days after ovulation.... they test on CD21 because they're assuming you ovulated CD14. If you just ovulated the day or two before or haven't ovulated yet, your number will be low. You don't really have low progesterone unless you have a low number at the 7dpo mark.
For example, My 7dpo blood progesterone level was averaging 19 when 30 is the normal (I converted my US numbers to UK... we measure differently over here).

 

[besthope]

PCOS got its name because many women with it had tons of cysts on their ovaries. Usually all small cysts and harmless. Many women without PCOS can have the occasional cyst, but they won't have a bunch of them.
Even if you are cyst-free, you could still have PCOS because it comes in a wide spectrum of symptoms. Usually if there are no cysts but the hormones LH and FSH are out of balance then it could still be PCOS. Having insulin resistance can also be another clue that points to PCOS.

Clomid will really help the best if your issues are not ovulating or weak ovulation. Basically, even if you're already ovulating it can give you more eggs to shoot for or just give you bigger eggs. The bigger the egg, the bigger the corpus luteum after ovulation and therefore the stronger progesterone result. Progesterone is important for sustaining the pregnancy, giving you a good LP to allow for implantation and even preparing the lining for implantation.

If your issue is something else, clomid won't really help. Docs are so reluctant to hand it out like its candy is that it can increase your chance of multiples, there is a risk of overstimulating the ovaries which is quite dangerous, and that long-term use has some concerns for cancer (one reason why they only give you a limited number of cycles to try on clomid - this increase is only linked to more than 12 months of use so they usually cap you at 6 months to be safe).

Spotting throughout your cycle is not really something I'm too familiar with. The only thing I can think of is if you have lots of cramps and discomfort, especially with your period that you could have fibroids or something like that which can cause irregular bleeding (sometimes this can be caught on an HSG but sometimes they need a lap & dye...i'm really not an expert on that though!)

I'm not sure when they tested your progesterone, but if you do have PCOS and don't ovulate regularly, your progesterone results will of course come out low if they just test your progesterone on CD21. The number they look for is the number at 7 days after ovulation.... they test on CD21 because they're assuming you ovulated CD14. If you just ovulated the day or two before or haven't ovulated yet, your number will be low. You don't really have low progesterone unless you have a low number at the 7dpo mark.
For example, My 7dpo blood progesterone level was averaging 19 when 30 is the normal (I converted my US numbers to UK... we measure differently over here).

by spotting i mean it is brownish discharge and when i wipe slightly deep inside i wud find frsh blood too .. this has been going on for the past 6 mnthss ..

further it is not possible for me to judge as to on which CD was i tested for progesterone - because of this spotting i really do not have any idea when my period wud start .. still we tried to do some maths and found out that it was CD24 (which i think is normal because my cycle length is 34 days) ... also, i do not know what my progesterone levels were for all the records are with GPs ...

anyway .. thanks for the helps .. i am just waitinggg.. waitinggg and waitinggggg .. is there some way out from which i can get betterrr?

 

[Globetrecker]

Just stopping by to say hello and give a quick update. Started taking B100 complex earlier this month since I have a LP of about 9 days. Well, I don't know if it's starting to work yet or if it's just a one-off situation, but I'm ovulating a few days earlier than normal. Dr. said to bd every other day until temp rises, even with a short LP just in case. Hubby is happier with that because daily wears him out

Hope all you ladies following this thread are doing well! With all the success I've seen on this thread with B100 or B50 complex, at least one of us is going to have a BFP soon enough!

 

[ljo1984]

hiya i just got my BFP at 10dpo thanks to b6 getting me to 13 dpo for loast few months!! i know you can take it in pregnancy and want to continue for a good few weeks yet but is there a safe dose, im taking 75mg this cycle.

 

[ebony2010]

hiya i just got my BFP at 10dpo thanks to b6 getting me to 13 dpo for loast few months!! i know you can take it in pregnancy and want to continue for a good few weeks yet but is there a safe dose, im taking 75mg this cycle.

Congratulations!!! How much did you take each cycle and what was your lp before? I'd love to hear all the gory details.

I'm not sure what dosage is safe so I'd ask your doctor. Good luck and H&H 9 months. x

 

[besthope]

hiya i just got my BFP at 10dpo thanks to b6 getting me to 13 dpo for loast few months!! i know you can take it in pregnancy and want to continue for a good few weeks yet but is there a safe dose, im taking 75mg this cycle.

congratulations for this newss!!! for how many days did you take b6? and what was your dose?

 

[ljo1984]

Thanks girls! I've been taking it since after my mc in nov before that my lp was 8-11 days. Ive been taking 50mg daily since then with a lp of 13days every month and increased it to 75mg this cycle to try push it to 14 days! I had a look on google and it says no more than 200 so I'm well within it and supposed to help with ms so bonus! X

 

[besthope]

Thanks girls! I've been taking it since after my mc in nov before that my lp was 8-11 days. Ive been taking 50mg daily since then with a lp of 13days every month and increased it to 75mg this cycle to try push it to 14 days! I had a look on google and it says no more than 200 so I'm well within it and supposed to help with ms so bonus! X

dont consider me too interfering, but i just read somewhere on this forum itself that 100mg is the upper limit for this b6 ... u r well within this range, still just as a caution ..

also, just to confirm from you, are u taking this b6 (50mg) continuously for the past 4 months? this is again because i read somewhere on this forum where someone said that taking b6 is not advisable - it makes body deficient with other b's ... so advised to take b complexx ...

 

[ljo1984]

I've never seen that anywhere and I did a bit of research before I started it. I just take the b6 I also take a parental which has a bit of everything else in it! I was taking 75 this cycle but think now I'll drop it to 50 and wean off it over the next few weeks. Xx

 

[ebony2010]

Thanks girls! I've been taking it since after my mc in nov before that my lp was 8-11 days. Ive been taking 50mg daily since then with a lp of 13days every month and increased it to 75mg this cycle to try push it to 14 days! I had a look on google and it says no more than 200 so I'm well within it and supposed to help with ms so bonus! X

dont consider me too interfering, but i just read somewhere on this forum itself that 100mg is the upper limit for this b6 ... u r well within this range, still just as a caution ..

also, just to confirm from you, are u taking this b6 (50mg) continuously for the past 4 months? this is again because i read somewhere on this forum where someone said that taking b6 is not advisable - it makes body deficient with other b's ... so advised to take b complexx ...

Yeah you are right... if you read this thread from the start (if you have a spare week ) it does say that taking b6 alone can cause you to be deficient in the other b's so you have to take it as a complex. x

 

[Globetrecker]

I've read on this thread that B6 alone can cause blurred vision. Best to take it as a complex!

 

[mom23]

Hi girls...just a quick update...I am now on cd6...nothing exciting here! I stopped the bvits on monday once af showed up. I can't believe how much better I feel. I was only on the bvits 2 months....first one was great. Second month I felt terrible...very bloated and constipated...sorry for tmi! As soon as I stopped I felt better and my body feels back to normal.

Who know what my cycle will be like...only time will tell!

Ebony...I am going to check in on you...waiting for your bfp!
Lyns...how are you feeling???

Baby dust to all....

 

[ebony2010]

Hi girls...just a quick update...I am now on cd6...nothing exciting here! I stopped the bvits on monday once af showed up. I can't believe how much better I feel. I was only on the bvits 2 months....first one was great. Second month I felt terrible...very bloated and constipated...sorry for tmi! As soon as I stopped I felt better and my body feels back to normal.

Who know what my cycle will be like...only time will tell!

Ebony...I am going to check in on you...waiting for your bfp!
Lyns...how are you feeling???

Baby dust to all....

Awww I'm glad you are feeling better. It just shows that what suits one person doesn't suit another. I hope you find what works for you soon. Are you trying anything else instead?

Well I've ovulated 2 days early on my other vit b cycle I had a temp dip at 9dpo and this cycle it was 7dpo. I feel like I did last month but only time will tell if I have a sticky bean. x

 

[fallenangel78]

Quick bit of good news and some advice please??

I got my bfp two days ago after 3 months of VitB complex, my cycles were all over the place and my lp naff (8-9 days). Last cycle I got to 15 dpo and was very impressed, not as impressed as I was with my bfp though!

Lisa, if you're around maybe you can help? Am I ok to carry on taking it now I've got a little bean? I'm terrified that if I stop something will happen and I'm sure you carried on taking it? I'm only on 50mg. Any advice gratefully received as I don't see any one for another 4 weeks to ask.

Keep the faith ladies - it's been a miracle for me x

 

[fallenangel78]

ljo - didn't realise you were on VitB as well! Have you decided to carry on taking it? What date's your midwife appointment?