Vitamin B6 - Lengthen luteal phase or increase progesterone

[Bean66]

It is quite confusing. I do t think that should stop you.

Go to my chart, then sharing, set up. At the bottom select a chart on the right and click add chart. Do this with all the ones you want to add. It should add them to the selected chart list on the left. The select save settings just above the published charts bit.

 

[254]

GL 254! Sounds like progesterone suppositories might be exactly what you need, and certainly something to try before Clomid. Has dh had a SA yet?

Yup, and all apparently fine... we also have an almost 2 year old daughter, and have conceived 3 times in total (had a missed miscarriage at 12 weeks 3 years ago) so fingers crossed all's ok on that front...! We conceived relatively easily with our twins (MMC) - 6 months or so of ntnp whilst charting and then 1 of 'trying really hard'! - and daughter - 4 cycles - but are now 17 months into trying this time round...

Afm, just got confirmation that I o'ed on cd 15, super early for me. Yay b6! Hoping long a nice 12-14 day LP with little or no spotting (please be a bfp!!!).

It's nice to ovulate early, isn't it? I had a random CD12 ovulation 2 cycles ago which was quite a shock...! Then CD21 last cycle

I'm so sorry to hear about your early MC, I really hope that the fertility expert can offer you some solutions. Has the B100 helped your luetal phase at all? I went out today and bought some to try next cycle anyway.

I don't think it's helped me... my LP has increased from 5/6 days to 8 in just over a year but I think that is probably just natural gradual change as hormones settle down after my previous pregnancy and breastfeeding decreases. But I do think I'm in the minority as it does seem to help many people, so don't let my experiences worry you... it could well help you, like it does many!

I don't know how everyone else feels, but each month I feel like I need to try something new...just in case. Next cycle I'll be using the CBFM, OPKs, BBT, EPO, B100 complex and decaf green tea (and will be taking out a second mortgage to pay for it all!) Unfortunately, I think that's me ran out of things to add!

I know what you mean... I found myself doing that for the first year that we were ttc as I wanted to feel like I was doing something and had some control over an out-of-control situation... 2 months ago, though, I decided to start my 'three month plan' and have been keeping things relatively consistent since the start of November. I've added vitamin C this cycle (3rd of the 3) after reading several bits of research saying it can help luteal phase defect, but on the whole have been taking the same approach for the last 3 cycles... combined with organic food, natural iron supplements etc.

254, thanks again for all of your help and explanations and I wish you all the best of luck at your appointment in Feb.

You're very welcome , and thanks for the good luck. I'm nervous as I'm an 'oddity' in that I already have a child but don't seem to be able to get/stay pregnant again, so I'm not sure what they're going to make of me...! I'm also not going to go in and just accept the 'one size fits all' approach that is often presented on the NHS... I want them to treat me as an individual and not just dish out a diagnosis of 'unexplained infertility' - I want to find out exactly what is stopping us getting pregnant so it can be helped!

 

[Happenstance]

It is quite confusing. I do t think that should stop you.

Go to my chart, then sharing, set up. At the bottom select a chart on the right and click add chart. Do this with all the ones you want to add. It should add them to the selected chart list on the left. The select save settings just above the published charts bit.

Ahhh, got it now. I can only add two charts with a basic membership but I've only been BBT for two months so that's okay! I was using countdowntopregnancy.com to chart my cycles before that.

Last month was particularly bad on the spotting front. Started at 3dpo! How long have you been BBT charting for? Have you noticed differences in your cycles since taking B-vits?

 

[DaisyQ]

Not sure if that question is just for Bean, but I'll pipe in. Since I started charting and taking B6, my ovulation date keeps moving up, and my overall cycle length is about the same, so I'm having a shorter follicular phase and a longer luteal phase. Just by a day or two.

254, have you ever had an HSG? I think it will be good for you to get the full work up to see what is going on. I can't wait to get all the results from my testing so I'll know what's what.

 

[Bean66]

254 - if you can get pregnant it does sound like progesterone might be your problem. Sorry if you've already said this but when are you seeing a doctor? If not for a while you could try pro-gest emerita progesterone cream. It has USP so does contain progesterone your body can use. I used in in Nov and it extended my LP by 3 days. Or even vitex to help balance your hormones post MMC and breastfeeding. I am also have acupuncture and I have seen a lot of success for other ladies having acupuncture.

Happystance - your charts are a little like mine. No big temp shift and temps staying relatively low. Edit - -sorry just remembered you had bloods and waiting for scan.

My cycles are changing BUT I am on Vitex (Agnus Castus), B100 and having acupuncture so I can't be certain which is having the effect. Or the combination? My O day has moved up 1 day each cycle.

 

[Bean66]

Hi there

I've been lurking for a few months and decided to take the plunge and actually post.

Me and DH have just started trying this month and I'm 3-4 days into the TWW. Its difficult to tell when I ovulated since I don't temp(at present) and my cycle was really out of sorts this month! I know that CD1 is meant to be the first day of proper flow but that could be 23, 24 or 25th december. I got a positive OPK on 6/1/12 but not sure what cycle day that was.

In previous months I've always got the +ve OPK on CD12 but this time it seemed to be later than I was expecting! I've been keeping track of my cycles since september and they started off at 26 days down to 24 and then last month 21. I generally have 3-4 days of spotting before AF.

As we were starting to try this month I've been taking B50 complex and sanatogen prenatal vits from CD1.

Do you think the vit B50 has pushed ovulation back? I've had period pain types of cramps since 2-3 days before my +ve OPK - do you think this could be the B50? When on earth should I start testing - although I think due to my short cycles the appearance of AF will tell me before any HPT would!

I just wanted to say hi and wish you all lots of baby dust.

L x

Hi Loribelle, Sorry you were missed. B6 helps to regulate hormones so as you were Oing relatively early it is possible it delayed O slightly but even if cd was the 23rd then 06/01 would be cd14 ( I think) which is perfectly normal. You'll have a better idea when you know how long your LP is. Some spotting is normal and not a problem if it starts after 10dpo. For this cycle I'd decide on which day was cd1 so you so work in numbers rather than dates. Even if you know you might be off by a bit. Presume you O'd the day after + OPK so 08/01 would be 1dpo.

Give the B complex time to work and if you have no charge with B50 up to B100.

Does that make sense?

Again sorry for the late reply. We didn't mean to miss you.

 

[Bean66]

In terms of testing - I'd wait until AF is later or to at least 12dpo. Scrutinising lines is no fun, and can be very stressful. I say the longer you can wait the better.

Ok I have I feeling I did write a reply, I remember writing all this. I must never have posted it.

 

[254]

254 - if you can get pregnant it does sound like progesterone might be your problem.

I reckon you're right... my gut instincts is that progesterone could be the issue... on the cycle I had it tested it come out low considering I had ovulated.... not very very low, but not great.

Sorry if you've already said this but when are you seeing a doctor? If not for a while you could try pro-gest emerita progesterone cream. It has USP so does contain progesterone your body can use. I used in in Nov and it extended my LP by 3 days. Or even vitex to help balance your hormones post MMC and breastfeeding. I am also have acupuncture and I have seen a lot of success for other ladies having acupuncture.

I've also heard great things about acupuncture and will definitely give it a go before any sort of 'major' fertility treatment! I've been taking vitex for over a year and am also on quite a concoction of other things.

That's fab that progesterone cream helped extend your LP by so much! I had a "oh my goodness.... seriously??!!" experience last cycle when I started using the emerita cream at 1dpo... had researched loads and after 16 months of ttc decided to give progesterone cream a try and that seemed the 'best' brand. I was pretty excited to skipped a spot test and rubbed it in all over my neck and chest... within a minute my skin was feeling really itchy and sore. It was then that I read the ingredients and realised it has almond oil in it, and I have a nut allergy. Whoops!!! I couldn't believe it! I'd researched it so carefully but it hadn't crossed my mind to check for nuts in it.

So I ordered another brand (source naturals) and gave that a go from 5dpo but it had no effect (my LP was actually slightly shorter last cycle ) but it could be because I didn't start it right after ovulation... giving it a try all LP this cycle.

My cycles are changing BUT I am on Vitex (Agnus Castus), B100 and having acupuncture so I can't be certain which is having the effect. Or the combination? My O day has moved up 1 day each cycle.

That's good that your ovulation day is getting earlier. I'm a big believer in the earlier the better (within reason) for me personally, anyway. I often ovulate late, more so in the past than now (I think agnus castus is the thing that's helped move my ovulation earlier as the one cycle I stopped it, it jumped late again... late 20s) but the cycle I conceived my daughter in 2009 I ovulated on day FOURTEEN! It was so early for me (early 20s was normal) that we weren't even thinking about 'ttc' and she was conceived on some fun, non-babymaking doodlydoing because it was 'far too early' to 'try'! The other cycles I've conceived have been CD20 (back in 2008 that was very early for me) and CD18.

Right, enough waffling on. I hope you all have a good day!

 

[Happenstance]

Excuse my ignorance, but what is Vitex (Angus Cactus) for?

 

[Bean66]

It's a herb which helps with hormone regulation. It's work's on the pituritary. I take it because my hormones are out of whack post BCP. It does seem to help and I've only been taking it for 2 months.

 

[Happenstance]

Thanks! I'll put that on my 'may add to future cycles' list! Glad you're noticing a difference with it.

I was wondering, have any of you ladies altered your diets since TTC? I was thinking of going on a low-GI diet. It's pretty much just a healthy eating plan and doesn't count calories or anything. But it encourages you to eat more fibre, fruit and veg and to steer away from processed meats etc. I've also decided to stick with organic foods where possible as I've heard the hormones in certain foods can mess with cycles. That was enough to put me off!

Three days now till my scan...roll on Monday!!!

 

[Bean66]

Not particularly. I've tried not to drink too much but that has led to binge drinking. I'll be good unless we're out then I'll drink. Stopped coffee and tea. I'd like to cut out refined sugar but I'm crap. We've doing vegi Janurary but still eating fish.

Good luck with scan.

 

[254]

I've made some diet-related changes for the last 3 cycles. I've always eaten pretty well, to be honest, but after this long trying we decided it was worth trying to get our diet absolutely tip top to see if anything changed. I'm quite slim so didn't want to lose weight - just wanted to make sure pretty much everything that was going into my body was good stuff.

I'm vegetarian so have added in a natural iron supplement (spatone - natural iron-enriched spa water which I have with orange juice) plus made a special effort to make sure I eat a decent amount of protein. I've also been eating organic whenever possible (Sainsburys in the UK has a fab collection of organic stuff). Have been having a 'fertility smoothie' most days (e.g. milk, frozen blueberries, banana, maca, wheatgrass, milled flax seeds (a big fertility superfood), greek yoghurt etc) and a homemade muesli for breakfast (e.g. bran flakes, puffed rice, oats, goji berries, sultanas, milled flax seeds, chia seed powder, lineseeds etc). I've been have goji berries (another fertility superfood!) if I fancy a snack.

I've also pretty much stopped drinking alcohol - not that I had much, but I did have a glass of wine or two once a week - and am trying to make sure I drink plenty of water.

At the start of cycle #15 I made those changes, but didn't change anything supplement-wise... and suddenly I ovulated on CD12!! That's incredibly early for me. So I'm a big believer in the power of food/drink. The next cycle was a bit wonky - very long (10 day) period so later ovulation - so we'll see what this one brings...

I've written a bit about our 'three month plan' in my journal if anyone's interested. I got the idea from the book 'Making Babies' and have tweaked it to suit me. Dietary, lifestyle and supplement changes can take a good 3 months to kick in, hence why I'm approaching it as three months to get my body into tip top babymaking shape, rather than 'three months in which to conceive'. Hopefully once we're in top shape, conception (and staying pregnant) will come soon after. I can dream!

I've actually found it's helped me mentally to take a 'three month' approach, probably because although I'd've (obviously) loved to have conceived within those three months, I can tell myself that if I conceive after three months then my body will be in even better condition to grow a healthy baby.

Good luck all!

 

[hasti2011]

hi friends,
i used to have irregular periods but after taking 4 cycle BCP it was regular 28 days, last cycle i took B50 after o and my lp extended for 5 days, but after that i took it from CD1 and this time it becomes 29 days, the interesting point was that i had always 3 days spotting but this time it was just 2 days which made me very happy, however i add vitamin d also. and, since i have slightly elevated prolactin i knew we may not get BFP util fix it, now i have to repeat prolactin level and then may be take pills to be ready for a beautiful BFP.
to all wonderful future moms

 

[Bean66]

Hi hasti - glad bcomplex is working for you.

254 - they sound like some good healthy ideas. I bought the stuff to make fertility granola but never did it. Maybe I will tonight.

Happenstance - hope scan goes well.

 

[Happenstance]

Hi hasti - glad bcomplex is working for you.

254 - they sound like some good healthy ideas. I bought the stuff to make fertility granola but never did it. Maybe I will tonight.

Happenstance - hope scan goes well.

Thanks for remembering! I'll update you later if I find out anything. Oh, and I've started on B100 so fingers crossed!

 

[DaisyQ]

How did the scan go happenstance?

Had my progesterone checked today - it's 17, and I'm told anything over 9 is good. So yay!

 

[254]

Had my progesterone checked today - it's 17, and I'm told anything over 9 is good. So yay!

17 (ng/ml I assume?) is fantastic! You've got no issues there, from the sound of it...

Mine was 6ng/ml (19 nMol/L) when I had it tested... not so great...!!

 

[DaisyQ]

Yes - ng/mL. I think... she didn't specify units, but I think that's how it's measured here? Thanks for the feedback 254!

6 sounds low... do they think you are actually ovulating?

 

[Happenstance]

How did the scan go happenstance?

Thanks for thinking of me DaisyQ!

The scan was a disaster. My doctor sent me for a transvaginal scan and when I got there it turns out they were giving me a full bladder scan. They said the consultant wanted this test first and then, if needed, they'll put me on a waiting list for the transvaginal scan. I'm gutted. That means even more waiting.

The u/s technician said she had looked around my uterus and ovaries and couldn't see anything jumping out at her but that she'd send the full results to my doctor in the next couple of weeks. I feel like it was such a waste of time.

Plus, I'd been taking Norethisterone tablets that my doctor had prescribed to me to delay my period for the scan - which was totally unnecessary and has also messed with my cycles now. I think I should start a 'withdrawal bleed' in the next couple of days (still spotting though!) and I have no idea whether that counts as cd 1 or not. So, I'm not very impressed by the whole thing!!!

Glad your progesterone levels are positive - are they looking into any other reason for your spotting? Or are you waiting to see if the B100 makes any difference?

On a completely separate note, have any of your DH gone through a SA? I got my DH's results but I'm not very sure about what they mean and thought there might be someone who could help shed some light?

How is everyone else doing?

Take care and sending you all