Vitamin B6 - Lengthen luteal phase or increase progesterone

[bubbles81]

Hi everyone!
I've been reading so much info over the last few days that I'm getting mixed up so I'm hoping you can help me
A bit of info - I came off CP nearly 12 months ago and got a bfp on cycle 2 but I sadly had an mc at 9 wks. I'm now on cycle 8 and desperate for a bfp. I have a regular cycle of 28/29 days and have a luteal phase of 14/15 days but ever since mc I spot from about 10 dpo (only noticeable when i wipe or check cp) and after reading some posts I am abit worried. I have been charting for 5 months and use opk so i defo ovulate but I dont feel the O pain that I did before mc.
So i have started taking vitamin B complex 100 this cycle but im not totally sure what they do! Im sure i read that they can increase luteal phase which i dont need but can they also increase progesterone level and is my spotting a sign of low progesterone?? I've also read about soy isoflavones, chaste tree, baby aspirin, grapefruit juice, clomid.....but am overwhelmed with info and feeling abit lost. I'm about ready to try anything but I dont want to mess my cycle up as its quite regular.
Any help/advice would be appreciated xxx

 

[HWPG]

LLPM, how are you? you havent updated for a couple days...
bubbles, sorry! i dont have much info for you - this was my first cycle with B100 complex. i still had a 10/11 day LP. sounds like you dont need clomid (helps stim ov for women who are anovulatory), i think grapefruit juice has to do with CM, the soy... something with estrogen? yikes. yea, i'm not helpful.
if everything else is normal, and you bd every other day with 3 in a row when pos opk, you could get your progesterone checked at 7dpo. i know i ov but i'm having my prog checked because of the short LP. anyone else with insight? i'm curious also!

 

[LLPM]

Hi hwpg, sorry been MIA! This cycle is all over the place for me! I thought I O'd CD26, then after multiple BFN's figured I got my dates wrong then had ewcm on CD39 so guessed I ovulated then instead (2weeks late due to having gastro around normal ov time!) making me now 7dpo, BUT then I had ewcm all day yesterday and a temp rise this morning??! So here I am on CD45 with no clue as to whether I've actually O'd yet or not! Soooo frustrating!

Welcome bubbles! I too don't have much help for you either I'm afraid - I took b100 for 3 months and it made my cycles more regular but it doesn't seem like that's a problem for you! Out of all the things it sounds like maybe it's your progesterone, can you have them checked? That will give you more of an idea of whether it's that - have you seen your GP?

 

[bubbles81]

Thanks for the replies
I think I'll go to my GP next wk and ask her to check my progesterone, hopefully she'll agree. I'm on cd9 now so it will have to be next month anyway, really hoping there's not a problem but I worry more every month. My partner has agreed to have an SA if we don't get a bfp soon. We don't think there's a problem with him as we conceived last year but it will jus rule it out for my GP.
LLPM I hope your cycle sorts itself out soon
Good luck to everyone ttc... It shouldn't be this hard so hope we all get bfp really soon xxx

 

[bubbles81]

hi!
llpm, your daughters are beautiful!
i am doing much better. bad cramps today but took a nice nap after a short work day - i love that! good food, chocolate, hot tub - i'm back on my feet. scheduled a blood draw for 7dpo and an annual exam in september - so here's to fighting!

Will they just be checking your prog level? I don't really know anything about this and was wondering if u could keep me updated to help me understand it! How long will it take for u to get results? x

 

[kiarajade2001]

Bubbles - some women also use Co-enzyme Q10, I've heard it can help with LP probs but not sure how accurate that is or how well it works.

I am having a dilema today. I'm using the Clearblue OPK with the smiley face. Last month when I got my first ever positive, I had the smiley face for 2 days before it went back to negative. I test several times a day because I'm irregular and yesterday morning and afternoon I was negative then got a positive in the evening. I checked again later and it was negative. This morning was negative too. Could I really have only had a surge for a few hours or is it likely to be negative? I am monitoring my temps as well but not sure whether to keep testing with OPK or not

 

[bubbles81]

Hi Kiara
I've not heard of co enzyme q10 so will have to look into it
I use opk's and think there helpful but think they work diff for diff people. I use the clearblue smiley face ones and the cheap strip ones off eBay. The strip ones are prob more helpful tho coz with me a negative opk doesn't show any trace of a second line so when I am startin to get a surge the strip will show a faint line prob in the morning and throught the day if I test it will gradually get darker and norm shows positive by the night. With clearblue it only show positive or neg so it would show negative all day n then a positive at the night do am guessing they not as sensitive! Don't think u need to retest after u get a positive tho coz that's just wasting opk's...as long as you get your positive u should ovulate soon after. Think they say within 12-36 hours but with me I always seem to O on day of positive according to my temps x

 

[kiarajade2001]

Thank you for that, I will keep an eye on my chart, had a small rise today in temp but will see what happens in the bigger picture

 

[PeachBloom]

Hi there!

I'm new here, wanted to say hello as I've been lurking for awhile. I've been off BCP since August of 2010, temping for about a year, and though we've been actively trying for awhile, I'm counting my current cycle as #6. Makes me feel better to have a lower number .

My LP is usually 13 days, with spotting 1 day before AF, which is decent. I'm not too concerned about LPD as my bloods were all normal but want to feel like I can do _something_ to improve my chances, KWIM? So I tried 50mg B complex for the first half of this cycle, until o was confirmed.

Since this is my first cycle trying B vits, I'm not sure all my symptoms are a result of the vitamins, but thought it might help to share. I saw the bright neon pee, increased energy , improved mood, major skin breakout (?), and my temps were more irregular than usual, making it harder to detect o. I also had a hard time finding EWCM and usually have a couple days of it. Not sure if that's due to the B vits or not, but think I might try EPO next cycle.

I'm currently 14 DPO and have AF like cramps, but no spotting yet. FX!

This has been a lucky thread so I'm hoping some of that baby dust rubs off on us all!

 

[HWPG]

Bubbles, you can still have your prog level checked - it's for 7 days after ovulation, not into your cycle. That is what i am having done, because i know my LP is shortish. I just want to make sure that prog is high enough for ovulation (which i'm sure i ovulate) but also for implantation/development. I think they usually say a couple days or a week for results, but i'm kinda pushy when it comes to the medical field, so i will call every day after the blood draw to get my results. It's MY body, ya know?!!
re: opks - one month i had 3 positives in a row (i test every 12 hours with strips). the next month i had 1 positive. and i agree with Bubbles; my LH surge seems to creep up, become positive, then go back down, so the strips are kinda "fun" - it seems to really show you when the LH is coming. I test for two more times after a positive (so, one more day, AM and PM).
Welcome Peach! You'll find lots of good info here. It was my first month on Bcomplex as well - i took it all month though; was i supposed to stop at O? Hm, doh! My ewcm came 2-3 days before my pos opk and wasnt as much as normal either. Hm. I'll guess we'll see what August brings. What is EPO?

 

[PeachBloom]

Hi HWPG. EPO is evening primrose oil, I've heard it's good for EWCM but haven't figured out what the recommended dosage is yet. You don't need to stop B vit at O, but I read in early posts on this thread that B6 does it's work in the folicular phase helping the dominant follicle mature and therefore strengthening the corpus luteum, which is what helps lengthen LP. I chose to stop at O just to be cautious with my first B vit experiment. I think next cycle I'll take the B50 again pre-o and cut the pills in half for 25mg post-o and see what happens.

Kiara, I'm sorry I don't know much about OPKs, but if it were me I'd keep testing until temps confirm O. I think some ladies on here awhile back had trouble w/ B vits seeming to interfere w/ their OPKs... I think there were 2 of them, not sure if that's significant. Also, some seemed to have better luck with different brands depending on the person. AFM, I didn't have much luck trying to catch O so we schedule BD every other day around O time. Haven't had a BFP yet, so that's not exactly a ringing endorsement, but my GYN suggested it as SS for O was getting stressful for me.

 

[kiarajade2001]

Thank you for the advice PeachBloom, will probably keep going until the temps suggest otherwise. I don't get EWCM and can't check my cervix because I have no idea what I'm doing so temps and OPK's are all I can really rely on. Fingers crossed

 

[bubbles81]

HWPG - Thanks for the info..hopefully I can get it checked this month then I really hope so, all this guessing is hard work!

Hi Peach - I've only just started vitamin B complex 100mg...started on cd6 as that's when I bought them and am on cd9 now so only took 4 days worth but no symptoms yet apart from the bright yellow pee that I seemed to get straight away!

 

[254]

Just thought I'd pop in and say hi!

Not sure if anyone remembers me, but I was a long-time poster here for quite a while. We started trying in September 2010 and for a long time I struggled with a short LP (6-8 days). We tried all sorts for a long time - vitamin B6, agnus castus etc etc... but nothing changed my LP. We conceived on cycle #13, after an 8 day LP, but had an early MC in October 2011. 5 months later we were pregnant again, whilst taking B6, agnus castus, omega 3 and also using natural progesterone cream. I started the progesterone cream the cycle before and after 1.5 years of a LP no longer than 8 days, my LP the cycle before we conceived was 10 days. However, even after a good scan and hearing the heartbeat on the doppler, we lost Moonbaby at 10 weeks (after a good scan and hearing the heartbeat via doppler for several weeks).

After that, I decided we were going to go 'au naturel'... I was concerned that, yes, supplements and progesterone may have helped me get pregnant twice, but they hadn't kept me pregnant. Had I 'pushed' my body into pregnancy when for some reason it wasn't the right time? Were the supplements actually doing more harm than good?

So we started trying again... the only pills I pop now are pregnacare vitamins and omega 3 (which I started taking a while back as I don't eat meat).

The first cycle after miscarrying I barely reached a 7 day LP (started bleeding late on 7dpo). Next cycle it was either 8 or 10 days, and a very light period. I really had lost hope by that time... we decided to go down the route of NaPro fertility treatment in August... so we went away on holiday, and I ate lots of pizza and drunk lots of French pear cider! And that cycle, our 21st cycle... we got pregnant again.

I found out on 10th July at just 9dpo.

And I'm now nearly 6 weeks pregnant! Not counting my chickens yet... Moonbaby was OK til at least 9 weeks, so I have a good few weeks to go until we're past our 'danger point' and with 3 of my previous 4 pregnancies ending in MC it's still hard to believe this might work out. But I'm taking it one day at a time.

Thought I'd share my story of long term TTC with a serious luteal phase defect... and eventually getting pregnant with no fertility treatment, supplements etc... in case it gives others hope!

 

[kiarajade2001]

Thats a lovely story. Thank you for sharing, I hope it works out for you this time xx

 

[kiarajade2001]

Well my update after my VERY briefly detected LH surge Friday evening, my temp rose Saturday morning and rose again this morning, so looking hopefull. Will see what happens over the next few days and what FF makes of it

 

[bubbles81]

Good luck Kiara! It's looking like u O'd on same day as positive opk as long as ur temps stay up x
Does anyone know if the vit B complex 100mg can delay ovulation? Im hoping not as I normally O around cd14/15 and I'd hate to have to wait longer x

 

[kiarajade2001]

Good luck Kiara! It's looking like u O'd on same day as positive opk as long as ur temps stay up x
Does anyone know if the vit B complex 100mg can delay ovulation? Im hoping not as I normally O around cd14/15 and I'd hate to have to wait longer x

Thanks Bubbles, it looks promising so hopefully you're right. I found that where I ovulate late in cycle, the Vit B Complex has actually seemed to shorten that. Last month I ov'd on CD28, before that was as late as CD29 but this month looks possibly like CD22-23 so thats a step in the right direction. I've not heard of anyone else saying this delayed ovulation, but if that does happen, it could be due to one of many things x

 

[PeachBloom]

Hi 254, thanks for your update! I actually skimmed much of this thread rather recently so I feel like we just met. Reading older posts is kinda nice because you can often see the outcome in signatures, but even though I knew Moonbaby didn't stick I still cried for you when I read about the MC. I am SO thrilled for your !! Congratulations and I have everything crossed for you. Sticky dust!

Kiara, looking good

Bubbles, I think B-complex delayed O by 1 day for me this month. It's my first time taking B50 and I usually O around CD 15, this time FF placed O at CD 16. So it's later but not by much and still in my normal range. If it does delay O for you, it might be because the follicle isn't mature yet. How long have you been on B100? If it messes up your cycle too much you might try a lower dose.

AFM, I'm 15DPO today. My longest LP in the last year has been 14 days and that was uncommon - I'm usually 12 or 13. I had AF like cramps yesterday and the day before, but they seem to have lessened today. On the other hand my temps have dropped a bit over the last 2 days, though still above coverline. My CM has changed to be pre-AF like (smells different) but no spotting. So according to my signs, AF might show in 2 days but that's a really long LP! I went out and bought some dollar store tests today - the only thing keeping me from testing yesterday when FF said test was not having any in the house.

I'm still trying not to get my hopes up too high, but I'm at the point where even if AF does show tomorrow I'd like to know for sure it's BFN. Then I can say it's the B50 and not a CP that extended my LP. I'm trying to hold off one more day so I can use FMU but those tests are calling to me! And that's why I bought the cheap ones anyway

 

[bubbles81]

Hi Peach - 15dpo and no spotting! Thats really great - i've got my fingers crossed for u! I don't know how u are able to not test ...i really try my best to not test but whenever i feel like its looking good i just cant resist!
I've only started taking b6 this cycle but really hoping it I dont O late - we try to DTD on cd12 - 15 to cover O but i hate the feeling that we have to do it then....we'd much rather BD when we wanted but we're desperate for a bfp after our loss so it has to be done x