Vitex (agnus Castus) Question-Help please!

[Rachel789]

Hi Ladies!

I am popping over here from the TTC forum because I was hoping you could help me figure out the correct way to take Vitex.

A little background. I stopped BCP a few months ago and my cycles are crazy and I hear Vitex can help to regulate them. I started taking the liquid form of it a few days ago. The bottle says to take 1-2ml 3x a day which is equivalent to 3,000-6,000 mg! That seems like a lot to me so I was thinking about trying to take 1ml which is 1,000mg every day in the a.m.

The issues I am having is 1. Am I taking enough or too much? 2. How long should I be taking it throughout my cycle?

I figured being later in your pregnancies you could tell me how it worked for you and how much you took and how long throughout your cycle. I have read so much conflicting info on this. Everything from you should take it up until you O and then stop again until you get AF. I also read take it throughout your cycle except during AF and stop once you get your BFP. Do you know how it is supposed to be taken?

This particular article confused the hell out of me. https://www.ehow.com/how_8292794_stop-taking-vitex.html

Step 2 completely counterdicts itself and makes zero sense.

I am so confused and would love to hear from you ladies that have positive experience with this. Thank you in advance!

 

[MrsNoMohren]

I took Vitex for a day...because honestly I was just doing absolutely EVERYTHING that had been mentioned on TTC. I'm glad I looked into it further bc I was getting positive OPKs and I guess if you get those...and no signs point to you NOT ovulating (haven't been diagnosed with PCOS) then you SHOULDNT take vitex. I ran this past my doctor and she said: Yes, vitex helps with women who don't ovulate but you could get yourself in more trouble if you are ovulating. As far as dosage I was planning on taking it daily as instructed on the label. From what I read thats what people take for that.

Note: I HAD been diagnosed with PCOS but I was still ovulating and I have/had stage 3 endometriosis

Other things I used were:
-Softcups
-Preseed
-Sperm meets egg plan
-switched to whole fat milk products
-acupuncture
-natural progesterone cream from 3 dpo (confirmed) until positive pregnancy test
-eating wild yams on day of ovulation (LOL)
-eating tapioca pudding on day of ovulation (again, LOL)
-I used an Ovacue
-my husband took a vitamin mean for male sperm vitality
-no hot showers for either of us
-boxers for husband

Now I'm not going to tell you what I did was necessary but its just how I cope with a problem. If methods aren't shown to potentially hurt your chances....I try em. Heck, why not?

Baby dust to you!!

 

[cowgirl21]

I started taking it but not as much as you are saying. I ended up with endometrial polyps in my uterus that continually caused daily bleeding. (Super scary and they could have been cancerous) I didn't have them before or if I did, they didn't cause bleeding. Please be careful with that stuff. If you are serious about trying to conceive, get to your doctor and they can get you on a schedule of birth control pills to induce a period then check with blood tests to see if you are ovulating. Best of luck to you!

 

[Mrs.Ping]

I took 1200 mg of it per day every day till af showed and then stopped. So I took it my whole cycle except on the days af was here. I took it for a little over a year and it regulated my cycles from 72+ days down to a 33 day cycle. My cycles were all over the place. Donor fret it will take at least 3 months to see any changes in your cycles. Once my cycles were regulated it took about 4 to 5 cycles to conceive! I had no I'll effect from it at all and once you get your bfp you stop taking it ! Good luck!

 

[Rachel789]

Thank you so much for the replies, I like to hear the pros and cons so I can figure out if it is the right thing for me. I have never gotten a true positive OPK but I have gotten near positives. I did O last cycle because my temps confirmed it on CD 24. This cycle I am on CD 35 and nothing is happening. Before I went on BCP 12 years ago my cycles were extremely irregular and I hear Vitex is good at balancing hormones so I think it is worth a try but I am am on the fence as to whether I should take it my whole cycle or only until I O.

Anyone else have experience with Vitex, good or bad? Thanks!

 

[Tigerlilyb]

I took it for a good 4 months before trying to TTC to try and regulate my cycles because I have endometriosis. And in one of those 4 months I did have an almost pain free cycle, I cant say if it was the Vitex or amazing luck, but something was going right for me!

Anyway I continued to take it once per day while TTC but ended up having a miscarriage the first month. Again not sure if the Vitex had anything to do with it but starting TTC again I stopped taking it after I was sure I'd ovulated, and lo and behold, sticky bean.

Not sure about your dosage, it seems insane to me! I was taking this: https://www.healthspan.co.uk/herbal/agnus-castus/productdetail-p3196721-c118.aspx

Good luck

 

[Enough]

I took 6 capsules of Vitex a day until I got pregnant, then I weaned myself off over 2 weeks.

 

[fionagrace]

We were ttc with late ovulation for 13 months when I finally decided to try it. I took 1200mg in capsule form from cycle day 4, I ovulated 1 week earlier than usual and continued to take it until I got my bfp 10 days later! Some women stop taking it at ovulation but I was recommended to continue taking it until bfp/af to maximize the benefits. Good luck

 

[Rachel789]

We were ttc with late ovulation for 13 months when I finally decided to try it. I took 1200mg in capsule form from cycle day 4, I ovulated 1 week earlier than usual and continued to take it until I got my bfp 10 days later! Some women stop taking it at ovulation but I was recommended to continue taking it until bfp/af to maximize the benefits. Good luck

Wow that's great results! I am hoping it helps with my late O. And obviously taking it until BFP in your case did not hurt anything
I was concerned because some people said it could cause an early miscarraige if you take it after O. I did not see how this would be the case considering the baby does not share your blood supply in the beginning anyways.

Thank you everyone for your replies this is very helpful!

 

[Mrs.Ping]

vitex should not cause a miscarriage it is an herb that is taken to increase progesterone!! you can look it up on any herb web site it will tell you it is given to supplement progesterone. I think it works well and it will help you a lot!