Vitamins to help

[scones]

Hi lovely ladies,

I have heard agnus castus is good for regulating the cycle (am I right?)

Are there any other vitamins that are supposed to be recommended to take when TTC? For myself and my husband? Any advice appreciated. xxxx

 

[Kittykins]

Personally I'm a bit wary of self-medication, and wouldn't take anything at all that might 'regulate the cycle' without checking with the doctor first. My reason for this is that if your cycles are irregular, there might be an underlying reason - that irregular cycles might be a symptom, not a cause, of an infertility issue. Taking agnus castus might just hide the problem.

Also, agnus castus is contra-indicated for some people, and with some prescription medicines. Side-effects can include: gastrointestinal problems, acne-like rashes, and dizziness.

My view on this, then, is if your periods really are irregular (ie vary by more than a couple of days each month), and you can't put that down to an obvious cause (like recently coming off the BCP), then it's worth checking with your GP. It's quite possible that if you did have a hormonal condition, you would be advised to take agnus castus...


As for vitamins - you should definitely take folic acid. The easiest way to take the vitamins you need is in a pre-conception/pregnancy multi-vitamin supplement, such as Pregnacare, which contains folic acid as well. Your husband should take vit C and zinc, and ideally selenium as well. You can buy combined vit C and zinc tablets - brazil nuts are plentiful in selenium, and 3 nuts a day provides more than enough.

 

[Bagpuss17]

I've found the book by Zita West "Zita Wests Guide to Getting Pregnant" to be really helpful with regard to vitamins and nutrition.

Goes into detail about which foods to eat to get the right vitamins etc..always good if you can do it through your diet.

Lots of people on here have taken Agnus Castus and I've seen some positive feedback for it.

I'm trying it for the first time this month, will post back any negatives if I have any.

 

[Kittykins]

Bagpuss - I've got that book too, and I choose to interpret it rather selectively! I took on board the stuff about vitamins, but there was absolutely no way I was going to do that recommended 4-month alcohol and caffeine detox even before TTC!

And then all that stuff about 2 reflexology sessions, 1 hypnosis, 1 aromatherapy session, etc etc, per month. No wonder she has so many celebrity clients, they're the only ones who can afford it. DH calculated following her advice would cost us over £300 a month, based on the cost of therapists round here.

But yeah, there's lots of good nutritional advice in the book - though much of it is just common sense really.


re the agnus castus - I suppose I'm wary of going it alone because a cousin of mine tried it to regulate her cycles, and then when she went to see her GP after a year of TTC, he refused to see her until she'd had 4 'natural' cycles - said he couldn't make a diagnosis whilst she'd been artificially altering her hormone levels.
I'd be so upset if that happened to me, and I'd have to wait even longer to be treated.

 

[Bagpuss17]

LOL, I had a look at her website and you can buy some very expensive vitamins and book some nice and pricey sessions with her.

She does know what she's talking about though. I like the nutrional advice. DH has bought a bag of brazil nuts today

You've got me worried about the Agnus Castus now. I'm going to stop taking them, after my EPO fiasco I promised myself I wouldn't take anything this month. I should leave it all to nature. I've been pregnant before there is no logical reason why I can't get pregnant again. I've only been trying for a month (it already feels like much longer than that).

I got so upset when I saw the variation in my cycles and LP tpost pregnancy the other night though when I actually wrote them down. Ironically, my cycle reverted back to my usual pre-pregnancy cycle the month before I took EPO Kicking myself now that I took anything at all other than folic acid.

I shall hide the agnus castus and won't take anything. I'm going to make extra effort to eat healthily and not drink in the fertile phase. I do Yoga which is a good stress buster.

 

[Kittykins]

What's EPO? I know of EPO only as a drug used by athletics cheats... guessing it's not that!

If you're really worried about your cycle length, why don't you ask your GP if agnus castus would help? S/he might well tell you to go ahead, then you'd be fine.

 

[scones]

Thanks for your input-I have got him some zinc to take and I have been taking folic for 3 months already.xxxx

 

[Bagpuss17]

EPO - Evening Primrose Oil

I'm going to wait and see what happens this month, supplement free. If it's another long cycle then I think I will see my GP armed with my stats and see what they say. It's not normal for me to have such long cycles. I'm really hoping it's a blip.

 

[Kittykins]

EPO - Evening Primrose Oil

Aaaaaaahhhh


Good luck scones!

 

[sooz]

wotcha ladies,
i am taking agnus castus, started it last month and af arrived day 28 for the first time ever, could have been a coincidence. i also take vit b6 and folic acid xx

 

[Bagpuss17]

Sooz, how long were your cycles before taking agnus castus? What day did you ovulate on with your shorter cycle?

I thought about taking b6 too. Will look into that.

 

[sookie]

Bagpus,

I spoke to a really good friend of mine yesterday who is a herbal medical practitioner and she said that Agnus Castus is mild and great for a variety of things. She said there's no need to worry with it as it just works to rebalance the hormones in your body.

I trust her and am going to go ahead with taking mine when it arrives.

Hope this helps.

 

[Petra]

Hi, my cycles are very irregular too. I have started taking Agnus Castus and must say that it worked for me. I am taking mine twice a day and will not stop until I am pregnant again. Agnus also helped me to regulate my cycle after my recent m/c which is a good things as I can go ahead with TTC again soon. I would definitely not recommend it if you are taking any other hormonal treatment though. Good luck all !

 

[Bagpuss17]

It's really interesting to hear other peoples experiences of Agnus Castus.

I'm going to hold off this month just to see if my cycles go back to normal then will reconsider next month.

Thanks Sookie for your comment from your herbal practitioner friend. It can't be harmful if it's available off the shelf.

It certainly seems to be doing the biz for lots of women on this site, so that's got to be a good testament.

 

[Baileys-Angel]

hi bagpuss
i went on the pill at 16 to regulate my cycles cos they were all over the place and only came off it in november last year when i was 34 so i could ttc. they have been ranging from 24 days to 35 days until i started the agnus castus beginning of last cycle and af arrived day 28. it could have been a coincidence but cycle before i ovulated on day 22. sorry for tmi but af was really really heavy but i read that this can happen
my oh makes me take b6 as it helps with my pmt, he says im no were near such a scary monster every month
hope this helps hunny xx

 

[Bagpuss17]

Hi,

That's amazing, everbody seems to get 28 day cycles after using it. Do you know what day you ovulated on your 28 day cycle?

If I end up with another long cycle this month, I'll start taking it next month. I don't think I can cope with long cycles as the norm. My last cycle was 42 days!

 

[Baileys-Angel]

hey bagpuss
we think it was day 13, my temp charts are very difficult to read (on top of everything else ). They go up and down like a yo yo, even the doc was mystified and thought i had ov 3 times one month!! Im due to ov on friday (hopefully day 14) and the temps are starting to rise now
hope this helps a bit xx

 

[Bagpuss17]

It certainly does.

Well if I don't get my BFP this month and I have another long cycle, I will give this wonder tablet a whirl.