Starting first IVF cycle, should I be doing supplements, acupuncture?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't really think anything changes the outcome of IVF. I did do acupuncture with my successful one, but I had also done it with my unsuccessful rounds. I ate pineapple core after transfer with my successful round (for the bromelian), and I figured if it didn't help at least I got to eat pineapples.

The benefits of CoQ10 supplementation are being investigated right now:

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT01048385

http://www.obgynnews.com/index.php?id=11192&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=216727&cHash=3905f714815d1b5f7bedefc088e69fb7

http://www.comtecmed.com/Uploads/assets/leao.pdf

http://www.researchgate.net/publication/51851604_Coenzyme_Q10_content_in_follicular_fluid_and_its_relationship_with_oocyte_fertilization_and_embryo_grading

No large enough study has been completed yet to say whether pre-IVF supplementation with CoQ10 makes a difference, but the results so far are promising.

Not that my experience proves anything, but I supplemented with 200-300mg ubiquinol daily (the more absorbable form of CoQ10, thus you take less than as if you were taking ubiquinone) for eight months before my IVF, and conceived twins on the first try. I was 39 and my main issue was DOR and likely egg quality, so my RE had not given me much hope for twins. Not saying the ubiquinol was the reason things went well, but I think it is possible.

[Anonymous]

1 good egg, 1 good sperm, 1 good bed for them to lie up on and a whole lot of good luck is all that required.

[Anonymous]

I have DOR at a youngish age (35). I've been given a 5% chance of success with IVF. I've taken DHEA on and off for a year, go to accupunture and recently started other supplements. Over the course of one year I've seen an increase in my Antral Follicle Count and I do credit the DHEA and accupunture with that. Is it really working? Will it work in the end? I don't know. It truly is like playing the lottery.

For me, I'm doing as much as I can because I want to believe I did everything I could before moving to donor egg or adoption. But I'm not doing "everything I can" because I also have to live my life and sometimes I just don't have time to research all of this/do it all.

Regardless of it working, accupunture has also been helpful for my mental state.

Anyways, I think you either open the door to this stuff or you don't. Nobody knows for sure. You do what you feel most comfortable with.