book recommendations and alternative medicine/simple approaches to help TTC

[Anonymous]

Hi! My husband and I just started ttc two months ago, so far nada. I am charting temps and it looks like I am ovulating, have somewhat minimal CM, possible luteal phase issues (12-13 days, a bit short, and spotting starting 6-10 DPO and lasting until I get my period). I realize that two months is not a long time to try, esp since we were somewhat half-hearted the first month, but we are both in our late 30s and so I don't want to waste a lot of time if there might be some problem standing in our way. I want to learn as much as possible about fertility and also possibly look into some "simple" interventions I can do on my own as I think it is probably too early to see a reproductive endocrinologist. I have already improved my diet (tons of organic fruits and veggies, mostly cut out processed food) and am trying to work myself into cutting back on or cutting out caffeine and alcohol.

1. Does anyone have any book recommendations? I have already read Taking Charge of Your Fertility.

2. I've read about Fertility Blend supplement, Fertilitea, etc. - any thoughts on whether those are worth trying? Any other tips or suggestions?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Personally (and I've been TTC for awhile), if you are already a healthy eater and are cutting down on caffeine and alcohol, I don't think there is a whole lot more you can do. There are a lot of wive's tales out there about natural remedies, but nothing is going to help a woman in her late 30s improve the quality and quantity of her eggs. You may want to try acupuncture to see if it helps with your cycles (luteal phase issue) - I found that is did help regulate mine. But in the end, if you are in your late 30's, I think you should give it two more months and then consult with an RE. It takes awhile to get an appointment, go through testing, and learn about and decide on treatment options, so you might as well start the process now. At the very least, you can see if your DH has adequate sperm - that is an inexpensive and simple test that can give good information.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the previous poster...I can't stress this enough...even if you've been trying to conceive for only a couple of months, it definitely pays to see a RE as early as possible and get all of your prescreening done just in case, especially since you are in your late 30ies. Any RE would tell you that your fertility drops dramatically after 35, regardless if you are healthy or not. It doesnt hurt to have your husband's sperm analyzed and for you to have an HSG and Day 3 blood work done to make sure your tubes are nice and open and you don't have any issues. Sounds like you are doing all you can on your own (have you tried using a digital ovulation monitor to track your ovulation?)...My husband and I are in our very early 30ies and we learned early on in the TTC time (3 months in) that we had male factor issues. I had us get checked out just in case and I'm so thankful I did when I did...imagine if we had wasted any more time TTC..eventually we'd have more issues that just male factor...like old age. It doesn't hurt to have an few easy tests done early on in the game to take the guess work out of TTC. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Seeing an RE is great, and that's part of what you need to do in educating yourself. No one can decide for you what's too much, too expensive, too far or too beyond your situation in TTC. I went to the resolve website and we took a bunch of seminars; we interviewed RE's, tried acupuncture, everything. We totally gave up alcohol and caffeine as both decrease fertility, I ate an egg every day, gained 5 pounds, switched to baby oil for lube (a rec from an RE), ate full fat dairy products, got more sleep, and prayed a ton. We followed urban legends, old wives' tales, medical recomendations, research studies, you name it, we were game. Who knows what worked for us, but I did conceive naturally after having 2 RE's say I never would. I'll never know what worked, or if it was just blind luck, and frankly, I don't care.

I did like:
The Infertility Cure: The Ancient Chinese Wellness Program for Getting Pregnant and Having Healthy Babies by Randine Lewis
Is Your Body Baby-Friendly?: Unexplained Infertility, Miscarriage & IVF Failure - Explained and Treated by Alan E. Beer MD

I also checked out every book at the library, and after the tests from the RE, asked what other things might throw off the tests. For example, I was told that the morning of one of these tests, I don't remember which one, too much exercise or dairy would skew the results not in my favor. I had a glass of milk in the car and then ran up three flights of stairs; my scores were bad. Wish I'd thought to ask that question first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seeing an RE is great, and that's part of what you need to do in educating yourself. No one can decide for you what's too much, too expensive, too far or too beyond your situation in TTC. I went to the resolve website and we took a bunch of seminars; we interviewed RE's, tried acupuncture, everything. We totally gave up alcohol and caffeine as both decrease fertility, I ate an egg every day, gained 5 pounds, switched to baby oil for lube (a rec from an RE), ate full fat dairy products, got more sleep, and prayed a ton. We followed urban legends, old wives' tales, medical recomendations, research studies, you name it, we were game. Who knows what worked for us, but I did conceive naturally after having 2 RE's say I never would. I'll never know what worked, or if it was just blind luck, and frankly, I don't care.

Were you ever given a "diagnosis" by any of the RE's you saw for your fertility issues? (unexplained infertility, male factor, PCOS, endometriosis etc). What you posted above is really interesting to me, esp since 2 different RE's said you couldn't conceive naturally. I am a big believer in alternative medicine/different approaches to help conceiving, however I'm not having much luck and feel like I jumped head first into all this western fertility medicine/IVF stuff too quickly when maybe I haven't given myself the chance to TTC naturally. We've been diagnosed with borderline male factor, but otherwise I am healthy.

[Anonymous]

Thank you all so much for your thoughts! I honestly thought maybe I was overreacting a bit worrying so early on in the process. I had intended to go into this with a wait and see attitude, but that didn't last long. Thank you for the book recs, I ordered the Randine Lewis one - looks good. I had not heard of resolve and checked out the website - lots of good info.

[Anonymous]

I read a book by Alice Domar while I was TTC that was very helpful and a more mind/body approach vs. medicinal. That said, I also didn't waste an entire year TTC and got myself to an RE as soon as I realized I was not ovulating regularly (more like every 60-90 days). If you are in your late 30's, continue charting now and then get a referral to an RE after 6 months. Do not waste your time doing clomid with your OB, they will not monitor you like an RE and this is very dangerous IMO.

[Anonymous]

I'm the poster who said "Seeing an RE is great, and that's part of what you need to do in educating yourself." My diagnosis was that I'm too old: I had high FSH and bad something else and only two 'really small' folicles. My husband has low motility (slow swimmers). The 2 RE naysayers did not recommend IVF but instead donor egg. I'm really not into alternative medicine, per se, but I am into listening to your body and figuring out what's right for you. I also learned, which we all remember from high school, that stress really affects your hormones and taking the 3-day test at a stressful time is very bad. Once you have those awful numbers, you're stuck with them for life, there is no retaking of the test. I would have waited fora less stressful time to have better numbers, despite the fact that I was getting older every second. All of you: hang in there, and as DH used to say to me: We will find our path. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

"I also learned, which we all remember from high school, that stress really affects your hormones and taking the 3-day test at a stressful time is very bad."

Interesting. Did you ever find any studies on stress and FSH? I felt the same way too - I took the tests when I was way stressed and have always wondered . . . .

[Anonymous]

Did you ever find any studies on stress and FSH?

No, my RE at GWU told me this. He also said that he would retest, if I wanted, but that numbers fluctutated and we could proceed with IVF with the numbers I had.

[Anonymous]

There's a recent study out showing that anxiety and depression have no influence on IVF outcomes. I have a pdf version, but don't think I can attach it here. The reference is:

Human Reproduction, Vol.24, No.5 pp. 1092–1098, 2009

Just more food for thought...

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that cite -- at least now I don't have to be stressed that my stress level is affecting my IVF chances!