My "magic" supplement list

Well, it's taken near 2 years, but I am hoping I have *finally* found the magic mix of supplements that has balanced my cycle and (God-willing) will assist in bringing me a sticky BFP! I thought I'd share this with you!

Now, I would just like to caution that because some of these supplements have worked for me does not mean that they will necessarily be the best choice for you. I try to talk to my doctor or at least my pharmacist before trying a new vitamin to see if there are any negative interactions with my Rx meds.

So, to summarize, my main issues that are inhibiting my fertility are:

1. Lack of good fertile quality CM, or enough of it;
2. Spotting before AF and/or short LP--my max on avg is 11 days and less than 12 gets to be a problem
3. ???? Overall hormonal balance

The problem is that a lot of my stuff is unknown since I supposedly had taken care of the prolactinemia. So, I'm going to list the vitamins/supplements I take, the dosage and the reason(s) I take them. Also, any warnings or known interactions.

• Royal Jelly
• 1 tablespoon full (usually just a regular spoon, dip in gel and eat what sticks to it!) If you decide to take a capsule, try to hit 1000mg daily
• Increase EWCM, overall hormonal balance--improve egg health and quality
• Some WARNINGS==If you are at all allergic to bee stings or honey, think very carefully before trying this amazing supplement. Please check with your doctor. If you are unsure, or want to try it anyway, start with a small dose and wait 48 hours to see how you react.
• Also, IF you take Clomid or another Rx med to induce O, double check with your doctor or pharmacist about whether Royal Jelly will counteract it. Although most doctors have no idea what it is, so just do your research. I would HATE for well-earned money to go towards fertility treatments that may be negated by this supplement.
• B6 and B Complex
• 200 mg B6; 50 mg Super B Complex
• To lengthen my LP and hopefully increase progesterone in the luteal phase and diminish spotting before my period.
• I take these together because most B vitamins go right through you if not all taken together. So to increase my absorption of B6 and Folic Acid, I am taking the B Complex with both.
• Folic Acid (B9)
• 4 mg Most recommend no more than 400-800 mcg during TTC. Because one of my Rx meds may deplete folate levels, I'm encouraged to take 4 mg, about 1000X the recommended daily amount. But B vitamins are water soluble, so whatever my body doesn't take in get expelled in my urine *this makes for some really BRIGHT Pee.
• This is mostly to decrease spinal defects in the embryo once it implants. Although there is research that is starting to find an increase in fertility with an increase in Folic Acid
• Prenatal--Multivitamin
• Follow package instructions
• I have been taking a vitamin pack lately that has daily doses of 4 different pills in foil wrapped packets for morning in night. It has:
• 1 Multi Vitamin in AM/PM
• 2 Calcium in AM/PM
• 1 Antioxidant blend in AM/PM
• 1 Probiotic in PM
• I was slightly worried about the Antioxidant one due to negative ramifications of Retin-A use, but I checked a few of the components out and lately have seen a lot of reading that says anti-oxidants help support fertility in important ways!
• I'm about to use the last of that pack, so I will be going to the Prenatal I had before 
• Trimedisyn  According to www.prenatalvitaminreviews.org this is one of the best Prenatals you can buy! So, yes, a bit pricey, but it would really be the best for your baby.

Whew, that's a lot! But I finally divided my two pillboxes into morning Rx meds and vitamins and evening Rx Meds and Vitamins. I was using one for Rx and one for Vitamins before, and this is SO much simpler!!!!!

FF I loathe you sometimes...

So I wake up this morning and entered a new temp (98.4 at 7:15AM) and today FF decided to change my date AGAIN. I think it is because of the watery CM after O. I have no doubt based on temps that my O was either CD13 or CD14 (now FF moved it back to CD13). Still really early for me, and although I was having fertile CM after O (and around when I normally do) my temps would have to go up to around 99 to shift O to now.

Plus I've been having SUPER PMS since my "O" date of either CD13/14. It is interesting that my TCOYF still thinks I O'd on CD14. I did test it and if I take out the Watery CM on FF CD22 and CD23 it shifts back to CD13. Whatever, either way, my chance of pregnancy is around 10%...sounds like a lot, but most of that is generous. Plus, my BD before O was "protected" with spermicide. Not the most reliable protection but definitely brings chances down.

It just messes up my Countdown to Pregnancy - My Two Week Wait Symptoms because for some reason you can't change the O date unless you delete the cycle. And then I'd have to manually enter all of the signs and symptoms again. Too much work for 8 days or 9 days! Plus if my O date changed again I'd have to do it again! I might have to email them about this issue.

Ah, well, we'll see what the cycle brings. I'm happy to say with the B6 and Progesterone cream that my spotting is soooo light. Not as heavy as last time at all and almost seems non-existent. So, although it started around 6-7DPO it's not bothersome enough to worry me. Definite improvement from last cycle.

Interesting Temp Spike

This morning, at 4DPO I had a humongous temp spike! Whoa! See below

Just waiting to see if I spot, when I spot, and how long till AF. ***fingerscrossed*** my LP gets longer, without FIVE days of spotting first!

Either bumping up the B6 to 200mg or adding progesterone will help. Shoot, need to take another dose. I keep forgetting the evening one.

Finally! CD1 is here!

Whew! Woke up this morning to full flow! After 5 freaking days of SPOTTING!!! Arrrrrrggggh! I HATE LPD!  Well, someone on TMP suggested seeing my doctor. I may have to do that in the next month or so. I just wish my OB had appts on Sat or after work like my PCP can.


That just inspired me to make one. I set it for November 1st---the week before my ECHO. Because I think regardless of whether my Cardiologist suggests WTTC even after ECHO, making sure my cycles are set is most important. Also, I'm freaking sick of 5 days worth of spotting. Plus, not entirely sure AF would've started full force today, but we DTD lastnight/this am. (shrugs)

Well, I also think I'm going to increase my B6 to 200mg...hopefully that will help. That's supposed to be the max. Perhaps I should split some and only take 150mg. I also think that at some point this cycle I stopped taking the B6....when I was sick I felt "what's the point?" and didn't take ANY meds.

Well, we'll see! At least I FINALLY started this cycle. Here's the funny part, if my cycle is about the same amount of days, I'm likely to get AF the weekend before or on the date of my ECHO!

Hyperprolactinemia and luteal phase defect

So I did some research because I was wondering if my short luteal phase this cycle had anything to do with my hyperprolactinemia (high levels of prolactin in the blood). I found this article that shows there can be some links to a luteal phase defect and hyperprolactinemia. Among irregular ovulation and menstruation (had it), absence of menstruation (definitely had that) and galactorrhea [breast milk production in non-nursing women] (had that a long time ago) there is also THIS side effect: inadequate progesterone production in the luteal phase after ovulation. I guess since I never ovulated prior to this I hadn't gotten to experience this but now I'm 4/4 on symptoms of hyperprolactinemia!

This actually cheers me, because if my doctor does a blood test on Friday and the levels of prolactin are back to normal, then it stands to reason that I was still experiencing slightly higher than normal levels of prolactin, enough to impair my progesterone production and shorten my luteal phase.  I am hoping that by the time I ovulate this cycle that this will no longer be a problem and I will go on to have a longer luteal phase (inshallah!)

In the meantime, there are several things that can be done to manage a luteal phase defect. One way is to take B6 throughout the cycle and supplement with progesterone cream after O.

There is some research also that because Vitex works to balance the cycle in favor of the hormone progesterone it could also be a good fix for a luteal phase defect. I have a the Fertility Blend vitamins and one of the primary ingredients is Vitex, so I'll likely finish those up this cycle to see if it helps.

Here's hoping!!! Inshallah our BFP cycle will come soon!

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