A number of people commented on my potential increase in
vitamins and other supplements to prepare for my first IVF. This information and the large number of
supplements are not combed from the internet, but I received the list
from my doctor. So in an effort to help
other IVF patients out there, I’m going to summarize what my doctor gave me in
hopes that it may help another patient.
First off, I am not a doctor. You should get a blood test prior to starting
this regime to find out if you even need the supplements. THE
FOLLOWING SUPPLEMENTS ARE TO HELP IMPROVE EGG QUALITY. My doctor suggests that you start these
three months prior to treatment, but that they can still help even if you don’t
have three months (I do not).
1.
Take a prenatal vitamin with DHA daily but stop
with the trigger shot or with ovulation.
2.
Myo Inositol- 2 gm, two times a day
a. Shown
to help with blastocyst (embryo) development
b. Also
correlated with higher E2 (estradiol) levels within the follicular fluid and
better quality embryos
3.
Melatonin- 3 mg, once at night
a. Helps
scavenge the free-radicals that can damage delicate sperm and egg DNA
b. DO
NOT take this if you are on thyroid medication
4.
Co Enzyme Q10- 200 mg, three times a day
a. Helps
support and improve mitochondrial function
5.
Omega-3 fatty acid- 1000 mg, once a day
a. In
one study a higher omega-6 to omega-3 ratio was associated with higher numbers
of follicles
b. Eat
more leafy greens, nuts and seeds and high quality, purity tested fish oil
supplement
c. Eat
less snack/fast foods, factory/grain-fed red meat and processed oils
6.
Vitamin C- 500 mg, once a day
a. Helps
prevent oxidative mitochondrial damage
b. Supports
healthy blood vessel structure
7.
Vitamin E- 200 IU, once a day
a. Helps
prevent oxidative mitochondrial damage
b. May
improve glandular epithelial growth and development of blood vessels in the
endometrium
8.
L-arginine, 1000 mg, two times a day
a. Encourages
your pituitary gland to produce more Human Growth Hormone, which helps improve with
quality and quantity of egg production
9.
DHEA- 25 mg, three times a day
a. Positive
effects have been reported to egg and embryo quality
10.
Pycnogenol, 100 mg, once a day
a. Anti-inflammatory
effects
b. Supports
blood vessel structure
So there you have it.
10 different supplements recommended to boost egg quality by my
doctor. It certainly seems like a lot,
but I am going to try to help my old and crappy eggs as much as possible!! (NOTE: I may end up NOT taking everything on this list- I'm trying to decide which ones are most important.)
If you are on supplements to boost egg quality, what are you
taking?
GREAT POST!! This is exactly what I have been looking for. I am already taking some of these things but I might add some more from your list! Thanks so much for this :)
ReplyDeleteOur last IVF we had high embryo fragmentation and I've read that it is likely due to egg quality, so I am trying to do everything I can to improve my eggs before IVF#2 in 2 1/2 months
In addition to my prenatal and 2000 iu Vitamin D (since I live in Canada and winter is DARK here), for egg quality I've been taking 800 mg CoQ10 daily (400 mg twice per day). That's the only one my RE recommended, although I subsequently saw a naturopath who put me on one capsule of Royal Jelly per day as well. She gave me some other recommendations that I haven't had time to try (melatonin is one of them) but I'll be doing that if this current IVF doesn't work.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I am taking that isn't on your list is Royal Jelly. There are some things on your list I haven't heard about. Maybe I will add some to get an extra boost in this (hopefully) final month before IVF. I started taking coQ10, dhea, royal jelly and melatonin for 1 month between IVF 1 and 2. I went from 1 mature egg to 5 - so I believe they can definitely help even if you only take them for a short time.
ReplyDeleteSome great advice! You may want to check out Fertilaid for women. It has some of the things that your doctor recommended and it's all put into one pill. Sending your eggs all the happy thoughts in the world.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this list, I'd like to perk my ovaries up as much as possible!
ReplyDeleteYou are a wealth of info m'dear! I'm saving this post for when I jump back on the bandwagon.
ReplyDelete