In Between Two Lines
IVF | What to Expect: The Supplements
Time to become a med head…
Want to start this with an obvious warning. I am not a doctor or medical professional so this is just my recommendations for supplements. You should consult your medical professional before taking any of these. I am a big fan of letting my body heal itself and find the human body and its power fascinating. But when it came time to prepare my body for the fertility journey I was 100% on board with supplements. I didn’t know where to start so luckily someone in One in Eight asked the question and the group chimed in. Here is the collective list of supplements most women take during their fertility journey. Some of these are good for trying to get pregnant and some are good for the IUI and IVF journey and quite frankly some are good to take all the time….I love you fish oil! You may notice that Prenatal vitamins and Folic Acid are missing from my list! It is not because they are not the top two supplements you should be taking it is because I am about to give you a life hack that has saved me hundreds of $$$. Ask your OBGYN doctor to write you a prescription for prenatal vitamins as well as folic acid. I calculated that I would have paid around $50 a month for just these two supplements and with the prescription I pay 96 cents for folic acid and $2.96 for prenatal vitamins. No reason to spend any more $ than you have too. They can easily write this script when you are trying to conceive.
Fish Oil
As mentioned above I love fish oil! The benefits are great. Shawn and I both take this everyday so as you can imagine we go through some fish oil pills. I have even given this to Gee (our pug) for her skin. This is something you can take all the time but is great for your fertility journey. I like this organic, fresh caught version and it has an orange flavor although I never taste it!
CoQ10
I am obviously not a scientist, so I am going to sum the benefits of taking CoQ10 up as I understand them 🙂 If you are over the age of 30 your egg production and quality are decreasing. The theory is that COQ10 helps produce more eggs at a higher quality. When it comes to quality of the egg it is all about chromosomes so this supplement may help you produce quality eggs with the right chromosomes.
DHEA
- Increased IVF pregnancy rates
- Increased chance of spontaneous conceptions
- Shortened time to pregnancy
- Increased quality and quantity of eggs and embryos
- Decreased risk of miscarriage and chromosomal abnormalities in embryos
- Improved cumulative pregnancy rates in patients under fertility treatment
Vitamin D
Since our fertility journey blew through the summer I knew I was not getting enough Vitamin D. So I added this to my supplement cycle. Definitely take a look at the dosage you get – mine I take ever other day. But this is something that you can keep taking. It is linked to better fertility and a healthier pregnancy. Here is a really good article that would have sold me if I was not already sold on the power of Vitamin D(o it)!
Baby Asprin
I hesitate to put this one on the list but I think it is worth mentioning. My Dr. had me take this and stop taking this at very specific times during IVF. So do not start this one without talking to your Dr. From my research there is a mindset that this helps with women who have had a hsitory of miscarriages, or implantation loss. So noteowrthy but let the professionals tell you when to take it.
Premama His and Hers
I like this one for a couple of reasons!
1. It gets your partner involved. Yes there is also a ton of supplements your sperm source can take to make those sperm strong!
2. It is not another pill.
This is a powder that you can add to any drink and it is completely tasteless. Like zero difference in taste. It contains a wonderful supplement called myo inositol that is linked to improved fertility. You can by myo inositol without all of the other goodies they put in these packs but I rolled the dice on the other parts being just a good for my body.