I thought we could start a TTCing thread over here...

[toogasmamma]

My natural TTCing thread got pretty much booted on the TTC board, but I thought that this might be a better place for it anyway. So if you are TTC, jump on in and join the ride. I am hoping and praying that we will not be on this ride much longer. I am really just looking for some buddies to compare and obsess with over this TTC stuff. I love the TTC board, but being on herbals is quite different from the meds.

[AndreaC]

We meet again!

You know I'll join

Anyone else???

Andrea.

P.S. I just noticed that you are also ttc no.2 and have also had losses I guess we have a bit in common.

[toogasmamma]

Hey there Andrea, we meet again I hope we get more people over here than we did on the TTC board. lol. You know that excercising can regulate your thyroid. My mom had hers removed and was on medication for it, when she started excercising regularly, she no longer needed it. The vitex may also help with the thyroid proplem too. If I were in your boat, I would be using the vitex, and progesterone cream, and it you are thinking of going to clomid, like I read in your other post (stay strong my cyster), then once you get a real AF, try the soy...don't give up on the herbs. There are many TTC success stories out there with herbs. Even with doctors, it is hit and miss treatments with us PCOSers. It's better for your body to hit and miss with herbs and natural suppliments rather than chemicals - been there done that and not going back until I do my shared IVF cycle next summer. I found a great woman who wants 1/2 of our embies and she will pay for everything for us except for the transfer and after, so I figured what the heck, can't go wrong there. I want my body to be clean too when I do that. She said if I do become pregnant she will wait until after I have the baby to do the shared cycle, she won't go looking for someone else. So that is very exciting for me. Honestly I was hoping to do it sooner, but her surrogate just found out that she is pregnant, and she is due in March. I hate to have to go high tech, but I need to hurry up and finish having babies, as my last pap was not normal.... But, I will be going all herbal until then. Stick it out sweetie, you won't be dissappointed.

[AndreaC]

WOW! You definitely seem to have everything figured out in your 2nd ttc journey wish I was that sussed!

I picked up on something you said about wanting your body to be clean for the shared IVF cycle and I wondered if herbs stay in your system the same way as medication. For example, clomid and vitex shouldn't be taken together so when should the vitex be stopped before taking the clomid??? Or does it not work the same way with herbs??

With regards to the thyroid issue I started aerobics twice a week in January and I LOVE it AND my thyroid is in "tip top" condition (quote from the Dr!!). Not sure if it's the exercise or not but I'm sticking to it!

I know what you mean about 'messing' with herbs being better than 'messing' with medication. I think I just have to be more confidant and give things a try. I think it's difficult because there are a lot of cynical people out there and don't dare mention to a Dr that you might be taking some herbs as they practically fall off the chair in hysterics!! Well, we'll see......

I will stick the herbs out for now but i can't help thinking that i conceived first time on clomid last time. My Dr won't refer me back to the specialist until i have been trying for a year so I'm hoping I'll be pregnant with the herbs by then! Even if I do turn to the drugs to get pregnant again, I now KNOW for a fact that I will be treating the PCOS with herbs in the future, instead of just going on bcp's.

I have learnt so much here and will definitely put it to good use.

By the way, I'm sorry to hear about your abnormal pap.......are you just being monitored.......do they not need to do anything at the moment? This must be a real worry for you, as if you need anything else to worry about

[toogasmamma]

Well, herbs are pretty much out of your system in about 30 days, the only one I know of that has a long lasting affect on the body and the hormones is NPC - it has actually CURED some women of PCOS. I will be continuing with the NPC through the shared cycle though as I have low progesterone.

That is so awesome that your thyroid is doing so well!!! Cudos.

I too concieved the first time on clomid with my son, but it has been a tougher journey this time, I became clomid resistant, and needed injectables and clomid to respond. Once I started using the NPC, I no longer needed the clomid with the injectables (I responded way too well 50 + follicles all growing at the same rate ~ YIKES), then after about another month on the NPC, I no longer needed the injectables and just was instructed to go for clomid and intercourse - but I would rather be natural with the TTC instead of clomid, so we fired our RE (for now - he is actually on suspension for a year )

They are just monitoring my paps, I have to have one every 6 months, and if it turns cancerous or precancerous, then they will want to do a hysterectomy.

But that is ok, becuase my life was mapped out before I was born there is a divine purpose for everything....we will see

[Pale Pink Aura]

Hi, can I join you?

I'm not officially trying to conceive, only because I want to try and get myself with regular cycles before stopping using condoms. My last pregnancy was via IVF (after clomid, injectables). It eventually worked and for that I am very grateful, but I really wasn't healthy enough to have the baby. I ended up really sick during the pregnancy (diabetes, anaemic, liver failure... the list goes on), then I didn't have any milk come in after weeks of trying (and that broke my heart). For that reason I'm going to rely on my embryos as a last ditch resort. I am giving myself 1, maybe 2 years to sort myself out naturally first. Hopefully I'll be able to get pregnant and have a healthy pregnancy and be able to feed my baby this time :-)

Last year I spent 10 months bleeding constantly (where as before I had my DD I would rarely get af at all). I initially saw a fertility gyno, then went and saw a naturopath. He got my bleeding stopped, then my cycles became more regular - every 6 - 8 weeks. Then I saw an acupuncturist. With that treatment, my energy levels picked up quite a bit, but cycles stayed about the same. He referred me to a craniosacral therapist and my last 4 cycles before the one I just had were 35 days, 35 days, 38 days, then I started taking vitex and zinc and my last cycle was 28 days (first time ever!!!) (though I bled for 10 days, so it's still a little long). I'm pretty excited about it all. I also had bad depression and anxiety before seeing the cranio therapist and that's gone now (thank god!!).

I also have Meniere's disease, which is an inner ear problem - it's supposed to be life long and incurable, but the cranio therapist is working on that with pretty good success. It hasn't gone, but it's getting there. That's another reason I can't conceive right now. I went to a clairvoyant recently (I also believe I have a path I am destined to follow and wanted to know if I should bother getting my hopes up for having a second baby). She said I do have a little soul up there waiting to come down, and that I have to get my hormone balance sorted ASAP or I'll miss my chance. She said that my current therapy is working for my Meniere's and it'll be gone before my second child is born, so I'm pretty pleased about that.

I was happy to wait another year to have #2 but now I'm worried about missing my chance, so I'm really eager to start charting and working out my cycles so that I can start trying.

[toogasmamma]

Welcome to our little group. You have sure been on a journey! You are quite a strong woman!!! Whew I got tired reading everything you have been through, I know you got tired of going through it!!!!! That was a whole lot of stuff. Hopefully, you will have no problem TTC this time.

BTW - vitex should NOT be givining you hot flashes, but if you are in your luteal phase, and your hormones are regulating, you very well may be experiencing what "normal" women go through with progesterone in their cycles.

Welcome and GL

[Pale Pink Aura]

Thanks for the welcome :-)

Yeah, sorry about the long introduction there! It could have been a lot longer if I'd gone into any of the pre-DD stuff, as I'm sure you can imagine.

I'm not actually having 'hot flushes' as such - I just have a higher body temp (i.e. I feel warm all of the time, not just in waves). I was wondering if I'm just feeling what normal women do (although I've only just stopped my period at the moment - I'm on CD12 today, but my period went for 10 days). My body temp is only normally 35 deg C (mmm - I don't know the conversion) and it's is higher now - more like the 'normal' 37 deg C, so perhaps that's all it is. I'm also wondering if I've been taking too much Vitex - I was taking 4x 150mg capsules each morning (which was the highest dose on the bottle). I saw one of your earlier posts that suggested that doseage was only for menopausal women, so I think I'll drop it back to 2x a day?? Does that sound better?

[toogasmamma]

Ok, as far as the vitex, I am going to do some more studying up on it, because it is strange that it comes in so many different doses 300mg, 400mg and 250mg) and they all say to take 4 capsules (max) daily....so the jury is out on that one. I will get back to you on it though as soon as I am done typing here, I will research it.

As far as your temp, if you are estrogen dominant, that would make sense that your temps are regulating, vitex is suppose to do that for you, so you are probably just feeling the effects of it working for you.

will update on the vitex.....

[Pale Pink Aura]

Thanks! Looking forward to reading your reply. I also had noticed quite a difference in the recommended doseages.

[toogasmamma]

I posted a new thread on it....thought it would help everyone - lots of info there. check it out.

[AndreaC]

Hi!

I see we have a new 'member' today, Hi 'Jenna'smum' I, too, hope your ttc journey this time a round is much easier!

Well, nothing to say really today, only that I just had my 1 capsule of Vitex this morning . I'm sort of really excited about going to the dr's to find out what my lh/fsh and testosterone levels are doing on Friday. Sad isn't it? Can't wait to go to the Dr's :o

My body was REALLY messed up before I had ds and I have lost 60+ lbs pre-pregnancy (+ 21lbs gained during pregnancy) so I am VERY interested to see how these hormones are doing.

Thing is, I'm not really sure what they SHOULD be so I'll get him to give me the numbers and then I'll check it against one of the sticky's on the ttc board.....just can't trust these dr's to tell you the truth you know

Catch up soon!

Hope you both are well today

Andrea.

[kwannabee]

Hey you guys...just me being social! Today i just got my updated test results back from the doctor...i put off using any more supps then the ones i have listed already til i got these results...based on what i've read here on SC...

i've contemplated using soy cd5-9 to help ovulation-chickened out

i switched from provera to prometrium to bring on AF cuz its supposed to act more natural in the body...

thinking about saw palmetto to help with my high testosterone levels (normal range is 0.3-1.5---i'm now 1.4!)--took it for 2 days and stopped til i got my lab report...now i dont know if i should start it again

and vitex to help me regulate hormones....

Problem is i'm a big ole chicken...i just found out my insulin and testosterone levels are back within the range of normal! YAYYYYYY!!!! But the high side of normal. Re says i'm not ovulating due to these two things at this point, plus the excess weight. So i dont know how natural i should go...i've been on so many drugs my whole life i probably glow in the dark...i dont know if i can trust the naturals

[toogasmamma]

Kim, welcome. I am glad to see that thigs are going well for you in the hormones department. So, are you taking vitex now? If I were you, I would just take vitex, it should regulate your hormones just right, and maybe some soy to make you ovulate. Then once you do O, go have your blood drawn for your P4 levels, to see if you need to suppliment any NPC.

Andrea, is there a % on your bottle of vitex, or the number of mg of actual chastetree berry? If there is I can do the math and tell you what your doseage should be to start out with.

Jenna's mum, are you still warm with the temps?

As for me, I have a doctor's appointment with the RE on 7/5. I am going to tell him that I want my day 3 levels tested again - haven't had those done in like a year and a half. And I am gonna tell him that I want another HSG to make sure my tubes are open with no obstructions and that the ectopic was just as the nurse says "bad luck" and as the doc says a "fluke". Also want another post-coital test to see if there are still white blood cells killing the boys in there. I want to have my herbs perfect for all of my ailments (sound like a little old lady huh:o ). I did some more stuying on all of my herbs that I ordered, and the cat's claw was a no-no for TTC (oh well it was only $4).

I am having a hard time getting off my butt and doing my exersices here lately (bad girl, I know). My son is just really clingy and into the mocking thing right now, so when I do my workouts, he is right up under me and that is soooooo anoying (don't want to crush him).

On soy : If you read the entire post about the soy for clomid, it is pretty good. There were quite a few that got pregnant from it. There have been people that did not respond to injectables that responded to soy. My only wonder with the soy is : do you make more than one follie like with clomid and injectables???? Hummmmm??????

Well, gotta go do my workout after I get JJ to sleep

Kenya

[toogasmamma]

Ok I asked the herbalist about the soy thing and this is what she said....

Hi again, Toni,

I tend to stay away from things that try to Trick the system. Our bodies are wonderfully complex machines and if we take care of them properly, they usually run pretty well. When you start dinking around with hormones and such by adding or subtracting instead of making the endocrine system healthy, you may cause more harm than good.

It's certainly an option that does work and if you want to try the soy for ovulation induction, I would say go for it. I tend towards the totally natural route myself. That means making the endocrine and reproductive organs as healthy as they can possibly be by feeding them wholesome, organic herbs that will act as a tonic. The herbs in my fertili-tea do just that. They feed both systems simultaneously. But if you aren't having a period, I would suggest the other route first.

Valere!

Karen Mallinger
All Goode Gifts
James 1:17
www.allgoodegifts.com