I am non-responsive to clomid (12+ cycles, 6 of those @ 150mg - best I could manage was a chemical pg), and my RE is reluctant to move me to onto Femara or injectibles unless I agree to IUI's ... which is out of the question ... don't ask.
So I bought myself a bottle of Vitex. They are 500mg capsules, GNC brand. I read about Vitex on the web, and it would seem it could help someone with my particular conditions, annovulatory, non-responsive to clomid, luteal phase deficiancy. I am 31, a bit overweight, fairly active, and aside from all this PCOS horror otherwise healthy.
I am going to take a break from the RE ... $300 a visit is getting kind of ridiculous, and after a year seeing him, and seeing an endo for 2 years before that, I thought I would have some results by now other than heartbreak.
My question is mainly, I get conflicting statements on the web about the number of capsules to take a day, and whether to take them every single day, or on certain cycle days. The only other medication I am currently taking is Metformin.
Can anyone lend their insight? Especially a success story?
I can only tell you what a friend told me. She uses herbs to keep healthy and treat herself.
"Chasteberry according to my books is considered to be THE premier herb to regulate periods and also good for pcod. But it says you have to take it first thing in the a.m. to be most effective"
I plan to start taking the recommended dosage on the bottle(GNC brand) when AF shows up.
Edited to add: She also told me that if ttc then stop taking when O occurrs to help prevent m/c as it can in some cases act as an abortificant. And restart at the beginning or AF the next cycle if not pg.
__________________
Put on your big girl panties and deal with it!
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Andrea: 30
Divorce final in Feb 2009
Dx 2003
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Hey Im from Arkansas too! I am on vitex and I take it everyday. It can take a while to work so you need to take it everyday until you O. I take 1200 mg about to go up to 1600. Hope this helps
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Lindsay & Derric
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Praying For a Soy Joy!! TTC number 2 . Trying with vitex, soy and cinnamon. Throw in a little black and blue cohosh, epo, licorice and dong quai all for good measure.
Has anyone seen AF? She is MIA, if you find her please send her my way. Trying to move on to cycle number 2 of TTC #2
My suggestion would be to see a naturopath and have them customize a regimen for you. Yes, it can be costly, but it is WAY less than $300 a visit and you only have to go a couple of times. It really takes the guess work out of it and because everyone is different, every treatment should be different. You can't really go on what other people's friends say because what works for them might not work for you. Seeing a naturopath was the best thing I've ever done for myself.
hey gang i'm from arkansas too!! i started vitex about three weeks ago...my bottle said to take 1600 mgs twice a day...but i'm only taking 1600 once a day...the larger dose just seemed like too much to stat with! i'll give this a while and if it doesn't work go up!
__________________ Brandi
check it out:
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
7/07: DH's SA: WE'VE GOT SWIMMIES! 8/24/07: My HSG: WE GOT THE ALL CLEAR! trying to get some weight off... 4-21-09- 38.5 pds off!
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Thanks for help, my cycles have been pretty regular for about 2 years now, but no O, and luteal phase defect is why I was hoping it would help. I will stay with one through this cycle, then go up to 2 a day. Thanks for the advice on seeing a naturopath. I will try and find one locally, I am sure they could help in other ailments too.
I'm not an expert - and there's heaps of useful info about Vitex on this forum (which I'm sure you've read) - but I went to see a naturopath who recommended I take Vitex. After my first appointment it took her a few weeks to get back to me to give me the Vitex and other stuff she recommended. In the meantime, I got impatient and took myself to a natural health shop and bought Nature's Own Vitex 1000 (Vitex agnus-castus extract equiv. to dry fruit flesh 1000mg). There were 3 or 4 different kinds in the shop - all different strengths. I asked the guy in the shop if more was better and he said "not necessarily" (very helpful!!). Anyway, he suggested that you should take it in the morning before food and that some people go for the 1000mg rather than the 500mg because you can take it all at once, instead of twice a day. Anyway, I bought it.
On the 6th day after taking it, I got a bleed after a 65 day cycle. My temps don't show any ovulation though. The bleed lasted 1 day, then I got some spotting. I don't know if this has anything to do with the Vitex or not!!
anyway, a few weeks later, the naturopath finally got back to me and recommended that I take Floridis Premular (extracts equiv. to dry vitex agnus-castus fruit 180g). She told me that this is the kind of Vitex that is often prescribed quite routinely by doctors in Germany for PMS and other menstrual symptoms. So I started taking that instead. Anyway - this cycle my charts are still quite confusing but there has been a temperature shift, indicating that I did ovulate, possibly one day (or maybe 9 days?!?!) after starting to take this new kind of Vitex. As I understand it vitex needs 3 - 6 months to build up in your system so I feel like I'm seeing some changes in the right direction, but hope things will continue to become more regular.
I'm not sure if "more is better" or not! I felt a bit nauseous after starting the first kind of Vitex, for about 5 days but then it went away.
It would be a good idea to check out whether Vitex and Metformin are okay to take together - I'm sure I've seen other threads on this forum about it.
Do you take it every day or just certain cycle days?
I found a site that had different "recipes" if you will, selections of herbs and supplements to be taken at different times through cycles. http://womens-place.com/ttc/vitex.php Was wondering if there is any merit to that ... like CD1-O, 5-End of cycle/bfp, and it says for CD1-O, take 2 in am, 2 in pm ... then further down the page says 2-3 is a useful dose ... arrgghh, confusing!
If one site can offer that much variance, I imagine if I went to see 2 naturopaths I would get similar results!
Hi Leah - I'm taking Vitex every day. The website you posted the link to certainly presents a demanding schedule! I'm not TTC at the mo - just trying to get regular & balance hormones. Maybe they recommend stopping Vitex at ovulation in case you get pregnant - this might be because it hasn't been tested for safety on the foetus. However, as I understand it, it might be better to take it every day because it builds up in your system, gathering momentum until everything's working properly - I think that's why they say it takes 3-6 months to work. As I said before - I'm no expert, though - probably a good idea to ask a naturopath/herbalist about the safety of taking Vitex in early pregnancy, if that's your plan.
I too find the world of herbal medicine a bit confusing. There isn't as much of the same kind of scientific testing done on herbal medicines as there is on pharmaceuticals, so maybe it's difficult to provide more absolute guidelines.
There does seem to have been a fair bit of research done on Vitex, though, and there seems to be not much evidence of it having harmful effects. There is also some good quality evidence that it can be helpful in reducing PMS, which would suggest that it can help to balance hormones. I'm going to keep going with it for a while longer yet and see what happens!
New to Vitex 
I am on vitex and I take it everyday. It can take a while to work so you need to take it everyday until you O. I take 1200 mg about to go up to 1600. Hope this helps 
