Vitex and other fertility boosters

[citygirl144]

Hi - we are going to start TTC as soon as we nail down a donor, and I have read in the Brill book that Vitex is a powerful fertility herb. However, some quick web research made it sound like something you should take only after you've experienced infertility- this is our first go and so we have no idea if we are fertile or not. Has anyone taken Vitex before knowing if they were fertile or not? Could it have a negative effect if you don't need it? Any advice on dosage and how long to take it before starting to TTC?
Also, if anyone has experience with the fertility tea you can buy from the Maia Midwifery clinic or any other natural fertility boosters, please let us know! We want to give this our best shot but also don't want to spend money unnecessarily.
thanks so much,
liz

[lisa_nc]

Hope you don't mind me posting in here and that I can be of some help!

I took fertilitea and fertilaid after we lost our son and got pregnant the first month using it. It's got vitex in it. I am normally a very fertile person. I am not sorry I did it. Especially since you sound as if you are going to be using donor sperm, I would want to do everything I could to up my chances. In our case, my husband was leaving for a year and we had decided that if I didn't get pregnant again before he left, we were done. So I did whatever I could to stack the deck in our favor.

I chose the blends I did, even though it was more expensive than buying things individually, because I liked the convenience of having it done for me. I took three capsules a day and drank three cups of tea. I've read it can take three months to work effectively, but I noticed an immediate change in CM, an elimination of mid cycle spotting, more stable temperatures, and my ovulation date moved from a very steady 21-24 cycle days to day 16.

Good luck!

[Raene]

I took Vitex b/c I had to use a donor's sperm and I wanted to make sure and get pregnant as soon as I could.

It's great stuff. I got pregnant right away (first try). It supposedly also helps keep you from miscarrying too, so you can take it after you find out you are pregnant too.

I wouldn't hesitate to use it.

[Layenie]

Thank you for this thread! I am having some odd spikes in my BBT this month that I didn't have last month. I want to do everything I can to boost my fertility, so I just ordered some fertilitea. Last month's chart was totally textbook but I don't want to sit back on my haunches when I can be doing something to help myself!