EPO Question

[Lauren31]

I am 36 weeks and 4 days pregnant. How much EPO should I be taking? I can only find Evening Primrose Oil in the capsule form. Can I take it by mouth? I thought most people put it directly on their cervix? So confused.

[mkpgoddess]

You might be starting a little soon, perhaps consider waiting another week or so? I started mine after my doctor confirmed that my cervix was beginning to dilate. I agreed to an internal exam around 37.5 weeks because they were wanting to induce me at 39 weeks and I wanted to avoid induction. Hopefully your cervix isn't doing anything quite yet!

As for amounts, I was taking two 500 mgs orally in the am and two 500 mgs vaginally at night. It's the vaginal that actually does anything, but the oral serves as a back up, reinforcing what the EPO is doing overnight vaginally. You'll want to puncture the capsules with a sharp knife and then insert them as close to the cervix as possible. The capsule part will eventually either fall out or dissolve. You'll want to wear a pad because it is messy.

GL to you!

Samantha

[mrsfrenchy]

I agree with the dosage that the PP recommended, but I wouldn't wait. My mw recommended that I start at 35 or 36 weeks. All EPO does is start to thin and efface your cervix, and that's ok at this point in the game. Even if it starts to dialate a bit, your baby won't come before its ready, imo. Especially not this late in pregnancy

[ellairiesmom]

crashing this thread

I started 1000 by mouth this week (36 weeks) but wanted to start vaginally next week. I wasn't sure how I know if I got the capsule far enough up? Any additional advice on that??

[Lauren31]

Originally Posted by ellairiesmom

crashing this thread

I started 1000 by mouth this week (36 weeks) but wanted to start vaginally next week. I wasn't sure how I know if I got the capsule far enough up? Any additional advice on that??

: How do I know I get it near my cervix? Can this cause problems, like yeast infections?

Thanks for your help ladies!

[mrsfrenchy]

Originally Posted by Lauren31

: How do I know I get it near my cervix? Can this cause problems, like yeast infections?

Thanks for your help ladies!

Well, if you know how to find your cervix (you can google this) then you could feel for it first and then put the capsules in. My cervix is still too high for me to reach, so I just put it in as far as I can reach. lol. I can reach the furthest by squatting, other people say putting one foot up on the toliet seat is a good way to reach.

I haven't heard of any issues like yeast infections and EPO is commonly used for 'feminine health' so I would think not. But I'm not 100% on that.

[akat]

My doula, who is almost finished with her homebirth midwife apprenticeship, so very knowledgeable, said they don't have to be touching my cervix, and that they'll sort of move themselves around anyway. She said use 4. Every single brand at the store was 500 mg.

She didn't mention puncturing - she seemed to be saying it would just dissolve.

And she said wear a pad b/c a lot of the oil will leak out.

[ellairiesmom]

I found the Efamol brand in 1000mg capsules at Whole Foods.

[GuavaGirl]

Just curious. How does anyone know that the oil taken orally doesn't do anything and that it actually does anything at all, vaginally?

[Astraia]

From what I understand, there's prostaglandins in EPO - the same stuff (hormone, I think?) in semen.

They've done studies on the hormones of labour etc and they know prostaglandins are useful for cervical ripening- in fact, if you go in to be induced and they put a gel on your cervix to help you dilate and efface, it's a prostaglandin gel. I don't have links or info on the studies, but I know they've been done- for sure for sure.


And in fact, the prostaglandins in semen are more effective if taken orally than vaginally. So if you really want to have that baby, you just give your DH a lot of oral sex instead of doing the deed like everyone tells you to


For dosages- I started at 1 orally at 36 weeks, added a second oral dose by 36.5, and then started using 1 vaginally at 37 weeks. By 39-ish weeks I was taking 3 orally and 2 vaginally before bed.

As for getting it in the right place- put it in before bed. The oil is more likely to stay up where it's supposed to be, and there's less mess. If you get up to pee within the first couple of hours of putting it in, you probably want to clamp a tissue or something between your legs when you go to the bathroom, it's pretty messy.