Clarify Preseed for me, or other ways to up CM

[babygrey]

okay, so I know this is a sometimes debated question and I was wondering if someone could help me out with what the correct answer is-

Does Preseed HELP when TTC'ing or does it just not hurt?

(as in, I have a no-fertile-CM issue and I'm wondering if Preseed would help that issue or if it is only basically a better alternative to other lubes that kill sperm- like, if you were going to use lube anyway, you should pick Preseed (we currently don't use any lube)

Also, I know there are TONS of suggests on the forum re: increasing CM... what have you found works for you?

This cycle I'm doing EPO, Mucinex, baby asprin and water like it is going out of style . That combo hasn't helped me before, so I'm looking to add to it...

[bella99]

I don't have much advice although Preseed does advertise that it helps and doesn't just not hurt. We used it this past cycle and got pregnant but I'm not sure that's proof of anything.

I think that their advertising basically suggests that without ewcm of your own, the PH inside of your vagina is probably still hostile to sperm, and the Preseed will help. But I have also heard that whether you have ewcm or not, the PH inside your vagina is still changing to accomodate sperm and your natural lubrication should be fine.

EPO made me feel AWFUL, nausea, stomach pain, etc. I thought I had the stomach flu until I figured out it was the EPO.

Mucinex/Robitussin never helped me either.

Sorry not to be of any help.

[karmab]

grapefruit juice and baby carrots. green tea. i dont think baby aspririn works for cm. if i have a next month, im trying cranberry juice, because i had my best cm to date when i had a uti- granted i was drinking a ton, but i was this cycle too (but not cranberry) and didnt have the same effect.

when i looked at preseed's website, i pretty much dismissed it, because it says it is only a vag lube, a sub for arousal fluid, not cm. but you may be right in that the vag pH is hostile to sperm, preseed pH isnt, so maybe sperm can survive a little longer in a vag coated with preseed. a lot of women swear by it, but you do have to wonder if they got their bfp just because it was there month, with or without preseed, or whatever else.

[Blanca78]

I always thought it was more of a not-hurting thing--it can't replace CM, it just doesn't kill sperm.

I've been taking B6 and seemed to have noticed an increase in EWCM, but it's only been a cycle and a half so I can't say for sure.

[Lousli]

On earlypregnancytests.com, they have a product designed to help with cm. I haven't taken it, but was thinking about it for next cycle if my cm doesn't increase in the next few days. The reviews are pretty good, although one review said that the main ingredient is l-arginine and it is cheaper just to buy a supplement of l-arginine at the drugstore. I don't know how much the other ingredients in it help. It might be worth looking into.

[Stevi]

I have used Mucinex in the past, but I think the biggest help is a lot of water and avoid caffeine (caffeine dehydrates). I have also used Preseed, and I do believe it is helpful. I think it is supposed to not only be sperm friendly, but also contain some sort of nutirents that are beneficial for sperm. Since I can make my own EWCM, I no longer use Preseed.

[karmab]

arabinogalactan- it's a plant sugar, and they say something on the website about antioxidant support of sperm. i think pre-seed cant hurt. on the med page of the website there are a bunch of studies- none of them say it improves conception rates, but it doesnt hurt them like other lubes do. if you've got dryness and not much fertile mucous to get beyond the cervix, it might help just a tiny bit to maximize that 2 hour or so lifespan of sperm in the vag, and would be the only lube i'd want to use if i needed it for dryness.

[~Adorkable~]

Posted from another thread that was around a while ago, this topic is very cyclic on MDC
(edited from where I copied it, cause I got misunderstood before and did not mean too )

I really feel people think it can do a lot more than it can. And yes I believe it also can have a down side.

this is what i personal do to help with my ewcm issues:

-tons of water
-loads of epo from af till o, i personally needed to take about 3900 and for months before it started working
-green tea, i used a extract pills, since that seemed like more than i could get elsewhere
-Guaifenesin 600mg extended release , taken as per instructions for about 4 days before O and one day after to be sure
-tons of water!
the thread is here:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1126958

as others have talked about, i strongly think many women are under a false impression that pre seed does more then it really does, when in fact it can be more harmful than nothing depending on the personal circumstances.

best thing is to figure out what your needs are with your own body and cycle, based on what is normal and or needed for a successful cycle and look at it from there.

What folks need to remember about PreSeeed though, and this is a important thing most are not clear about, is its just a "vaginal" lube.
PreSeed is just a sperm safe lube for the vaginal area, it is a replacement for the lubricating qualities of EWCM and arousal fluid to reduce friction, if you need it.
It does not go into the cervix in any way, so it is not a replacement for the functions of ewcm in there. Without the fertile fluid in the cervix opening, sperm do not get through, most non fertile mucus acts like a plug to keep you clean.
This is why EPO and possibly some types of green tea (to increase) and Guaifenesin and water (to loosen) are used. It is kinda like 3 parts to a puzzle, neither replaces the other.
PreSeed should not be used for instance if you make plenty of arousal fluid and would not normally need lube that night. It helps only by it's lack of harm, you are still better off correcting the issue from the inside.




you are going to get a handful that said it did nothing for them, when that may or may not be the case (bottom line they sadly did not get preggo)
and you will find a group of girls that say it was just the ticket to their long awaited BFP. without having some scientific controls in the cycle, we will never know what worked for them.

I feel the use of preeseed can hurt in two ways, one much more than the other in reality.

When ladies use it because they feel dry, they often are hiding or getting around a real lack of ewcm rather than addressing it. They often think that if they are comfy then they are good to go for ttc. The pre seed website happily let's folks think this IMHO. So if aclady has "hostile cm" as it is referred to and only uses preeseed to " fix it" then she is harming her chances greatly. Since she has fixed nothing in the actual plumbing.

Now if the quality of the ewcm up at the cervix is good or being addresses via internal healthy ways and a lady finds it's quanity lacking or lacks the arousal fluid needed to comfortably start, then preeseed can be very very helpful.

Heres my situation over the years...
I used to always need lube. Long before taking and in the beginning, I used very non sperm friendly types.
After learning superficially about ewcm and the dangers of lube I switched to preseed. I figured that thankfully I had delt with the issue.
It wasn't till later when I read about the role ewcm plays in the cervix that I realized that i had only masked the problem.
I then worked hard and still do on correcting my body from the inside ( mostly with water , epos and green tea extract, the guafennision is a last resort)
What I have found in the end is that durning my fertile times I now rarely need lube. Yes at time I need it to "get me started" but that takes just a tad. The non fertile times I still often need some, but am also not worried about that.


The other way it can hurt is because it is not your own ewcm and can't be as a foreign substance be at perfectly good, so when I hear ladies who have plenty of ewcm use it "just in case" or cause "every little bit helps" or because "it's cant hurt, right?"
They need to understand that they are diluting your natural fluids with a man made pretend version of them, so yes it's "sperm safe" but it's not the same, just close. Good real is still better.
good luck and may you have a bundle of joy soon.

[writteninkursive]

Preseed worked *great* for DH & I. We needed some sort of lube, and first round, we just used a regular kind but I didn't get pregnant. We promptly got Preseed and got pregnant immediately.

Also, if you take one dose of Mucinex the day you have sex, it will lube you up really good. Eggwhitey. It does make all your body's mucus smell a little... odd. Not horrible, just weird. But it will make all your mucus goopey and good for conception.