PCOS & TTC, what is your supplement regimine? Anyone taking d-chiro-inositol? or..??

[Crunchyandsweet]

I am trying to figure out how to avoid taking metformin because I am eternally sick on it I just started taking DCI ( D-CHIRO-INOSITOL) and have read many great things with PCOS'ers taking it. Our ultimate goal is and has been trying to conceive. SO I would love to her some fellow POCS'ers about what their supplement regimine looks like? Anyone have experience with DCI? or EPO ( I have heard it will lengthen your cycle and I dont need that..to say the least I barely have 2 periods a year: ) What about DHEA?

[skillet04]

Not sure how much I can help that you probably haven't already read about:

Low carb way of eating. no metformin needed if don't ingest too many carbs/starches, sugars, etc.

vinegar can act as a metformin...use before meals
cinnamon can help with blood sugar levels

soy on cd5-9 is suppose to be like clomid

natural progesterone cream on 3dpo-15dpo...test if bfp, stay on the cream, if bfn, stop the cream to get af and start over....if you don't ovulate someone told me to use the cream on cd14-28, count the 1st day off the cream as cd1 and start over...she only had to do this once and got pregnant.

lydia pinkham - can be bought at walgreens in the menopause supplements aisle....I know a lady who used it everyday for 45 days and conceived

dong quai - use first 2 weeks only of cycle while TTC

hth and looking forward to others tips

[kristenok18]

I think I just read that women who have pcos can actually have too much dhea, so avoid that as a supplement.

I'm doing the no grains/low-sugar diet, exercising, taking metformin with prenatal vitamins, b6, folic acid, and iron supplements. I'm also drinking decaf green tea. I was taking clomid, but me dr wants me to wait a while to give the metformin a chance to work and for the cysts to subside a bit.

[Earthly_Joys]

I'm very new to the treatment of PCOS. I take 500 mg of metformin a day. I've been doing that since January 5th I believe. I have not seen one bit of a difference except my last period was relatively short compared to what they normally are (8 days last period, normally weeks). I had a bunch of lab tests done and one came back saying my DHEA level was high. My OBGYN explained that it was high due to me having PCOS. So I'm not sure about taking that as a supplement unless you have hair loss.

[mommycakes]

:

I posted about this the other day with no response (I posted in TTC though).

Does anyone take Vitex? I've been reading about it but am unsure of dosage.

[kristenok18]

I haven't taken it yet. I started researching it right before my dr decided to put me on clomid. I didn't want any drug interactions, so I decided to leave it alone for now. Everything I've read about it, it didn't seem to apply to my situation. At the time, I suspected I had pcos but my dr kept telling me I didn't. I just felt that with my cycles as scattered as they were, and with me only ovulating one out of 3 or 4 cycles, I didn't think vitex would help.

If you have pcos, there are SO many hormone connections involved that it would be good to get some tests done to make sure any herbs you are taking aren't exaggerating the imbalances.

[skillet04]

at the soulcyster forums, I read that vitex helps give an LH surge...but I have had my LH:FSH ratio tested and my LH ratio is elevated and the FSH low to normal...so I try to avoid the vitex, as the previous poster said, if that hormone is already high, I don't need a boost. But that is just my labs, I know other pcos gals who are opposite of me (high FSH and low LH).

hth,

[barose]

Besides diet and exercise (not as simple as it sounds) I take B-Vitamins, extra folic acid, Vitex, cinnamon, cayenne, raw apple cider vinegar before meals (at least 2x day). I also recently started taking and herbal blend that has vitex, false unicorn, ladies mantle, etc. My problem is late ovulation or lack of. I've been ovulating on a regular basis for the past three cycles, but this cycle is something wrong.

[Teakafrog]

I've tried just about every herb out there, and nothing ever helped. I finally got pg after cutting out all sugars/refined carbs and exercising. It sucked, but I lost about 20lbs, and did get pg. I was on metfomin at the time, but had been on it for several years before that. Only losing weight helped for me.

[gilleoin]

I used to take a regimin of like 20some pills(Herbals) and it worked to concieve ds2 (after doc told us we'd need help doing so).

I've switched over to a mixed "womens' reproductive dietary supplement" pill that has many of the herbs I was taking individually all-in-one, along with metformin and l-tyrosine (for thyroid), green tea, and a b-complex, multi-vite, and calcium w/d and magnesium. It's still a lot, but hoping it works *fingers crossed*

I just ordered a new basal thermometor and ov strips, so going to chart myself to see if I get back to ovulating

ETA: I wouldn't add DHEA to your supps. as it helps with testosterone problems (found this out while researching testosterone issues in males)

[Stayseeliz]

Have you tried the extended release version of metformin? I can't take the regular but I'm on 1500mg of metformin ER and I am 8 1/2 weeks pg after trying for almost a year!

[felicia24]

supplements recommended to me for PCOS

I am seeing an acupuncturist while ttc #2 and she recommended the following for helping PCOS without use of Metformin:

- diet of no carbs/sugar, adding beans and dark red and blue berries
- exercise
- she recommended the book The Fat Resistant Diet by Leo Galland, as it directly addresses leptin levels and a lot of new research in infertility is pointing to leptin levels as the possible cause
- 2 tbsp of ground flax seeds a day, as she states it helps level out testosterone levels
- high quality fish oil supplement daily
- Vitex (chasteberry) in liquid form daily
- Alfpha Lipoic Acid/100mg's - 1-2 pills/day (I can't remember why any more, but I think it helps with inflamation, which is the key to Leo Galland's book and leptin levels, etc.)

She also believes acupuncture is very helpful. She said she had one client who NEVER had a period in her life, and after a month or so of acupuncture got her first period. We used acupuncture on our 4th IVF and conceived our daughter, so I am repeating it with this cycle. There are more and more studies coming out about it with positive reviews.

Hope that helps!

[leerypolyp]

Earthly_Joys, the standard minimum effective dose of metformin for PCOS is 1500 mg/day. I wouldn't expect to see much change at 500 mg/day, unless you're very sensitive to it.

Wait, Crunchyandsweet, so where does one get d-chiro-inositol? I remember several years back, before I started metformin, it seemed very promising, but nobody was making it for some reason? Is it now available? I want some!

[Crunchyandsweet]

link for DCI

http://www.chiralbalance.com/

This is the only place I have found and have been very pleased with it...

[Crunchyandsweet]

Originally Posted by felicia24

She also believes acupuncture is very helpful. She said she had one client who NEVER had a period in her life, and after a month or so of acupuncture got her first period. We used acupuncture on our 4th IVF and conceived our daughter, so I am repeating it with this cycle. There are more and more studies coming out about it with positive reviews.

so when looking for an accupuncturist do you specifically ask if they treat PCOS? How do I find someone that actually knows what they are doing?

[Crunchyandsweet]

Originally Posted by Stayseeliz

Have you tried the extended release version of metformin? I can't take the regular but I'm on 1500mg of metformin ER and I am 8 1/2 weeks pg after trying for almost a year!

Just this month I got the ER MET so I need to try it....did it make a difference for you?

[bobandjess99]

ER met is likely to make a HUGE difference.


Take your dosage at night, right before bed. You will *likely* not have any noticeable effects.

Also,
Has your thyroid level been SCRUTINIZED? It is NOT good enough for it to be in the "normal" range. It HAS to be at the very low end of normal for some women (including myself ) to conceive. So i would check your nimbers there. I wasted YEARS...yes, YEARS on metformin (to which i have SEVERE nasty side effects), and dozens of other "natural" things, including everything listed here except the accupuncture(serious needle phobia....doesnt matter if it doesnt hurt..) and had no luck.....(although the met did help me achieve regularish cycles) DAYS, literally DAYS after starting the thyroid medicine for my "normal" thyroid, I conceived dd.

Obviously, this might not work for you, but i had to throw it out there.....

How long were you on the met? at what dosage? How were you eating? how long did you take to increase the dosage...dod you try going VERY gradually? did met EVER help you achieve more normal cycles? how about weight loss? low carb diet?

[leerypolyp]

Thanks for the link!

[Crunchyandsweet]

Originally Posted by bobandjess99

Has your thyroid level been SCRUTINIZED? It is NOT good enough for it to be in the "normal" range. It HAS to be at the very low end of normal for some women (including myself ) to conceive. So i would check your nimbers there?

So what do I do to push for the numbers to be scrutinized?

[Moonprysm]

Originally Posted by Crunchyandsweet

So what do I do to push for the numbers to be scrutinized?

Yeah that! I've been told that my thyroid may still be the cause of my low milk supply even though I had it checked and was told it was "normal". We hope to TTC soon so this will help too!