vitex/progesterone question

[christinespurlock]

I'd love to get some guidence on this...
So my last two times trying I was taking titex. Got pregnant right away, and as you can see from my siggy I lost both babies. Both died at 7w5d according to u/s. I stopped taking vitex right after I got a bfp. With the 2nd one we saw a heartbeat and all looked fine at 7w but I had spotting.

So I need to do something different here. I was thinking of taking vitex for the full first tri. Or vitex until bfp and then switch over to progesterone cream. Or just progesterone cream after I O. I know you would need to know my whole story to really say what to do, I'd just like to know what you normally lean towards. I've actually been pretty healthy my whole life (I'm 31) and these losses, especially the first, were hard to accept.

[pamamidwife]

you can have your levels checked, but I'd do the vitex (because it helps with the follicle stimulating hormone involved in getting the egg ripe and then the lutenizing hormone to help sustain the pregnancy), but I'd also add progesterone (but not cream, I don't think it's nearly as effective) when you get the positive.

[christinespurlock]

thank you so much. One question when you say not cream, do you mean take it orally as a pill?
thanks
Christine

[pamamidwife]

I mean use it in a tincture (like Wild Yam) instead of a cream. I'm not sold on the research re: topical creams and their absorption into our bodies. You could also ask your provider to prescribe a synthetic progesterone to help with your levels until about week 12.

[mwherbs]

creams that are over the counter that say progesterone in the ingredients list - is pharmaceutical grade progesterone and can be sold because it is unregulated in topical form- so you could get a decent amount of progesterone from that type of cream and can be absorbed fairly well
wild yam tincture on the other hand is just a relaxant / anti-spasmotic and has no progesterone content at all-- because oral progesterone is regulated and is RX only. so if you are not going to go to a provider that has RX ability and willing to write one- then keep up with the vitex and using topical is a reasonable solution-- I think that there is atleast one article on using vitex for pregnancy---I'll have to re-find it

[pamamidwife]

this is interesting, mwherbs - very much contrary to what I've been taught in herbal classes. thanks!

[christinespurlock]

Originally Posted by mwherbs

creams that are over the counter that say progesterone in the ingredients list - is pharmaceutical grade progesterone and can be sold because it is unregulated in topical form- so you could get a decent amount of progesterone from that type of cream and can be absorbed fairly well
wild yam tincture on the other hand is just a relaxant / anti-spasmotic and has no progesterone content at all-- because oral progesterone is regulated and is RX only. so if you are not going to go to a provider that has RX ability and willing to write one- then keep up with the vitex and using topical is a reasonable solution-- I think that there is atleast one article on using vitex for pregnancy---I'll have to re-find it

Thank you so much, and I'd love to read that artical on vitex. Today I went to an herbalist and at the very beginning she said she knew very little about vitex.-not much help.

[Galatea]

subbing to find out about the vitex

[mom of B]

I also took Vitex to get pg. I had 5 1st trimester miscarriages, between 1week and 8 weeks. The 6th time I stayed on it until the end of the 1st trimester, and it must have helped LO hang in there, he is 2 months old now. I would have tried it alot sooner if I had known.