I'd like to make a fertility incouraging tea...

research myself..well gee your no fun :nana: ...actually i have been trying to research but i am such an herb newb...as far as online research goes i have no idea where to look or who to trust...it seems like everyone with the info is selling the herbs. that makes me leary of trusting them yk? thanks for the input by the way ...back to the ole research grindstone *heavy melodramatic sigh*

Try this to start with: Susun Weed

She gives a bit more info in her books than she does on her website, so you might want to pick up a copy of her "Herbal for the Childbearing Year." I will try to find some other links for you, but at least this will give you a start. And yes, I agree with MamanFrançaise - you really need to do your own research to find out what will work for you. If you have any specific questions, we will try to help you out. Are you charting? That is one of the best things you can do, and it will help you figure out where you may need some help, and then try to find an herbal remedy for that specific thing.

Good luck!

Selissa, I had several excellent herbals, but they were all lost in our last move. I suggest going to a "whole foods" market if you have one nearby. They have an excellent selection of herbal books that you can look at before you buy... or even before you go looking for them on amazon.com.

Hi Selissa,

I got kind of caught up on the herbal bandwagon recently reading around here and elsewhere. On some of the ttc sites it seems like everybody is on vitex, for example. I bought some of that, red clover, nettles, etc... I am definitely more of a scientific-minded kind of girl and wary of taking herbs, but I got into this funk of "I have to be pregnant...NOW!"

But I haven't used any of them yet, because as I've done more reading, I realized that each of these is for specific problems. None is a general panacea for fertility. For example, red clover has phytoestrogens and isoflavones (like soy does). Apparently it is used if you have symptoms of low estrogen.

Vitex, from what I understand, is best for women with luteal phase defects, and especially for the fertility issue that a lot of nursing women can have--lower than normal progesterone with normal to mildly elevated prolactin levels. It definitely seems to be a drug to me from all I've read, and after researching I actually feel too nervous to self-prescribe it. Apparently effects can vary depending on how much you take, what time of day, and how much is taken. If I have trouble conceiving I will probably try to find an herbalist before I would take it. But that is just me.

I thought red raspberry was mainly for late pregnancy? It's a uterine tonic. The book I have says that it has not been shown to affect the non-pregnant uterus.

I recommend the book "Women, Hormones and the Menstrual Cycle" by Trickey. It's quite a big book, and discusses many different herbs and their uses for different issues related to fertility, cycle problems, menopause, PMS, etc. It seems to be very well-researched and has citations for all of the information given. I haven't read Susun Weed's book.

I recommend the Well Pregnancy Book.

On specific herbs,

Nettles are full of nutrients, and trace minerals. They can boost fertility by correcting nutritional defects (which the are becoming more widespread because of standard diet and agribusiness practices), same with alfa.

Red Clover is a terrific fertility booster.

Red Rasberry is actually recommended for all times in a woman's cycle as it improves uterine tone, and can diminish period cramps and in some women help with PMS. No truth as far as my research has come up that it brings on your period.

Vitex, is a hormone balancer and can be taken throughout the cycle. It doesn't boost either progesterone or estrogen directly but brings them into balance. Some women take it for anovulatory cycles and some for Luteal Phase defect. Someone on this board had an experience with delayed Oing, but that's the only place I've heard that.

Before my m/cs I was taking a mixed tea of nettles, and red clover. I'm trying to get started again, but I'm having a hard time remembering to do it.