Tags
Co Enzyme Q10, DHEA, herbs, Infertility, Melantonin, Myo Inositol, Vitamin D
Well, I said at the beginning of this that I would share everything, so I may as well share what I’m up to now. But first a disclaimer – I know you’re not supposed to take medicine that isn’t prescribed to you (even herbs). My RE specifically told me not to take certain medicines and herbs (In fact she said the people that did were “Desperate people grasping at straws”). I am, at this point, knowingly and willingly choosing to ignore all that advice. I am also (without a doubt) a desperate person. And so.
S and I have decided to change clinics. We’re exploring the options but CCRM http://www.colocrm.com/ keeps rising to the top. After a little bit of searching I was able to unearth the “female cocktail” that Dr. Schoolcraft (from CCRM) prescribes to his DOR patients. I found a lady a year older then me with similar AMH and FSH numbers and I am going to follow her protocol – after all, the longer you’re on the herbs the better they’re supposed to work (to a point). So as of yesterday I’m taking…
2g Myo Inositol 2x/day, 200mg Co Enzyme 10 2x/day, 3mg Folic acid, 25mg DHEA 3x/day, 3g Melatonin at bedtime and Vitamin D every other day. This is in addition to the preNatal vitamins and B-12 supplements I was already taking. *I got everything on Amazon but checked out what brands were best. Important to get MYO-inositol, and micronized DHEA (from what I’ve read, but I am not an authority).
Some of the journal articles about these meds are linked below.
Effect of the treatment with myo-inositol plus folic acid plus melatonin in comparison with a treatment with myo-inositol plus folic acid on oocyte quality and pregnancy outcome in IVF cycles. A prospective, clinical trialhttp://www.europeanreview.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/780.pdf
List of publications about MI, FA and Melatonin (and Inofolic, which is a premix combo of these things) http://www.inofolic.it/drupal/?q=en/node/45
From the folks who began using DHEA for infertility http://www.centerforhumanreprod.com/dhea.html
And some warnings http://journals.lww.com/co-obgyn/Abstract/2012/06000/Does_dehydroepiandrosterone_have_any_benefit_in.4.aspx http://www.advancedfertility.com/blog/coenzyme-q10-and-fertility/
Maybe there’s something to it, maybe there’s not. But it’s better then doing nothing. And the Melatonin sure helps me sleep!
Hope is something you pee on 
Just saw this. So glad you are doing DHEA and co q 10. Keep human growth hormone in mind if you do more IVF
Hi Erin! Do you need a prescription for human growth hormone? It sounds kind of intense so I imagine you do! My current RE is anti-everything, but I’ll ask my future RE about it! Thank you!
I don’t know if you’ll see this comment at this point…but I wanted to encourage you that the supplements really can make a difference. During our first IVF cycle (no supplements but large doses of hormones), I had 6 eggs retrieved and only 2 were mature. (1 fertilized…we got pregnant and miscarried at 9 weeks). At our follow-up, our doctor recommended we start taking Co Q 10 and DHEA. And he wanted me on them for 3 months before we did another round. I started with 200mg of CoQ10 2x/day and 25mg of DHEA 3x/day. I had to cut back on the DHEA. It made my skin so oily and gave me horrible acne.
Anyway, we started our second IVF cycle at the beginning of November. My estrogen levels were consistently higher, more follicles at each screening and at ER, they got 20 eggs, ALL were mature and 19 fertilized. And our embryo quality was so much better. All that to say, I know I’m only one person, but I couldn’t believe the difference in results. (For what it’s worth, I just turned 36).
Hi Jimi, thanks for sharing your story! I hope things work out as well for me as they did for you! If I may ask, what was your diagnosis?
My diagnosis is unexplained. No major problems that they’ve been able to identify, but I’m not sure my clinic does as thorough testing as elsewhere. My amh was low, but not super low. They didn’t test it again after taking the supplements, but I assume it went up. I hope that you have great success with supplements, wherever you end up this next cycle.
I’m going to try this for my next round. Do you know when you should stop taking them per treatment?
Hi! Thanks for all of your kind words on this and other posts, and best of luck to you! You’re supposed to stop taking the supplements when you start stimming (except for the totally approved stuff like prenatals and folic etc.).
I know this comment is several years old, but wow I really wish I would’ve come across this when I first went to do IVF. 😦 I too had just turned 36 (literally the day before I had my IVF consult). I went to CCRM. My AMH was 1.0, FSH was 8.7. The doctor I saw (Dr. Gustofson) said that I would need to commit upfront to doing 3 cycles. We were traveling to CCRM, so I did not want to have to commit to doing 3 cycles with no guarantee of anything working, so I said I would just try donor eggs then, because I only wanted to do it once. He did try to talk me out of it, but at no point did he give me hope that my chances of success were that great. So we spent $40k on a frozen donor egg cycle and got 1 embryo from it. I have ALWAYS ALWAYS regretted that I never even tried with my own eggs.