ZigZag,

Hi, I have done both - DHEA and a low GI diet. My thoughts on both are:

DHEA: I had a BFP last Christmas after being on DHEA for 3 months but sadly mc at 8 weeks. I'm skeptical about the benefits of DHEA as there is no real evidence that it does help. It made me very irritable and I couldn't wait to get off it. I also took Clexane for the first time with my last cycle and believe that helped, as well as antibiotics (I only have one tube due to endometriosis) so I can't really say whether the DHEA made the difference or not. I always get low egg numbers (usually about 6) and have always been able to go through to a blastocyst transfer, usually only one. I have just come off DHEA again after being on it for 5 months and had two blasties transferred last Monday with one to freeze. Both the quality of the blasties and the number were better than our last cycle so we are really praying for another BFP.

LOW GI DIET: Anyway, my FS believes DHEA has had a big help with my egg quality but I've done a lot of work with a traditional chinese medicine doc this year, with weekly acupuncture and daily herbs, and I believe that had a bigger impact on my results this time. My diet has been: no alcohol, no coffee, no sugar, no wheat, no dairy and no yeast. It was tough, and I've spent a lot of time preparing food but I can tell you I have noticed a huge difference in my health this year and my temp. charts improved drastically. This is the first year I haven't had a flu in I can't tell you how long. My charts were all over the place and now I am getting very clear rises with nice high temps in the second cycle. The biggest difference with the diet was eating complex carbs and protein for breakfast and lunch and making lunch the main meal of your day with a small dinner at night (no complex carbs) - this reduced my sugar cravings completely. From what I've read sugar interferes with insulin production which can wreak havoc on your hormone production. It hasn't been easy to cut all sugar out but I believe it really has worked for me whether I get a BFP or not. Exercise can also help improve your hormones and I tried to do a brisk walk as often as I could and have done one every day since the egg collection.

I guess if you try both you are covering your bases but I won't be taking DHEA again as it really doesn't agree with me (contrary to what FS thinks). The diet is hard work but worth it (it helps to have the huge motivating factor of wanting a baby!). I did loose weight along the way, it wasn't my intention but I guess inevitable. I don't think you would have to do such an extreme diet as I did as it depends on what your body is doing but low GI is definitely worth a go - so much better for everyone.

All the best of luck to you - I hope your BFP is close!

Alice x

Blossom - good luck with your next cycle!