Hi Hj & Tempus M
I don't want to seem like I'm paranoid, but I would caution you on starting on any herbal supplements unless you are under a fully qualified naturopath and you discuss these with your OB/FS as well. I can fully acknowledge the benefits of natural supplements, but they can be very powerful, and they can start messing around with your cycle before you know it. There has been much discussion on these forums about the use of chasteberry (vitex) - it's very unclear how much you should take, and hence you should really consult a qualified naturopath for advice. If you goolge 'vitex', you will also see that the information is very unclear as to the effects of vitex on early pregnancy, with some sites saying you should stop it immediately once you become pregnant, and other sites saying you should continue on it - that doesn't make sense if you ask me. There's also a lot of anecdotal info linking vitex with early miscarriage, but the cause & effect link is unclear (i.e. whether vitex contributes to early miscarriage, or rapidly withdrawing off vitex contributes to early miscarriage). So in essence, it's all very confusing, and if I were you I wouldn't go on any of those supplements without further advice. Hj, particularly given that you're in the middle of getting a whole lot of blood tests done, it may not be a good idea to go on anything yet until they can work out what is actually going on - the vitex could really start impacting (i.e. positively or negatively) with your hormones which will just confuse the situation. I guess once the BT results come back and you have a 'diagnosis', then you might want to discuss strategies with your FS, including natural supplements. Please don't think that I'm anti natural supplements as such, because I'm not, but I've just 'been there, done that' and wasn't convinced that they were the answer for me (particularly because I need to see the scientific evidence). I also stopped taking the vitex after I had the chem preg in Oct, and that had been the month I'd started taking the vitex. I have done two rounds of acupuncture, and am totally convinced that acupuncture has helped me to fall pg this time around. I still don't know if it's viable, but will be finding out tomorrow at our first scan. And Hj, I got my BT results back from a fortnight ago (16 DPO), and my prog was apparently 49 - I will discuss this with OB tomorrow, but by the looks of it I don't have a prog deficiency as this number is quite high. So it really pays to get the tests! I'll let you know how I go.
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