# 1/2 bottle wine week reduces IVF chances



## summersunshine

Today's BBC website on "link" between IVF sucess and alchohol stating:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8315724.stm

"If both partners drink six units a week - equivalent to half a bottle of wine each - their chance of a live birth is cut by a quarter."

But it also stated:

"...couples in the study had fertility problems, so there might be other reasons why alcohol affects their chances of a live birth."

Confused by the second statement!  Anyone know where to get access to the report presented at the fertility conference?


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## swhattie

Iv just read this also - I can appreciate that drinking like a fish will probably not be beneficial but half a bottle of wine?? They'll have research soon that tells that that breathing will affect our chances also!


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## summersunshine

I know! Next it will be you can't go outside or watch tv, never stuff like give up housework or something boring we would like to give up  

Probably a rubbish study anyway that BBC has picked up for it's grabbing headline! Was interested in the detail though, if it was a cause or just a collaboration (i.e. people who continue to drink normally during IVF might also continue with stressful job, high intensity activities etc or if the woman doesn't drink but the cause of the fertility is MF). Confusing myself now  

P.S. Good luck with Ant & Dec socialchameleon (never thought of naming embies!  )


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## swhattie

Cheers hun!! Iv always named my embies!


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## Shortiesmith

I have had this conversation with my clinic (3 nurses, 2 embryologists and our consultant) and they have all told us that drinking does not have any harmful affects on sperm. I odn't know what their line on me drinkng is - we've never actually asked, but my partner does drink a lot when he goes out on a Saturday night. I was concerned about this and kept getting told it is not a problem unless you are getting drunk every day. I have wrestled with my thoughts on it as everywhere you look it says alcohol is a no-no for TTC, but I have to trust my clinic and their beliefs. I would rather my partner and I are both happy and relaxed than arguing over him having a drink. Like socialchameleon said - we won't be allowed to breathe soon!


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## pobby

my lovely greek Dr virtually insists on you having a glas of wine before ET and she gets great results! its codswallop!!
Red wine is good for the heart anyway!  (and im sticking to that line of belief!) 

pobby xx


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## swhattie

Pobby thats correct it is good for your heart - we should all have a glass of wine each day as part of our healthy living alongside a mars bar as one a day helps you work rest and play!


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## Sammeee

Hmmm Having also read this article, i slapped a complete booze ban on myself and my hubby (hes not best pleased) we start ivf#3 early january so u can imagine his arguements, xmas etc!! ... 
I then googled wine and ivf and found a few articles claiming "White"wine hampers the success of ivf, so it is conflicting to say the least.
We are typical of the couple in the BBC article in that we sharer a bottle at weekend, but not last night so i had a grumpy hubby !!..

I also saw my GP this week and asked her what else can we do to improve our chances (  ) we have no MF ive 1 tube and we already very fortunately have a son together, we are just knocking on a bit..lol!!
I told her i was thinking of giving up choc and wine (our only vices ) and she said she wouldnt.. and a couple of glasses of vino or bars of chocolate wont affect the outcome, she said if it helps you chill out that can only be a good thing!

I think it has to be a personal choice, and as long as ur not getting trashed everynight then why would it affect ur chances, they dont exactly elaorate on why it does or indeed what it does.

So to my hubbys releif, i have lifted the ban slightly, he can booze a little at our social events, and of course xmas should he so wish.

I would also like to add, my very healthy LO was conceived naturally, after many boozy nights out, and drinks after work, for both of us!!..

Happy drinkies X


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## summersunshine

Thanks girls, we have decided to try tee-total until the 2ww result! Not totally convinced by the tee-total (on the continent where it is more usual to drink wine with meal what do they advise/do?). If it doesn't work then next cycle we are keeping with the red at least on our Fri & Sat nights as our treat. Am hoping we feel bit healthier anyway, if not might help keep the lbs off?

So far so good but this is our first weekend - DH has pub before footy today, but has promised to only drink soft drinks   We'll see how easy it is in front of the guys!

Wonder if Harry Hill and XF are as enjoyable without the cava, red & nibbles?  

Milk & brazils it is - woo hoo, party animal   

x 

P.S. We have had no advice from our clinic, our doctor we saw when we started fertility investigations said there was nothing to do for DH sperm. However we investigated further and on the advice from zita west consultation DH has been taking supplements & modified his diet slightly. Our embryologist was very interested to hear this when we discussed his last sample - which had improved in motility and quantity.


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## maybe-if

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9712595?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_TitleSearch&linkpos=1&log$=pmtitlesearch4

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11726599?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=2&log$=relatedarticles&logdbfrom=pubmed

I personally think that if you are going to make any lifestyle changes then you should do them at least a couple of months before starting your cycle of treatment. For both my cycles (the first cycle I donated eggs and the second cycle was for myself) I quit all alcohol for three months (and it was not easy!), ate organic as much as possible, especially dairy, drank lots of water, 5 fruit/veg a day, didn't over-exercise, maintained my BMI of around 22, took fertility multivits, I don't drink tea or coffee anyway, etc, etc. Mine and my donation cycle both resulted in successful pregnancies.

DH also quit drinking completely. The only thing I didn't do was give up my chocolate/sugar addiction as I needed something to stay sane.

I sat down and figured out what would stress me out beyond belief giving up (chocolate!) and then stuck to everything else, but didn't stress if I had the odd slip up. I think being relaxed is very important as well. So I did the natal hypnotherapy cd.

I believe if you quit stuff partway through a cycle you could run the risk of throwing your body out of balance, whilst it adapts to your new lifestyle. And then you could have even less chance of getting pregnant than if you had stayed with your usual cycle. But that'#s just my theory and I have no evidence to back it up.

At the end of the day it's all down to statistics and probability. There are going to be people who get pregnant drinking. And people who get pregnant who don't drink. But there is, from the looks of the published studies.. a small number of people out there who would get pregnant only if they stopped drinking altogether. And there's no way of knowing which group you fall into. So I'd make your own decision, and then make sure you are happy with that decision.


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## Jo Macmillan

maybe-if said:


> At the end of the day it's all down to statistics and probability. There are going to be people who get pregnant drinking. And people who get pregnant who don't drink. But there is, from the looks of the published studies.. a small number of people out there who would get pregnant only if they stopped drinking altogether. And there's no way of knowing which group you fall into. So I'd make your own decision, and then make sure you are happy with that decision.


I read in a magazine interview with Zoe Ball how she and her husband had been trying for a second baby for 8 years with no success. Then both she and her husband gave up drinking completely and lo and behold she fell pregnant. Coincidence?

(I have to say I was a bit gutted when I read this though, as both DP and I enjoy our wine, but I now feel I at least need to try giving up drinking to see if it helps!!!   )


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## brownowl23

HAve to say we cut down to a glass or two a week for the first 2 months prior to tx, and the month before we cut out completely. Dh'd sample was great and 40 milllion copared to the 9 million  sozzled layabouts he got on our last IVF. He had been on a birthday ngiht out 3 dyas before our tx and although he didnt drink alot, his sperm were appauling. 

In my opinion drink does affect your chances. 

OUr last tx was just after new year so we had no drinkover xmas and new year but it was worth the sacrifice.


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## pobby

Damn! I was hoping for complete evidence that drinking wine is good for you!  
the only thing I would say about zoe and Norm (bless him) is that he wasnt just a light drinker but has actually been in rehab a couple of times so I'm not suprised that they didnt have much joy! good on them though for getting pregnant again!

pobby x


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## maybe-if

I have to admit I haven't had a drink for aaaaaaaaaaages now.  

My husband had a TESE (biopsy to find sperm) so I stopped to support him quitting drinking for three months beforehand. 

Then I still didn't drink when I donated my eggs to someone. Then I had a mad month of drinking. lol Then quit again for our icsi cycle, and then didn't drink through pregnancy and now I'm not drinking because I am breastfeeding! Cannot WAIT to have my body back again finally to be able to pour what I want into it. I even avoided cola because of the caffeine so it's J2Os or lemonade when I go out and that's about it!


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## Jo Macmillan

Maybe-if - I am very impressed! 

I have to admit I do like a drink, as does DP. He's actually what I would call quite a heavy drinker - drinks a couple of pints of cider most nights at home, then has a real skinful most weekends too. Since we got together 2 years ago I'd gotten into the habit of having a couple of glasses of wine virtually every night. I've stopped that now - I only have a couple of glasses of wine on fridays and saturdays now, but am trying to stop that too....       

Dp recently had his first SA - i was fully expecting it to be awful because of his unhealthy lifestyle (he smokes as well!), but it was a really good result.    I was going to use that as a reason to nag him to cut down. But the consultant did say that alcohol definitely does affect your chances, and that the SA is quite a crude measurement and wouldn't necessary reflect the harm the drinking was doing, so he should stop anyway. Actually, she said he should cut down to 6 units a week. He hasn't of course.     

Any ideas for nice non-alcoholic drinks that aren't too calorific? I love diet cola, but I'm trying to give up the caffiene too!!! I've started to drink apple juice diluted with sparkling mineral water instead of tea and coffee, but that's a lot of extra calories over the day!


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## Sammeee

Hiya everyone.....

Jo .. Can ur DP not switch to Kaliber or another non -alco beer just for the time being??... 
I also love a glass or 2 of vino... ive tried a few non-alco/ low alco ones and just cant find one thats any good.... they are quite expensive and taste like bad cordial. I do my best to abstain now, but it is hard sometimes, even for my DH who only has about 5 drinks a week!!..


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## maybe-if

Personally I drink lots of water, or sugar free squash if I am bored of water.

I have the odd alcohol-free Becks if I really want something that tastes like alcohol. It's the only one that tastes almost identical to the original. They do it in most supermarkets. Or I'll have appletizer or peartizer in in a wine glass if I want a treat in the evening.

For anyone who does want to give up, we found it really hard, but after 2-3 months it was easy. For the first couple of months we avoided pubs, nights out with mates involving alcohol, and even meals out were hard. But after a bit it was nice always waking up with a clear head on the weekend! And suddenly eating out became very cheap because we weren't adding a bottle of wine to the cost.

What we mostly did was go to the cinema because its a night out where you are never going to have a drink! I think we did overcompensate with popcorn and sweets though. lol


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## pixie g

I drink lots of herbal or fruit teas - i really struggle with cold drinks as my mind tells me they're boring, so hot squash etc for me ! Nice and tasty and not too calorific.

We're also gone onto decaff coffee & tea (a bit of a pain when we visit people, but we sometimes remember to take it with us), you can also get decaff diet coke believe it or not !!

Have tried the non alco wine, but found it absolutely foul...non alco Cobra beer seems OK though - that's all DH is allowed at the mo !

good luck Jo !

g


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## swhattie

Iv drink the decaff free diet coke all the time pixie g!! Its my treat!!


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