# Trying OE IVF so does anyone have anything to add to this supplement list?



## lumpy123 (Feb 22, 2013)

Hi there,

After much debate, me and the wife  have decided to try OE-IVF (instead of going straight to DE-IVF as the clinic we went to recommended.)  

My wife is turning 40 this month(why people over 21 have birthday parties I'll never know...  but anyway currently my wife is taking (daily)

75mg of dhea as recommended by the clinic.
folic acid

but as we are now going to try OE-IVF(what do doctors know!!   we are going to add the following:

Vitabiotics - Pregnacare His & Her Conception
Holland & Barrett - Coenzyme Q-10 Capsules (120mg)

Does anyone else know of any over the counter wonderdrugs that I can add to the list?

Thanks.


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## Ellie.st (Mar 11, 2005)

Hello
I would suggest having a look at the supplements which Zita West and/or Marilyn Glenville suggest (or even buying their supplements), and I would also recommend overhauling your diet according to their guidelines (even if you think you have a healthy diet already, they suggest changes specifically for IF issues).  Vitabiotics are OK but I think if you are going down the OE/IVF route at 40plus (as we did), then you should get the big guns out    and give it your best shot by investing in the best quality supplements you can afford.  

You can find info on the ZW or MG websites (just Google) and both of them have also written books on diet/supplemets/ttc/IF which I found really helpful.  It is recommended that you take the supplements for at least three months before tx and, from memory, I think this is important re CoQ10 (which ZW recommends) as it takes a while for levels of CoQ10 to build up in the body.

Good luck.     

Ellie


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## lumpy123 (Feb 22, 2013)

Thanks very much, I'll google Zita West for more info.

Cheers.


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## lumpy123 (Feb 22, 2013)

Hmm, I had a quick look at the Zita West and glenville websites.

Does anyone have any experience to say that these supplements are actually better than the Vitabiotics supplements?

Cheers.


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## Chopio (Dec 15, 2011)

Another vote here for Marilyn Glenville. After lots of research I decided to use her high strength omega 3. It has much higher levels of DHA/EPA than others on the market and a great quality record for dioxin and toxin screening. Quite pricey but Amazon regularly has it for £20/month.

I'd also recommend the NHP vitamin C. You definitely need a good quality anti-oxidant that is separate from your multivitamin and the Glenville/NHP one is great. Much easier on the stomach than the standard cheap ascorbic acid versions. When you are taking a bunch of different supplements that makes a big difference comfort/gastric protection wise.

I also took extra Solgar zinc and selenium tablets. They have less junk fillers than lots of the cheaper supplements. I got the higher strength ones and snapped them in half to save money.

Another thing I'm still taking is extra folic acid. There is a brand called Now you can find on Amazon which does a great, cheap 800mcg folic acid +B12. Cheap and  less chemical fillers than most supermarket brands.

If you want to take Q10 double check with your clinic first. It is not recommended in combination with some drugs. Also it isn't worth bothering with the tiny doses in most UK pharmacy brands as I think the only evidence is from taking 600mg daily which is blinkin expensive. Also double check the other ingredients in the capsules as some of them contain some extras that you might not want like high strength vitE or herbal extras to 'promote absorption'. I took it religiously in my last cycle when i got some great blastocysts but didn't bother this time around and my embryo numbers and quality were considerably worse. Mind you I did actually get a successful pregnancy this time and it's impossible to say if it made a difference really as my cycles have been really different drugs wise. I think I will be taking it when I try for a future sibling as long as its compatible. 

The best supplements in the world can't undo a cr**py diet though. I did the whole no alcohol, low Gi, lots of green veg, lean protein, lentils, quinoa, malarkey this time around. I also had a daily Solgar Whey to Go protein shake and a standard Pregnacare multivitamin.

I've never really looked at the Zita West stuff. I've heard lovely things about them on here but I was a bit put off by one of their reps at a fertility show and maybe that's fuzzied my judgement. Also I remember the tiny included dose of q10 in one of their fertility supplements was a bit of a pointless token which made me doubt the quality/doses of the other elements. You really do have to look at the indredients lists to compare propely!

You definitely do have to take everything from 3 months before cycling to get the benefit. 

Best of luck with everything! X


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## Ellie.st (Mar 11, 2005)

Well, you have to make your own mind up but as Chopio says, a lot of cheaper brands have chemical fillers or use synthetic versions of vitamins which are not so easily absorbed by the body.  If you are having problems ttc, it also makes sense in my opinion to take supplements formulated by the likes of ZW and MG based on their research into possible causes (or contributory factors) re IF.  I agree totally that you should ideally overhaul your diet too - we thought we had pretty healthy diets but found various ways to improve things.  It does involve a bit of effort and expense but I think that these are a drop in the ocean compared with the cost of IVF and the emotional upheaval you go through, and I felt much better to feel that I was doing everything I could personally to maximise our chances of success with IVF.  As you can see from my profile, I had a DD and a DS from OE IVF in my 40s after 9+ years of unexplained IF.  I am not saying that the changes to diet and the supplements we took were the reason but I certainly do think that it is well worth going down this route as it won't do any harm and may just help...  I also feel that investing this time and effort helped maximise the chances not just of a BFP but of a healthy baby as there is more and more evidence that pre-conception diet is a very important factor in this.

Good luck

Ellie


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## Duck007 (Feb 7, 2012)

Is your wife able to get her own DHEA levels measured by the clinic? She can boost her natural DHEA with exercise.

I took DHEA prior to two of my cycles and they were my worst. Both cycles were nearly cancelled. I had to stim for longer and got a cr*p egg or two from each of these cycles.

For my last cycle I ditched the supplements with the exception of pregnacare and vitamin c and followed the fertility diet on the www.whattoexpect.co.uk website. I also had Natural IVF rather than stimulated IVF for my last cycle. I produced a brilliant quality egg and top grade embryo and I got a BFP.

My husband took welman conception supplements prior to our last few treatment cycles and there was a huge improvement in his gametes. 
xxx

/links


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## Tiabo (Apr 10, 2012)

Hello, 

I am 42 and have just completed a third round of IVF/ICSI.  I am typically a poor responder, low AMH. Only 4 eggs retrieved at both cycle 1 & 2. One embryo back each time, 1st cycle I m/c at 7 wks & 2nd was a chemical pregnancy. 

For my third round, I adopted a 'what will be, will be' attitude, ate what I liked, had the occasional glass of wine.  However, I did a lot of research regards supplements and created my own cocktail. 

For the 2 months prior to my recent IVF/ICSI,  i took: CoQ10, daily wheatgrass, Chlorella, Zita West Vitafem, Fish Oil, L Argenine, Vitamin D3, extra Viteman E & Vitamin C and Royal Jelly.  

Once I started stimulating, I added Myo-inisitol and Melatonin (known to mature eggs in the follicle) and ate a very high protein diet. 

My FSH dropped from 9.6 to 5.6, everyone at the clinic was more than surprised when they retrieved 10 eggs, were able to inject 8, 5 fertilised, 2 x grade A 2 cell emryos went back at day 2, I just recently peed on a stick and am Pregnant once more.  

I cannot definately say it was the supplements, but that and my stress free approach appears to have improved the third and final cycle. 

I wish you all the very best of luck with your IVF, god bless.


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## Altai (Aug 18, 2013)

Hello,

I am going for my first ivf next month. I am 44.
So, for the last 3 months diet/supplements-wise, I've been following heather rodriguez website http://natural-fertility-info.com/natural-fertility-expert
and taking: l'argenine, Q10(ubiquinol as said to be superior), folic acid, chlorella, spirulina, sea kelp, macca root, royal jelly and lots of seeds - flaxseeds, chia, wheatgerm, hemp, sesame, pumpkin, nuts so as to naturally make up for other minerals. 
Im also doing acupuncture, fertility cleanse (this is for 1 month) and fertility self-massage. 
So, fingers crossed - it's all going to help me next month.

Best of luck everybody

/links


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