Trying To Concieve

shelly

shelly wrote: »

My hubby takes a multi vit every day too which already contains his 100% RDA of folic acid. Reading on here zinc can help too so I'm going to do some research and maybe get him on that too.

To add further to this post.....I done some research and called my GP's for a call back.
He called me back and said he hadn't heard of zinc helping whilst TTC but would go and do some research of hs own and call back. When he called back he said again that he could find no evidence that taking zinc whilst TTC would help. I said that if I put hubby on it anyway would it hurt. He said that a normal diet contains enough zinc already and that going onto supplements aswell can be too much zinc which is toxic! (I confirmed this by googling)
If he had said that no, it can't hurt so get him to take them anyway I would have, but I don't want to potentially poison him!

We then spoke about my dieting and how that's going. He said that if I struggle he can give me some tablets but we MUST STOP TTC whilst on them and he would only prescribe them for a few months. No diet pills are safe to take whilst TTC.
I will keep the thought in the back of mind because if I find myself getting nowhere in a month or 2 it might be worth stopping TTC to go on the tablets just to get on the IVF waiting list. Then once on the list we can try again and maybe get lucky naturally.

ClaireLR

Ancasta and FE I suffer from PCOS to - I used to think that it was something only relatively few women suffered from but it seems not nowadays.

Ancasta which PCOS book did you buy? I found the blue and yellow one by colette harris really informative and helpful (can't remember exactly what it was called now). Can you tell me more about the reflexology from a PCOS point of view? I have a work colleague who is a trained reflexologist, I didn't know it might be of any help.

ClaireLR

shelly wrote: »

To add further to this post.....I done some research and called my GP's for a call back.
He called me back and said he hadn't heard of zinc helping whilst TTC but would go and do some research of hs own and call back. When he called back he said again that he could find no evidence that taking zinc whilst TTC would help. I said that if I put hubby on it anyway would it hurt. He said that a normal diet contains enough zinc already and that going onto supplements aswell can be too much zinc which is toxic! (I confirmed this by googling)
If he had said that no, it can't hurt so get him to take them anyway I would have, but I don't want to potentially poison him!

Just checked OH mulitvits and they have 100% RDA of zinc, folic acid and Vitamin A (I read somewhere that this is good for men to take when TTC ) so I think I'll leave it at that.

I am taking the well woman original capsules http://www.vitabiotics.com/wellwoman/org_for.aspx
Do these look ok? They have the recommended 400mcg of folic acid recommended but is there anything that they contain they I shouldn't be taking, or anything that they don't contain that I should??

All these questions, bet you're all sick of me already eh!:o

ancasta_2

ClaireLR wrote: »

Ancasta and FE I suffer from PCOS to - I used to think that it was something only relatively few women suffered from but it seems not nowadays.

Ancasta which PCOS book did you buy? I found the blue and yellow one by colette harris really informative and helpful (can't remember exactly what it was called now). Can you tell me more about the reflexology from a PCOS point of view? I have a work colleague who is a trained reflexologist, I didn't know it might be of any help.

I joined the Verity forum and read a few threads about it and found a local lady who, incidentally suffers too and specialises in ladies sub fertility. if you pm me to remind me i can send you her website and the email she sent me as it had a bit blurb in.

I bought this book as it was recommended to me but its wrote by the same people as the blue and yellow one so might be a duplicate of info i dunno

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ultimate-PCOS-Handbook-Fertility-Self-esteem/dp/0007213255/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218033984&sr=8-3

I have my first Reflex appointment on the 12th so ill keep you posted.

I have a LOT of piercings in my ears and im hoping to try Auricular accupuncture as thats meant to be able to help too but i need to get my easr checked to see if they can get the needs in the right places

ClaireLR

Yes thats the author I was thinking of. I have read somewhere that a lot of the stuff is repeated so worth only buying one methinks, but the book I read was really really good.

Yes I'd love to have a look at the website you mentioned please!

shelly

ClaireLR wrote: »

Just checked OH mulitvits and they have 100% RDA of zinc, folic acid and Vitamin A (I read somewhere that this is good for men to take when TTC ) so I think I'll leave it at that.

I am taking the well woman original capsules http://www.vitabiotics.com/wellwoman/org_for.aspx
Do these look ok? They have the recommended 400mcg of folic acid recommended but is there anything that they contain they I shouldn't be taking, or anything that they don't contain that I should??

All these questions, bet you're all sick of me already eh!:o

Thanks for that info. If they make multi vits with zinc in surely it can't be that bad to take as a supplement? I'll have a word with hubby and see what he thinks. I checked his again and they don't contain zinc.

I can't advise about the well woman capsules to be honest. I was recommended to take a multi vit that could be taken before conception and during pregnancy. I chose Pregnacare but didn't get on with them at all. Gave me headaches. Now all I take is Folic Acid everyday.

Meltrix

shelly wrote: »

To add further to this post.....I done some research and called my GP's for a call back.
He called me back and said he hadn't heard of zinc helping whilst TTC but would go and do some research of hs own and call back. When he called back he said again that he could find no evidence that taking zinc whilst TTC would help. I said that if I put hubby on it anyway would it hurt. He said that a normal diet contains enough zinc already and that going onto supplements aswell can be too much zinc which is toxic! (I confirmed this by googling)
If he had said that no, it can't hurt so get him to take them anyway I would have, but I don't want to potentially poison him!

Hi all

I posted a few days back about a book called the Fertility Diet (by Sarah Dobbyn), this goes into great detail about what minerals/foods etc are important to help with TTC and various fertility problems, so if you're confused about what's good to take and what isn't i can highly recommend reading it if you are having fertility problems. Zinc in particular is important for sperm production and quality and in particular it is important for those men who may have subnormal sperm (count/motility/abnormalities etc). Not having the book in front of me i've had to take this from a health site but it basically covers it all - so here's what zinc does...

[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]"Zinc is an antioxidant mineral that is also important in protecting sperm against free radical attack. Semen is rich in zinc, with each ejaculate containing 5 mg ! one third of the recommended daily nutrient intake. This would imply that it plays an important role in sperm health. Three additional functions of zinc have been discovered apart from its important antioxidant one:

[/FONT] [FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]1. The genetic material (DNA chromatin) in the sperm nucleus is tightly wound with special proteins to form an insoluble, stable complex. This condensed structure is important for successful fertilization. Zinc is important for this structure and protects it from breaking down. [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]2. The high concentration of zinc in semen damps down sperm activity, keeping them in a relatively quiescent state. This lowers their consumption of oxygen and conserves sperm energy. Once within the female reproductive tract, which contains very little zinc, zinc concentrations are rapidly diluted. This causes a sudden increase in sperm activity, speeding them up and acting like a mineral turbo charge. [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]3. During fertilization, a sperm exposes enzymes in a sac at the sperm head to drill a hole in the outer egg shell through which the sperm can pass. This is known as the acrosome reaction. In many cases of subfertility it seems that large numbers of sperm discharge their enzymes spontaneously before or just after ejaculation. By the time they reach the egg they are no longer capable of penetrating it. This early discharge of the acrosome reaction is linked with a zinc deficiency. [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica] High concentrations of zinc in semen helps to damp down the acrosome reaction in a reversible way. Once zinc concentrations become diluted within the female tract, the acrosome reaction can again occur. [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]Another recent finding is that zinc deficiency changes the sequence in which seminal secretions are ejaculated. The secretions from the seminal vesicle, which are usually ejaculated last, are released along with the sperm instead. [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]There are several theories why this happens. Lack of zinc may cause swelling of the prostate gland, which will slow sperm travelling up from the testes. This swelling will also slow the release of prostatic secretions, which are usually the first fluids to be ejaculated. [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]It is possible that this alteration in the ejaculatory sequence is a survival response to low concentrations of sperm zinc. By mixing the sperm and the relatively zinc-rich seminal vesicle secretions as early as possible, the protective effects of zinc (stabilization of sperm DNA; delaying of acrosome reaction; conservation of energy) are maximized. [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]Most men do not obtain enough dietary zinc. Those that are highly sexually active may be losing more zinc per day in their semen (5 mg per ejaculation) than they can keep up with in their diet. Men ideally need a minimum of 15 mg zinc from their diet per day."

[/FONT] So Shelly while i'm sure your GP wasn't able to find anything about zinc and ttc being an established medical fact for him to recommend - although to quote NHS fertility advice: "There is some evidence to suggest that taking vitamin and mineral supplements (especially vitamins C and E, and zinc) can improve sperm quality for some men. This will not help for all men but if taken in accordance with the instruction on the bottle will not do any harm" - he could have told you about its importance for male reproductive health. Clearly if your OHs have perfectly normal healthy sperm then there's no need to go to town on lots of supplements.

If you're wondering why i'm paying such a keen interest in this, i had an anlaysis done in June that came back with borderline results so having followed the dietary advice in the book i'm keen to see what difference it makes when i have my next test done which should be in mid - late Sept. The results in theory should reflect my changed lifestyle over the previous spermatogenesis cycle (the 72 days it takes for sperm to mature). If it shows absolutely no difference then i'm sorry but i'm straight back on the beers and pies cos this diet is killing me . I'll report back.





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shelly

Thanks Meltrix.

I read all that when doing my research and told the GP some points from it.
I think its as you say, because there is no medical fact for him to go on he won't say to take it.

I've spoken to hubby and he is quite happy to take some.

nikkinoo_3

Wow Meltrix you really are a mind of information! Thanks for that. I'll keep DH on the zinc for now then and see what happens.

I have a general question that someone out there might be able to help with. Having got the ball rolling as it were with the doc my swabs and bloods all came back fine. DH had borderline swimmers, but we were told nothing to worry about. At our practice it's all done via the nurse, unless they find out anything that needs a doc to deal with. Anyway, because all the results were OK, the nurse said there was nothing more they could do and "it'll happen in time". She was really nice and apolgetic about it - I got the feeling that if something had come back not quite right she'd have got further investigations underway without hesitation.

Anyway, what I think I'm getting at is that swabs and bloods are fine (great news), but does that indicate that my tubes and other bits are working properly too? Or should I be pushing to have things like that checked as well?

On the one hand it's great to know that there's no vaginal infection/hormonal reason why we've not conceived, but if there's something else amiss then I guess I'd like to know about it.

On another note, the Preseed arrived today - I only ordered it yesterday afternoon!!! :T

VK-2008

hey guys hows everyone been so busy have not been on in ages. well af came a week past on sun and is still here - playing funny !!!!!!s with me. i had to go to doc last week as its the sorest and longest af i have ever had. i normally bleed 4days and that me so have to go in and gt checked out on fri adn see if there is any problems also gona c if they can investigate to see if ther are any fertility probs soon. otherwise we have to wait intil feb. arrrggghhh

how annoying

anyways have we had any positives here?