Natural Ways to Boost Your Fertility
Natural Ways to Boost Your Fertility
When you just want the best odds possibleby Cathy Allison
o you dream of hearing the pitter-patter of little feet toddling around your living room? Are you planning to become a mommy soon? The odds are in your favour: 84% of women under thirty-five who are trying to conceive will get pregnant within the first year.While news reports about infertility can be frightening, the majority of women will conceive without difficulty. However, if you want to increase your chances of becoming pregnant, there are some dietary and behavioural changes you can make that may boost your fertility.
Take your vitamins
Fertility is decreased in both men and women who are deficient in vitamin C, especially smokers. Men who get less than 60 milligrams RDA of vitamin C daily (equal to the amount in an orange) have been found to have high levels of damaged sperm. In one study, sperm counts increased by almost 60 percent in men who took 1000mg for two months.Women should avoid megadoses of vitamin C because it can dry up cervical fluid, preventing sperm from reaching the egg. Limit the amount you take to the dose included in your prenatal vitamin.
Zinc deficiency has been linked to low sperm counts and poor sperm motility. It has also been implicated in miscarriage.
Vitamin E may protect sperm-cell membranes. In one study, men who took 200mg of vitamin E daily increased their fertility by about 30 percent in one month. Men taking four grams daily of the amino acid arginine, powdered and dissolved in water, experienced a significant increase in sperm count and motility in some studies.
Throw away your lubricants
The chemicals in commercial lubricants can kill sperm. Studies show sperm motility is lessened by 60-100% after sixty minutes of contact with lubricants. Petroleum jelly, plain glycerin and even saliva can also kill sperm.Lengthen the amount of time you spend on foreplay to ensure you are aroused and your natural vaginal secretions are increased. If you must use an additional lubricant, try egg whites because they encourage sperm motility.
Be missionaries
Make love with the man on top; also know as the missionary position. Sperm is deposited closest to the cervix during sex in this position because it allows the deepest penetration.
Avoid Starbucks
...or at least highly caffeinated stuff there. Your chance of becoming pregnant is reduced by almost one-third if you or your partner ingests high amounts of caffeine, about 300-700mg daily. (One cup of regular coffee has 100mg of caffeine while regular tea has 30mg.)
Become a teetotaler--and a "teatotaler"
Women who drink at least 2 cup of tea per day nearly double their odds of conceiving. Researchers believe the antioxidants in tea may be responsible.While men's alcohol consumption doesn't appear to affect fertility, women who have one alcoholic drink a day reduce their chance of conceiving by 50%. Even two drinks a week can lower your odds.
Not milk
Studies show that high rates of milk consumption are related to a decrease in fertility. Galactose, a sugar in milk, has been found in high concentrations in infertile women.
Don't get high
Marijuana decreases fertility in men by having a negative effect on sperm production in the testis; decreasing sperm motility and inhibiting the release of enzymes that let sperm penetrate the egg. It can also disrupt a woman's ovulatory cycle.
Better safe than sorry?
Echinacea is used to enhance the immune system, ginkgo biloba to improve memory and St. John's wort to treat depression. In a recent study high doses of each of these herbs have been shown to damage reproductive cells and prevent fertilization of eggs in laboratory hamsters. There have been no studies to date that show their effect on human fertility but you may want to reconsider using them while you are trying to conceive.
Weighty matters
You are most fertile when you are neither too thin nor too heavy. You need at least 18% body fat to ovulate and your best chance of conceiving is when 20-25% of your body mass is fat tissue. On the other hand, your monthly cycle can be disrupted by too much fat, which affects estrogen levels. Being 25% over your ideal weight can stop ovulation.
Don't douche
Douching can change the pH balance inside the vagina, altering it so that sperm are adversely affected. It can also wash away the cervical fluid that helps sperm through the cervix on their way to the egg.
De-stress
Stress can cause irregular ovulation or even stop your periods. It is important to eat a healthy diet, exercise regularly and get at least eight hours of sleep a night. Try yoga or meditation to help de-stress or see a counselor to learn stress management techniques.
Happy hour
A couple's most fertile time of day is between 5pm and 7pm. The number and quality of sperm varies throughout the day, peaking in late afternoon with a sperm count that is 35% higher than it is in the morning. Since women are most likely to ovulate between 3 and 7, some researchers suggest couples leave work early for a baby-making rendezvous.And, of course, it is essential that you have sex when you are fertile. You can determine when you are ovulating by using an ovulation detection kit or by practicing FAM (Fertility Awareness Method). By observing your waking temperature, cervical fluid and cervical position you can pinpoint the days when you are able to conceive. Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler has sample charts and detailed instructions on how to use FAM.
Cathy Allison is a freelance writer and fulltime mother who lives in Vancouver, BC.
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- lgunnoe
fertility question
hi,
i have conceived before and afterwords............given contraceptive( depoveral.........given every three mths)
I stopped the injection since feburary 2007 and since then havent conceived.
What suggestion or help can u render?
Check your thyroid
It might be a good idea for you to get your thyroid checked. Your doctor can draw blood and test your TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) level to make sure your thyroid hormones are in the proper range. If they're too high or too low, they can cause problems with your menstrual cycle and conception. I couldn't conceive for 10 months before I had mine checked and started on Synthroid (for low thyroid hormone levels). The next month, I was pregnant.
It's not an uncommon problem and for some women it can be an easy fix, so it may be worth a test.
If you do get tested, make sure to ask for a numerical result rather than just "normal". The normal range has recently been changed to .3 to 3, but many labs and doctors are still using the old range of .5 to 5. I definitely don't feel "normal" at levels of 3 and above--my TSH was 3.8 when I was having trouble conceiving (and many other symptoms). A year before that it was 3.4 and I was simply told it was "normal," even though I didn't feel normal then either.
Depo Provera can make some
Depo Provera can make some women infertile up to 18 months after the last injection. If you're still not pregnant in three months or so, I'd see a doctor or naturopath.
Also, I've heard the advice here before--cut out coffee, alchohol, etc. It does help.
We had trouble conceiving and found out DH had a condition called varicocele. An outpatient procedure by a urologist and voila, there I was, pregnant with DD, now 7 yrs old. It's not always the woman's problem. Have him checked out too.
____________________
Of all the wonders of nature, a tree in summer is perhaps the most remarkable; with the possible exception of a moose singing "Embraceable You" in spats.
-- Woody Allen
Preseed and Thyroid Question
2 Questions:
1) What are your thoughts on Preseed as a Lubricant?
2) My TSH levels are high and my Ob/Gyn would like to place me on Synthroid. The Dr stated that high levels of TSH could interfer with normal ovulation, however when I take a home ovulation test, it's positive and/or I get the little smiley face, does that mean I am ovulating and I shouldn't be worried. Or when it comes to TSH levels does the home ovulation kit not matter. Does LH surge and TSH have any relation. I don't want to take hormone meds, if I dont have to. So did you end up taking Synthroid for the rest of our life?
Thanks!
TSH and ovulation
I've never heard of Preseed.
I'm not a doctor or an expert, just a patient with a thyroid problem. I have read that women who are hypothyroid (elevated TSH usually indicates low thyroid hormones, since it's the pituitary's way of kicking the thyroid into action) have a greater risk of miscarriage, and very low thyroid hormones during pregnancy can cause (mostly mild) cognitive impairment or learning disabilities in the child. This is probably why your OB is suggesting Synthroid.
In my case, I had very long cycles. Some of the time I wasn't ovulating and some of the time I was (I was charting temperatures, watching mucus, and using ovulation tests). However, even when I did ovulate and we were on time, I never had a positive pregnancy test. I think my body "knew" that it couldn't support a pregnancy in that state.
Thyroxine is a hormone, but it's not a sex hormone like estrogen or testosterone. If I remember correctly from college biology, hormones are "circulating chemical signals...that are formed in specialized cells, travel in body fluids, and coordinate the various parts of the organism by interacting with target cells" (Campbell's Biology, 3rd. edition, glossary). There are lots of hormones that do lots of things, from regulating thirst to telling the body it's pregnant (so don't have a period). Thyroid hormones help regulate cellular activity, so their effects are far-reaching in the body. That's why hypothyroid symptoms include such diverse things as hair falling out, constipation, foggy thinking, fatigue, and brittle fingernails. Hypothyroidism occurs when the thyroid isn't producing enough thyroid hormone and you need to supplement.
I will need to be on Synthroid for the rest of my life, but I don't see that as a problem. I feel so much better with it than without that I wouldn't want to stop taking it. I'm just thankful there's an easy solution to my problem--so many autoimmune diseases are so much worse!
Good luck--hope you're expecting soon!
high tsh levels
i recently did my tsh test which shows alevel of 12 which is much higher than the normal range inspite of taking eltroxin 100 mg tab one daily will it hamper in my pregnancy have had two misscarrige earlier
12 is high...
I'm still not a doctor or expert, but I do know that a TSH of 12 is way outside of normal (.3 to 3 or .5 to 5 is considered "normal," depending on your lab and doctor). Personally, anything higher than about 2 to 2.5 and I start to have hypothyroid symptoms like cold feet that are very slow to warm up, fatigue, and long, irregular periods. Last time I had a TSH over 5 my hair started to fall out. It does vary by person, though. What does your doctor suggest with that TSH? I don't know Eltroxin (though I do see a thread on about.com about side effects since a reformulation about a year ago), but it sounds like you might need a higher dosage to get the TSH down. Levothyroxine is generally considered safe during pregnancy and it's important to keep the thyroid hormones at a "normal" level to reduce the risks to the baby. When I was pregnant, my OB did a TSH test each trimester and adjusted my dosage to keep my TSH around 2 to 2.5. My current doctor aims for 1 to 1.5.
You might find the following links helpful:
http://thyroid.about.com/od/hormonepregnantmenopause1/Hormones_Infertility_Pregnancy_Breastfeeding_Menopause_Thyroid.htm
http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/jc.2005-1603v1
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