TTC Myths Exposed!

[CaveMum]

I've been hanging round on the Conception boards for quite a while now (far longer than I ever expected) and have noticed that the same myths/theories/whatever you want to call them, seem to keep cropping up.

As a nation we are useless at talking about fertility issues and as such these myths can perpetuate and end up being taken as fact, so I thought we ought to do a myth busting thread that might help some people better understand things and, hopefully, feel better about the whole process.

So here goes:

Very few women have a 28 day cycle. If your cycle is shorter or longer than this don't panic! It's just a number that Drs like to use.

Most women do not get pregnant straight away. It can take a perfectly healthy couple up to a year to conceive, so again, don'tpanic if it seems to be taking longer than you first expected.

In the same vein, most GPs won't investigate potential fertility issues until you have been trying for 1 year. They really won't be impressed if you make an appointment after only 2 months of trying!

There is very little point in POASing before at least 13dpo. HPTs are only up to 60% accurate before this date, so why waste the money and upset yourself with a potentially false result?

OPKs as HPTs are very unreliable. Just don't go there!

Feel free to add your own

Check with your doctor when they'll send you for tests. If you're in your 30s, our surgery does preliminary tests after 6 months.

You don't necessarily ovulate mid-cycle.

Stress / worrying about trying to conceive will not stop you from ever getting pregnant. Obviously it would be nice if you could float about on a zen-cloud, but stressed people get pregnant all the time.

True longtalljosie, I should have clarified it depends on your age. My GP sent me for tests after I had no periods for 6 months. Damn PCOS!

Bump.

Surely there must be more that I have missed!

Propping yourself up with a pillow after sex will help you get pregnant.

I had a hard time believing this but apparently there is no scientific evidence to back this up.

Conception lube won't get you pregnant. It won't hinder like normal lube does but it's not a magic solution. Same goes for holidays.

Timing sex isn't helpful when TTC its much easier to try to dtd several times a week.

(I'm sure I'll be back with more).

Oh, see, that wasn't long!

Family fertility doesn't necessarily mean you won't have problems. Both mine and DH's parents had no fertility issues, neither did DSis. On that basis, we thought I'd get diffed quickly. I did not.

What about supplements? And herbs, etc? We're looking into Agnus castus and soy Isoflavones. Any ideas? Good, bad or indifferent?! X

There are NO pregnancy symptoms in the "2ww"

Pregnancy symptoms require hcg - which, if there is hcg in your body after 3 DPO, then you would get a pregnancy test.

If you ACTUALLY look at when pregnancy symptoms arrive, they normally start at 5 - 6 weeks (3 - 4 weeks after conception). Anything else is a self-fulfilling "progesterone fueled" prophecy. If you experience "pregnancy symptoms" before AF, you are actually experiencing normal pre-AF symptoms.

It's only at around at LEAST 13 dpo that hcg levels start to increase in your body. Which means that you can't experience symptoms until hcg is high enough in your body to produce a positive pregnancy test.

Without hcg, pregnancy symptoms are progesterone symptoms which is NOT proof of pregnancy. Unless you are pregnant, in which case - you tell people that you had symptoms. When all you had was what we all have at the same time of the month. Until our bodies realise (at 13dpo) that we're pregnant and the progesterone levels continue to increase (rather than drop off)

Am I making sense???

KickTheGuru, its not true that you have no symptoms in the 2ww. I had very distinct symptoms which were different to my normal pre-AF symptoms.

Its different for everyone but I knew over a week before my period was due that I was pregnant, just from changes in my body.

The thing about it is that its a self fulfilling prophecy. Loads of us have had those symptoms (fair enough, mine turned out to be Type 1 Diabetes) but everyone always talks about the differences in their body in the 2ww. I watch ladies every month talk about nausea, hard tummy, increased CM, decreased CM etc etc.

You're bound to be right when you do eventually fall pregnant... :)

kick I have seen your theory on the 2ww and others including the futility of timing sex for conception many many times on threads here. I have also seen that many women have taken your insights very seriously.

Seeing as, like me, you have not been pregnant yet it might it be better to leave the observations regarding pregrancy symptoms to those with more experience? The details you decribe are not completely correct, in my opinion. Yes, of course, some pregnancy 'symptoms' may just be hindsight and we have all been there with 'symptoms' which turned out not to be so after all.

If it was this simple I suppose the '2ww' would not be as it is. Many of us are anxious to get there and trying to fight the urge to read too much into what is happening in our bodies is part of that. Unfortunately the fact that we are all different and bodies are confusing things does not equal, in my opinion, 'there are no pregnancy symptoms'.

My "opinions" are actually medical fact... :)

But sure thing - you're right

And even doctors say you should aim for every other day instead of just having sex when you get a smiley face.

But I can see how that's confusing for some.

Life would just be a lot simpler if something really obvious happened when we are pregnant - like your wee turning blue!

Or you get a positive pregnancy test!!

'Relax'.

total Myth.

All the relaxing in the world won't help someone with fertility issues get pregnant.

'Go on holiday, my friend tried for X years and then went on holiday and got pregnant'

total anecdotal myth... sperm still swims the same in France as it does in the UK!

similarly 'Stop trying, my friend tried for 8 years and got pregnant as soon as she stopped trying' - bully for her.

Grapefruit juice, don't know where it's come from but the idea that it helps conception is unfortunately untrue.

The two week wait symptoms are indeed wishful thinking or a self fulfilling prophesy.

The supplements, I was told by my consultant that there was no evidence to support their use in aiding conception but that research was still going on. That was in Queen mary's in London a few years ago. I 've not seen anything since to change that recommendation.

I've not heard the grapefruit juice one!

It helps with conception by increasing fertility or what??

If I remember rightly the grapefruit juice is supposed to help you produce more CM. from what I've heard it can increase your CM production, but seeing as CM doesnt get you pregnant, what's the point.

There's a similar thing about some brands of cough medicine too.

Can't remember but when I was trying for a 2nd dc I saw it quite a few times on here and ff.

I think the thing about CM is that it can help the swimmers up to the egg. So increased CM if you're particularly lacking in CM is a good thing.

But obviously not with grapefruit juice.

Unless you use it as CM??

Yes I remember the cough medicine thing also, was nearly tempted by that one but reason prevailed. It really is very hard not to try everything and anything to get there but in my case anyway it just lead to me nearly driving myself mad trawling the internet for the "magic bullet" which just doesn't exist.

Unprotected sex every two to three days is the best way to increase your chances short of medical intervention. (acupuncture I'm half convinced about and did give a go, for me, was a waste of money)

With you on the relax comments Duelling, after 2 years I'm prepared to punch the next person who utters the r-word!

OPKs do not tell you that you are definitely ovulating. They identify a hormone surge that can trigger ovulation, but many women experience several surges before actually ovulating.
Plus they are useless if you have PCOS as the hormone they detect (LH) is often found in high levels anyway in PCOS sufferers.

On the herb front, you really shouldn't self-medicate. Agnus Castus should never be taken after ovulation as it has been linked to miscarriage.

I will admit that I am using a hypnosis CD but that is mostly because I am a stresshead and need to calm down!

I agree that most symptom spotting in the 2ww is just wishful thinking.

The only symptom I had that was not attributable to premenstrual hormones was a sudden nursing aversion (pg#3, dc2, whilst bf dc1) which persisted until dc1 weaned. I reported the aversion to a friend who knew I was ttc, and she told me that my HPT would be +ve. It was, but only faint, and only three or four days later. She had had the same reaction during successful and mc pgies.

Obviously nursing aversion isn't a symptom a first-timer can spot!

There's a myth about sperm being less good if you have sex every day. Frankly, if you're charting, having sex every potentially fertile day is a great way to get pregnant...