Conception and alcohol

(waves at Inshock) I went to the GP today and she recommended refelexology!

I've just had a good old Google regarding this very question (really, really didn't want to cut down on the booze!).

Apparently, even moderate alcohol consumption has an effect on fertility for women. Massive bummer . The study I found said a drop in fertility was noticed in women who had over 5 drinks a week (it was a Danish study- maybe they don't work in units?). But, as far as I could work out, it was something like 65% conceived when not drinking, 55% when drinking moderately.

Drinking over your weekly recommended units has an even greater effect. Annoyingly, men can still drink up to their recommended units before any effect is noticed on fertility.

(NB: this is only what I gathered after an evening's Googling, and it's all pretty confusing out there- I'm not a fertility expert or nowt!)

The getting drunk before you know you're pregnant is a separate issue- I've heard that for the first few weeks the embryo is living off the sac of the egg, and not taking its nourishment from you, so should be OK?

However, I also read that alcohol can increase the chances of miscarriage.

The conclusions? That I'm spending far, far too much time googling

(sigh) Nice cup of herbal tea, anyone?

I'm four sessions in to acupuncture at the moment - waiting to see if it works! :)

Interesting Dent I wonder whether it was the tee total or holiday? I've been ttc again for 10 months and after get the all ok back on all tests I've been told to relax and take a holiday...GP/nurse etc have all said a lot of people conceive once they've decided to start IVF or give up ttc, they reckon it's because they relax.

I'm not sure if there is anything official or scientific about this but .....after ttc for quite a while we decided to forget about it and go on holiday for a break. One month before hols I went tee total for the sole reason that I wanted to lose weight for the beach. It worked ....and also I came back pg!

Ps I am an older mum

Which immediately made me want a cigarette!!! (NB I usually make a pack of 20 last a month!)

I had my inital TTC visit to the Drs today, she asked what my approach was with boozw while TTC, I said aiming to cut down to 2 glasses or wine or so a time/a night & she seemed really happy with that - her view was that particularly when starting off TTC, as long as you are genrerally healthy there isn't a pressing need to make massive lifestyle changes.
She did say if you're going to come down hard on anything during TTC it should be smoking - apparantly that carries highest risk for lowering fertility & lowering 'chance of healthy outcomes'...

I think a lot of people wouldn't been here had it not been due to alcohol being consumed prior to the act of conception.

With dc1 i found out i was pg 2 days after a big night out. He is fine. With dc2 we were ttc for a few months and i just carried on as normal. It could have been a very long boring few months. In the end we had a month off ttc, only dtd once at the right time, coincidently after a now rare night out with a massive hangover, and hey presto! Not saying the alcohol helped. But it certainly didnt do any harm.

Oh f'ing hell, i just caved and did it!!! BFN OF COURSE. As i knew it would be. Well at least that has got it out of my system now, and I will either get AF (due tomorrow) or I will get to POAS in a few days time. Oh annoyed with myself!!

I also keep an eye on the EWCM and I'm not sure I had any this month either, plus I find it hard to tell the difference between that and DH's stuff (which also seems stretchy hmmm!). I tried an OPK for the first time this month which gave me a positive on CD 18 so am assuming I ov'd around CD 20. Must do your head in even more when you don't know when ov'd. Hmmm well there is still hope for us until AF arrives!

Well, when I was pregnant with my first, the first symptom I got was feeling sick after a couple of glasses of wine (would normally take a couple of bottles). So could be a sign for you!!! How many dpo are you? I'm currently 10. Am trying to wait till at least 13 before testing. Have just bought a test from Boots though and am now dying to pee on it!

You hear so many stories about people who did everything right and then gave up and got pregnant on the month they got hammered or went on holiday or something, so there definitely has to be something in it! Wish it was just a bit easier to not get stressed out about it though, but wine does help a bit!!

Yeh I really think a few glasses here or there won't make any difference, especially if it helps you to relax (and gets you in the mood!). If it's any help I have a friend who was trying for 3 years then gave up. She read books on how to accept life without children. She started having regular nights out and having much more than a few and then she got pregnant at 42. So really not sure how much difference giving up drink makes.
Gemerama i will keep my fx for you that you have to fess up on your girls night out...or make up some rubbish excuse about antibiotics

With my first I found out I was pregnant just After Christmas & new year, a lot of alcohol had been consumed! Have just found out ok pregnant with no2 and I found out a week after I was bridesmaid at my friends wedding. I didn't drink a silly amount but a lot more than just a couple! X

Footnote - my acupuncturist said an occasional glass of red would be ok but try to buy organic and low in sulphates!

I gave up alcohol altogether after mmc and since resuming ttc but it's now been 10 months, I've relaxed a bit and I'm enjoying the occasional glass of wine (2-3 a week) again as it's difficult to keep it up over such a long time. I also found keeping to a tee total, low sugar, extremely healthy lifestyle hard to keep up and my GP reckons stress might be the reason I'm struggling to conceive - that's good enough for me! A glass of red it is! :)