to think that a pessimistic attitude can affect fertility and IVF outcomes [title edited by mnhq]

[crashbandicoot]

ok this is a provocative title but so many books advocate a mind/body approach, particularly with unexplained IF that I am wondering if my negative thinking "nothing is going to work" is the reason behind my IF? this really concerns me because I thought naively that sex=conception but now it seems my personality/outlook is all wrong!!

based on this I am thinking that I need to have a completely different personality (ie become an optimist rather than a pessimist) if I am ever have a dc - which seems too difficult for me to do.

so in order to understand this better can any pessimists/optimists share their experience and if they felt it hindered or helped them in relation to fertility/IF as the whole issue is so loaded with myths etc...

ODFOD. If I had a penny for each person who told me to relax and think positive and it would just happen, during 5+ years of infertility (we subsequently adopted), I would have enough to put in a sock and cosh each of the fuckers into unconsciousness. Nothing like being made to feel like you are responsible for your inability to conceive!

lunar Did you read the thread? The OP is suffering from infertility!

Stress can lower AMH levels which in turn affect fertility. As told by a gynaecologist.

I did read the thread, just because the op is going through it doesn't mean it's not a hurtful thread. I went through years of infertility. There were a list of medical reasons why I could not conceive and all the advice to relax wasn't going to fix them.

Would it be ok to advise a diabetic to just relax and be positive to get their pancreas working properly?

I dont know.
I was reading eggs dont respond well to lots of glucose rises. Well then for some people who stress eat (like me going straight for sugar) and having pcos too.
Ivf means a womans hormones are provided so no irregularities- you will probably get eggs, but the quality can be affected. So if it was a hormone issue that would be corrected.
I suspect most unexplained IF is just not identified though.
Or the drs dont believe a minor issue you have could cause the problem like high tsh, short luteal phase
I am a stressed person but ivf did work

My son is living proof that that theory is rubbish! Enough said.

I doubt all the relaxing in the world would have got me pregnant when DH was firing blanks.

Maybe someone should have told him to relax? (funnily enough no one did )

ICSI worked for us, even though it was a nasty experience for me and I was pretty stressed.

That's because it allowed us to work around DHs physical problem of low sperm count to create an baby

I don't think people start out trying to conceive feeling pessimistic. It's just when they've had repeated failures and everything looks uncertain. To a certain extent, sure, keeping a positive attitude will make you more likely to look after your health better and it could affect your chances that way but I don't believe for a second, everything else being equal, that maintaining a Pollyanna attitude is necessarily going to get results. Maternal age or low sperm count has far more to do with problems than a negative mindset.

My aunty conceived her first at 39 after a decade of trying. I don't think she was IVF then. She theorises that it had something to do with her being on the pill from her late teens to early twenties.

A relaxing holiday might help some causes of infertility.
Say more sun so more vit D (could help pcos) as could the increased walking/swimming.
Different diet so maybe more/less fish or carbs/protein
More opportunity.
Even less chocolate/caffeine.

Will it unblock my tubes? I think not.

Hate this sort of thing. It's another way of placing blame on the patient/infertile couple/whatever and clawing back some sort of non existent control. There has to be a remedy that is on our own hands and it can never just be bad luck or faulty genes or some other cause.

It's just like that well known positivity cure for cancer. If you pray hard enough, have enough faith, fight it hard enough or think good thoughts then it will all go away. The downside of this is that if you aren't cured or indeed have that longed for baby then it's basically your own fault. I think not.

What a crock of shit.

I got less positive and more stressed with each round of IVF, but it worked in the end.

Stress may have an effect, but "pessimism" about IVF is actually "realism". The stats don't lie about that, even if some fertility clinics stretch the truth.

What relaxation therapies can do is help people going through IVF because IVF is a horrible procedure, and going through infertility treatment is a stressful time, not helped by hormones all over the place. So in that way, acupuncture, massage, aromatherapy, chocolate cake can all play a role in helping couples through IVF, even if they don't have a direct effect on the success factor.