To ask for lifestyle changes before trying IVF?

[Theresa88]

Hi all, I've been trying to conceive for a year now with no luck except one chemical pregnancy. My husband and I have done fertility testing which has come back with normal results, so the doctor says the next step is IVF. However I keep hearing of people who do multiple rounds of IVF that fail and then after making diet/lifestyle changes they get pregnant. Has anyone had this happen and what changes did you make? I'm already a non smoker/drinker at a healthy weight...

How old are you? I think that would colour my approach to be honest. Diet/lifestyle changes would take time to have an impact so I may be more inclined to give them a go if I were 35 rather than 40 for example (random ages there).

When I did ivf over a decade ago there were a lot of people in the online forum I was a member of trying supplements etc. There did seem to be some success with increasing sperm quality and I remember selenium being quite popular but I don't remember seeing much about the impact on female issues other than being a healthy weight which was the main one and you already are.

I knew I needed ivf due to tubal issues so I didn't really go down that route (and his majesty has super sperm) but I did try to do all the sensible stuff and ivf did work for me.

Good luck with it all. It's very stressful so be gentle on yourself.

No issues and they've suggested IVF?

@juneybean

No issues and they've suggested IVF?

Yes that's pretty normal after 12 months with no success

To be honest I did 5 rounds of IVF in 18 months and diets abs suppleness made zero difference so I wouldn't put too much pressure in yourself

I did IVF for 3 years, multiple cycles. I ran, I ate a healthy organic diet, I did not drink.
We decided to give it one last go. It was Christmas, we went on holiday to Thailand, it was nothing short of a two month bender.
I got pregnant the next cycle.
I think the more you worry, and fuss, the less chance you will be successful. As long as you are in a healthy weight range, not
stressed and don't do drugs on a regular basis you will be fine.
Good luck

That good old post code lottery

Really important you see an oestopath and check your pelvis is aligned. If it’s our if whack and being pulled in different directions than that’s not going to help your womb staying stable.
Acupuncture acupuncture acunpucture - research has proven it improves success rate if done on dat of implantation but worthwhile doing for months beforehand.
You can just take vitamins but I think it’s better to get a hair sample or blood sample to check both vitamins and toxin levels. My hubby had high heavy metals so we detoxed that before starting ivf.
Have an std check both of you - you need prove of being free if hiv and hep b anyway so go the full monty and ask for paper copy of results to show clinic hiv and hep b results.
Learn to track your cycle to determine best time of ovulation.

We had unexplained infertility and went straight to IVF. By the time we got through the testing and to IVF we'd been trying for 2 and a half years with nothing.

I'd stopped all lifestyle changes at the year mark because they obviously didn't matter. We were given some supplements called proxeed to try for 4 months before IVF (get some of these)

I was a lucky one and got pregnant naturally the cycle before our first IVF round. That cycle we were actually on different continents for the whole TWW so only DTD once. I drank like a fish at a Eurovision party and enjoyed lots of solo take aways 🤷🏼‍♀️

@ittakes2 I did acupuncture weekly for a year ... Nothing.

Got pregnant about 4 months after giving up on that one. Cost a fortune as well.

How does one detox for heavy metals?

I had ivf as a single woman so Idk how soon I’d have conceived natural, after all tests I has average ovaries for my age(35)

I tried acupuncture, which I swear by, never felt more relaxed in my life.

Supplements were coq10, royal jelly, high level vit d.

I ate healthy, lots of nuts and vegetables, but had the odd McDonald’s and glass of red wine.

Got pregnant first cycle with 4 embryos in the freezer.

Good luck!!

I will start by saying I am by no means an expert and I've been flamed before for my opinions and comments on such matters.

I will also say I had no difficulty getting pregnant the first time I was on the pill and not trying to! The next 2 took less than 3 months each time. I appreciate that's difficult to hear but I think necessary before I say what I'm gonna say

I had 2 mc before dd and while I was also dx with endo the way I coped was research! I wanted to give myself the best chance of a successful pregnancy the next time.

What I learned and tried to put in practice as much as possible was:

Ditch the toxins - as you say you're already a non-smoker/drinker but there's also caffeine (I feel quite strongly we're not told clearly enough in Uk the detrimental effects of caffeine on ttc and pregnancy, plenty will disagree) and other food additives. This has changed significantly since I was looking into things so worth doing your own checking into which additives may impact fertility and try and avoid them. I also was supported by then husband after I said to him there was some evidence that dads drinking/smoking etc could be a factor. He's always been more a health nut type anyway into sport but he did like a drink of a weekend and so he cut that out and he also cut out the little caffeine he had (he's not a hot drink person but he liked coke sometimes)

Diet generally - I'm veggie anyway and generally a healthy eater then though I was also underweight which was also something I sought to address. Family trait that was tough to remedy then - now I have the opposite problem - also a family trait! I moved to a diet that was as far as possible close to "everything cooked from scratch" so as natural as possible. I also moved to full fat milk, cheese and yoghurt and more protein (mainly to try and gain weight but I believe also improved nutritional content)

Supplements - I started taking pregnancy promoting vitamins before actually being pregnant. Checked with dr who was fine with this - again more is known about this stuff now and the advice will have changed significantly

Reduced stress - easier said than done! I delegated more at work, stopped over committing myself elsewhere (was always a "busy bee" anxious type), started a water aerobics class which helped centre me, we went on walks when I felt anxiety rising.

Ok here's the really controversial one but dr at the time said it would certainly do no harm providing right precautions taken (some oils and techniques are not advised during pregnancy) - a friend was an aromatherapy massage therapist and she was also a physio so knew her stuff - and she gave me a weekly fertility promoting massage, at worst it helped with the relaxation side especially as we chatted over things too at best maybe it helped? Who knows. Dr said at the very least it would probably help with promoting a healthy circulation and reducing anxiety.

Also I remember around that time seeing dr Robert winston on this morning saying that many of the couples referred to him and other fertility drs are often done so prematurely, because the gp hasn't (often embarrassment and people not wanting to discuss such things) properly established whether the couple is actually having sex frequently! Apparently a very common "error" which is also apparently often compounded by couples trying to "focus" on the woman's "fertile period" and so having little or no sex at other times and to further complicate matters couples or women often miscalculate when their fertile period is and so slightly miss the optimum time.

Another thing I think it was him who mentioned (it was a long time ago) was - gravity! Make use of it! I used to basically pretty much do a shoulder stand straight after sex!

I also looked up something from "friends" (stay with me) - Monica's dad in that awkward scene where he's caught chandler and Monica literally ttc he says it's important the woman orgasms. My curiosity was piqued I looked it up and damn if it isn't true! The experts don't necessarily totally agree on WHY they think this is the case but apparently so.

I've passed on these thoughts to others and as far as I'm aware it's usually (not always) helped except of course where there is subsequently discovered known barriers to fertility

I don't think anything I've said is actively harmful in any way but definitely double check and keep yourself right.

Wishing you so much luck with all this

google it only takes an egg - worked for me I fell pregnant naturally after failed ivf after doing this for 4 weeks!

We'd been ttc for a year when I got pregnant, my husband is a sheep farmer so we started ttc just after lambing time because you're not meant to be around lambing sheep when pregnant. By lambing the following year I still wasn't pregnant so we decided to stop ttc over lambing then make an appointment to see dr after lambing. But I fell pregnant during lambing. So the things that changed were:

1. We'd totally relaxed and stopped trying
2. I was very active, lambing time is very busy on a sheep farm
3. My diet was very bland and little snacking/processed food, porridge for breakfast, banana mid morning, sandwich and a yoghurt for lunch, cereal bar mid afternoon and homemade stews etc for dinner, daily for about a month before I got pregnant.
4. I stopped taking pregnacare vitamins, the packet run out and I thought no point, I won't be pregnant anyway

No idea which one of the above did it or if it was a combination of all or if it was just our time.

Folic Acid, normal diet.
I had two rounds first one v careful, no drinking smoking, caring for my Dad, working lots of stress.
Few months later Dad died
A few months latter the second attempt Was a budget version of the long holiday, it was spring, I had started smoking again after my Dad died and the night before implantation I went out and got drunk. I used the defence plenty of people get pregnant after a night out and I wouldn't be drinking after implantation and the alcohol would have cleared .
Stuck a nicotine patch on the next day, and ivf worked.
I think there was 6 months between each attempt and my feeling was I was more relaxed about the second, under less stress, the clinic understood how my body ticked and the drugs were better judged (for want of a better word) And it was spring... this is not very scientific but I do think the time of the year helped with my mental and physical health.

Agree with a lot of what @Graphista put in a broad sense although most of those are pretty "accepted" measures to improve fertility (or at least not decrease it).

Except the orgasm one - actually there have been a few studies which has shown this made no difference and if anything is more likely to play a part in gender swaying...apparently you are more likely to have a girl if you don't orgasm

I would definitely read "it starts with the egg" by Rebecca Fett.There's also a good Facebook group for followers of the book. It's mostly Mediterranean diet, lots of supplements but also reducing exposure to chemicals as well.

I assume if this is the advice after a year, then you're late 30s or over 40?

If not, then try all the usual like acupuncture etc.

Lots of advice on here already - a couple of further thoughts. Have you had an AMH test to determine ovarian reserve? If not, you’ll need this one too. A clinic will do the HIV etc testing before you’re able to proceed with anything so no need to seek that separately IMO.
Supplements - folic acid or folate is better (solgar do this) folate is absorbed in the body better. High Vit D as a pp mentioned. Fish oil (not cod liver) is good - keep in the fridge then you can’t taste it. I also took coq10 for ages too which is meant to be good for your eggs (made my hair really thick too).

It all starts with the egg is an interesting read but some of the things in there are extreme.

For me - have just spent 3.5 years going through 6 fertility rounds / treatments. I always gave up alcohol / caffeine (other than one tea a day) when I started the medication, this last round (which has been successful - 9 weeks now - but also with donor egg as mine are buggered) I did the couch to 5k and practised yoga twice a week. Kept me sane and I was fitter probably than previous rounds and in a good place mentally too about it.

Best thing to do is just be sensible about it. Easier said than done I know!! Eat well, it’s fine to have alcohol up til you start the meds. If you’re taking supplements, start now as they can take 3-4 months to get into your system. Selenium is good for your partner and a high dose vit c too. Find a clinic and your consultant can make any further recommendations as to what you could take / do.

Good luck and keep talking to each other about it and stay strong.

I'll start by saying that I had unexplained infertility and 2 cycles of IVF. I'm one of the lucky ones, I got to take a baby home (he's 6 now).
Being as healthy as you can can't hurt, whether you conceive naturally or go through IVF. And will help you be more resilient while you ride the infertility rollercoaster. But be alert to the risk of health advice becoming a stick to beat yourself with, or a source of self blame. Infertility is enough of a bugger and the last thing you need is more ways to say, if only I/we had done X/hadn't done Y...

I was in a similar position to you OP except no chemical (so perhaps that would make a difference to my thinking as you actually got pregnant). I went for IVF and by the time it came around we had been trying 2 years. I'm now certain it is very unlikely to have worked for us naturally and the IVF worked first time, so it worked out very well for me! I am a healthy weight though so I would say that matters.

Before IVF, I stressed myself so much about supplements, plastic, diet etc, always looking for the one obscure, strange thing that was preventing a pregnancy. Most of it nonsense

Have you tried Clomid? That is usually the step before IVF.

Before IVF, I stressed myself so much about supplements, plastic, diet etc, always looking for the one obscure, strange thing that was preventing a pregnancy. Most of it nonsense

Yes this is why long term infertility sucks so much. You worry that everything you do/don’t do/eat/drink could affect your fertility in some way.

@CounsellorTroi

Have you tried Clomid? That is usually the step before IVF.

Clomid is no help with unexplained infertility. The drug helps you to ovulate, but it doesn't make an ovulation 'better'. With UI the woman will be ovulating on her own regularly.

The reason UI goes to IVF first is because it has the highest success rate, especially when there is nothing to 'cure'.