Searching for Artoo

[C0206]

I am a fairly newcomer to this site and finding it hard to get around!! I am looking for Artoo as I think you may be able to help me with ideas to lengthen my LP. Jersey recommended that I try to find you!
Hope you are out there and that you can help!!

Hi there C0206, I've never been "sought out" before - what fun!

I have a few hints and tips on how to lengthen your LP, which I can certainly pass on to you. First of all taking vitamin B6, 50mg to 200mg per day, should help. I have also read that taking a vitamin B-complex supplement alongside your B6 will make the B6 more effective.

The other main way to lengthen your LP is to use progesterone cream (ONLY post ovulation). Not sure how available this is in the UK - I got mine from the States.

Agnus Castus is also supposed to help, but do some research on this and know the side effects - it can work great for some women, but can also make things worse for others.

How are you measuring your LP? Via BBT? Once you have a few cycle's worth of data, consider consulting your GP - I first saw mine after only 3 months of TTC, and he was very supportive and sent me for blood tests right away (I'm close to 35, which may have accelerated things).

You may find some or all of these sites useful:

www.babyhopes.com/articles/luteal-phase-defect.html

preconception.com/resources/articles/lutealdefect.htm

co.essortment.com/whatislutealp_rlsv.htm

I found that taking the B6 supplement appeared to lengthen my LP by a couple of days, however we have since discovered, through further tests, that the problem seems to be that I am not ovulating at all, rather than a luteal phase defect.

Hope this is some help!

Hugs,
Artoo.

Fantastic!!!!
Glad that my search for you worked!!!
Have bought soem agnus catus today which I will start next month and some B6 which I will start tomorrow....is it ok to take throughout cycle?
My consultant doesn't recognise LPdefect which has confused me further.
I have use ov predictor tests for 4/5 months and my LP is 8 or 9 days according to them.
Took nearly 5 years ttc first, now another 8 minths so far for second. Didn't know about length of LP when I was frustrted for all those years!! Hoping that I can be a bit more pro-active now?!
Thanks for replying :0 :0 :0

Oooops! Apologies there .....I meant to preview my message and posted it by mistake with lots of dodgy spellings and stuff on it!! My smiley faces went wrong too so here are some more!!!!

Sorry Artoo...
What am I like??!!!
Just realised that I changed my nickname to coggy because it's easier to remember than C0206... so now you are probably totally confused and think that I am a mad babbling fool!!!

Coggy is a much nicer name than C0206, and don't worry, you're not a mad babbling fool (well, no madder than the rest of us anyway!)

It's fine to take vitamin B6 throughout your cycle.

Sorry to hear your consultant doesn't recognise LPD - can you get a second opinion, or at least some blood tests? Can you use the length of time it took you to conceive first time to accelerate treatment this time?

Good luck to you anyway, hope you see some results with the B6/agnus castus.

Hugs,
Artoo.

Under two consultants at the mo. One local and the other regional. I'm waiting to hear back from my other consultant at the fertility place -hopefully he'll know more about it.
I'm 34 and so is dh but it sounds as if your gp was really on the ball sorting you out quickly. Have you any children already or is this in ttc your first?

We don't have any children yet, so we are TTC our first. It took me a very long time to realise I wanted kids (I went through my twenties saying I didn't want them). And to me it was vital that I wanted kids before I started trying for them (in a strange role reversal DH has been broody ever since I've known him!).

Every step of the way we've had great support from the medical people we've dealt with - my GP was excellent, and the gynaecologist we've been referred to seemed very good (although we've only seen him once so far, next appointment is a week on Tuesday).

I'm waiting for results of my day 3 blood test, I've also had an HSG which showed my tubes were all clear (yay me!). The gynaecologist's initial diagnosis was that I was not ovulating, but I just got a little egg symbol on my Clearblue fertility monitor this morning, so I'm hoping that's a really good sign Poor DH won't know what's it him over the next few days! LOL

Hope your fertility consultant is more supportive than your consultant has been.

Hugs,
Artoo.

I won't be around for a few days but I wanted to wish you all the best for your gynae appointment on Tuesday. I hope it all goes how you want it to. Let me know how you get on.
I've still not heard back from my fertility consultant - it seems to take a long time just to reply to a letter doesn't it?!!

Hey coggy,

My gynae appointment went well - I now have three months supply of clomid, and take my first tablet today. I hope this does the trick for us

Have you heard back from your consultant yet?

Hugs,
Artoo.

No not a sausage. I think I'll wait and phone again next week with another question to add to the list!
I took 3 months of clomid and fell pg the month after! Wierd but thinking about it now maybe the clomid helped to regulate my cycle over the three months I used it.
Maybe the consultant (when he finally replies) will suggest another try with that?
Glad to hear that you have started on it....I wish you loads and loads and loads of luck with it. I know how frustrating waiting is!
I am cd25 and have a rather ominous stomach ache but at least now I have the agnus castus and B6 to try for next month.

Had a letter back from my fertility consultant's secretary today. Feel very fed up about it. I've had to wait all this time and it was only about four sentences long with no reference to LP defect and just said that my progesterone results were slightly low which would explain my irregular cycles - I DON'T have irregular cycles!!!!
This is more frustrating than ever!!
I suppose I shall have to write back and wait another 6 weeks for a reply.
Sorry....ranting on a bit, but I feel cross!!
How are you going with your clomid?
You must be around mid-cycle now I guess?
LOL.

Coggy

Don't wait a possible six weeks (!) for a reply, phone them!!.

If your progesterone level was slightly low (how low, was this level indicated?) this can be indicative of non ovulation for that particular cycle. Clomid is often given in instances where there are ovulation problems.

Would advise you not to self medicate at all with AC as this can make any underlying hormonal imbalance worse. If you really want to take this then would seek out the advice of a medical herbalist.

Thanks MCU...no indication of progestorone level, just said slightly lower than normal.
Had three months of clomid 18months ago and so he also said that I shouldn't have anymore. It makes me wonder if he's even looked at my notes because most people get a six month try at clomid (I was told by fertility clinic last time) and I reacted really well to the clomid they said.
OPKs indicate that I am ovulating but late in my cycle.
When I phone I never seem to speak to the right person.....can you tell that I am getting well and truly fed up??!!

Hi,

They should have told you exactly what the progesterone level is.

Although some people can react well to clomid some do become clomid resistant and not ovulate whilst on it. This may be why you've been advised no more but the situation re this should be clarified.

I would actually desist from using OPK's at all as these can give false positive readings. These kits measure LH - if the levels of LH you are producing are higher than normal then the kit is reading this result instead.

Have your LH and FSH levels ever been properly measured in blood tests?.

Are you being seen at a private clinic or is this NHS?. Whatever the case, you are being mucked around here. I would write a letter to the clinic outlining your concerns and see what response you get back.

Generally speaking the three of you need to work as a team - if this is not happening for whatever reason then it may be worth considering another centre.

I need to write and clarify several points I think. It is a NHS clinic and I seem to have been rather unlucky with it in lots of ways. I had an appointment to specifiaclly see the consultant and when I arrived (over an hours journey and 40 minutes in the waiting room later) I was told that I should have received a cancellation letter as he was on holiday. So I have never actually got to speak to him face-to-face or by letter!
I am seriously beginning to consider going private as I read more and more on this site how people are getting on quickly with fertility things in other parts of the UK.
I will ask ref. the clomid. My situation is a little strange as we were ttc for nearly five years before falling pg after 3 months of clomid. Sadly I then had a still birth as my baby got in a tangle with his cord. We have been trying again now for nearly 9 more months and I don't know why I have been told not to have clomid as it seems to me that did the trick for us before!
I think I will go for one more letter clearly expressing everything and then a follow-up phone call and then seriously think about the private route if I still feel as frustrated as I do now!
Thanks Meerkats for listening to my rant!

coggy,

I am sorry for what you are going through, it does seem like you are not seeing the best of the NHS.

Meerkats has much more experience than I in a lot of this, so her advice is better than anything I could give :) Your experience is such a contrast to mine, I have been very fortunate to have a very positive experience (so far, touch wood) of the NHS, but the more I read the more I see how variable treatments between different NHS Trusts.

If I was you, and was in a position to do so, I would be going private.

Hugs,
Artoo.

Hi Artoo - just thought I'd check up on you and see how you were going.
:)

Hey coggy!

I'm doing OK - AF arrived last week, so I'm now on to my second clomid cycle. Doctor gave me three month's worth, so I'm hoping something will happen this month or next month. I got my CD12 scan booked in for next Tuesday, so I'm hoping the clomid will work well for me this month.

How are you getting on? Have you had your second opinion yet? Or progressed things with your NHS?

Hugs,
Artoo.

Same old thing...waiting at the mo!
My GP(who is lovely but I felt things had gone a bit out of his hands) has offered to phone the fertility clinic and get things moving for me as it's soon coming up for a year since my ds died.
Decided that as we are going away over Easter that April is going to be a OPK free month! I am even going to try to forget what CD I am on for a month or maybe two (if I can manage!)

I had three months worth of clomid and then fell pg naturally the next month! I definitely think that it gives you system a good kick-start.
Good to hear from you again :)

Hey - I am VERY excited!!!
Just got assertive with my gp today and got him to 'stick a rocket' up the fertility place and they have prescribed me three more months of clomid - hurrah!!!
:) :) :)

I am SURE that this did the trick last time...so here's hoping!

I will join you all on the clomid thread shortly!

Hope you are going okay.
X

Great news coggy! I'll see you on the clomid thread :)

Hugs,
Artoo

Hi Artoo...thought I'd leave you a message here because I haven't seen you post on the clomid thread for ages.
I hope that everythings okay with you.
Coggy
X

Hey coggy, thanks for thinking of me :)

My failure to get pg last month hit me really hard, and I was very upset about it. I think because my CD12 scan had been so good I was really expecting something. So this month I am trying to relax about the whole thing. I am not temping, I am not spending as much time on the TTC boards, and I don't even know what CD I am on! I had clomid again this cycle, but that was the end of my prescription, so I have a follow-up meeting with the consultant booked in June, assuming things don't work this month.

Plus stuff just got really busy at work. So I'm getting less time for myself, which is probably not a bad thing.

How are things going with you?

Hugs,
Artoo.

Good to hear from you Artoo - I will let you know how this month goes.
Had my mid-cycle hcg jab today so we shall see....
Sorry to hear that your last month wasn't good.
Hopefully we'll both have better news soon eh?
:)