agnus castus

[KylieP]

Has anyone taken this and got pg? When do you take it - is it dangerous to take it for the full cycle when ttc? Thanks

Have taken in to try and lengthen my luteal phase- it may have worked as it seems to be about a day longer so far, after 3 months. Taking it throughout pregnancy is not a good idea but it is fine as long as you stop when you get BFP. Some women stop taking it for the 2 weeks wait but tbh this must be counter productive because it takes several weeks for the stuff to "bulld up"

I'm just a bit concerned as I want to try it for polycystic ovaries and to try and sort my body out (am roughly mid-cycle, totally irregular and have browny spotting at the moment for some reason!) - am worried as I read that it increases testosterone but sometimes the problem for PCOS'ers is the levels are already too high? I want to try it though ...am desperate!

you could do more damage to your cycles and hormones taking this. It is a lot more powerful than many women realise and taking it with PCOS is really not a good idea.
I know how tempting it is to self medicate, but if you really want to go down the herbal route you should find yourself a qualified medical herbalist and get proper treatment from them. If they are worth their reputation they will want you to have had all the relevant medical tests and investigations first.

I took Agnus castus for over a year to try and sort my irregular cycles out (due to PCOS). It took a few months and my cycles were down to 32 days approx (from 40+). I'm also cautious about self-medicating but I read the evidence and felt that the benefit was worth the small risk.

Once my cycles were regular I started charting and then got pregnant on the third month of trying. I took Agnus Castus for about a week after I got my BFP with no ill-effects. DS is 18 months old and thinking about ttc no. 2. Not taking Agnus castus at the moment as cycles seems to be quite regular but will happily start taking it again if I think it's going to help.

Probably also worth saying I took half the recommended dose from Holland and Barratt.

I genuinely do think Agnus castus helped me conceive.

I conceived my dd after 3.5 years and via fertility treatment. The problem was down to my very irregular and unpredictable cycles, anything from 40 days to 6 months.

I was told that being pregnant might reset my body so to speak, and right enough, once my AFs came back, they were more regular, but still long at about 45 days, give or take a week. So I tried Agnus Castus and they regulated my cycles even more, and between that and using a Clearblue Fertility Monitor, I conceived on cycle 6 or 7 (I forget now). Sitting here at 39+5 weeks (and experiencing some rather weird cramps!! Wondering if this could be the start.....)

I would do a bit more research on it, but fully believe AC helped me. I took recommended dose from Holland & Barratt.