Help with B6 Dosage

[MintGreenLife]

Hi all,

I just wanted to ask if anyone has experience taking B6 supplements? I might be jumping the gun here, but I came off the pill in April, and am currently on cycle 2 since coming off.

I'm on CD36 and I finally ovulated yesterday (confirmed by positive OPK and BBT rise). Prior to this I had two LH surges with the first starting on CD20 - all I can assume is that it took my body three tries until I actually managed to ovulate. As soon as I woke up this morning I realised my boobs were really sore. I was fearful of this, as my first cycle off the pill (while I wasn't charting) I appeared to ovulate around CD24 judging from EWCM and the following day had sore breasts, and 5 days later got AF. So this appears to be a luteal phase of around 5-6 days which I understand is very short. As you can see my first cycle was 30 days, and am now at CD36 this time round having only just ovulated.

From my research, sore breasts straight after ovulation and a short luteal phase could indicate low progesterone. I also suffered from a low sex drive over the last few years while on the pill, and this hasn't been restored so far - I also understand this can be a symptom of low progesterone.

I get that this could all be the ill effects of coming off the pill, so wanted to ask if anyone has experience with this? Is it best to wait and see if my next cycle is better, or should I perhaps try b6 supplements for my next cycle? If so, what kind of dosage is recommended, and do you take it for your whole cycle? I've also read that evening primrose oil might help a short luteal phase too?

Thanks in advance xx

Not sure if this helps but I take 1.4mg of B6 daily. It's part of a supplement that my fertility clinic prescribed...

Thanks for your reply :) I bought the Seven Seas Trying for a Baby supplements a few weeks ago, but decided to see what my cycles were like first before committing to them. They contain 1.4mg of B6, but upon researching it appears more like 100-200mg is needed daily so not sure if I could rely on the Seven Seas to help with a possibly short luteal phase x

Hello!
I have just started taking pre conception tablets again with the hope of TTC#2 this autumn. My luteal phase was 10 days with my last cycle before conceiving being 11. We conceived my son the first month of trying (which is obviously great!) but a part of me feels like that could be a fluke!
I was taking pregnacare conception, vitamin c and vitamin b complex. I'm taking the same again. Currently my luteal phase is only 9 days so hoping to add a couple of days on!

You have not been off the pill long so you may find things get better on their own. The fact you've ovulated is great! You may find in a couple of months your cycles naturally regulate. Fingers crossed!

@RLI1105 thanks so much for your reply ☺️ I actually found this helpful article which explains what causes the hormonal imbalance Post Pill: avivaromm.com/post-pill-reset/

Probably not of interest to yourself but thought I would link anyway ☺️ I've researched multivitamins and it appears well woman contains everything this article reccomended. I think I'll get started with that from now until the end of this cycle, and if luteal phase does still appear to be shorter than it should be I will include a seperate b6 supplement to increase my in take, as the multivitamin doesn't contain a huge amount, and also vit C. Kind of annoying it's not reccomended that you take a multivitamin as soon as you come off the pill, but hopefully I can improve things over the coming months if they're going to take a while to correct naturally.

Best of luck with TTC #2. How far into your TTC journey are you? Xx

@RLI1105 saying that I've just seen that wellwoman contains betcarotene which converts into vitamin A in the body which I know shouldn't be taken when TTC or pregnant. Going to give the Seven Seas Trying for a Baby a go as they contain a lot of what's reccomended in the article x

@MintGreenLife That article was actually really interesting! It can be a bit of a minefield! Despite not having trouble conceiving before I feel like I don't want to get ahead of myself and just presume we'll have the same luck! We haven't actually started TTC again yet. My son is 6 months in just over a week so we feel it's a little soon! 😂 Our thinking is that the minimum age gap we would want is 18 months so we're going to try again in September. I'm just getting back into the swing of properly tracking my cycles, taking vitamins etc.
It's just been a bit of a reset period, getting myself to the scratch. It does feel exciting again though!

@RLI1105 ahh fair enough, that makes a lot of sense ☺️ To be honest had I known it might take me a while to get back on track after the pill I would have come off it sooner. Hope you don't mind me picking your brains - do you know roughly how much vitamin b6 and vit c you take daily? X

www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/holland-barrett-complete-b-vitamin-b-complex-caplets-60001250?skuid=001250

www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/holland-barrett-vitamin-c-with-wild-rose-hips-caplets-1000mg-60000691?skuid=000690

www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/vitabiotics-pregnacare-conception-tablets-60083263?skuid=083263

@MintGreenLife There are the links to the stuff I take. B6 wise it's around 20mg if I have counted up correctly! 🙈 I have just started taking that B Complex tablet again. Prior to that I was taking one with slightly less. When I started taking them early last year conception aside, I noticed a real difference in my energy levels so TTC/pregnant or not I'll carry in taking them. Just upped the dose for my luteal phase.

I remember feeling exactly the same about coming off the pill and was imagining all the worst scenarios of not getting pregnant for ages etc. We got married in May and our plan was to start trying after that. Decided to have a test run a month before (I told my husband it would take a while) and two weeks later that was that!
As I said before though you'll probably find your periods will settle. It's the not knowing that's the worst though!

@RLI1105 thanks so much, so kind of you to get the links for me. Just to double check, you took all three of the above throughout your cycle, and then increased your b6 intake for your luteal phase? Have I got that right?

Haha that's absolutely amazing. Bet in a way your DH was a little disappointed all the TTC fun was over so quickly 😂 My fiancé said he hoped we didn't fall in the first cycle 🙈 We were due to get married in September, but due to the pandemic have had to postpone, so we've brought TTC forward, otherwise had I known we would have been starting a few months earlier I think I would have come off the pill a bit earlier. This year seems to have other plans for everyone! X

@MintGreenLife Yes that's right! It was just to see if I could get things back on track a bit more by increasing the B6. I got really in my head about trying last time so to be perfectly honest it wasn't the "sexiest" sex we've ever had 😂 it was probably good for us that it didn't take too long but definitely try and enjoy it! Your fiancé is right!

I'm so sorry about your wedding. 3 of my friends have had to reschedule. This year has just been the worst! Fingers crossed we're coming out the other end. I'm sure it'll definitely be worth the wait! 😃

@RLI1105 ok perfect thank you ☺️ Haha bless you. I must admit I'm already finding it hard not to become totally obsessed, especially while work is quiet at the moment. Am in bed right now reading 'taking charge of your fertility'! At the moment I'm finding it interesting learning about it all tbh.

Ohh it's such a shame for everyone getting married. TBH I think that's the only thing that makes it feel OK - that there's thousands of us going through the same thing.

So glad you replied to this - you've been so helpful and lovely x

Hello! I just wanted to post a little follow on to what I was saying early on in the week as I've had to make some changes to my vitamin routine over the last few days!

As I was saying, I have been taking B vitamins since I was trying for my first baby and continued the whole way through pregnancy an afterwards. As we want to start trying again in the autumn I upped it to the pregnancare, B complex and vitamin c and D.
Basically just under a week into this schedule I started getting absolutely splitting headaches in the afternoons with visual disturbances, like a migraine basically. I didn't put two and two together but on Wednesday night I was literally in bed at 8 o'clock after maxing out on painkillers and I wondered if it was the vitamins. I've taken none since then and I've been fine!
My thinking is because I've been taking vitamins for a while I have a high level of B vitamins already. My diet is also pretty good. I'm going to take no vitamins this cycle and see what my literal phase is. Then I might start again at a reduced dose!

How are you getting on @MintGreenLife ?

@RLI1105 thanks so much for thinking of updating me. Poor you that sounds awful! Are you feeling better now?

Funny you mention about the vitamins having an effect on you, as I've just watched a 2 hour film with OH and had to get up to pee four times during! I did a quick Google and discovered Vit C supplements can have that effect, and that was a couple of hours after taking them.

When I first posted this I hadn't got AF but had a feeling she was going to come much sooner than she should, and she did. If I ovulated when I think I did I had a three day luteal phase! Someone in another thread thought from looking at my chart maybe I didn't ovulate. I've attached it in case of interest. I mean they could be right, but I got EWCM for a few days prior to a positive OPK and then a very slight temp rise. You'll see anyway that my chart is completely all over the place.

I posted another thread after I realised I had a 3 day luteal phase to ask if anyone had the same, and someone replied and said they had and that they had been really worried, so starting taking much the same that you reccomended and by the next cycle it was up to 7 days, and the following they conceived, so hearing things like that puts my mind at rest a little.

I've started taking Pregnacare conception, the Vit b complex that you reccomended and vitamin c too, so really hope that'll make a difference this cycle xx