Soy Isoflavones..yay or nay?

[moly39x]

Been doing some research on soy isoflavones & I didn't know what people's opinions are?

I have a 35 day cycle, ovulate between CD17-21 - currently 7th month in of TTC after 1 early loss at 5 week in October.

Do people have any experience with taking them? I read the following on an old thread here about with CD to take them..

My concerns are; I have little/none EWCM (have conceive plus lube) but I get positive OPK every month (temping just stressed me out which I decided would do more harm?!) and I'm sure soy iso is to help ovulate? But now I've read the below, it looks as though it can help the egg. I'm cautious about messing up my cycle so was just looking to hear other people's experience.

Here's the info I've read here (have lots more saved in my notes if people want to see about the dose etc if interest) :)

Thank you x

1-5 = you produce more eggs, and ovulate sooner, with a stronger ovulation.

2-6 = you produce more eggs that usual, but not as many as taking it 1-5. Eggs may be more mature, and ovulation will be slightly more strong than 1-5.

3-7 = The best of both worlds, a few more eggs, and all eggs will be strong & mature, and ovulation will be alot stronger than 1-5.

4-8 = No more eggs will be produced, but the ones already there, will be matured alot more than usual, and ovulation will be very strong. Ovulation may only be brought forward a teeny bit.

5-9 = You'll have one very mature strong egg, from the ones you already produced on your own. Ovulation will either happen when it usually does, or a few days later, but your egg will be of great quality.

Ahh ok I already ovulate cd18-21! What does maca do?

@choccrumpet she really is such a lovely understanding lady! I've had no comments about my age and ttc (I'm 42) just lots of help, she said we will chat again once I've had the ultrasound and go from there!

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 that blood test does sound reasonable and better than the finger prick ones!

@Boc86 I'm not sure about the Holland and Barratt soy but yes I'm doing maca this cycle and maybe next, I haven't decided yet! Maca root is known for its fertility friendly properties, good for sperm health too, I've seen others that have got their bfp on it so worth a go

@Marvellouslymadmum I think just finding someone who will listen, not make you feel bad, and seem like they might help you is so important! I wonder if a lot of Drs just get ground down.

Keep me posted on your experiences with maca!

Morning ladies, how are you today?

I finished my last soy yesterday and have been experiencing some mild cramping since. I know cramping before/during ovulation is normal but not something I've experienced before. They sometimes feel like mild period cramps. I'm only on CD7 so too early for ovulation. Has anyone experienced this? Is it most likely to be ovulation cramping rather than something else (not sure what)?

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 yes I completely agree, I would imagine they do - I think it's an awfully boring job compared to other doctor roles

@choccrumpet I'm afraid I can't help much on the cramp front as I get them all over the place now think it's to do with the endo!

Morning @choccrumpet I was feeling period pains on around CD 7-9 I was really puzzled but it’s tailed off now. Sometimes it’s just hormones rising and falling etc. Although I haven’t taken soy yet but was considering it last month and then I couldn’t get it in time for this cycle so currently on CD13 now idea when ill ovulate this cycle used to be CD16-17 but been very late since my second MC in Mach.

March*

@choccrumpet I'm another person who gets random aches and twinges, but my app sends me a 'where you're at in your cycle' daily update, and said rising oestrogen can cause some twinges and aches.

I finally got a O on my opk test, yay. I had acupuncture yesterday, told her about the surge but no ovulating, and she put way more needles in me than usual. Then today I got a O. Very happy.

@Marvellouslymadmum my friend actually quit being a doctor because she ended up just hating dealing with patients. Good luck for your tests today, and hope your ovulation holds off until tomorrow!

@Slk3558 second miscarriage :( Hopefully your hormones will settle down soon and you'll ovulate soon

@Marvellouslymadmum my partner is a gp and it's not boring so much as hugely stressful. A lot of the time my partner is so torn because he wants to really help people and dig into their problems, but if he did that with every patient he would be running hours late each day. In order to keep on top of the workload he has to keep things lighter and tbh it kills him. He often comes home upset about it. And the fear of making a mistake is massive, if I make a mistake at work I can get sacked, if he makes a mistake he can kill somebody, be struck off or even prosecuted in the criminal courts. I'm often conflicted when I read peoples accounts of being poorly treated, on the one hand I'm indignant on their behalf, on the other I can totally see why the gp has acted the way they have. The burden on gps has increased dramatically in recent years, they are expected to take on so much more than they used to - underfunding is the pits!

@Noodella18 I think some of the general public are just idiots as well. Like I've been horrified in the waiting room to hear people being rude to the staff in GP's with 'my taxes pay your wages', or showing up really late to appointments and still expecting to be seen, or insisting a minor cold needs an emergency appointment. Also even on this site, the number of people saying their period is a couple days late, and there are loads of people saying get to the GP immediately 🙄😂

This is my chart on my non soy month - had a pre-ov dip with my first positive opk, then a pre-ov dip again today. My ovulation will be four days later than my two soy cycles. The second chart attached is last months. I think it’s showing that for me soy does make a big difference - stronger and earlier ovulation

Sorry the charts have switched around, the 1st one is last months, the 2nd one is this months!

Thank you @Marvellouslymadmum @A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 that makes sense, I don't get notifications on my app but maybe I should turn them on as that's useful to know!

@Slk3558 I'm sorry about your MCs ☹️ again good to know about the cramps. They come and go and I haven't felt them today.

@Noodella18 thank you for sharing that! It can be easy to forget the GPs point of view, I don't know any doctors so I can't empathise because I don't know but it makes complete sense and I'm going to try be more empathetic going forward as I really feel for your partner and would hate to make any other GP feel that way just because I think they could do more for me vs them having how many patients to attend to each day.

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 yay for ovulation finally!! How interesting that soy helps you out so much! Can you continue taking it safely or is this a sign that you need something prescribed likes clomid as I think soy is similar to it? Apologies if I sound ignorant, I have no idea!

@choccrumpet I'm not sure if the notifications are too useful, often they say 'you'll have low pain threshold today' or 'your superpower today will be concentration' etc 😂 Plus will have to turn them off when I'm back in the office as they say things like 'Better have sex today' and I don't think that something my poor colleagues need to know really!

I don't know about the clomid, I think because I am ovulating, and my hormones came back normal so not PCOS etc, they probably wouldn't think it was worth giving it to me with all the scans needed etc. I'm CD 17 so its still not sooo late in a Dr's mind. I think I read somewhere that you can only do six cycles of soy, and its by the third month it will have had full effect so I will try it again

Hi ladies. I'm 9dpo today of my 2nd soy cycle. Ended up ovulating on CD19 compared to CD14 last cycle. No idea why it was so delayed, especially as I took the soy days 3-7 this month compared to 5-9 last month. Dose that I took was 120, 120, 120, 200, 200.

Symptom wise this month has been exactly the same as last month. Absolutely atrocious acne all over my face and boobs that feel like they are on fire which stated immediately after ovulation. It's quite horrible. I don't think I'll be taking soy again after this month.

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 I turned mine off for the same reason and never got around to turning them back on. Agree they might not be useful but might try out just to see how annoying or not they are 😅

CD17 isn't too bad although it does mean you'll have a longer cycle. I wish I was back on CD18 when I thought that was late compared to cd24 with my last cycle. Personally I'd be nervous of taking them for too long as well. I think I'll have to stop next cycle for blood tests on cd1-4 and then cd21 or the equivalent for me.

Also forgot to comment on the acupuncture, I don't think it's a coincidence that you ovulated after acupuncture. I got my peak after a session last cycle after waiting for it for a while and I also told him that it was taking its time. There must be something more to it.

@acaciabluebell that sounds frustrating especially the symptoms! I know for us experiencing those kinds of symptoms isn't always pleasant but could it be a positive that there was an increase in hormones? Whether it's worth it is up to the individual though

@acaciabluebell I had bad skin and sore boobs on them too, just about at ovulation and the following week. I took it as a positive, but I don't know. I def didn't feel very pretty with spots all over my face though 😝

@choccrumpet maybe it is doing something for us! I felt really tired yesterday, and calm. Are you getting on alright with the new acupuncturist?

@acaciabluebell to be fair I've had super bad skin last cycle, worse than ever and my skin has always been quite good and that was really hard to deal with. It's clearing up now from the previous cycle but I'm sure it's about to get worse for this one again 🤦🏼‍♀️

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 that sounds positive! I've been feeling tired and unmotivated this week so am hoping acupuncture can wave a magic wand and make me feel better 😆 I've got my second session tomorrow and I've been looking forward to it alllll week so the week has been draaaagging for me! It's almost 2 weeks since the first one so I'm keen to go back. And yes I'm really liking her so far!

@choccrumpet oh wow so its def worth the money if you're looking forward to it!

Yes bad skin isn't nice. Actually mine is a little bad today, a couple of spots, but nowhere near as bad as the last two months. I don't normally get bad skin, so felt v self conscious. But the masks help !

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 I'm sure acupuncture must help as I've seen a few people Have their af do what they want once they've had the acupuncture! 🤞🏻 I haven't ovulated yet and we are still in with a change this month!
Interesting about the three months of soy to take full effect as I only did two 🤦🏼‍♀️
@Noodella18 that makes sense about the stress and definitely about wanting to do more for People but not have the time, less boring more frustrating! The fear of making mistakes is why I could never do anything like that, there's just too much at stake!

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 it helps me feel like I'm being proactive and doing something positive to contribute to an eventual pregnancy so yeah I'm enjoying that aspect of it 🤗 (as opposed to doing the same thing every month and getting nowhere)

@Marvellouslymadmum I'm glad the timing has worked out for you!! 🤞🏼 for you!

Thanks for the responses everyone. I'd love to think that the acne and increased boob pain etc is from an increase in progesterone, but last month I had the shorter luteal phase than normal (only 9-10 days compared to my usual 11-12) so I'm not sure about that.

Coincidentally I just had my CD21 bloods retaken recently (still awaiting results) and I completely forgot I had taken the soy. So that's a bit annoying as it won't be accurate in regards to my body.

@acaciabluebell I think it’s the oestrogen increase that’s responsible for the sore boobs and oilier skin. That’s rubbish on a shorter luteal phase. Will be interesting to see what your day 21 bloods are and how they compare to last time. Hopefully they’ll be looking good

@choccrumpet I'm still not sure if it has tbh my temps started rising yesterday and the ov strips are going down in Lh so think I may have had the peak Wednesday and possibly ovulated yesterday burly we did dtd last night so you never know!

I thought the boob pain was progesterone too, funny though as I've only had that one month - the one I had my day 21 test! 🤦🏼‍♀️ so my progesterone was high 64 that month but no idea about others

@acaciabluebell ah I see what you mean now. That's frustrating with the bloods! I had to cancel mine for this cycle as I thought they'll probably alter them slightly.

@Marvellouslymadmum you've still got a chance, if you can try to dtd today as well as it may not be too late. And hopefully you'll get the SA results soon enough too. Did your partner have to book an appointment to drop the SA off or did he just do a drop off? We'll be doing ours soon, I need to check but am sure it can be done anytime in my cycle so we'll probably try to time it near the end of this cycle so it doesn't interfere with ovulation, hopefully.