Soy Isoflavones

[DentHyg]

Hi everyone,

Has anyone had any experience taking soy isoflavones?
I'm looking to bring forward my ovulation date (currently CD 20-21) & hopefully boost ovulation - I only rarely get a strong posive ovulation test.

Any advice on which days I'd be best to take them on? And what dose?

TIA!

Hi there,

I have long/irregular periods and lean pcos. I figured I wasn’t ovulating so I decided to try soy isoflavones last cycle

it didn’t bring my ovulation forward, actually it seemed to delay it a few more days (usually CD20 but this time it was CD24) however I could DEFINITELY tell I ovulated. Like I had every symptom ever - nausea, headaches, sharp pain in my left ovary, lots of watery cm, and even spotting. I realised that I very rarely get these symptoms so I must not ovulate most months.

14 days later my period arrived. So I’d say it really worked (partner and I didn’t dtd that month so wasn’t expecting pregnancy)

i took them cd2-6, and the dosage was 100, 100, 150, 200, 200.

I actually forgot the last day and still got strong ovulation, perhaps if I remembered then it would have brought it forward a few more days.

i didn’t have any side effects with it

@Peachyplumm that's interesting thank you.
I think I do ovulate most months just not strongly (other than the odd time). I do seem to get EWCM etc but ovulation test numbers are usually pretty low.

Just not sure whether to mess around with it all, you know the whole 'if it ain't (too) broke, don't fix it' ....
But we have been TTC for a while now with no joy!

I was big on advocating for soy but even though it felt like it gave me strong ovulation, I wouldn’t do it again. If I needed to, I’d try and get clomid from gp, but stuff like soy you can’t really predict what it will do to your cycle.

yours definitely seems like something not worth messing with! Haha. But perhaps you can have a chat with gp?

Also because it might not be you (might be sperm quality etc) or even a problem with ovulation perse (could be a progesterone issue or egg quality etc). Either way I think gp is best to figure that out and get stuff tailored for you :)

@Peachyplumm thank you, just feel quite deflated this month & was trying to think of things that may help.
I've had some appointments with the GP & blood tests to check progesterone after ovulation. One test was low (27 when low border of 'normal' is 30) then the other was 'acceptable' at 33... still seems low to me when the high end of normal was I think 120.

Thanks for your thoughts though I appreciate it!

I wonder if there are any supplements that help with progesterone specifically?

I used it when I was TTC with my first. I had the implant removed in the January and didn’t get a period until April then they were around 46 day cycles. Nothing was happening so I tried soy after my September period. I took them cycle days 3-7 (5 days total) and took 160, 160, 200, 200, 200. I didn’t get pregnant that month but my cycle did reduce to 27 days with ovulation around day 13 iirc. I took the same again after my October period. Same dates, same dosage. I got my BFP in the November.
At the time, I was convinced soy was the reason I became pregnant. Looking back now, I’m unsure if it was actually that or if my body just finally got back to normal after 15 years of hormonal contraceptives. Who knows.

@Peachyplumm i'm going to have a better look in to that again. Boyfriend has a test this month too to check his sperm count so that should help narrow things down!

@Canyougivemedirections thank you, interesting that it reduced your cycle by so much (possibly!). I had 5 months after the pill before I got a period & they have been anywhere between 28 & 42 days.. seem to be staying around 31/32 now, 15 months later. Thanks for the info!

@DentHyg soy is the only thing that I took that I noticed worked. I would take it on day 3-5 or5-7 and it brought my ovulation forward. I used to ovulate around day 22-25 and I ovulated day 12-16 with the soy. Take it for at least 3 months but do not take if your cycles are regular. They help with pcos or pco or any oestrogen dominance. I am taking them again before my next round of ivf to help follicles. I never got a bfp on them but then nothing really helped otherwise!

@Fox01 thanks for the info. My main aim is to bring ovulation forward & get it a little stronger if possible.
I think I will give it another couple of months then take either 2-6 or 3-7.

All the best with your IVF! I've everything crossed for you xx

Sorry to jump on post I’ve made my own but haven’t had any replies yet. Hoping one of you see this! I’ve bought soy ivo on Amazon from a company called healthspan. The problem is I can now see that they contain 100mg soy and 40 mg isoflavones so how much would I take based on these measurements? I started yesterday day 2 of cycle without realising and took one tablet and today is day 3… really need help as I’ve already started this cycle now :/ I’ve added an image thank you

Hey! So go off the 40mg cos that's the actual amount you get. So 2 tablets you'd get 80mg dose etc.
Hope it goes well for you x

Ahhhh thank you so so much!! I’ve been worried all day waiting for a response !! I took one yesterday (cycle day 2) and 2 so far today so today would be 200mg soy and 80mg isoflavones today so far but I was planning to take 160mg total today so should I take another two tablets ?
they are these from Amazon -

Healthspan Soy Isoflavones 100mg | 120 Tablets | with Vitamin B6 | Regulate Hormonal Activity | Natural Plant Oestrogen | 40% Isoflavone Content | Soy Germ Extract | Vegan https://amzn.eu/d/6jUYWIP

thanks so much for responding just wanted to make sure x

@TTCbaby1soph I only took them for 1 cycle in the end, 80mg each day 2-5 i think i took.
I have this screenshotted though, hope it helps.
On another note... this is the 2nd cycle I've been for acupuncture & just ovulated day 15 rather than 19/20 (been off the pill 18 months now). Also feel 100% less stressed especially about conception! So maybe gove it a go :)
Best of luck x

Thank you so much and I’ll definitely look into acupuncture

Hi, I'm 'Peachyplumm' but had to make a username change as lost access to other account.

For anyone looking into soy I wanted to update and say that I had two early losses in a row while taking soy.

I took soy isoflavones again in this cycle, got pregnant, and experienced another early loss. I now suspect that taking soy could increase risk of early loss. I got a digital 1-2 weeks, and then started bleeding. Went to the hospital where they did an ultrasound immediately and found I had very thin endometrial lining. This has never been an issue for me before.

I would generally warn against taking soy because of this - I had a healthy pregnancy before these two miscarriages and that one was without soy.

For further information, I do have PCOS, but I'm lean, and lead an active healthy lifestyle.

Hi @Plumchumm

So sorry to hear about your losses :( i hope everything works out for you.
Thanks for your advice. I haven't taken soy in the end. I start investigations with the NHS next month so fingers crossed get some answers / ideas moving forward.
All the best xx