7 day LP: see doctor or self-medicate?

[ElusiveMoose]

I've been TTC2 for 3 months and have been charting and using OPKs. I have a pretty fixed 7 day luteal phase (O on CD19/20, AF on CD27/28). I've been trying to conceive naturally, but am now thinking I might need to address the short LP. So, my question is, should I try taking B6 for a couple of months and see how it goes, or should I go and see my doctor (either to discuss using B6 or to explore other possiblilities)?

I was planning to keep trying naturally, on the basis that I conceived DS on the first month of trying and had no problems in the pregnancy at all. However, I think I probably did conceive this month just gone (my post O temp pattern exactly matched that in my pregnancy cycle), but AF arrived on time today , which makes me think that maybe the short LP stopped me implanting. So now I'm thinking I ought to take some action.

Can anyone advise? Is it safe to take B6 without seeing a doctor first? Or is a 7 day LP so short that I ought to ask a doctor about progesterone cream or something? Would be very interested to hear other people's experiences.

Thanks londonlottie. I've stocked up on B6 and booked an appointment with my GP. If you don't mind me asking, have you got any experience of using progesterone supplements?

Hi EM - I work in the fertility field & would recommend acupuncture and either Chinese or Western herbs, (prescribed by a qualified herbalist). Both can help lengthen a short LP although be prepared for it to take a few months. I echo lottie's remarks about blank looks from your doctors - many of them take no notice of women's LP info. Some prescribe clomid but that's a pretty heavy handed drug. I would avoid progesterone cream because all that's doing is putting progesterone in from the outside and your LP is a result of the complicated balance of all your reproductive hormones. Acup and herbs can help correct the balance. And yes vit B6 is a good idea.

Good luck

From what you both say, I'm beginning to wonder whether it's worth going to the GP at all . Assuming she doesn't just look at me blankly, is there anything she can do other than resort to the serious fertility drugs like Clomid? (I'm assuming that a regular GP is unlikely to recommend acupuncture or herbal treatments.)

Also, a quick question re B6. I've got 100mg tablets from Holland and Barrett; should I take them all the way through my cycle, or only pre-O?

Thanks, and sorry to keep hitting you for information!

Hi EM,

I'm in no way medically qualified, but have been doing quite a bit of reading on B6 as I have a short luteal phase too. My extensive research has concluded that B6 is a good idea, but best to start at 50mg, and see how you go. If no joy, you can up to 100mg. This is because high doses of B6 can cause neuropathy (tingly sensations or worst case, permenant nerve damage). I gather it would have to be an extreme dose to cause this, but best to start low and work up.

The tablets I bought are 100mg, but break in half, so I have been taking that along with my folic acid every morning for a couple of weeks now. Obviously too early to tell, but I'm hopeful it'll help.

Hope that's helpful.

oh, and I found nothing to suggest it wasn't okay to take them throughout the cycle (unlike Vitex/ agnus castus).

Yes agree with pepperonipizza on the B6. And no to answer your other question, probably isn't much the GP can do other than the clomid (although would have thought she might refer you for that rather than prescribe herself). You should keep her in the picture though and I would go and talk it through with her. Might be able to teach her a thing or two!

Well, I saw the GP today and she said the first step is to do a progesterone blood test a couple of days after I think I ovulate, just to check that I am ovulating and that progesterone levels are ok at that stage. (Which I suppose is worth knowing, though I don't have much doubt that I am ovulating.) If that's fine and I don't conceive after another few months, then she said she was happy to try to refer me to the hospital, but warned me that women who are ovulating and who already have one child are pretty low priority and don't always get seen on the NHS. I mentioned the B6 and she said she'd never heard of it used for this purpose, which was pretty much what I was expecting, frankly.