Co- enzyme q10 for egg quality

[JessieMcJessie]

I've read a bit about this, in the "Starts with the egg" book and elsewhere.

Our first IVF has just failed and I am 42 with AMH of only 3.3 so I am thinking of trying it. However the bottle I picked up in Boots was very clear that anyone trying to conceive should consult their doctor before taking it. I will ask about it when I have my follow up at my clinic to discuss the failure, but wondered if anyone else has discussed co- enzyme q10 with their doctor and what the doctor has said?

I suspect the warning is just back- covering by the manufacturer and that the only vitamins that don't say that are conception vitamins, but I feel that caution is best with so much money and emotion at stake.

Hiya, there is a thread about this further down - you probably didn't spot it doesn't have coenzyme q10 in the title: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/infertility/2456378-Pregnant-naturally-after-5-failed-ivf-cycles

My husband and I have both been taking it for a few weeks now and figure it can't do much harm. I think the thread was actually started by a GP who got pregnant after she started using it. My husband did a lot of looking into it and we take ubiquinol (bought it off AMAZON) - I think it's the same but easier for your body to absorb. Sorry I don't know the specifics as I just let my husband do the research and take what I've been given.

Hope this helps

Hi jessie, I'm taking it. I did discuss with my consultant once who said there's no evidence it helps (there isn't, nothing of any quality anyway). Nevertheless I am desperate, I think it's unlikely to cause any issues and I can stop taking if I ever manage to get pregnant.

I took it when ttc - not ivf but had recurrent miscarriages so concerned about egg quality. Did not ask doctor actually but it was recommended by lots of women (in my position) on here so I gave it a go. No idea if it helped but I did get a baby in the end!

Great, thanks everyone. I should have perhaps been a bit clearer, I wasn't expecting a doctor to have endorsed it as positive,as they pretty much tend to pooh pooh all supplements, but wanted to make sure that none had said it would be detrimental to the IVF.

Jessie I get what you're asking, my consultant didn't go as far as actively discouraging (other than using the no evidence argument). I do know of a couple of clinics that do endorse CoQ10 as something for women to try for low egg reserve or quality, although they are few and far between. But for me that does add to the whole naturally present in every cell in your body can't do any harm argument. Unfortunately though lack of trial data means lack of evidence of negative effects as well as evidence of benefit if you see what I mean. I hope this helps. Also please come back and tell us what you get back from your own dr.

Do it! My consultant said the usual "by all means try it, no evidence on women" etc etc but I think it made a massive difference to my recent fresh IVF cycle. Spend the extra money to get high quality uniquinol as the stuff you'll find in most pharmacies is pretty useless. I took the Pharma Nord one at 400 to 600mg a day - i.e. Frickin loads and very expensive but nothing compared to the price of IVF drugs. I ended up with lots of great quality blastocysts at the age of 38 whereas on my last fresh cycle at 36 on the same level of stims I had a good haul of eggs but they fizzled out very quickly and I came close to having nothing to transfer. The q10 was the only thing different in the cycles so I swear by it.

So do you think it's worth taking although I have no evidence to suggest my egg quality is bad?

I think egg quality is really hard to gauge unless you have results like multiple miscarriage, high die back rate of embryos before transfer etc to go on. Everyone's eggs get worse as they get older though and in a situation like IVF they need all the help they can get. Your body usually just focuses on getting one egg ready to pop out but in IVF all those resources are spread out across an unnatural number of eggs. Not the most scientific explanation but I hope you get my drift. I think the q10 would probably be a boost to anyone doing IVF

Yes definitely! I had IVF appointments at Lister, Create and ARGC, all recommended Q10 in high doses for patients with low AMH. Its worth getting a very high quality brand though, I ordered the nord pharma brand, you need to take about 600mg a day for it to be effective.
The other supplement that is excellent for low egg reserve is DHEA (must be micronized. I got pregnant naturally after a failed IVF cycle and an amh of 1 after taking both for 3 months. There is an excellent book called It all starts with the egg which goes through all the scientific research on improving egg quality and the evidence for both of the above is very compelling.

Cool. Thanks. I don't have a low amh and they have to monitor me for ohss so although I want to improve egg quality, I don't want to go into overdrive. Meeting zita west in oct because I apparently have immune issues so I'll ask their advice too. Just was thinking maybe I should start taking in now.
Also ordered that book last week and waiting for it to arrive. X

Allchat you can try it if you want to. It's a naturally occurring substance found in every cell in the body and shouldn't do any harm. If you're not older/low amh then no need to go with the super high doses, that's all. I think it starts with the egg recommends 100mg a day for cases like this.

Thanks all. I've ordered 300g ubiquinol tabs from Amazon and micronised DHEA from tHe U.S. Will start taking now and ask my doc at my IVF failure follow up if he thinks any reason not to.

I'm also taking Ubiquinol - 300mg of ubiquinol or 600mg of regular CoQ10 is what's recommended for women with diminished ovarian reserve (of which I am one, at 33, FFS) , and like you I read 'It starts with the egg'. I found the book really helpful - though I have to say I'm absolutely bloody rattling. I'm also taking DHEA and that's the only one I really double checked with my consultant, as it's a powerful hormone, and not to be taken lightly. I wish I'd got my DHEA levels checked beforehand, but as my testosterone was almost undetectable, I was a v good candidate for taking it. Certainly the greasy hair, oily skin, spots and general demeanour of a teenage boy suggest it's doing something to my hormones...hope it's doing something to my ovaries!

I'm on my first cycle so I have nothing to compare pre and post with - so won't know if the litany of supplements - incl CoQ10 - I'm taking has made any difference to my egg quality or not. I'm just hoping that we get some eggs and that something fertilises!!

That said, I'd only been taking the CoQ10 and DHEA for about 6 weeks prior to starting this cycle, and ideally should be 3 months (as that's how long egg development takes). So perhaps will see a difference if / when it comes to the second cycle, as will def have been taking everything for well over 3 months by that point...

That's interesting Bananafish. Best of luck. Did your consultant recommend the micronised DHEA?

Jessie he didn't specifically, I asked him if he was happy for me to take DHEA, he said yes not a prob - I bought the micronised version from DHEA.com as that seemed to be the kind that was universally recommended.

It's def not recommended for anyone with PCOS as androgen supplementation for anyone with excess androgens is likely to do more harm than good. It's really mostly recommended for women with diminished ovarian reserve (of which I am one, with high FSH and very low AMH at the age of 33 )

Hi, I know this is an old thread, but wondering if anyone could send me a link to buy the 300mg Pharma Nord Ubiquinol please? I can only find it in 30mg or 100mg online and after 3 miscarriages and a failed IVF attempt, I'll do anything to try and increase my chances next time. This sounds well worth giving a go! Thanks in advance x

Hi HDeeH,

I have just looked at Pharma Nord website for you and they don't actually produce over 100mg of Ubiquinol. I think the ladies above may have been using multiple doses of the 100mg at a time. I would definitely recommend speaking to a fertility specialist to advise you on the correct dose for you.
FYI - I have been advised to take 200mg a day of Ubiquinol for low ovarian reserve and an AMH of 2.7pmol/l. I take a different brand though called Natural Factors. I paid £45 for 60 gel capsules.

Hi. Check my reply

I'm interested to hear if there are any updates from you ladies?!

My AMH was 16 two years ago (32 years old) I'm now 34 and starting my second round of IVF. I took 400mg Jarrow Formulas Ubiquinol for just shy of 3 months before egg collection last year. On 225iu meriofert 8 eggs were retrieved, 5 fertilised and all 5 made it to day 5. One developed into a high grade blastocyst and it was transferred but sadly bfn. No frosties.

I swapped the jarrow formulas ubiquinol for the pharma nord one in Sept. I've been taking 400mg since November. I'm wondering if anyone has any experiences/outcomes to share and what dose did you take?

For a good 6 months or so before IVF then l was taking Ubiquinol (an alternative version of co-enzyme q10), vitamin D and complex B vitamins including folic acid. The consultant told me to keep on taking them.

I bought Solgar Ubiquinol 200g and not sure if it’s two pills per day? Am following the book advice and have a question. Do you take all of the pills at the same time? I am just thinking if this mix is actually good or should I not worry?

I took 2x 100g daily, think it's better to take them in the morning rather than night as they might make it harder to sleep. Also took vit D and pregnacare multi vit. Me and DH both ate 2 Brazil nuts a day as they are high in selenium.
Had a much better round than the last one, so they may have helped.

Thank you