L arginine for endometrial lining

[Caipulli]

Hi
My frozen transfer waswas cancelled yesterday because my endometrial lining was not thick enough (5mm) even though I had already done a mock cycle in august and the meds were enough then (4 mg/day of provames, increased to 6mg/day half way through).
i am feeling really disappointed and low about the whole thing, especially because we will now have to cancel a much wanted holiday abroad with friends to try for a transfer in my next cycle. I’m so sick of feeling like my life is on hold for IVF, it’s impossible to plan anything.
Anyway I have read that many people supplement with l arginine to increase endometrial lining. I can only seem to find one very small Japanese study on this (there seem to be more studies for animals than women?!) so am a bit dubious but am feeling desperate so I bought a bottle from pharmacy. (L arginine hydrochloride/ brand name arginine veyron - I live in France)
However there is a warning message on the pack saying Pregnancy + arginine = danger’ and it even says ‘do not use if you are a woman of procreation age’

what form of l arginine is recommended for ivf transfer? Bit worried about what I bought. Think I will go back to the pharmacy to check but thought I’d ask here too…

Sorry to hear about your cancelled transfer, it’s very disappointing when you have built up to it. I completely understand how you feel about it taking over your life. From what I know you can take it up to transfer but not after. Have you read it starts with an egg book? It’s noted in there and gives timescales and dosing. I got some from Natures Best.

Thanks for your message. I do have It starts with the egg, and L arginine is mentioned in the section ‘supplements that may do more harm than good’ but this is in relation to egg quality only, not endometrial lining. The chapter doesn’t mention the impact on endometrial lining (it’s not in the scope of the book I suppose)…

It is mentioned in the Supplements for Lining Prep section. It should only be taken after egg collection, so if you are doing a frozen transfer then it would be ok.

Ok interesting, I have the first edition of the book and the only advice about L-arginine is to avoid it!
But I’ve just seen that the second edition recommends it…
https://www.itstartswiththeegg.com/supplements-to-prepare-for-embryo-transfer/

@Caipulli

This is a literature review on the management of thin lining: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1110569016300589

This may be the article you've already seen which used l arginine in one of its treatment arms: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0015028208047833

I struggled with a thin lining, the main thing to rule out is a condition like ashermans syndrome where there are adhesions and scarring in the uterus. People with this condition often have light periods and thin lining.

The next thing is to make sure your estradiol blood level is adequate, if you don't meet the threshold in your blood, your lining won't grow. Did your clinic test this? At one point I was on twice as much estradiol as you took, using the estradiol vaginally massively increased my blood levels. There are also other routes that you can try in additional to oral estradiol like skin patches.

There are lot of additional treatments that can be tried, although I had luck with none of them, including l arginine, vitamin E, caster oil packs, acupuncture, moxibustion sticks, diet (beetroot juice and pomegranate juice) and viagra.

I ended up moving from medicated cycles to natural modified FET with low dose stims and my lining did much better on that, especially the quality of the lining. The estradiol I would get to a good thickness and have triple lining, but it didn't quite look right and I never implanted with this type of cycle.

Also I'm sorry for your cancelled cycle, I had quite a few cancelled and it really sucked.

Thanks for your message.
i am doing IVF with a clinic in Figueras in Spain and they are getting me to do regular blood tests for estradiol, progesterone and LH every few days so they are keeping an eye on those levels.
In my first mock cycle I got to 9mm on the lower dose so I don’t know why it didn’t work this time.
If this doesn’t work, maybe I will suggest trying a natural modified cycle. Can I ask what that involved for you?

@Caipulli I took meriofert 75units from cycle day 2 and was monitored with blood tests and scans, when the follicle my body created was a certain size and the lining was thick enough I took a hcg trigger, the next day I got the LH surge and the next day I ovulated. I then had the transfer put in 5 days later and took supplementary progesterone. These cycles have better statistics for working but they are less predictable than medicated cycles as they rely on the bodies timing and don't work for people with irregular and unpredictable cycles.