Help - From a man!

[moby124]

Hi everyone

I'm hoping some may be able to help or give advice. I'm a 30 year old man and I've beenever married to my wife for 2 years this June.

We are soon going to try to start for a baby properly but I'm a little worried. My wife has always struggled to have regular periods. When we gother married she went on the birth control pill and she had a regular monthly period. But she came off them 3 months ago and hasn't had a period.

Is there anything she could do to help regulate them naturally? She's also 30 and I want us to give ourselves the best chance possible to get pregnant! She hasn't got polycystic ovaries for info. Would something like pregnacare help? Just wondering if anyone has been in the same boat and can give some advice 😊 she's also 30.

Both of you shouldn't smoke or drink, start taking multivitamins (Pregnacare do his n her's conception tablets), eat healthily, exercise....all the usual tips for a healthy lifestyle really! And obviously have lots of sex

Hi NotWithoutMyMerkin - that could be a good idea but they did check for all the right things and they are all normal. Her last period was in November and she has started taking a supplement with folic acid which hopefully should help too.

Folic acid has nothing to do with her periods... You take folic acid to ensure your baby doesn't develop neural tube defects. You are advised to start taking it while you're trying to conceive.

This is why I don't know what I'm on about! She's started taking Pregnacare which hopefully will help too.

Taking Pregnacare (which contains folic acid anyway) will help make sure she's got all the victim ins and minerals pumping around to grow a healthy baby once she's pregnant. You can get Pregnacare tablets that are specifically for pre-conception. Also, is she tracking her ovulation? Maybe by using ovulation tests at home?

The doc told us not to track ovulation as it might add more pressure? How long does the likes of Pregnacare take to get into the system? Only started about a month or so ago.

Pregnacare is just pretty much a multivitimin - just like any other supermarket own brand vitamin.....they just charge you £8 a box for it because it a "pregnancy product"
Tracking ovulation might had more pressure but only if you guys put pressure on yourselves - you will know when her fertile window is every month rather than just stabbing in the dark (no pun intended).
I think you should both do a lot more reading about trying to conceive (NHS website, books etc), and then make a choice together about whether to track ovulation or not. Personally I would - DH and I tracked my ovulation cycle after my implant was removed because I never had a period whilst on it, and didn't have one when it came out. I got a positive ovulation stick, so we had lots of sex over the next couple of days, and I'm now 7 weeks pregnant with our second baby.

That's brilliant news congratulations MBIG :)

Do you know anything if agnus castus can help?

I've never used any kind of herbal remedy personally because I would rather just trust my body to do its job ...but if you really want to try it, I would do lots of research into it, look at it from both sides of the fence and make the decision that's right for you two. I really hope things work out for you!

moby I would definitely recommend her taking Agnus Cactus an entirely herbal supplement initially intended to relieve period pain but then 1000s of women reported it regulating cycles/kick-starting periods after the pill and then getting pregnant.

These are great-
www.amazon.co.uk/Agnus-Castus-1000mg-tablets-vitex/dp/B00ERP5MM0

Good luck x

& moby I would definitely track ovulation!! Having sex every other day all throughout the month becomes tiring/boring/frustrating/potentially draining best sperm supply, I'd take agnus cactus for a month and then start using ovulation tests to really start to time DTD before & around ovulation.

I've just realised you've started 2 threads on this.

On this one, you say she hasn't got PCOS, and on the other you say that the doctor has done blood tests but you don't get the results back until the end of this month.

Can I ask how you know she hasn't got PCOS? Has she had an internal ultrasound and bloods previously?

It took my periods almost a year to go back to normal after the pill IIRC, it turned out that I had a longer cycle than I thought when it all settled. Though I wasn't TTC when I came off, I just hated being on hormonal contraception.

It didn't take us long at all to conceive (first month trying!) but we found it really difficult to DTD every other day, we don't have high libidos. So I bought a load of ovulation tests and just made sure that we DTD at the right time and hopefully it'll all go smoothly from here!

Good luck OP!

When you say "slim and healthy" just how slim? Because a common reason for having very few or no periods is your weight being too low.
I am another person who wants to suggest accupuncture, I've not had it for this reason, but it is effective for kick starting cycles. Agnus Castus helps with PMT certainly, but I'm not sure ot is recommended during pregnancy, and as your wife could conceive at any time, that would be something to check with a qualified herbalist.
Diet wise, a healthy diet is good, obviously- she needs to make sure she's eating plenty of healthy fats.

Id just give yourselves a good six months of stress free shagging - every other day of you can be bothered!

If after six months theres no sign, maybe start tracking ovulation then (and dtd every other day around ovulation time).

Give that six months then get to the docs.

I'd hold off the agnus castus until you're sure everything else is in order. I think there are complicated methods of cycling on off with agnus castus that you are advised to do, once you have put other things in place. It's a powerful intervention. The best place to start would be a website called Fertility Friend, they have a free educational bit which teaches you how fertility and conception works, so you can begin to work out what is going on with your wife's cycle.

From what you've said, it sounds like she is getting the hormone that is supposed to trigger ovulation (luteinising hormone I think - LH), but is not actually ovulating (hence no periods). Which is common in PCOS. But really, if you follow Fertility Friend and start tracking charts using basal body temperatures and using cheap internet ovulation predictor kits (opks) you'll get a much better sense of what is going on. Good luck.

I'd also recommend taking omega 3s (not cod liver oil tho - nothing liver related) and acupuncture. I like Nature's Best for supplements.

I'd stay well away from ovulation prediction kits. Doing nice things as a couple, not stressing, good diet moderate exercise without overdoing it,bluffing feet up, acupuncture maybe a little holiday away?

I had pcos and came off the pill was stressed about it and didn't conceive for a year. Then we went on holiday, I actually forgot all about it then conceived on our return!

Try not to out pressure on her for a few more months before going down the medical route?

I found the clear blue ovulation monitor really helpful as it guided us on when I was ovulation so focused concerted efforts then. It worked in the first month of trying both times (appreciate we are very lucky) but it is a little scientific and may take the fun out of things. I am a bit sad and found it fun anyway!

I also never had regular periods unless i was on the pill. I stopped taking it after the monthly break and was pregnant 6 weeks later so it is possible without having a normal period. Also recommend seven seas 'trying for a baby' vitamins.