Increase Luteal Phase without Clomid?

[battylady]

Cycle day one again, starting month three of TTC #2 after our miscarriage. Ever since my son's birth in July 2013 my luteal phase has been 10 days at most, a few months have even been 9 days... I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to increase this and still sway girl? I know Clomid would likely be quite effective but my doctor won't prescribe unless we've been TTC for a year with no luck, even with the shorter luteal phase. =/

Currently doing diet, exercise (mostly walking, but working up to jogging), folate and iron (for anemia) and DH is taking OLE.

Thanks in advance!

[ratcliffe1811]

Vitex is good for lengthening a LP and sways girl. I cant take it with taking clomid but i think you take it until O then stop until AF makes an appearance

[atomic sagebrush]

Can you get a second opinion? Clomid is the gold standard for extending short LP and I believe it is medically indicated in your case.

It is possible to get pg with an LP of 10 or even 9 days, so it isn't a dealbreaker either way, but I do think you'd benefit from Clomid.

I agree with ratcliffe, vitex may help (but take note, it doesn't work for everyone!) Try taking it from CD 1-14 OR positive OPK, whichever comes first. It may delay ovulation quite a bit so don't be surprised if that happens.

I would also have you add in 1 serv. full fat dairy every day and 4-6 eggs a week, plus one serving of salmon per week if you like it.

[battylady]

Hmm, maybe I'll try to make an appointment with a different OB... If not luck there and no pregnancy this month I think I may give vitex a go next month. What do you guys think of trying Soy Iso this month? I know it can work "sort of" similar to Clomid and I've read quite a few people who it moved O forward and lengthened LP. People seem to be quite split on whether it sways boy/girl or nothing at all though, which would be my main hesitation. I think it's the only thing I could actually start this month since I doubt I could get a new doctor and Clomid in time and I don't know that I could start Vitex at CD 6 (the soonest I could have it arrive.)

Atomic, could eating more good fats help lengthen it? I usually have an egg or two and full fat greek yogurt at least a few times a week as is. I haven't been eating much salmon though.

[atomic sagebrush]

Soy iso ~may~ help BUT I have seen decidedly strange symptoms that come along with it and it seems to be predictably unpredictable LOL. My fear is that it would be like adding fuel to a fire and really fudge things up.

I do think it sways pink but it causes SO much trouble and side effects off the charts bad (migraines, hot flashes, everything Clomid does but worse and doens't work anywhere near as well as Clomid so it's a big bunch of agony for crap results)

All that having been said, you're right you could do it this month and neither Clomid nor vitex will be options. So, if you're so motivated, get thee to the herb store in search of soy iso, and I"d have you do 100 mg CD ASAP for 5 days (meaning, start it as soon as you can get it, CD 6 is a teensy bit late if you could get it any earlier - even CD 5 is better than 6.)

Yes, I think animal fats can help extend LP by providing enough raw materials for your bod to make progesterone and enough estrogen for the secondary estrogen surge that happens about 7 dpo and can help maintain the lining enough to give the bean time to implant enough to send the signal to your corpus luteum to begin making adequate amounts of progesterone to sustain pregnancy. :)

[maidentomother]

I personally think SI don't do much; otherwise, I agree with atomic's initial post. Plenty of women conceive easily with 9-10 day LP. I think Vitex is your best non prescription bet; you can try taking it starting now - it might not be as effective as starting earlier, but it may still help. You could also consider taking it all cycle long - atomic doesn't recommend this but it helped me increase my short LP pretty quickly. I started taking it a week before O and it added 3 days to my LP (which was on average 10 days before) that same month.

Are you still BF? If that is the cause of your short LP (which is very common), I think it is unlikely that fat consumption will affecr your LP - but I don't know the specifics of your sway.

[battylady]

Thank you so much atomic, that was very helpful. :) I could get soy isoflavones as soon as today, I know several places that carry them in store and today is CD 2. I'll have to think about it a bit before deciding though.. If I do, it seems CD 3-7 is the most common. Hmm.

Not still BF unfortunately Maiden. It was always on the short ish side but has been the shortest it's ever been since my son's birth. We did have a loss in June, but it was short before that as well. The month I got pregnant I happened to ovulate several days earlier than "normal."

[battylady]

Well, after giving it some thought I went ahead and picked up some soy isoflavones and am going to start them today (CD 3-7) and see how it goes. Worst case scenario it screws up my cycle even more which sways girl anyway. :P I'm also going to try and make an appointment with a different doctor if there's no luck this month.

[maidentomother]

Good luck!

[atomic sagebrush]

Good luck and keep us posted!! :)

[battylady]

UPDATE: I went ahead and took SI cd 3-7 and it seems to be working so far! I just got my first positive OPK for this cycle, today on CD 14! :D To put things in perspective the last two cycles it's been CD 24 and CD 26. If all goes well I should get my temp rise the day after tomorrow and will hopefully have a longer LP. :)

Time for our one attempt tonight, wish us luck! :D

[atomic sagebrush]

good luck! thanks for updating, hope all went well

[battylady]

Huge temp spike this morning! :) Ovulation was either on day 15 or 16, I'm guessing somewhere towards the end of the day on Cd 15 (felt a lot of cramps /twinges / swollen ovaries in the 15th, heightened in the evening, gone by the next day.) We had one attempt on the night of 14. Crossing my fingers!

I'm quite impressed, soy isoflavones moved o day forward by more than a week with only a small amount of side effects (a bit tired/lethargic and very grumpy for a few days.)

Thanks all!

[maidentomother]

Awesome! Now I want to try it!

[battylady]

Update again... 8 DPO today and a faint but definitely POSITIVE pregnancy test! :D

[mommymachine]

Congrats!! What great news!

[tarasue]

What are the chances of twins using soy iso? Does it sway pink or blue or is it neutral?? One more question, how much did you take cd3-7?

[rachel]

omg congrats i now a lady that got twin girls on soy is so anything is pos keep us posted yayyyyy

[atomic sagebrush]

What are the chances of twins using soy iso? Does it sway pink or blue or is it neutral?? One more question, how much did you take cd3-7?

No one knows for sure (not enough research) but it is likely it does increase odds of twinning somewhat. Hard to know because usually when people are going for twins they do A LOT of things and it's impossible to know what exactly is the culprit.

I have an esssay on soy here : http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gender-swaying-general-discussion/1881-super-soy-girl-boy.html no one is quite sure how it sways. I think it sways pink, others say blue.

If I had thought soy iso was good for you I would have put it in your sway plan.

[tarasue]

I took it with my second. I am not sure what days or doses, but I had a beautiful little boy!! I was also taking cranberry when I got pregnant with him. I just wondered if it swayed blue.

[The Anchor]

Soy iso ~may~ help BUT I have seen decidedly strange symptoms that come along with it and it seems to be predictably unpredictable LOL. My fear is that it would be like adding fuel to a fire and really fudge things up.

I do think it sways pink but it causes SO much trouble and side effects off the charts bad (migraines, hot flashes, everything Clomid does but worse and doens't work anywhere near as well as Clomid so it's a big bunch of agony for crap results)



Totally agree...I'm convinced Soy ISO completely messed up my once perfect cycles. At the symptoms were horrid. I am fairly sure I "felt" my ovulation that month...like seriously, it popped! My cycles were messed up for the 2 cycles AFTER I dropped it too...

[tarasue]

I agree! I only took the soy that one month and could definitely feel when I ovulated.

[battylady]

I was a bit worried that it would mess up my cycles and have horrible side effects but it seemed to work very well for me. Every body is different though, I just got lucky!

[atomic sagebrush]

Yes, I'm really glad it worked for you!! It's just that's why I don't recommend it as a general rule, it's because so many people have had issues with it. :)