need advice on FSH lowering herbs

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2007
need advice on FSH lowering herbs
5
Fri, 10-05-2007 - 2:35pm

ladies,


            I am 31, I have had 3 failed IUI's. I have been diagnosed with insulin resistance and PCOS as well. My dh has low sperm count and motility. I have been ttc for 5 yrs.  I am coming off of a 2 yr break. My RE's office just told me that based on my prior FSH levels and age I will most likely be recommended for egg donation and IVF. I can't afford that. I believe the pcos is a misdiagnosis. The insulin resistance I believe I can over come with weight loss and diet.


Does anyone know of any herbal remedies to lowering the FSH that has worked? Dh and I are hoping by trying the herbal method this time we could improve our chances if we seek treatment. Of course best case secenerio we get preg by herbal and don't need further treatment. But for now I need advice if anyone knows someone or has had experience in this situation.


Please let me know.


Julie

Julie

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-19-2004
Fri, 10-05-2007 - 5:00pm

Hi Julie,

FSH is one way of measuring ovarian reserve, which is how many eggs you have left. High fsh can mean you are running out of eggs- but not always, especially when high numbers are seen in younger women. Women with PCOS usually have more eggs than average so I wonder if this really means this in your case. The other way of measuring ovarian reserve is a trans-vaginal ultrasound and antral follicle count, where they see how many antral follicles are developing in your ovaries. Have you had this?

From what I understand about FSH levels it is diagnostic, and the highest value is the one that counts. Injectible fertility drugs are FSH, so it is not that FSH prevents you from getting pg. Natural FSH levels are like a gas pedal. Low FSH means your body is not having to work very hard to get your body to ovulate- and you have a lot more room to press down on the gas more by adding FSH and produce multiple eggs that way. High FSH means your body is aleady pressing down hard on the gas to get you to ovulate naturally, so there is less room for added fsh (injectibles) to press down on the gas harder and get you to produce more eggs. What these means is that you are likely to be a low responder to medications (because this is more FSH, and if the the gas is already pressed to floor, it can't go any further). It does not mean you can't get pregnant naturally if you are ovulating- and at 31 even if you have have high fsh your egg quality will still be 31 year old eggs. Do you know if ovulate? Are you on metformin- this can help with insulin resistance and PCOS? Weight loss, diet and supplements can help as well (Dr. Nicolas Perricone has books that explain how certain supplements/food choices can help with insulin resistance and weight loss- I lost 20 pounds without dieting following this advice!). If you are not ovulating naturally, have they tried clomid + N-acetyl cysteine to get you to ovulate?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez

At 31 you are still fairly young- and sometimes women do have "blips" with high fsh which later return to normal. How high was the fsh? Was it multiple tests? You seem awfully young to be recommended for egg donation. I find it very sexist how they will rush to recommend egg donation for women but never suggest sperm donation for poor sperm unless there is no sperm produced at all (probably partially because they make so much more money on IVF!). How bad is DH's counts and motility? (My Dh has this problem as well and we just had an unsuccessful IVF where I hyperstimulated, producing 35 eggs, mainly immature). If you are ovulating, have you and DH considered sperm donation to overcome the IF problems? This is a much more cost effective IF treatment for male factor than IVF/ICSI, especially if you are looking at egg donation. If they can get you to ovulate, you can do IUI with donor sperm.

I can tell you that Vitex is known to lower fsh levels, whether or not that will do you any good is another question. Acupuncture has also been known to lower fsh levels.

As for DH, has he seen a urologist to investigate possible causes for the low counts an motility? Have you had multiple counts? Have you tried any treatments or supplements to improve the sperm? We saw a urologist and my DH was diagnosed with prostatitis and put on anti-inflammatories and antibiotics. After 3 months we still did not see an improvement. I did a bunch of research on low sperm motility and supplements and devised a very extensive supplementation program for DH. Now that it has been 3 months since he has been on these supplements we are seeing major improvement :), which will allow us to try medicated IUI instead of another IVF (not an option before due to poor counts/FP). My DH's forward progression has increased from a starting number of 1.5 (which is barely moving, likely not capable of fertilization if dropped directly on the egg) to 3+, which is excellent forward progression. His counts are also up so that we have enough motile sperm now (we were getting 4-10 million motile post-wash with a forward progression of 2, at the IVF the count was 35 million motile, 3.5 FP!)

These are the supplements I have DH on

l-carnitine
aceytl-l- carnitine
pycnogenol
lycopene
arginine (avoid if he has herpes/cold sores)
maca
n-acetyl-cysteine
alpha lipoic acid with Biotin
b-complex
Vitamin e
Co Q 10
Tocotrienols (these are special forms of vitamin e)
Vitamin c
Centrum multivitamin
Selenium
Calcium with Magnesium and Zinc
Omega-3 fatty Acids (molecularly-distilled/mercury-free)

It takes months for these to work but we have seen some really dramatic improvement which has made less expensive fertility treatment and avoiding having to use donor sperm (which we considered seriously before but decided to try IVF) an option for us. We are working against the clock as I am 39 and though I have low fsh (5.6) and lots of eggs I still have 39 year old eggs, which look to be only average/slightly below average quality for my age. As long as you have eggs and can ovulate the quality is the most important thing.At 31 if you hgave avegage quality for your age it should still be pretty good. My RE told me low FSH does not indicate good quality, just quantity. I know plenty of women with higher fsh can get pg naturally.

I wish you luck and think you are right to question the recommendations you are getting. I would get a second opinion if I were you. 31 seems far too young for them to be recommending donor eggs especially when the biggest problem may be male factor. If donor eggs are all they offering you as a recommendation, your success with that method should be just as good ten years from now as now so I see no reason to rush to that option when you may still have good natural fertility left. I think it definately makes sense to try supplements, herbs, other opinions, etc...

Good luck!

-Jenna

- Jenna
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2007
Fri, 10-05-2007 - 7:41pm

Jenna,


Julie

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-14-2006
Fri, 10-05-2007 - 10:13pm

Jenna is the queen of research.

~ Jessica


visit my family blog at: lifeinthefunzone.blogspot.co

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2007
Sat, 10-06-2007 - 1:05am

thanks I'll look into it. My dh will not be pleased .. I am the queen of reading when I have a problem I go to the bookstore to buy a book. Thanks for the advice on which one to look for.


julie

Julie

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-19-2004
Sat, 10-06-2007 - 3:19pm

Julie,

I can see that those numbers would be of some concern and should be repeated. Lots of women can have a single cyst who do not have pcos. It still seems premature to talk about egg donation, especially not even seeing current numbers. And if you can't afford that just tell the doc that is not an option for you financially if he mentions it again. (If someday you do want to try that, you can save about 50% going overseas). But again, as your chances won't go down with age with donor eggs, I think you should make the most of the natural fertility you have left and try to have your own while you can- either natural means or a combo of natural and lower-cost ART like meds (have you tried clomid w/ NAC?, luteal progestrone supplements?), IUI or donor sperm. Jessica mentions a book I have seen others recommend. I would also recommend The Infertility Cure by Randine Lewis. You can get both on Amazon.com.

Obesity in itself lowers sperm counts in men. Weight loss may help your DH's counts, as well as his health. I should mention that many of the the supplements I mentioned above that my DH is on also improve metabolism, fight insulin resistance, and promote weight loss. My DH was not overweight anywhere else but he did have a bit of a belly. Since he has been on these supplements he has lost most of that, about 8 lbs., without dieting- he says he has not been at this weight for years. He finds he doesn't crave sweets like he used to- I also found this to be true when I was on many of those supplements. I think I tend to have a bit of an insulin resistance problem as well. I have always found it extremely difficult and slow to lose weight, even if I exercised 2 hours a day and ate a low calorie diet. I highly recommend The Perricone Weight Loss Diet book by DR. Nicolas Perricone, eliminating coffee and drinking 8 cups of green tea a day, and taking the supplements he recommends. I had more success with that without consciously restricting calories (though it did help naturally reduce my starch cravings and control my appetite I think) or making other significant chances than with any diet and exercise program I have ever tried, and it was easy. There is also some evidence that antioxidants can prevent age-related ovarian decline, and while my IVF was unsuccessful (possibly due to hyperstimulation creating excess estrogen) it showed I still have the ovarian reserve of someone in their early 20's at age 39. I can help wondering if the antioxidants I have taken through my latter 30's have had something to do with that. Anyway I encourage you to look into all these things yourself but personally I have read all the Perricone books and the supplements recommended have done wonders for my health (I started taking the supplements to fight inflammation which was causing a debilitating chronic pain condition- the doc was recommending a risky surgery that could result in paralysis- I have managed to control it with the supplements, ergonomic changes and diet. The weight loss was a happy side effect? along with the disappearance of my rosacea, GERD, and most allergic symptoms)

Check out the following pages on N-acetyl cysteine to improve insulin resistance(a supplement available OTC):

http://www.ovarian-cysts-pcos.com/nac.html
http://www.ovarian-cysts-pcos.com/res2.html
http://ajpendo.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/285/4/E744
http://www.pulsus.com/ccc2004/abs/a031.htm

Other supplements that help insulin resistance/improve insulin sensitivity (all available OTC):

Essential fatty acids:
Omega-3's- take daily
GLA- found in evening primrose oil and borage oil- take only to ovulation,
also increases fertile cervical mucuous
CLA- Conjugated linoleic acid
Acetyl-l-carnitine
Alpha-lipoic acid (always supplement with Biotin when taking ALA)

These are all fine to take if you are NOT currently taking metformin- BUT if on any insulin-sensitizing drugs consult physician as you may need to reduce the medication dose. I have personally taken all these supplements with nothing but positive effects. The Perricone book recommended above discusses all these supplements in detail. Supplements available online at places like www.vitacost.com and www.vitadigest.com. At Vitadigest you can save 8% through Oct 15th with Coupon Code: LineDrive2007

Good luck!

-Jenna

- Jenna