Photo credit: Belly, by Alena Getman

Vitex/Chasteberry has been billed as the natural Clomid for quite a few years.

It can be found at health food stores and other places that sell supplements. You can also order it along with B6 through Amazon.

** Recipe #1 **

Take Whole Cycle:
• 1 Prenatal Vitamin Daily
• 1 Baby Aspirin Daily
• 1 50 mg B6 Vitamin in the morning.
• 1 B-50 Complex in the evening

From Cycle Day 1 until Ovulation:
• Two Vitex, 500mg Capsules in the morning
• Two Vitex, 500mg Capsules in the evening

From End of Period until Ovulation:
• Robitussin: full strength as if you have a bad cough.

Label Directions: adults and children 12 years and over, 2-4 teaspoonfuls every 4 hours. Do not take more than 6 doses in any 24 hour period. Consult label for accuracy, warnings, and ingredients.

Active ingredient: Guaifenesin ONLY, do NOT get any type with other active ingredients or letters such as Robitussin DM or Robitussin CF.


*** Recipe #2 ***


Take Whole cycle:
• 1 Prenatal Vitamin Daily
• 1 B6 100mg Vitamin 2-3 times a day. Start with twice a day and can take up to 300mg. Only take as much as YOUR body needs to produce good quality mucus.
• 1 B-50 Complex, Timed Release Tablet, once a day.
• 1 Baby Aspirin, once a day.

Cycle Day 5 until Period Shows or Confirmed Pregnant:
• 1 Vitex 500mg Capsule 2-3 times a day with meals or a glass of water. Suggest starting at twice a day and going up if needed.

Around Ovulation
Robitussin: Use label directions on your bottle if possible.

Label Directions: adults and children 12 years and over, 2-4 teaspoons full every 4 hours. Do not take more than 6 doses in any 24 hour period. Consult label for accuracy, warnings and ingredients.

Active ingredient: Guaifenesin ONLY, do NOT get any type with other active ingredients or letters such as Robitussin DM or Robitussin CF.

CD1-5 - Stop Vitex and let body rest and use the herbs already taken.

Notes: Recipe #1 and Recipe #2 have both resulted in happy healthy babies. Recipe #2 is a little more controversial than #1 in that it includes Vitex until pregnant and it includes a higher dose of B6. Be informed regardless of which one you use.

Disclaimer:
The information on this page in no way constitutes medical advice nor is it guaranteed to work. Baby After 40 is not liable for any use of this information. We offer this information for information purposes only. Please check with your doctor before taking anything. Do not let this delay anyone seeking treatment for infertility. Taking Vitex in no way helps certain disorders such as PCOS or clotting disorders. Please follow your doctor's advice.

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TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future
by David Wolfe

-- Superfoods are vibrant, nutritionally dense foods that have recently become widely available and which offer tremendous dietary and healing potential.

In this lively, illustrated overview, well-known raw-foods guru David Wolfe profiles delicious and incredibly nutritious plant products such as goji berries, hempseed, cacao beans (raw chocolate), maca, spirulina, bee products, and a host of others.

As powerful sources of clean protein, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, antioxidants, good fats and oils, essential fatty and amino acids, and other nutrients, they represent a uniquely promising piece of the nutritional puzzle.

Each superfood is described in detail, accompanied by easy and delicious recipes.

This accessible guide presents persuasive arguments, based on sound science, for the pivotal role of superfoods in promoting nutritional excellence, health and well-being, beauty enhancement, sustainable agriculture, and the transformation of diet, lifestyle, and planet.

Paperback: 352 pages
Click to order/for more info: Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future

Start reading Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future on your Kindle in under a minute!

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

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Treatment of Antinuclear Antibodies
Women with ANA are treated with prednisone, a corticosteroid, which suppresses the inflammatory process and stabilizes the cell.

Prednisone does not pass through the placenta easily and is also broken down by enzymes in the placenta so that the fetus is exposed to only trace amounts.

Additionally, the body produces the equivalent of 8 mg per day of this corticosteroid. When indicated, Prednisone should be started prior to conception.

Treatment for Antiphospholipid Antibodies
Antiphospholipid antibodies are treated with low dose (baby) aspirin and a blood thinner called Heparin. Heparin is a very large molecule and is unable to cross the placenta. Aspirin is able to cross the placenta but the dose used is so small that the fetus is unaffected.

The effectiveness of treatment is much greater when the medication, if indicated, is started prior to conception and continued throughout the pregnancy. All medication, if indicated should be discussed with one's physician.

Treatment for Antithyroid AntibodiesIn IVF patients, antithyroid antibodies (ATAs) are treated with intravenous immune globulin (IVIg) before the IVF transfer. There is no specific treatment for ATA in patients with recurrent miscarriage unless it is associated with other abnormalities.

Treatment for Immunophenotypes
Women who have an elevation of NK cells are candidates for immunologlobulin G infusion (IVIg). The dosage of IVIg is 400 mg/kg/day for three consecutive days, monthly, until the NK cells become normal or until the 28th week of pregnancy.

In some studies, autoantibodies to phospholipid and nuclear epitopes were demonstrably lower after IVIg. Some researchers have used Enbrel, a TNF alpha inhibitor, instead of, or in addition to IVIg. Presently, there is not enough data to assess the true efficacy of Enbrel therapy.

Full article: Rialab.com

Photo Credit: RiaLab.com
All Rights Reserved

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TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
Marriages and Miscarriages: One Woman's Personal Experience
by Kathleen Smith

-- Kathleen Smith shares her experience regarding the three pregnancy losses she experienced.

The trials and emotional changes, the feelings experienced when being around other pregnant woman after having had a pregnancy loss, how turning to God got her through them, and more.

Kathleen, a mother of three and entering her sixteenth year of marriage, relates her personal feelings and emotions.

As you read the book you will experience a conversation with Kathleen about this topic, and learn how one woman dealt and struggled with this topic.

Paperback: 80 pages
Click to order/for more info: Marriages and Pregnancy Losses

Start reading Marriages and Pregnancy Losses on your Kindle in under a minute!

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

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Photo credit: baby aspirin, by looseid

Habitual abortions - don't you just love that term??? As if women just have a bad habit of aborting their babies!? But it's an interesting study, and just might help those who are experiencing recurrent loss.

Note: these women received 20mg/day of prednisone for up to 12 weeks, plus 100mg/day of aspirin until the end of their seventh month.

Habitual abortions in 678 healthy patients: investigation and prevention
The objective of this study of patients with habitual abortion (HA), was to determine their autoimmune profile and to try to prevent new abortions using low-dose aspirin for 7 months with prednisone in the first trimester only, or with low-dose aspirin alone.

Habitual abortion (HA) may be associated with anatomic, genetic, or hormonal abnormalities, or autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus or antiphospholipid syndrome.

Prednisone and aspirin treatment have the same success rate in both autoantibody-negative and autoantibody-positive women. The results presented here confirm those of a recent study (Geva et al., 1998).

In autoantibody-negative women, the rate of live births in the group of women treated with prednisone in the first trimester and aspirin until the end of the seventh month was significantly increased compared with women treated with aspirin alone: 90.7% of women (146 out of 161) treated with prednisone and aspirin had live births compared with 74.5% of women (47 out of 63) treated with aspirin alone.

In autoantibody-positive women (45 out of 53) the rate of live births was 84.9%; there was no significant difference in the rate of live births between autoantibody-negative and autoantibody-positive women.

As observed in women with aCL greater than 30 uGPL, prednisone plus aspirin appeared to be less successful than in a group of aCL 30 uGPL, it is suggested that in the former group, after prednisone is stopped, heparin should be considered if the aCL titre rises. With lupus anticoagulant, heparin should be the treatment of choice as heparin is superior to low-dose aspirin (Kutteh et al., 1996; Di Simone et al., 1997).

Read the full article

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I Never Held You: Miscarriage, Grief, Healing and Recovery
by Ellen M. DuBois

-- Speaks to the heart of women, their families and friends who have either lived through the pain and grief after pregnancy loss, or who want to better support someone who has.

Author Ellen M. DuBois shares her own painful journey after loss taking you from her darkest moments of grief, despair, isolation, anxiety, fear and depression to the steps she took towards healing and recovery.

Her suggestions prove to be helpful in balancing the emotional peaks and valleys after suffering such a heartbreaking loss.

I Never Held You validates your grief after losing a baby to loss, and assures you that you're not alone in your struggle.

With the help of contributing author Dr. Linda Backman, Ed.D., licensed grief counselor, psychologist and author, you'll come to better understand grief - and why it's so important to allow yourself the time necessary to heal.

Paperback: 150 pages
Click to order/for more info: I Never Held You

Start reading I Never Held You on your Kindle in under a minute!

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

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Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), one of the iatrogenic complications resulting from follicle stimulating medications administered during fertility treatment, affects up to 10% of women undergoing IVF [in vitro fertilization].

A recent study published in the journal, Fertility and Sterility reports that low dose aspirin therapy administered during ovulation induction could be effective in preventing OHSS in high-risk populations.

Read more

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TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION
Making Babies the Hard Way: Living with Infertility and Treatment
by Caroline Gallup

-- A frank account of one couple's discovery that they cannot have children of their own, and their ensuing struggle through four years of fertility treatment.

One in six couples worldwide seek assistance to conceive and 80 per cent of couples undergoing fertility treatment are currently unsuccessful.

Writing with humour and honesty, Caroline Gallup describes the social, emotional, spiritual and physical impact of infertility on her and her husband, Bruce, including feelings of bereavement for the absent child, the unavoidable sense of inadequacy and the day-to-day difficulties of financial pressure.

As well as telling her own moving story, she also offers information and guidance for others who are infertile, or who are considering or undergoing treatment.

Paperback: 240 pages
Click to order/for more info: Making Babies the Hard Way
Find it on Amazon: US | CDN | UK

Start reading Making Babies the Hard Way on your Kindle in under a minute!

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

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When a woman has a miscarriage, she's often told it was "meant to be."
But what if it's not -- and what if taking one children's aspirin a day could help her have a baby?

University of Utah researchers hope to find the answer. As part of a national study, they will be looking at whether low-doses of the widely-available drug can help women who have previously had a miscarriage.

Investigators believe aspirin will help thicken the uterus lining, improving the odds an embryo will be implanted. They also think it will increase blood flow to the placenta, providing oxygen and nutrients to keep the fetus healthy and alive.

Besides trying to help women get and stay pregnant, the years-long study involving 1,600 women from Utah and New York could shed more light on fertility -- a basic human experience that receives relatively little attention by researchers.

"We often just never study pregnant women so we know less about it than we know, say, about heart attacks," said Robert Silver, the university's principal investigator and an ob-gyn who specializes in high-risk pregnancies.

"It's really remarkable how little is known."

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists say miscarriage -- defined as losing a pregnancy before the 20th week -- is the most common reproduction problem.

Researchers estimate it happens in 15 percent of known pregnancies, and they suspect it happens much more frequently -- in up to 31 percent of cases -- because it can occur before the woman even knows she is expecting.

After one miscarriage, women have about the same chance of having a successful pregnancy as other women. But after two losses, her risk of another increases by around 25 percent. And after three, the chance jumps approximately 35 percent.

That's why it's important to know the cause, but doctors can't say half the time.

The study, dubbed the Effects of Aspirin in Gestation and Reproduction, or EAGeR, aims to help and is funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Participants must be trying to get pregnant and have had one previous miscarriage. The women will be randomly selected to take 81 milligrams of aspirin a day or a placebo. All will take folic acid.

"This is a low-cost, easily available treatment that may be able to help maintain and prevent unnecessary losses," said Enrique Schisterman, the principal investigator at the Maryland-based federal agency.

Silver suspects -- and the study could help confirm -- that most miscarriages that occur before eight weeks are due to genetic errors as the embryo develops. Those problems can't be helped. "It's nature's way of taking care of a pregnancy that couldn't survive," he said.

The pregnancy losses that happen later could more likely be due to blood flow, Silver predicts. Researchers hope to know for sure by examining ultrasounds, blood tests and placenta and fetal tissue from the study participants.

Some doctors already advise women to take low-dose aspirin if they have suffered multiple miscarriages. That's because aspirin has helped women prone to blood clots get pregnant, Silver said. In addition, some data shows that aspirin improves the pregnancy rates by 16 percent among women undergoing in-vitro fertilization, Schisterman said.

The two researchers say aspirin could also reduce the risk of high blood pressure during pregnancy, called preeclampsia, prevent preterm labor and help fetuses fully grow.

"The main outcome of the trial will be miscarriage, but we hope to see effects in later pregnancy as well," Schisterman said.

While other studies have not shown aspirin to help women with previous miscarriages, the drug was used by women after they became pregnant, Schisterman said. This study is different because women will start taking aspirin before they conceive. Studies have shown low doses of aspirin do not harm fetuses, the researchers said.

Participants will be keeping a daily diary, tracking their menstrual cycles, sexual activity, stress levels and diet. They will also provide daily urine samples for a couple of months, frequent blood samples, and have multiple ultrasounds. All that data will give researchers better insights into pregnancy using a larger population than has been studied in the past.

They will learn about the process of embryo implantation, what proportion of women get pregnant when they're trying, and how the mother's immune system works during pregnancy and why it doesn't reject the fetus, which her body considers a foreign object.

"We're going to be able to learn a lot even if the aspirin doesn't work," Silver said.

The urine and blood samples could eventually lead to new tests to predict who will have miscarriages or pregnancy complications, he added.

The results won't be available for three more years.

Source: http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/24351

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TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
What He Can Expect When She's Not Expecting
How to Support Your Wife, Save Your Marriage, and Conquer Infertility!
by Marc Sedaka and Gregory Rosen

-- Mark Sedaka stood by while he and his wife endured endless rounds of drug therapies, sixteen artificial inseminations, ten invitro fertilizations, three miscarriages, and, finally, a gestational surrogate (womb for rent) who carried their twin girls to term.

He was as supportive and loving as he could be, but he really wished he'd had a book like What He Can Expect When She's Not Expecting during the process. Most books about dealing with infertility are geared toward women, leaving the man to his own devices when it comes to comfort and encouragement (never a good idea).

With the help of his own infertility doctor, Sedaka provides straightforward guy-friendly advice on situations such as: What questions you should ask at the consultations, how to help rather than annoy, what kinds of tests you and your wife should expect, how to console a wife who appears inconsolable, and how to enjoy procreation sex.

Sedaka's accessible, empathetic voice, combined with the fact that he experienced everything he writes about, makes this a must-have book for any infertile couple.

Paperback: 208 pages
Click to order/for more info: What He Can Expect When She's Not Expecting

Start reading What He Can Expect When She's Not Expecting on your Kindle in under a minute!

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