Prepare Your Body For Conception With Optimum Fertility

How to Increase Your Egg Health for optimum fertility

Age is not the only factor that determines ovarian and egg health. Studies show that there are other vital factors that can have an impact on the health of the ovaries including hormone balance, stress, and environmental xenoestrogens.

Healthy fertility is based on other aspects including: Balanced hormones, a healthy fertility cycle and healthy eggs (ovum)

Egg Health: What does it mean for you and how can you achieve it?

Egg health is vital to healthy fertility. It can affect whether or not fertilization and implantation will occur as well as whether your pregnancy will remain intact (viable) viability of a pregnancy. In the past, it has been thought that a woman is born with all of the eggs cells she will have for the rest of her life. That is the reason age was considered to be the primary factor of egg health. Egg cells do not regenerate, like other cells in the body…Or do they? New research has introduced the premise that women actually produce NEW eggs throughout their reproductive years. Scientists have actually found stem cells within the ovaries that can produce these new egg cells.
Regardless, age still has an impact on even the new eggs, since the ovaries continue to age which causes the “resting place” of the eggs to become less optimal.

You need to protect the eggs you currently have and encourage ovarian health via diet and supplements.See the Fertility Diet following the Supplements section.

Infertility Help: Inositol, PCOS, and Fertility

Two research groups conducted studies with the dietary supplement myoinositol and PCOS. The studies concluded that myoinositol provided significant benefits for women suffering from PCOS, and gave them an alternative to the diabetes drugs that doctors usually prescribe for PCOS.

Polycystic ovary syndrome is on the leading causes of infertility, and can also cause unwanted hair growth, acne, and difficult menstrual cycles. Most doctors prescribe diabetes drugs to help regulate insulin levels as a treatment for PCOS, but these drugs have many side effects and don’t address the underlying issue.

Myo-inositol, a form of inositol, is a member if the B-complex family of vitamins. It is usually deficient in women with PCOS.

Another study published in the Gynecological Endocrinology journal put 25 women on a combination of folic acid and inositol for 6 months. The results, 22 out of the 25 patients restored at least one spontaneous menstrual cycle during treatment, and 18 maintained normal ovulatory activity during the follow up period. 10 pregnancies (40% of patients) were obtained.

Based on these two studies, Inositol seems to be an effective treatment for PCOS, and for restoring fertility. It has no side effects, and is relatively inexpensive. For women who are trying to get pregnant, it’s ideal to combine this treatment with improved diet and exercise, so that insulin problems aren’t carried into pregnancy.

Important Supplements

Natural Progesterone Cream

The role of progesterone is key
After ovulation, progesterone production is triggered by Luteinizing Hormone (LH) which stimulates the corpus leteum (the remnant egg sac) in the ovary to produce progesterone. One of the main actions of progesterone with fertility is to help support a developing embryo.

If pregnancy occurs, the production of progesterone from the corpus luteum continues for about 7 weeks (it is then produced by the placenta for the duration of the pregnancy). If pregnancy did not occur, the period begins 14 days after ovulation. When fertilization does not occur, the corpus leteum disintegrates, which causes the level of progesterone to fall and the endometrial tissue to break down and shed as menstruation.
Progesterone supports regular ovulation, hormone balance, and can prevent miscarriage. For women trying to get pregnant, an adequate amount of natural progesterone is crucial because it prepares the uterine wall for the implantation of the fertilized egg. Progesterone support in pregnancy has been in use for nearly 60 years. Its initial use was in patients who had habitual spontaneous abortion caused by luteal phase deficiency.

Luteal phase deficiency is due to a failure of the function of the corpus luteum in the production of progesterone. It is known that progesterone from the corpus luteum is indispensable during the first seven weeks of pregnancy. The study showed a significant reduction in preterm delivery rates with the supplementation of progesterone. The use of progesterone to prevent preterm labor has been documented in medical literature for over 30 years.

Progesterone has the following important functions:

• It maintains the lining of the uterus which makes it possible for a fertilized egg to attach and survive
• Makes cervical mucous accessible by sperm
• Supports the developing embryo
• Keeps the uterine lining from deteriorating
• Prevents immune rejection of the developing baby & allows for full development of the fetus through pregnancy
• It causes “maturation” of the endometrium, converting it to a secretory type
• It stimulates the decidualization of the endometrium required for implantation
• Inhibits myometrial contractions so your body does not reject the embryo

On another note, it increases libido around the time of ovulation so you are “ready to go”.

How do I know if I'm low in progesterone?
There are many signs that may show up in the body if you do not have enough progesterone in your system during the correct times of your cycle.

• Recurrent early miscarriage
• No period
• Not ovulating
• Endometriosis
• PCOS
• PMS
• Cramps during menses
• Blood clotting
• Swollen breasts
• Fibrocystic breasts
• Loss of libido
• Obesity
• Depression
• Water retention
• Low thyroid
• Facial hair
• Hot flashes
• Night sweats
• Vaginal dryness
• Foggy thinking
• Memory lapse
• Incontinence
• Tearful
• Depressed
• Sleep disturbances
• Heart palpitation
• Bone loss

How to Use Natural Progesterone
Transdermal application (through the skin) has been found to be one of the most effective ways to use natural progesterone. It is absorbed through the skin into the underlying fat, which helps to slowly allow progesterone into the blood. This way of application helps the progesterone to be "time released" into the blood stream. To closely mimic the body's progesterone cycle, it is best to use progesterone cream twice a day.

Using progesterone cream for fertility:
Natural progesterone cream is easily and quickly absorbed into the body through th skin within seconds. So you can apply it essentially anywhere as long as you rotate locations of application. The best areas for application are places that have capillary blood flow such as:

• Face
• Neck
• Upper chest
• Breasts
• Inner arms
• Palms of hands and feet

Suggested dosage is 40 mg daily, divided into one 20 mg application in the morning and one 20 mg application in the evening, during the two weeks before your period. Progesterone use should begin directly after ovulation, which is usually day 14 in the cycle (day 1 is the start of your period), and ending usage once menstruation begins. If you want to know when you ovulate, you can use an Ovulation Test Kit. Once ovulation is detected, progesterone cream would be started the following day.

Safety of Progesterone During Pregnancy

Progesterone is very safe for both mother and baby as evidenced by the fact that your body makes 300-400 mg per day during late pregnancy….in other words, your baby is surrounded by progesterone.
Progesterone Cream: 20 mg/ twice daily. Alternate sites of application.

NOTE:
If you become pregnant, continue using cream at least through the end of the 1st trimester. It's actually preferable to use it continuously throughout your pregnancy. Let your provider know.

Loading Dose

A loading dose is useful for women who have had many months or years of anovulatory (no ovulation) cycles, which can create extreme progesterone deficiency. Each cycle that passes without ovulation can increase estrogen dominance very easily, as there is no fat to store extra progesterone. In either of these situations, Dr. John Lee recommends a higher dose of progesterone during the first and second months of progesterone cream use. This helps to replenish the progesterone stored in the fat of the body. After 2-3 months, the dose can be lowered to the usual 'regular' dosage. Note: Some progesterone creams come in a squeeze tube, like Emerita Pro-Gest, which uses exactly 20mg of progesterone cream.

Loading dose: 40 mg twice a day, one 40 mg application in the morning and one 40 mg application at night, for a total of 80 mg of natural progesterone a day. Apply for two weeks before your period (about day 14 in the cycle), up until menstruation begins.

Maca: 450 mg 3x per day
In women, maca works by controlling estrogen in the body. Estrogen levels that are high or low at the wrong time can keep a woman from becoming pregnant or keep her from carrying to term. Excess estrogen levels also cause progesterone levels to become too low. Taking maca may help to increase the progesterone levels which are essential to carrying a healthy pregnancy.

In men, too much estrogen can cause erectile dysfunction or lack of libido, low sperm count, and lowered production of seminal fluid. Studies have shown that men who use maca may experience an increased libido, an increase in sperm count & mobility of sperm.