That's it. I quit.

It's not me. It's you.

No, really. Don't cry. This is harder for me than it is for you.

Dearest Vitex,

Despite my best efforts to combat my sudden recent weight gain by carefully counting my calories, walking at lunch 4 days a week, and working out twice a week (Hey! It's a start!), I'm.still.gaining.weight. WTF?

So that's it. I'm in the 2WW, so I QUIT YOU, VITEX!!! I'm not sure I can say that you've helped (although, you've alleviated the symptom of my boobs feeling like they're going to explode) but I need to see if you're the culprit. I figure it's safe to quit you for the 2WW and during AF--that'll give me 3 weeks to see if there's a direct correlation.

I figure if I'm looking to acupuncture, they'll prescribe a new slew of herbs anyway, so I think it's safe to say that we really had no future together.

I'm sorry. You and soy isoflavones should get together. I think you'd make a really cute, chubby couple.

Houston, we have a really big problem

Guess what anti-drug, herbal remedy, tree-hugging hippie is about to eat her words? This one. You know, the one who suddenly got fat.

I've been all up in arms lately about how the job that I've had for almost a year now is pretty darn sedentary, so I had gained a pound or two over the course of the past year. But then the previous two months happened and suddenly I'm up another 6-7 lbs! I've always maintained a really consistent weight and if I've felt myself creep up at all, I just watch extra closely and get some exercise and it stops. But not this time. I'm currently 5 lbs over my highest weight ever.

And what really pisses me off? I eat really g-dang healthy. Like nothing but veggies, fruit and raw nuts during the day and then a sensible, meat-free dinner. Now in what cruel world is a person such as this punished by weight gain and an unsightly bulge whilst trying to seduce her husband each evening?

So when I really sit down and think about the only culprits there could be over the past two months, I have to look to my herbal remedy recipe. I don't know which one could have done it (vitex or soy), but let's just say that I'm angry with them over it.

And that's where I turn to you, dear interwebs. What are your experiences? I can't seem to find anything helpful online (I graduated Google Medical and still can't find anything worthwhile), so I need to hear from you.

Until then, I'll be combating this by signing up for body sculpting classes, walking at lunch, etc, but I could really use some help. My gut, my tight pants, and DH thank you in advance.

xoxo,
MSC

Vacation, all I ever wanted...

Well, while I was surfing the crimson wave, I subconsciously decided to take a mini vaycay from blogging, as I see that I haven't posted in a handful of days. It's so unusual for me to not report in my every single emotion and feeling.

But enough about me. Let's talk about you. Are you okay? Did you miss me terribly? Shit, there I go again with the talking about me again. *le sigh* What can ya do?

Well, I guess that only leaves me with talking about myself again. It's CD5 and I'm doing the soy isoflavones (I did 1 pill daily last time with no side effects or issues, so I'm bumping it up to 2 this cycle) for CD5-9 again and taking vitex daily. My most recent concern is how short my periods are (about 3 days long, 2 light, 1 medium, and then scant spotting yesterday), but I'm not letting it bother me. I'm also using the OV-Watch and I really should go get back into the tea thing.

So my wish for this cycle is just to ovulate earlier than CD60. I'm not feeling stressed at all and I definitely feel a ton of pressure lifted that I had last cycle. In fact, I think I'd be really happy with a 2010 baby, so this whole "last cycle to have a 2009 baby" thing isn't affecting me at all.

I'm just so grateful to know that I'm not broken... I *can* ovulate and one day this will work out. That's good enough for me!

Natural Fertility Cocktail, Attempt #1

I know a lot of girls like to compare notes on vitamin brands, supplements, etc so today I thought I'd share with you what I've come up with as a result of my recent research into herbal remedies for anovulation.

First and foremost, I share with you that my vitamin of choice has been the Target brand pretnatal. I've heard a lot about people feeling sick from their prenatals, but I've been on this one for a year now (RE suggested that I start taking them back then just in the event we'd decide to TTC) and I haven't had any issues. They're pretty big pills, which I don't love. Also, I think they smell sorta funny. Someone on the Getting Pregnant message board suggested that I try the Trader Joe's prenatal vitamins and since I'm almost out I think I might switch it up.

I also mentioned that I started taking vitex (chasteberry) last week. I purchased the Solar Ray brand, but my local health food store also carried Nature's Way and one other fertility-boosting blend. I wanted to buy Nature's Way brand (but they were all out) because it seems that their labeling system was more clear and I didn't want to get the blend just yet. So I settled for Solar Ray and I'm taking 1 a day (although the bottle says you can take more) but from what I've read online people don't take huge doses of it.

Lastly, is the Spring Valley soy isoflavones from Wal-Mart. I saw there were recommended very highly on soulcysters.net and other fertility message boards, so I decided to give it a try. As I mentioned before, you're supposed to take them for 4 days early in your cycle to induce ovulation, but I also read about people taking them later in their cycle and having the same results, so I just went for it... because at CD 50+, WTF? Who cares? How much worse can it get? ;-) So I'm on day 4 and wondering if it'll work. I'll be really pumped if it does.

Anyway, I take 80mg of these which is two pills--one in the a.m. and one at night. I've read that if the 80mg doesn't work for you, that you can bump it up to 3/day, but I'm willing to give 2 a shot.

So that's my first attempt at a fertility boosting vitamin cocktail.

My science experiment

So I'm well into CD50+ territory, so at this point I think I'm willing to try just about any witch's brew concoction to either ovulate or start my period. Seriously, if you told me right now that a beet juice enema would bring on AF, I would be shoving beety brine up my starfish faster than you can say "TMI!"

But here's something you might've noticed about me, but since I'm all about pointing out and dramatizing the obvious, I'm going to point it out right here:
I'm a 2001 graduate of Google Medical and love the ability to find anything and everything on the interwebs. It's outstanding. So I've been reading about anovulatory cycles, estrogen levels, herbal and natural treatments, etc. I started taking Vitex (does anyone else think it's funny that it's name is actually chaste berry?) earlier this week, but then did some research about giving the old ovaries a little one-two punch with 4 days of soy isoflavones. I guess if you're taking both for the long term health benefits, they kinda cancel each other out, but if you just do the 4 days of soy, it still has that clomid-like effect.

And, as a big old FYI, I'm looking into a local natural health center who is hosting a seminar on Monday on female issues. It's kinda random that the seminar is on Monday and I just found the place today... Let's hope I don't end up wandering into some alternate universe...

Viva la Vitex!

I picked up a bottle of Vitex at my local health food market yesterday and I took my first pill last night. I couldn't find any information online that says you should start it on CD1 or if you can start at anytime, but I figure that my cycle is already on the fritz--Seriously, my chart has officially gone insane! It now resembles a freaking heart monitor! WTF?

So Vitex it is! I've also been reading about soy isoflavones, which apparently acts like clomid and is a natural way to stimulate ovulation. You're supposed to take 50-100 mg a day for 4 days at the beginning of your cycle (CD3-7 and CD5-9 were two suggestions that I saw).

Supposedly it suppresses estrogen, which stimulates the brain to produce more FSH. When your ovaries start to produce follicles and they grow, estrogen production will pick up again. Soy Isoflavones work in much the same way as Clomid but it's a more natural approach. Apparently it doesn't work for everyone (neither does Clomid), but with thin, anovulatory women with elevated estrogen (aka me!) there's a pretty decent success rate. I guess you can buy it at lots of drugstores and even Wal-Mart, so it looks like I'll be spending a little more time in the vitamin aisle.

Also, while I'm on the topic of homeopathy, I thought I'd save this list of estrogen producing foods. I have to say that as a healthy eater, I'm really upset to see a lot of these foods on the list. I'll have to do some digging to see to what extent each of these effects your estrogen (and plant estrogen is different than animal estrogen, so it's effect isn't as great), but seriously? Chick peas, tomatoes, eggplant, carrots, garlic, EVOO, and peppers have a huge presence in my diet!

Foods Containing Natural Estrogens
Alfalfa
Animal flesh - I include this for your information, as I've already cut this out of my diet due to the hormones in it.
Apples
Carrots
Cherries
Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) -WHAT? I can't imagine cutting hummus out of my life!
Cucumbers
Dairy Foods
Dates
Eggs
Eggplant
Flaxseeds
Garlic
Oats
Olive oil
Olives
Papaya
Parsley
Peas
Peppers
Plums
Pomegranates
Potatoes
Pumpkin
Red beans
Rice (relatively high)
Sesame seeds
Soybean sprouts
Soybeans
Split peas
Sunflower seeds
Tomatoes
Wheat
Yams


Estrogen Inhibiting Foods
If you are suffering from ovarian cysts and other situations that estrogen might exacerbate, the following estrogen inhibiting foods might be of interest to you. I've been shoveling in the Broccoli because I knew that it was good for high estrogen, but it's good to know there are more types on the list.

Berries
Broccoli
Buckwheat
Cabbage
Citrus
Corn
Figs
Fruits (except apples, cherries, dates, pomegranates)
Grapes
Green beans
Melons
Millet
Onions
Pears
Pineapples
Squashes
White rice