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Two in Blue
Member since 5/05 20223 total posts
Name:
Melissa
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Some interesting info
Effective Holistic Treatment for Infertility
Effective Holistic Treatment for Infertility By Jacob E. Teitelbaum, M.D.
Infertility is becoming an increasingly frequent problem. Many people go to fertility experts and, by discovering an anatomic problem (e.g. blocked fallopian tubes), or problems with ovulation, are able to get help. Unfortunately, many people find their tests are negative or, despite treatment, find they are unable to get pregnant.
Holistic medicine (otherwise known as complementary, natural, or integrative medicine) can often help when regular day-to-day medical approaches cannot. Infertility is one such case. It is important to recognize that 40% to 50% of problems with infertility are secondary to the man having a low sperm count or underactive sperm activity. Because of this, I recommend the man and woman both do the things noted below to increase their fertility. Before one begins with these things, it is important to look at the optimum timing for intercourse.
When Is The Best Time To Get Started?
Research shows that intercourse which occurs even one day after ovulation is unlikely to result in pregnancy. Intercourse the day of ovulation is most effective and often effective during the three to four day period before ovulation. Intercourse more than six days before ovulation is also unlikely to result in pregnancy. One can use an ovulation thermometer to time their ovulation. Also, the more frequently one has intercourse in the three or four days before ovulation, the more likely one is to get pregnant. New research has overturned the old misconception that frequent intercourse within this three to four day period decreases the chance of pregnancy.
What Can The Woman Do?
There are many day to day things which worsen and improve fertility. Having more than four cups of coffee a day (and possibly any coffee) can result in infertility. Some researchers joke that coffee actually acts as a reasonable form of birth control (I would not rely on it though!). Alcohol also increases infertility caused by ovulatory problems. This results because of increases in a hormone called prolactin. In people who have ovulatory infertility, alcohol can increase the problem by 30% if you have even one drink a day and by 60% if you have more thantwo drinks a day. Alcohol can also aggravate infertility caused by endometriosis. Of much greater concern, however, is the problem of birth defects caused by drinking alcohol during the pregnancy. This is called fetal alcohol syndrome and it is important that alcohol be avoided during the pregnancy. I would also note that taking very hot baths during pregnancy, including hot tubbing, can increase birth defects quite a bit as can taking more than 8,000 IU of vitamin A daily (beta carotene is okay). In addition, it is important that any woman of childbearing age take at least 400 mcg (0.4 mg) of folic acid a day to prevent birth defects. If the woman has had a child with neural tube birth defects in the past, I would increase this up to 4,000 mcg a day. For most women, taking a good multivitamin (we recommend From Fatigued To Fantastic Daily Energy Enfusion - available on our web site and many health food stores) is very helpful.
Other things which can cause infertility include taking more than 1,000 mg of vitamin C a day. If a woman is doing this and trying to get pregnant, she should decrease it to 500 mg a day. Infertility caused by a higher dose should resolve within a few weeks. Drinking caffeinated sodas (even one a day) can decrease conception by 50%. It is also important to avoid toxic metals (lead, mercury, cadmium), and I would not take melatonin (or much of anything else besides a good multivitamin as noted above and magnesium) when pregnant. High doses of melatonin can raise prolactin levels and may result in temporary infertility. A recent study has also found douching temporarily decreases the probability of getting pregnant by 30%. If your doctor has not checked your prolactin level, be sure this is not elevated.
Now that we have looked at some of the avoidable things which can keep you from getting pregnant, lets take a look at things you can do to help you get pregnant. These include:
1. Taking a good multivitamin with folate as noted above. This can increase fertility.
2. Taking extra vitamin B6 (approximately 50 mg a day) can also help you to get pregnant. This is especially true if one has irregular periods or absent periods or inappropriate production of breast milk outside of one's period.
3. Be sure your iron levels are adequate. A blood test (a ferritin level combined with an iron level and iron binding capacity) will tell you this. Unfortunately, doctors are trained to say the iron is normal if your ferritin level is at least 9 ng/ml. Although a ferritin level of 9 shows you have enough iron to prevent anemia, one can have infertility from ferritin levels less than 40. Because of this, I would look at your ferritin test results yourself and make sure the level is at least 40 ng per ml. In a study of women with infertility with ferritin levels less than 40, half of the women quickly became pregnant when put on iron. If for some reason you are unable to get your ferritin level checked, it is not unreasonable to take iron (e.g. Ferrous Sequels 1 tablet 1-2 times a day for four months). I also would take iron if the percent saturation of iron (calculated from the iron & percent saturation tests noted above) is under 22%.
4. If one's thyroid is low, and this is frequently the case even with normal blood tests, a very low dose of thyroid hormone will often result in people getting pregnant. If you have a tendency to constipation, cold intolerance, dry skin and thin hair, and/or temperatures which run under 98.2° during the day, there is a good chance your thyroid may be slightly underactive despite normal blood tests. In the absence of underlying heart disease, a trial of a low dose of thyroid hormone (e.g. Armour Thyroid 1/2 grain a day) may help you get pregnant and has a low risk of causing problems. You might have to fight with your doctor a bit to get them to try this for you, but it is worth it. If you have the symptoms I mentioned, remind your doctor that the best endocrinologists stress that it is important to treat the patient and not the blood test. Something he or she might want to remember is that each time we come up with a new thyroid blood test we find a large number of people with an underactive thyroid that the old test missed. There is a very high probability that our current tests are still missing many people with this disease. Do not take iron within six hours of thyroid supplements or the iron will prevent absorption of the thyroid hormone.
5. Research by William Jeffries, M.D., an emeritus professor of endocrinology at Case Western Reserve University, has shown that some women's difficulty getting pregnant can be overcome by taking a low dose of cortisol (Cortef). Although cortisol in high doses for prolonged periods can be very toxic, taking Cortef 5 mg twice a day for 2 to 3 months is unlikely to cause major problems in the absence of high blood pressure or a family history of diabetes. His experience is this can often result in people with infertility getting pregnant as well (although he uses 5 mg 4 times a day). This is especially true with polycystic ovaries (Stein-Leventhal syndrome).
What About The Guys?
Research suggests that sperm counts are dropping throughout the industrialized world. There is a good possibility this is coming from chemicals, especially pesticides, which mimic estrogen effects in the body. In many countries this is becoming an area of major concern. Avoiding chemicals or other toxins is helpful.
I would note there has been over a 50% decrease in sperm counts in the last over 50 years. Interestingly studies show that organic farmers have had increasing sperm counts, as opposed to farmers who use chemicals (who have had a large drop in sperm counts). Using meat from cows that have not been raised and fattened using estrogen (such as meat which is available at Fresh Fields Market) is important in any man whose wife is having trouble getting pregnant. Melatonin, verapamil and nifidipine (common heart and blood pressure medicines), or excess alcohol can also cause reversible infertility in males.
So What Can The Guy Do?
There are several things a man can do to markedly improve his sperm count and motility:
1. Although in females high dose vitamin C can cause infertility, increasing vitamin C to at least 500 to 1,000 mg a day in males has a marked effect on increasing sperm count and motility. The vitamin C also protects the sperm from genetic damage which can cause inherited diseases or cancer in the child. Taking 500 mg twice a day, for example, can cure infertility in 20% of infertile males.
2. Astragalus--an herbal remedy, can increase sperm motility by about 50%.
3. Research has shown that high doses of intramuscular vitamin B12 (which are very safe) can increase sperm count in 50% of males with low counts. The dose used in the study was quite high at 1,500 to 6,000 mcg intramuscularly daily. Although the tablets might be helpful, one would only absorb a tiny fraction of the B12 taken by mouth and the treatment needs to be given by injection.
4. 50 mg of zinc a day for four months is also helpful.
5. L-arginine Aspartate 9 gm a day for low sperm motility or 4 gram a day for low sperm counts can be helpful.
6. Ginkgo Biloba--another herbal remedy taken 120 mg twice a day can help with erectile dysfunction. This takes about 6 to 12 weeks to start working.
7. L-carnitine 3 gram a day for 4 months can also increase sperm motility. This is fairly expensive however, and I would try the other things first. L-Arginine & L-Carnitine are both amino acids (proteins).
8. Selenium 200 mcg a day (not more than this as higher doses can be toxic). Taking the Natrol multivitamin is a good idea for the man as well as the woman and will supply the 200 mcg of selenium.
9. Vitamin E 400 IU a day (not more) can also decrease male infertility.
What Are The Risks Of These Treatments?
Although even holistic remedies do sometimes have side effects, they are usually safe. Too much iron can be toxic and I prefer to check the iron levels (as noted above) before treating with iron. The risk of taking iron for only three to four months (in the absence of a genetic iron excess disease), however, is low. The main side effect of taking high-dose zinc intake for short periods is nausea. I would avoid taking over 15 mg of zinc daily if the patient has a family history of Alzheimer's. The main side effect of taking the high dose of the amino acid (9 gram a day) L-arginine would be nausea and the main side effect of taking the L-carnitine is it's cost. All of the treatments I have noted above can be done simultaneously.
So Do You Think I Should Go For It?
If you want to get pregnant I certainly would go for it! When you get pregnant, here are some helpful hints:
1. Vitamin B6 200-250 mg a day can decrease morning sickness, and reverse about half of the cases of pregnancy-induced diabetes. Stop the high-dose B6 in the seventh month, or it can inhibit lactation.
2. Take magnesium chloride (67 mg) two tablets three times a day (less if diarrhea is a problem). This markedly decreases the complications seen in pregnancy. It is available in your pharmacy as Slow-Mag or in your health food store.
3. Take 1000 to 1500 mg of calcium daily.
4. Use the Natrol vitamin or a prenatal with at least 15 mg of zinc daily.
What Else Can I Do?
There are certainly emotional things which can be done which can also be very helpful. In my experience, when women play with newborn babies a lot (e.g. right after they adopt one) they do seem to get pregnant fairly frequently. Starting to let yourself relax and to let the process of getting pregnant be fun as opposed to a chore or a task (where you are paying attention to every detail) is also very helpful. Let go! Once you have done the things noted above you have done your work and now it is time to let your body do its part. There are reasons why one might not want to get pregnant (fear of being trapped is a common one) and simply being conscious of these concerns is very helpful. When one is conscious of these conflicts, one often does not even need to do anything further about them.
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