Egg/embryo quality

[Ljh1234]

Hi ladies!

Can anyone recommend anything to help my egg and embryo quality? We’ve had 2 rounds of ivf (currently in the tww) but preparing for a fail to be honest due to low embryo quality again and want to try some new vitamins for next time.

Currently taking ‘pregnacare before conception’ and vitamin C.

Any advice would be welcome as our clinic don’t seem to think there is a problem! Our first round we had a 2CB 5 day blast and this round we have a 4 cell day 2 transfer as nothing else fertilised out of 8 eggs. Nothing is ever able to freeze. We do have male factor problems but the quality is fine.

Thanks in advance! xxx

[Catwind]

I'm actually doing a four week detox as my first cycle resulted in no frozen eggs and taking maca, dhea, omegas and prenatals (that's for stress really). Eating a lot more greens and a few more organic ingredients (not all as too$$!). I will only know when I go for my second round if it's made a difference but it's making me feel good that I'm taking care of myself and seeing other benefits that make this tough journey a little easier. It's these little wins that help. Sorry it's not a clear answer but hope it helps!

[JoyfulStar]

Hi there, many of the ladies on this forum have used the book It starts with the egg and follow it’s recommendations for egg quality. Here is a link itstartswiththeegg.com/supp...

The advice is to allow 3 months of taking supplements to see its benefits. All the best with your journey 🙏🏾

[Newbies1]

Hiya not sure if you have used standard ivf or icsi but our first round of ivf was a disaster 10 eggs and none fertilised I was only taking pregnacare husband standard multi vitamin. Our recent second round we switched to icsi and added the following for both me and my husband ubiquinol and vitamin d. We insisted on husband producing sample in hospital rather than home and also pushed for a double trigger shot this was all based on advice from this forum after feeling pretty hopeless after first round and we have had much better results: 7 eggs retrieved 7 eggs fertilsed and 5 x 5 day blastocyst graded excellent currently in 2ww. Hope this is of some help best of luck with your journey xxxx

[Purpledoggy]

Agree with reading It Starts With The Egg. There is a huge amount of info in there including all kinds of stuff you are supposed to do with your environment. I did almost none of it! But the info on supplements is good. I have done a huge amount of my own reading of scientific papers regarding supplements and most of what is in the book is accurate, though there is some stuff missing.

The most well-researched and/or IVF-clinic recommended supplements are CoQ10 (ubiquinone 300-600 mg/d or ubiquinol 200-400 mg/d), N-acetylcystine (600 mg/d), and melatonin (1.5-3 mg/d). Myo-inositol is also good but it depends on how many eggs you are getting as it will reduce number but improve quality - fine if you get good numbers but potentially not if you only get 1 or 2.

Vitamin E has also been shown in several papers to improve blood flow to the uterus and ovaries - ISWTE mainly recommends it for between EC and ET but I took it all the way through stims up to my BFP, and then cut it back.

Vitamin D isn't really for egg quality but sooo many people are at least mildly deficient, at least coming out of winter, so it is worth getting your level tested if you haven't already.

Lastly, if he isn't already, get your man on some supplements even if quality looks OK.

This is a presentation organised by this network on improving eqq quality - worth a watch

youtube.com/watch?v=LcylSPV...(Not working as expected?)

xx

[Rol81]

My 3rd cycle : My husband cut alcohol and coffee . Took proceive max supplement. His semen had improved.

For me, I took Dhea 75mg , Vit d , folic acid and CoEnzymeQ10.

I was only taking vit d and folic previously .

This I had already been doing:

Cut out ready meals and processed food and cakes etc .

Had the odd treat , once a week take away and some dark chocolate every other day.

No alcohol or fizzy drinks at all.

Stopped wearing perfume and used all fragrance free shower gels / body lotions / deodorant etc.

I’ve no idea what made a difference exactly, I was never going to produce loads of eggs so quality was the most important and they were defo way better than first .

I’m guessing the dhea and coEnQ made the difference this time but I think it’s a combination and balance of everything.

Wishing you so much luck. xxxx

[Crazy_girl]

I don’t know if these help egg quality but these are some of the things I keep a tab on..you might know them already, but thought of sharing just in case..1. no additional sugar intake (I cut down on biscuits, sweets, ice creams)

2. no caffeine,

3.eating nuts everyday - Brazil nuts, walnuts and almonds,

4. eating avacado- i prefer a smoothie with apple/banana,

5. eating pomegranate, kiwi fruits

6. going on regular walks, doing yoga

7. went for accupuncture sessions - this helped me relax and I had lots of suggestions to improve my food choices

All the best 👍

[Tnthketnf]

Hi

I am not sure I can give any hope here. I have poor quality embryos which is more likely because of poor quality oocytes, according to the doctors in the clinic. I have decent numbers at the oocyte collection but very few and poor quality embryos in the end.

Between 1st and 2nd cycle I have taken a great deal of supplements and cut down on sugar and processed foods and stopped alcohol altogether. I had 3 embryos (2 more than the first time) but again slow developing, only day 6 blastocysts and they were a lot less than the number of oocytes collected. I haven't had a transfer yet due to a polyp issue, so I don't know if the supplements made a difference. I have spoken to 3 different independent from my clinic consultants recently and their view is that oocyte quality is not something you can change. It is important that you follow a generally healthy lifestyle and diet without going to extremes and you don't smoke. All doctors i spoke to agreed that the protocol of drugs is the most important factor in getting your best oocytes.

Good luck