Melatonin, unsure of ivf clinics advice… help?!

[Eat-sleep-ivf-repeat]

after waiting weeks for my fertility clinic to answer my queries regarding taking

-melatonin

- DHEA

-metformin

- ubiquinol

prior to my next fresh ivf cycle in 3 months, I’ve finally had a response today.

They won’t prescribe metformin as I don’t have PCOS (fair enough.)

They said given my biggest issue is low egg maturity rate, they would recommend I start DHEA and Melatonin. I asked if I needed to test my levels first for DHEA and they said no they’d just suggest I take 25mg 3 times daily,… does this sound right?

I asked for recommended dosage of melatonin and when to start / stop and they recommended 5mg daily from 3 months before treatment to stop at egg collection. Does this sound right? I’ve seen a lot on here are taking 3mg and only for a few weeks and I’m reluctant to take DHEA without knowing my levels already…

Can anyone advise? Thankyou 😘

[Xmishell37]

Hey! I have no experience of this but a friend of mine had low reserve and took 25mg 3x per day, she didn't test her level beforehand but did say it made her feel quite spotty and greasy (it increases testosterone), id suggest testing ur level first if its available to u, not sure about melatonin but i too have read most people taking 3mg and even then it can interrupt sleep, the book 'it starts with the egg' talks about low reserve and makes recommendations, good luck 🤞🏼 xx

[happyseal]

Heya...

Have you heard about the book it starts with the egg? The book explains all of the above, how to test, dosage for different situations and how to monitor it.

I would advise checking the book as it explains what levels of DHEA-S and testosterone is ideal.

And talks about melatonin, coq10 and other supplements according to different cases, including endometriosis, PCOs, etc.

If you do a quick search on Google you'll find the 3mg melatonin for few weeks.

But the book goes deeper into it.

What your clinic suggested is generalised but even then it'll show some impact on your tests if you monitor everything.

[Systema23]

hi

I can’t speak to melatonin but I checked my DHEA levels beforehand and during the months prior to starting a cycle.

Always better to check because taking too much can be bad for egg quality. Initially I took 100mg and luckily I checked because that was too much and ended up taking 25mg 3 times a day but it will really depend on your levels beforehand.

Good luck

[Cuppppatea]

apparently 5htp is good as it encourages better sleep patterns. Thus increasing melatonin. Personally melatonin was not great for my sleep quality but I persevered with it - don’t know if it did any good.

[Coffeeone]

hey there,

I can give you my experience, I took melatonin during my first egg collection- just 1mg and got one good pgta tested blast from it. It’s not licensed for use in ivf so there isn’t a set dose, but most studies use 3mg so I’d go with that- I a have upped my dose for the time I do a cycle as I think it helped the first time.

I asked the clinic about dhea and they agreed recommending 25mg three times - day. I checked my level before and they were high so didn’t use the full dose, using 50mg for a week or so then reduced to 25mg daily. I got tested and my dhea and testosterone levels went through the roof- I didn’t get any good pgta tested embryos from this cycle so I won’t be using it again. I think it can be helpful but only if your levels are low- I would definitely recommend checking them - as the cost is nothing compared to a failed cycle. I got plenty more eggs but the quality did not deliver- I won’t take this in my next cycle.

If you take melatonin and dhea be aware that one can increase levels of the other- all the more reason to test levels.

Good luck and hope that helps!

[Blueberryshrub]

Hi there, I have bad experience with DHEA. I had done the blood test before I started taking it and my DHEA levels were low. I decided to start with 2 x 25mg but my skin broke out so lowered it to 1 x 25mg and then ended up with 12mg and I wasnt taking it during my periods. The problem was that DHEA significantly increased my estrogen levels. It did nothing to DHEA or free androgen levels (mine are extremely low). I think nobody can tell you how your body will react to DHEA because it is a precursor hormone. I wouldnt recommend it for anybody with endo or fibroids. Also, my ovarian reserve went down from 7.5 to 5.9 over the last 12 months which is I guess expected for my age.

As for melatonin, I am taking 500mg of L-tryptophan but I think Melatonin, 5htp or l-tryptophan doesnt seem to have any impact on me.

I have been taking 200mg of ubiquinol for more than a year now but cannot tell if it makes any difference. I might be able to tell when I have my next egg collection.

Not sure if my experience helps in any way but let me know if you would like more info