I have read ‘ It starts with the egg’ which I have found really useful. The book recommends taking the supplement CO-Q10 to help improve egg quality. My fertility clinic also suggests the same ! The book suggests the ingredient ubiquinol is better than ubiquinone as it’s more soluable as well as a dose of 400mg if you are struggling to conceive. Sadly my clinic won’t advise me any further so I was wondering if there is a specific product that is better than another ( there are so many out there & it’s all a bit of a minefield ) and what dose to take . Does anyone have any advice on this please from their experience? I’m in the UK. XXX
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Islay14
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Hi Islay14, I went with Solgar Ubiquinol 100mg softgells (just because of the named brand, but they are really expensive), I've taken 2 a day. But only for the past 3 weeks. I just had 15 mature eggs collected but can't say if it was the softgells at all! Best wishes x
I take 200mg ubiquinone HealthAid brand -because it is in oil. I take it morning and evening (so 400mg in total). The body can only process so much of it at once, from what I've read so best to split it and, frankly, I never could keep up with 3 times a day!
My understanding is, the body naturally coverts ubiquinone and ubiquinol from one to the other, so it doesn't really matter which one you take (this article gives some info on this, you can also do a deeper dive usuing Google Scholar: birdandbe.com/blogs/the-nes....
More research has gone into ubiquinol because it is more profitable. Hence why that's in the book -she bases it all on research (and I do think this is true, even if her interpretation or selection of research is not always great).
Also, do note, there's a whole other side to that book -selling supplements that she makes a cut from by recommending, through affiliate links. I strongly and cynically suspect this influences what she recommends.
Personally, I'd just go for what is affordable and practically manageable for you to take. Some is likely better than none.
I take Ubiquinol with Omega 3s in it. 600mg - broken into 2 doses. Is it the brand you are looking for? I think they are around £20. If you want to know them PM me and I'll send you the link.
Just to give a different perspective - I bought some low dose CO-Q10 (100mg) in the reduced to clear section at Sainsbury's for 50p (60 gel capsules) as they were near their best before... took them for 3 months in the run up to my third round (just 1 capsule per day), including after they'd passed the best before date, and I'm currently 9 weeks pregnant!
Hi Cupcake, that's amazing and congratulations on your pregnancy, are you continuing to take it even in pregnancy or you stopped it now? Thank you 🙏 Have a great day. Wishing you good luck ☘️
Hello, I have stopped now, as my clinic said the reason for taking is around egg quality so not much need to continue taking them (especially given how expensive they normally are!)
hi, I took it for 3 months before my 2nd egg collection and personally it made no difference. I actually got less embryos. For my third collection I did testosterone priming for a month before my egg collection. I rubbed gel daily alternating between my stomach and thighs and i got the two best embryos I’d ever had. One of them is playing on her mat now a happy 6 month old. Everyone is different though but this was my experience. Good luck lovely x
I had 2 failed rounds of ivf got pregnant naturally straight after the last failed cycle using mira ovulation tracker and fertilily conception cups. Had 600mg coq10 ubiquinol. Life extension brand. Was told by an nhs consultant it was the best brand. I asked and asked and read lots and was told 600mg is best so they come in 100s so 6 a day. They are expensive but I thought lets just do this. Also dhea. 75mg daily eurovital brand. Tho u need dhea-s and testosterone bloods. Im 40 btw. Also Mediterranean diet. Vit d. Magnesium. Exercise x
Thank your for taking the time to reply ! I’m trying to follow the other points you mentioned too e.g DHEA . I’ll have a look at the life extension brand !
it really is a minefield but i will say what i did and you can make a decison based on that if it helps at all but as u know everyones different x
i also read that book and for me it said to take 600mg (as I have endo). I started by taking 100mg and then went to 200mg as its best to start with a lower dosage and increase my colleauge said (I work at a vitamin company but we dont stock coq10). so then I asked the clinic should I up to 600mg, but they said no, you will find the GP/clinic dont want to advise on anything or commit- which i think is weird and really unhelpful, so I stuck at 200mg, needless to say my egg count was very low so do I now wish i raised it to 600mg yes.
my cousin also took it and conceived naturally (after many years) and said she spoke to someone and they said it must have the ingredient 'kaneka' in it x
Thank you for taking the time to reply ! Im finding it frustrating too that im about to spend potentially of money with them & they can’t help with multivitamins which I don’t understand as it should improve their success rate too. I’ll look for Kaneka - thank you !
I take 600mg in total. I take ovum pre conception which has 200mg in then an extra 400mg split into two divided doses. They’re fat soluble so should be taken with food x
It’s a lot of tablets but I just stick with those as they work out cheaper than a lot of other brands with my NHS discount. Good luck xx
I upped my dose to 600mg on my last round for 3 months as I read that was better for over 40s. I just got them off Amazon and like you said made sure it was ubiquinol. I actually got less eggs that round but got 2 good quality embryos with one to freeze, I hadn’t had any to freeze for several cycles before that. I’m currently 8 weeks with the frozen embryo so I do think it might have helped a bit with quality xx
There are a couple of IVF groups on Facebook which have a digital version of the it starts with the egg book, and links from the book to the recommended supplements. For Coq10 (ubiquinol) there are two links, a more expensive and less expensive brand. The less expensive brand is healthy thru nutrition ubiquinol 300mg and you're supposed to take 2 a day so 600mg. This brand is available on Amazon and is often recommended on the IVF groups as a good brand to take. I have been taking it since march in prep for next egg collection in a few months so can't say if it has worked but am very hopeful. I am also taking acai berry, folate, omega 3, vit d, pregnacare, so 🤞🏻. Good luck x
HiI'm only taking 100mg of a Holland and Barrett one. After reading this I might think about upping it. Hopefully due to start IVF soon as a false start a year ago where I had to have more endometriosis surgery. Want to do everything we can to boost my body after so many surgeries and a low AMH.
Sadly there's nothing that's actually been scientifically proven to improve egg quality. I was told studies are limited and not well conducted. I threw everything and still produced poor quality eggs
I'm also not a fan of this book. Just look on the forums. I was on mumsnet and there's a thread on there and the amount of women who said they were taken q10 at that dose rec by the book and it messed up their cycles. Apparently that can happen. One of the girls had emailed the author but I don't believe she heard back .
By the way the studies done on q10 which demonstrated any effects on body function were ubiquinone version, not ubiquinol which is touted to be the best but yet lacks in any studies other than the companies pushing ubiquinol so there's no evidence ubiquinol is any better when it's not the version that was used in the past studies so how can anyone say it is any better. Its just in theory better
I found the You Tube Fertility Dr TV last night, oh my my, I am so shocked with how little good quality research has been put into these products or the research shows no effect at all, or show that certain companies (he doesn't name) show they're incredibly harmful as there's crazy ingredients that shouldn't be there (America) .
I'll certainly be checking up on testing certificates for any products I buy in the future (UK). The videos have completely changed my outlook on supplements. Which is gutting as it felt like someway to help ourselves other than the standard Mediterranean diet, Vit D and Folic Acid.
I think I read that ubiquinol is more readily absorbed by the body hence even though I've already done my egg collection, I'm switching to ubiquinol.
I was taking Holland and Barrett super strength coq10 leading up to EC which contains ubiquine.
I know this one is more expensive but it's because it's using kaneka ubiquinol. I think these would boost my health anyway as I've a tendency to depletion, and find myself low on energy. I'll try this bottle for 3 months and see how I feel. My doctor says to take 200ng for now.
Ubiquinol 200 Milligram EAF CoQ10 (Enhanced Absorption Formula Coenzyme Q10 as Kaneka Ubiquinol) (90 Softgels) amzn.eu/d/01lWRFVs
I've also been taking
Shatavari
Combination 12 tissue salts
Evening primrose oil
Melatonin
Magnesium
Wild nutrition - fertility support (contains natural folate)
At my first and recent egg collection, they took 5 good sized eggs. 4 fertilised. 3 made it to day 6 and survived the biopsy. Now waiting PGTA testing and trying to manage my anxiety! I'm 43.
I took 200mg x3 times a day with wheatgrass as well as vitamin d 1000iu x3 times plus vitamin c 500 x2 and prenatal once a day and had a really good egg collection at 40. But when I got close to 41, fsh became higher and egg quality decreased rapidly. Egg quality was excellent before I got close 41.
All of these supplements can work to a certain extent but you also need good fsh and amh to support it. With male fertility, that can be easier to improve with diet and supplements but can take 6 months to a year. Female fertility can only be improved so much.
thank you for taking the time to reply to my message ! I agree with we can do so much. I just need to be sure I can do everything that I possibly can ! Xx
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