Short LP - magnesium & B6?

[uskiku]

This is my first month charting (4th cycle off BCP), but I can already tell that my LP is on the short side: average cycle length 26 days and I seem to ovulatate around CD 18-19-20 which makes my LP approx. 6-9 days... :eek:

I've heard mentioned that taking magnesium and B6 can lenghten your cycle, does anyone know how much I should take? TIA!

[Scooter]

There was a great thread on this on the "other" site. Some of us had tried various amounts and did research on them.

The Upper Limit of B6 is 100mg, which means you should not exceed that per day. There was some research that suggested the UL should be lowered to 50mg, because there were some findings of nerve damage with prolonged use at 100mg.

I did try 100mg before reading that about the 50, and it caused insomnia and general jitteriness. Like drinking too much caffeine. Insomnia & jitteriness are signs of B6 overdose. You may want to start out with the 50mg and see if that has any effect for a few months before upping the dosage to 100mg (if you're even comfortable doing that). Sorry, I can't remember the dosage for the magnesium supps!

[Sevilla]

I and several other people in the charting to avoid pregnancy thread have found that Zinc was also essential in lengthening our luteal phases. Make sure to buy higher quality vitamins too--not the cheap, store brand. Vitamins are one of those things where you get what you pay for (to a certain point). I buy mine at a vitamin store/health food store b/c Target/Wal-Mart don't have as good a selection of quality brands.

Anyway, if you decide to add in the zinc make SURE not to take more than 20mg per day, and preferable more like 15mg. You can take too much zinc and have issue b/c of it (it drives me crazy when i see bottles of 60mg of zinc or even higher at the store!)

Anyway, the people i know who used zinc along with B6 and magnesium found the zinc worked almost immediately in improving the cycle they were currently in. The b6/magnesium took a bit longer to show improvement--like 2-3 cycles.

Hope this helps!

[jengen]

I had a 8-9 day LP and tried B6 for a couple of months and it lengthened my LP by 1-2 days, but I found it threw my O off and I decided to just do without it as we weren't actively TTC at the time. I was not taking it when I got my BFP. Good luck! :)

[babylove]

I used B6 to lengthen my LP and just happened to get pg that cycle. But I ended up having a m/c and discovered that I have a progesterone deficiency (as indicated by the short LP). I don't know if you are planning to TTC, but if you are, I would strongly suggest talking to your ob about progesterone supplements. That has really worked for me.

[uskiku]

I cannot even tell you how grateful I am for your advice and suggestions -- thanks SO much, ladies!

Scooter thanks for the B-6 info: I just got back from CVS with a bottle of 50 mg. I'll see what happens and whether I'll "graduate" to 100 mg. Thanks for warning me about the side effects...

Sevilla that's great info about zink! I'm taking Eckerd brand prenatal vitamins and these contain 15 mg zink -- do you think a) Eckerd brand is OK and b) that will do for now as far as dosage goes? Come to think of it, I started taking these at the very end of cycle 2 (which was 25 days) and cycle 3 was a whopping 27 days! Could that be zink working its magic powers already?
Oh, and I got "Nature Made" B-6, not the store brand, so I hope these will do. Thanks for warning me about the "quality" of the cheaper ones!

Jengen congrats on your pregnancy! Thanks for sharing your story -- I hope I'll get as lucky!

Babylove I'm so very sorry about your miscarriage... Thank you so much for your suggestion: we're TTC and er... am ashamed to say this but I do not have an OB yet. I went to see my Family Practitioner when we started TTC, got a clean health bill, was told to eat calcium and folic acid and make an appointment with an OB once I get my BFP. I just did a quick search on Google and it seems that progesterone gets lower in women who are 35+. Well, I'm 33, so that might also be an issue. Anyway, I'll definitely try to make an appointment with an OB and ask about progesterone supplements. What kind of testing did you have to get done in order to diagnose the deficiency?
Oh and I just joined the TTC with Charting thread a few days ago and remember your screen name from the roster: I hope to "meet you" over there soon -- heck, I hope you'll join April momas thread soon! :)

[Sevilla]

to be honest i often wonder how much all the different vitamins in a 'multivitamin' absorb. I've always taken vitamins separately...

I'd see if you notice improvement this cycle with the B6 and the prenatal, and if not maybe see if you can find a prenatal with lower zinc and take an additional supplement separately. (like if you could find a prenatal with 5mg zinc and then took a 15mg zinc supplment too that woulnd't be too much).

[babylove]

uskiku ~ I discovered my progesterone deficiency purely through charting. I bought TCOYF, read it and started charting and that is when I noticed that my LPs were only 7, 8, 9 days. I knew from TCOYF and additional research that short LPs are sometimes indicative of a progesterone deficiency. I mentioned this to my dr when I got my BFP, and he didn't seem concerned. Well, then I miscarried (and switched drs!) and my new ob gave me an rx for progesterone supplements (yucky vaginal suppositories). The supplements have lengthened my LPs for sure (16, 12 days so far). It works! I am currently taking a break from the TTC w/ charting thread b/c I was too obsessive about it and it was making me crazy. But I'll be back (though I would rather be in the April mommies thread)! Hope to see you on the other side soon! Good luck!

[uskiku]

I'm with you on this; I don't have much faith in prenatal vitamins (DH talked me into taking them "if the doctor said that you need to take these for the baby, then we'll get them" -- it was too cute to ignore...;)). I'll see what happens this cycle and then get a supplement.

Thanks again!

[Scooter]

uskiku, I can answer your question about the tests to check progesterone. I only tried B6 for a couple months and didn't have any results, so I'm on progesterone supplements in the LP. Of course, I see a specialist so it's normal in my situation. Charting can show signs of low prog (short LPs and early spotting are two common ones), but not always.

Prog levels vary each month, but they like you to have a blood test at 7dpo, usually a couple months in a row, so they can get a better idea of your levels.

As far as it's related to miscarriage, that is controversial. Taking it can definitely increase your LP, but a Dr may not take you that seriously unless you've been TTC for awhile.

[uskiku]

Oh, Babylove, you snucked in on me last night when I posted and I did not notice until this morning -- sorry! Thanks again for your advice! I tend to be a bit (hm... a MAJOR understatement... :rolleyes: ) obsessive about anything related to baby-making myself, so I can definitely symphatize. And, yes, I'm positive we'll see each other on the other side soon!

Thank you, Scooter for the testing info. I also doubt very seriously whether any doctor will take me seriously at this point. We have only been trying for 4 cycles now and I just started charting this cycle, so for the previous 3 cycles I only have my own "feeling" and CM "chart" as far as evidence goes. Just took my first 50mg B-6 this morning, so fingers crossed for a tiny bit longer LP...

Many thanks again to all of you for your help!

[hiphopgirl]

I'm just bumping this thread up because I have an add-on question. I thought I remembered that you should only take the B6 in the pre-o part of your cycle or am I remembering that wrong? I think I was also taking something to help me produce EWCM (I can't remember what it was called) and maybe that was the thing I was only supposed to take during pre-o. Can someone help clear this up for me. My LP's aren't overly short (around 10-11 days), but we are probably going to TTC in a couple of months and I'd like to start working on improving that right now if I can.

Thanks :)

[magdesilver]

hiphopgirl-
http://www.tryingtoconceive.com/howto.htm

take both the entire cycle- the magnesium is there to increase the B6's effectiveness.

[jessesgirl]

Hiphopgirl, I took only B6 the last half of my cycle before being pg right into and throughout the cycle that I became pg. My LP was 10-12 days and I only took it because I thought my post-O temps seemed a little low and through my research saw that low progesterone levels caused lower temps. I didn't really have a problem with CM but I did notice a different in temps the cycle I became pg, both pre-O and post-O.

[babylove]

I took it too and it didn't work for me. Ultimately, I needed clomid + progesterone, so maybe my problems were more complex..??

[Jenyfer9]

Dumb question... is LP the length of your cycle or from day 1 to the day you O? I ask because I'm having cycles that have 20-21 total days, from day 1 to day 1. SUCKS (I digress). I haven't been tracking my O day, only because we aren't ttc at the moment, but we most likely are later this year, so it would be nice to figure out what's going on... I used to be on bcp, but went off before I had ds#1 in 2003. I don't really want to get back on any kind of BC only because I don't want to start it up just to stop it again in a few months.

Sorry I somewhat rambled...

[kemaji]

LP is the length of your cycle from the day you O to the first day of your next period.

Edit: Technically, it is the day after you O to the first day of your next period.

[Jenyfer9]

Thanks!

[hiphopgirl]

Thanks Magdesilver and jessesgirl. I think I was confusing B6 with EPO which I also took last time. This month my LP was 9 days so it looks like I need to get on it. Wish me luck.

[DelSol]

I'm looking to see if there are any other remedies to lengthen your LP.

TIA!

[jessesgirl]

DelSol Besides vitamin B6 (which I took), I've read that black cohosh and vitex are natural herbs that you can take to help lengthen your LP.

[hiphopgirl]

Me again. I started taking Vitex and Red Raspberry per the recommendation of magdesilver's link. After taking it all last month, my LP was only 10 days (up from 9 days the previous month). How long do you think it will take for me to see a lengthened LP? Is one month too short of a timeframe to have expected to see a difference? What is a better expectation? 2 months? 3 months? I'm just trying to set my expectations appropriately so I can know when it might be time to look in another direction. Thanks :)

Semi-related question: Jessesgirl, how low were your temps? My pre-o temps are around 96.8 - 97.0 and post-o temps are around 97.6. Is that low? I think when I got pg before my post-o temps were around 98.0 and higher. I have nothing else to compare against.

[DelSol]

Just wanted to let everyone know that I started taking B6 this cycle and I got my BFP on Saturday. I honestly credit the B6 in helping me lengthen my Short LP.

[albuquerque]

Does anybody know where I can find out what the recommended dosage of magnesium is? Thanks!