Transcript
• 0:01 - 0:33
In this video, I'm gonna be talking about fertility and a few of the little known things that can impact your fertility. So, first of all, I know that fertility is a very emotional subject for so many people. And if you're walking through struggles with fertility, my heart goes out to you. And I always try my best to make this a really safe space. Um, and to not say anything that could be triggering, but of course it's not to say that nothing in this video will be triggering. You might want to use discretion when you listen to this, if you're in a difficult place.
• 0:33 - 0:43
Um, but with that being said, I'm gonna talk about a few things that I often see with my clients being a struggle with fertility. Um, especially when we start working together and that's one of the focuses that they wanna take.
• 0:44 - 1:18
So one of the main ones is really just going to come down to the metabolism and a lot of that relates to the thyroid for most women. So, um, keeping things in check with your thyroid, if you can, as soon as possible when you kind of decide or you, um, are in a place where you think you might wanna conceive even a few years in advance, it can be a great idea to get that in your mind. And to start looking at functional ranges, a functional range for a TSA is gonna be under two. Um, so you're also gonna wanna get a full thyroid panel and get antibodies checked and really stay up to date on all of that stuff with your doctor.
• 1:19 - 1:27
If you are having a hard time finding a doctor who can work with you on this, it might be better to look for an endocrinologist versus just a classic family medicine doctor.
• 1:28 - 2:02
So your thyroid's gonna be really important. It's also important that if you're early on in pregnancy, as in, you just found out you're pregnant, maybe you're four weeks, five weeks or six weeks, you're also gonna wanna get your thyroid checked and see if everything's okay there too. Um, you can ask for this through your doctor, but in the us for a lot of labs, you can self order. You might not know what everything means, but at least you can see if things are out of range, according to those ranges, but working with the doctor is more ideal. Um, it's also gonna be important to be aware of what's needed in order to sustain an early pregnancy, especially cuz most losses happen early on.
• 2:03 - 2:12
And so getting your progesterone checked as soon as you can, most doctors won't meet with you until you're eight weeks, but the majority of losses actually happened before eight weeks.
• 2:12 - 2:57
So it's gonna be really important to see what your level is with progesterone and a great way to prep for this is to actually measure your progesterone post ovulation, which is in your Lal phase for a few months, leading up to trying to conceive. And then right, when you find out you're pregnant getting another progesterone test and checking for the next few weeks until you are in your second trimester, which is when the BNDA takes over progesterone production. So what you can do is if you can't get a doctor to test you for this, like I said, if you're in the us, you can self order, but you also could look online, try to trying to find an online doctor in your state, as long as they're in your state, you can reach out and you can see if anyone is willing to do this.
• 2:57 - 2:58
You might not be able to find...
• 2:58 - 3:31
Anyone locally, but as long as they're in your state, that is going to be a way for you to be able to get connected with someone who might be able to help you. So ideally in the first trimester, your levels are going to need to be at least above five, but above 10 is more ideal. And there is some research that shows us that above 25 NGS is optimal for sustaining a pregnancy. But of course, talk to your doctor about that. But I would recommend that you ask them if they are aware of the fact that low progesterone levels can be linked to early pregnancy loss.
• 3:31 - 3:40
So kind of a little recap so far, the first thing you're gonna wanna do leading up to trying to conceive, or if you're in a place where you think you might wanna conceive is be on top of your thyroid levels.
• 3:41 - 4:20
The next thing is that you're gonna wanna be aware of your post ovulatory progesterone. And like I said, that's gonna be taken in your Lal phase for most women. This is gonna be around the 18th to the 22nd day. Any day within that range is usually pretty good. I would have it on the earlier side as in closer to 18. Um, if you have a shorter cycle, if you have a 26 day cycle, you're going to start your period earlier than other women who might have a 34 day cycle. So, um, if yours is a little shorter, I would say, have it a little closer to the 18th day, but if it's a little longer, there's a good chance that you'll be able to actually analyze that peak a little bit later on the ideal level is above a 10, um, NG, which is a us measurement.
• 4:20 - 4:52
You can convert that if we're in another country, I know most, I think all other countries are, um, a little different with our measurements except for the us. So that's what my brain knows. I have to manually convert it if I, um, have a client from another country. But, um, that is a great level. Um, according to research, it's not just what I think it's, what's actually true. So above 10 is ideal. Typically that is an indicator of ovulation because that's progesterone, that's being produced from a Corpus Lud. Um, so that typically is gonna indicate ovulation above a 10 is ideal.
• 4:52 - 5:07
But even if you're around eight, that typically can indicate ovulation as well, of course, cause it's not gonna be that high. If you're not ovulating, if you're not ovulating, it's gonna be pretty low, closer to a one. Maybe not even a two in many cases is what I typically see with clients.
• 5:07 - 5:45
Um, but you can check that for three to nine months leading up to ovulation just to see if you're in a good place. Um, so it's also gonna be important to know where all of your hormones are. I do recommend a Dutch chest for anyone who is trying to conceive or wanting to conceive. Um, and if you're having a hard time with conceiving, estrogen also plays a role. Low estrogen is also a concern. I know that a lot of times I talk about high estrogen and estrogen dominance, but you're also when going, you're also going to wanna be equally aware of low estrogen because estrogen is actually what's required for ovulation to be triggered estrogen spikes before LH spikes.
• 5:45 - 5:57
And before you actually have that increase in progesterone because of ovulation. So keep that in mind and remember that, yes, I can talk about this one thing that can be stressful in excess, but it doesn't mean that you don't want any of it.
• 5:57 - 6:34
You definitely wanna have healthy estrogen levels. Another thing is the immune system. And like I always say this isn't medical advice. We're gonna wanna talk to a doctor about this. Um, but one thing that I have my clients do when they're struggling with fertility and when I notice indications of immune struggles is getting an Ana test, which is anti-nuclear antibodies, just to see if they have autoimmunity. Autoimmunity does play a role in fertility. And even though you can still have a pregnant, a healthy pregnancy and have autoimmunity, you're gonna wanna see if you have a positive Ana to see if you need to do any immune support while you're leading up to concept, which you can do with an integrative doctor.
• 6:35 - 6:42
Uh, but a lot of my clients work with me and their doctor while they're in this journey. So you can get an Ana, you can order that through your blood labs.
• 6:42 - 7:15
You can ask your doctor to add that on, or if you order your own, or if you're working with the practitioner, if you're working with me, you can always mention having an Ana added on, um, and that can help you see if you do have a positive for possible autoimmunity. Um, the other thing is that you're gonna wanna be aware of when you're actually ovulating. A lot of women are not trying to conceive at the right time. And so that is actually pretty simple, but it's so easy to overlook. Um, I would not use an app on your phone to see when ovulation is happening. Um, even though it might say you're ovulating today, that might not be the case for you.
• 7:15 - 7:22
Ovulation could be delayed. Um, you might have really long cycles and so ovulation could be a little later, but ovulation could also be earlier.
• 7:22 - 7:54
So I mentioned a few minutes ago, um, women who have a 26 day cycle. So 26 days is pretty short for a cycle it's actually two days shorter than the average cycle. If that's the case for you, you're gonna most likely wanna start trying way prior to day 14, most likely right after the end of your period is when you're gonna wanna try to conceive cuz that's your fertile window. Um, and if you use the fertility awareness method, then you know that this is a great way to actually see if you, um, are able to stay in tune and in touch with your fertility and you'll be able to know this stuff.
• 7:54 - 8:12
Um, but if you have longer cycles, then you might ovulate on day 18 or maybe day 20. It's different for everyone based on the length of their cycles. And if you have irregular cycles, you're also gonna wanna be actually using the methods that are found within the fertility awareness method, which I can definitely talk more about, I talk about it on here, but I can talk more about it.
• 8:12 - 8:46
Um, but you're gonna wanna be mindful of actually when you're trying to conceive. Um, so previous or more so prior to ovulation, you're gonna wanna try to conceive and then that ovulation of course. Um, so hopefully that is helpful. Hopefully all these tips are helpful. Um, another thing that you also might wanna be aware of is that if you are currently walking through fertility treatment, it can really be worthwhile to also pursue more of a path of functional lab testing to see if there are any underlying health issues that could be holding you back.
• 8:46 - 8:54
Because even though there can be some really positive outcomes with fertility treatments, I'm so grateful we live in a time where that's an option and I totally understand.
• 8:54 - 9:31
Why women choose that route, cuz they have to in a lot of cases, um, ultimately in order to, um, enhance the odds of your positive outcomes with that, it can be a really good idea to work on anything underlying cause typically there can be some things and that oftentimes can be the reason why things might not go well with I UI or with transfers or with things related to that. Um, so that can be a great way to help support your body throughout the process. Um, you also might wanna look into what you can do to support egg quality if you're on this journey of trying to conceive or walking through infertility.
• 9:31 - 9:43
Um, and so in terms of egg support, a few of my favorite things for this, um, the first is KQ 10. This is found in beef heart. The next thing is acetal even 90 days on acetal significantly improves egg quality.
• 9:44 - 10:23
Um, also other antioxidants like resveratrol, you can find this through food, any antioxidants in food, like in fruit, for example, if you're not having a lot of fruit, adding a little bit more of that and can be helpful, um, adding in more B vitamins, especially methylate, that's a great one that is found in liver and heart and things like that. But you can also add a little bit of extra methyl folate. And um, if you want the support with B vitamins, if you end up getting too much in, you are going to excrete it through your end. So, um, of course there are some toxic ranges, but typically that's why it is okay to have, um, upwards towards a thousand plus percent, um, of the daily value with B vitamins.
• 10:24 - 10:33
Um, so having enough antioxidants having enough B vitamins, you also can be extra mindful of blood sugar that can play a huge role with fertility.
• 10:33 - 11:12
And then also being mindful of anything like caffeine, alcohol, even cannabis. I know that's legal in so many places now and a lot of people choose to use that. So just being mindful of these other things that can impair fertility there's research for all three, that there can be an impact. So those are the most common things that individuals use every now and then. Um, and even if it's very, very recreationally, it can still present some concerns for some people. So if you're wanting to err on the side of caution, being mindful of that as well, um, but all in all, if you are needing more support with this, we do have, um, that option.
• 11:12 - 11:39
I have that option with the upcoming group where there are labs and we specifically are going to address fertility struggles and walk you through the ins and outs of that. Um, also in relation to lab testing. So that is an option and that does launch August 1st, but I hope that these little tips are helpful for you. Like I always say it's not medical advice, run this by your doctor and feel free to ask questions on the next Q and a. I would love to answer your questions and help you out in any way that I can.
