Reddit mentions of It Starts with the Egg: How the Science of Egg Quality Can Help You Get Pregnant Naturally, Prevent Miscarriage, and Improve Your Odds in IVF

Right now I would just start taking a daily prenatal (with folate) and CQ10 for egg quality. Do you best to get a lot of sleep, eat well, and drink a lot of water-- normal health guidelines. There's a great book out there called It Starts with the Egg that has a lot of tips and suggestions on how to get the best results, but here's a fair warning that it may just turn you into a paranoid fool about everything you touch (and eat out of plastic for instance).

Since you've already done some cycles with Gonal-F you're already pretty used to one of the medications itself, so really just start getting in the mindset that you'll be doing 2-5 injections a day (depending on your protocol) and you may be uncomfortable, but the process goes by pretty quick (less than two weeks).

Overall just lean on your partner and put your mental health above all in this journey. If you need to pull back from some relationships for your sanity, do it.

Best of luck to you!

There was this thread with the very same question this Wondering Weekend if you’re looking for some more helpful insight. Personally I think CoQ10 is worth talking to your doctor about! I also highly recommend reading It Starts with the Egg if you’re worried about making sure you’re doing everything possible for egg health. Good luck!

First off, I'm really sorry for your losses. I had two miscarriages prior to having my kiddo in my late thirties and it was a very dark period--and the fact that in my case, as with yours, there was no known reason made it really frustrating and scary. (I had extensive testing/scans and everything came back fine.)

What was really helpful for me (as a scientist) was digging into the fertility/miscarriage research, so that I could find possible causes that doctors don't automatically explore AND possible interventions. In case it's helpful, I'll share some of what I found below, but if this isn't your cup of tea and it makes more sense for you to focus on grieving now, then you should absolutely do that.

1. If you're concerned that it's an issue with your egg quality/fertility b/c of age, have you done the AMH, FSH, and estradiol tests? Those are quick and easy and will give you some data as to whether this is related to your age or something else. If you are getting pregnant relatively quickly, then that would point to something other than egg quality issues, though I've read at least one study that women who get pregnant easily and experience recurrent losses may just have "super fertility" -- a condition in which your uterus allows non-viable fertilized eggs to implant (the actual research article seems to be behind a paywall, but here's a write up that covers it: https://www.livescience.com/22706-super-fertility-recurrent-miscarriages.html)
   
   
2. Has your partner had their sperm quality tested? If not, I'd get that done ASAP (though again, if you're getting pregnant easily, that may not be the most most likely cause in your specific case).
   
   
3. Have you looked into the antioxidant, N-acetyl cysteine (NAC)? One study showed that it makes pregnancies 3x more likely to persist past the 20 week mark (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1472648310603227). The supposed mechanism is that it reduces oxidative stress, which can be harmful to pregnancies.
   
   
4. There used to be a GREAT google site on miscarriage research that linked to tons of research studies on miscarriage; however, it appears to be down now (https://sites.google.com/site/miscarriageresearch/ <--linking it just in case it comes back soon!), BUT my second best resource is this book on how to increase your egg quality (it basically explores which interventions are backed by science and which are not): https://www.amazon.com/Starts-Egg-Pregnant-Naturally-Miscarriage/dp/0991126904. One intervention that's been shown to have great effects on egg quality is CoQ10. It also covers things like which home products (e.g., cleaners, personal care products, plastics) are safe/less safe. (Honestly, I can see how one could go nuts and get rid of everything they own in a desperate attempt to reduce their risk of miscarriage--which is probably overkill, but I still found the content helpful.)
   
   
5. This is expensive, but you could ask for a karyotype test--basically, it could be the case that one or both of you and your partner are carriers of a wonky chromosome that's causing this to happen.
   
   Anyway, those are what I remember off the top of my head from my own experience. Again, I share this b/c I know how truly horrible it felt to do "all the tests" and still have no idea what was causing the losses (and b/c my brain works best when I see possible explanations AND solutions :)--that said, every person's experience is different, so feel free to disregard any/all of this if it's not what you need right now.
   
   Keeping you in my thoughts and sending you light and love through the internet universe.

I suggest reading It Starts with the Egg to choose the right supplements for you.

Honestly folic acid is the most important to prevent neural tube defects. To cover all your bases, a prenatal multivitamin is a good idea. To help with sperm and egg quality, some of us here also take CoQ10.

Many of us have read It Starts with the Egg: How the Science of Egg Quality Can Help You Get Pregnant Naturally, Prevent Miscarriage, and Improve Your Odds in IVF. I enacted some changes, but my egg quality still sucked.

What did improve my embryo hunger games between 2 IVF cycles was a change in protocol from agonist long lupron to antagonist. What worked for me post explains more.

I remember /u/eyeyecaptainfly sending me this article which helped her.

If you're going to go the supplement route I recommend reading the book It Starts With the Egg. It goes through all the research on ways to improve egg (and sperm) quality.

The basic gist of the recommendations is:

• CoQ10 probably helps but certainly won't hurt anything so probably give it a try. Take the ubiquinol form since it is more readily absorbed and utilized by the body. This applies to men also since research shows CoQ10 potentially increases both egg and sperm quality.
  
  
• Take an antioxidant like Vitamin C or Vitamin E. Vitamin C is probably a little better. Another antioxidant you could potentially add is alpha lipoic acid but the research on it isn't quite as solid as the research for vitamin C. Like CoQ10 this applies to men also.
  
  
• If you're doing IVF consider adding melatonin. Avoid melatonin for natural cycles. But do try to establish some good sleep habits. And try to spend some time in the sun. Both of these things help boost melatonin naturally.
  
  
• Probably avoid royal jelly. There is no good evidence that it helps anything and there is evidence it may do more harm than good.
  
  
• Prenatal vitamins are highly recommended. Men should take a multivitamin also for sperm quality.

Hello, sorry to hear of your disappointment regarding this. One book I read that really helped me was an amazing book called 'It starts with the egg': https://www.amazon.com/Starts-Egg-Pregnant-Naturally-Miscarriage/dp/0991126904 the author lists a lot of evidence based ways to improve egg quality and quantity - in case you are thinking of doing another cycle. One thing you might think about is DHEA supplementation, this is associated with increased egg counts... here is some information about it: https://www.centerforhumanreprod.com/video-gallery/video/overcoming-poor-response-to-ivf-stimulation/

I have had 4 miscarriages. The first 3 I got pregnant with 1 or 2 cycles immediately after the previous loss. I never learned the reason. The 4th was a D&c and did have a genetic issue.

From my personal experience, In retrospect, I wish I had spent some time to:

1. Properly heal from the loss both physically and mentally
   
2. Taken supplements and have a diet that supported optimum egg and uterine health before trying again. After reading "It starts with the egg" and "the woman code", I believe I could have done something to help my situation before trying again. It may not have made a difference, but what if it had?? It could have saved me much grief.
   
3. Did some accupunture treatment. I truly believe it helps with circulation to the uterus.
   
   I want to be clear, MOST MCs are caused by genetic abnormalities and it is Not your fault!
   
   I totally understand that you want to move forward by moving on to the next pregnancy. This is just one person's experience and you have to do what is right for you.
   
   Here are the books I mentioned if you want to read them:
   
   It Starts with the Egg: How the Science of Egg Quality Can Help You Get Pregnant Naturally, Prevent Miscarriage, and Improve Your Odds in IVF https://www.amazon.com/dp/0991126904/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_RlyjzbFS27J4J
   
   WomanCode: Perfect Your Cycle, Amplify Your Fertility, Supercharge Your Sex Drive, and Become a Power Source https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009NFNBO0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_rmyjzbM8V81D0

It's good that you're on this subreddit before starting the process--I wish I had been much earlier. If you're just starting, I would skim through "It Starts with the Egg"...I wish I had done some of these things before my retrieval just to do everything I could. Who knows if it would have helped, but I would have felt like I did everything to get the highest number of high quality embryos.

https://www.amazon.com/Starts-Egg-Pregnant-Naturally-Miscarriage/dp/0991126904

If you haven't read It Starts with the Egg: How the Science of Egg Quality Can Help You Get Pregnant Naturally, Prevent Miscarriage, and Improve Your Odds in IVF https://www.amazon.com/dp/0991126904/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_OkuIL8ErKSxGQ

I highly recommend it. Fett has a degrees in molecular biotechnology and biochemistry and devotes an entire chapter on CoQ10. She notes it takes at least 4-5 months for any supplement to actually make a difference.

She also struggled with infertility.

I'm no expert on anything. Just sharing some knowledge that a fellow subredditer shared with me. I've been taking her recommend brand and dosage for almost four months.

Just had Endo/septum/fibroid/polip surgery so, currently my lady garden is under construction.

Regardless, I wish you well in your journey.😊