Did starting prenatals lengthen your luteal phase?

By theotherstark Feb 4, 2014

I'm curious if, when you started taking prenatals, you noticed that your cycle/luteal phase became longer. I know some people take B6 specifically to increase their LP, so I imagine prenatals do help in that sense. But maybe not?

I just started taking prenatals earlier this month and I'm interested to see if the increase in B6 will make my LP longer. My cycles vary a bit in terms of length, but are generally 23-27 days. I'm on day 26 now (13 dpo), and hope I don't have too much longer before AF shows so we can start the next cycle! We'll see.

ETA: I'll add a poll, since those are fun :wink:

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poll: Did starting prenatals affect your luteal phase?
Nope : (17 votes)

94 %

Yes, but only by a day or two : (0 votes)

Yes, prenatals greatly increased my LP : (0 votes)

Other (please explain!) : (1 votes)

6 %

18 votes

15 comments

Happygal
pomelo / 5000 posts

Feb 4, 2014

No--it didn't change it for me!
Foodnerd81
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts

Feb 4, 2014

Prenatals did not, but adding an extra B complex did. Even then it was only by 2 days or so.

ETA: I already had a long LP-- like 16 days, so this wasn't exactly what I wanted. But I had a bunch of spotting before and it did help somewhat with that.
LindsayInNY
bananas / 9229 posts

Feb 4, 2014

Nope, did nothing. And extra B6 only messed up my cycles. I don't recommend it personally.
Ash
honeydew / 7909 posts

Feb 4, 2014

Nope! But adding in a separate b6 lengthened it by a couple days for me.
theotherstark
pomegranate / 3045 posts

Feb 4, 2014

@Foodnerd81: Did your prenatal have B6? That's interesting about the spotting, as I typically have some a day or two before AF as well. I wonder if this will help that!
theotherstark
pomegranate / 3045 posts

Feb 4, 2014

@LindsayInNY: Oh geez. Hopefully the B6 in my prenatal won't mess up my cycle too much! I think I remember reading that you were starting to take B6, so that's good to hear that you don't recommend it.
theotherstark
pomegranate / 3045 posts

Feb 4, 2014

@Ash: Interesting. Thanks for the response! Did your prenatal have B6 also?
LindsayInNY
bananas / 9229 posts

Feb 4, 2014

@theotherstark: It's fine in the prenatal but I added an extra B6 vitamin to try and lengthen my LP and I think it was too much for my system. It's interesting, I was listening to this Podcast the other day and one of the doctors was talking about how she doesn't recommend all these extra vitamins (Vitex, etc.) because people often take it when they don't need to or take the wrong doses which messes up their system. I would take your prenatal and that's it!
Shutterbug
grapefruit / 4703 posts

Feb 4, 2014

@theotherstark: prenatals only have like, 15mg of B6, and to lengthen your LP you're supposed to take 50-100mg/day. However, B6 didn't lengthen my LP (normally 8-9 days). Natural progesterone cream did by a couple days, but the only thing that really lengthened it was progesterone suppositories prescribed by my RE. How long is your LP? Are you just coming off BCP? Sometimes that messes with your LP for a while.

ETA: I see that you're 13dpo, which is a good length! Are you just worried about lengthening when you don't want to? I don't think prenatals will do that to it
theotherstark
pomegranate / 3045 posts

Feb 4, 2014

@LindsayInNY: I really appreciate this response. I think I get a bit caught up in reading all of these things that might help in TTC, but this is only our first cycle, so I really just need to take a chill pill and try to let nature do her thing for a few months That's interesting about the podcast, too. I will try to check that out. Makes sense that if you're taking something that you don't need to be, it could mess with your system.
LBee
pomegranate / 3895 posts

Feb 4, 2014

@theotherstark: I did the exact same thing on my second month TTC. I actually went to Target on a search for Viterx and luckily didn't find any -- as ends up I was pregnant. I completely agree with @LindsayInNY that women tend to "self diagnose" and take it and it can really mess things up. Your LP is already at least 13 days, which is a completely adequate length (actually longer than mine typically was).
theotherstark
pomegranate / 3045 posts

Feb 4, 2014

@Shutterbug: Ahh, okay, got it. No, I'm not coming off BCP. I haven't been temping, and this is our first month TTC, but I generally just go off of CM for ovulation (used OPKs this month though, to confirm). I think my LP tends to be 11-14 days, so it's in the 'normal' range, I believe. I actually am not worried about my LP length; was just wondering if starting the prenatals this month would make them even longer!! If that makes sense. Glad to know that it shouldn't make a difference.
Happygal
pomelo / 5000 posts

Feb 4, 2014

@LindsayInNY: amen! I was taking lots of supplements that I had read were supposed to be helpful. Then I read in The Impatient Woman's Guide to Getting Pregnant the same thing--very little empirical research shows all the supplements people take for TTC are helpful, and they can actually mess with your cycle. It's not good to take over the recommended dosage for vitamins.

Prenatals and DHA for sure. The author mentioned there is promising research on DHEA, but you should discuss with your doctor.
theotherstark
pomegranate / 3045 posts

Feb 4, 2014

@Happygal: This is why I love this forum! I'll just keep truckin' along with my prenatals/dha

Thanks everyone!
rattles
grapefruit / 4903 posts

Feb 4, 2014

Prenatals definitely didn't make a difference. I took tons of B6 (with doc supervision/prescription) and still couldn't get it to lengthen my LP.

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