SOY ISOFLAVONES Anyone Heard Of This
8 Replies
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I've found this article about women using soy isoflavones like clomid. Has anyone heard of this or tried it before?
SOY ISOFLAVONES - THE NATURAL CLOMID?
I have been doing some research on Soy lately as I have been contemplating trying it to see if I see any changes.
Up until now I have avoided soy as I had heard it may impact fertility, but interestingly I'm now finding a lot of conflicting reports and some that say that soy is actually HELPING women fall pregnant.
I found this interesting article (reprinted from TwoWeekWait) which had this to say about Soy Isoflavones.
"TTC Trend Watch ~ Oh Joy! Another Soy BFP!
If you've been surfing TTC boards online recently, you've probably run across several posts from women proclaiming the mighty power of "Soy Isoflavones." If not, you are probably thinking "Soy Isowhat?" Yes, my TTC friends, the underpriviledged step sister to the infamous Clomid pill has made her big stage debut... and she's garnering some impressive reviews. But before you stop reading the rest of this article and burn rubber to the nearest vitamin store, let me encourage you to research it for yourself before trying any new supplement regimen. (And as always, you should consult your doctor trying anything new.) But I digress...
"Soy Isoflavones" is a natural plant derived phytoestrogen (phyto means plant), which is an anti-estrogen, just like Clomid. Both are known as SERMs (Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators). It works by fooling your brain into thinking its estrogen levels are low. This causes your body to reslease more FSH & LH which helps stimulate follicle production (same as Clomid). You take Soy Isoflavones, like Clomid, on CD 1-5 or 2-6, or 3-7 or 5-9. It is not thought to cause infertility if it is only taken for 5 days a month. There is not much published information available on it regarding TTC, because it is "natural", not patented by the pharmaceutical companies, and not FDA approved. Most doctors will also not recommend it for this reason.
Recently, many women on FertilityFriend.com have been taking 150-160mg a day for 5 days at the beginning of the menstrual cycle (on days previously mentioned). Side effects reported are similar to Clomid. These vary from increased number of headaches to hot flashes. It has been suggested that taking the dosage before bedtime lessens the side effects.
I was doing some research on FertilityFriend.com to uncover just how many girls have recently conceived while on Soy Isoflavones and what days they took the supplement. I found a girl who took it on CD 1-5, 200mg Soy Isoflavones, and she got a strong BFP at 15dpo that cycle. Her chart can be viewed here. Her HCG levels at 15dpo were 443 and at 18dpo HCG 1,347. Impressive. I found a survey on FF that was interesting as well:
What was interesting is that 75% of the women who tried Soy Isoflavones got a BFP in their FIRST cycle trying. I checked the survey more recently and the number has jumped to 77% since I took the screenshot.
While Soy Isoflavones can help bring on an earlier or stronger Ovulation for these women, I must note that in some women it did not help at all. Just like Clomid doesn't always work for everyone. Right now there are a lot more women trying Soy Isoflavones so I will continue to monitor their progress and report back any news I find.
written by Elle
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When my first was 2 I decided I wanted another, problem was I didn't ever have a period. I got my period back after I stopped b___stfeeding my first, but it became very irregular and then I just stopped having one completely. Well obviously I knew I probably wasn't ovulating so I researched herbal remedies for infertility online. I started taking Estroven, sound silly because it is for menopause but it has soy and black cohosh in it. By this time it had been 3 years without a period at all. After taking it for 2 months nothing happened so I started taking New Phase, also for menopause, it has more soy in it than the Estroven and after a 2 more months I got a period and 2 more months after that I concieved my now 5 year old son. I totally believe the soy or black cohosh had something to do with it. I hadn't had a cycle in atleast 3 years on my own. Just be careful with things like black cohosh because it can be harmful in early pregnancy.
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Thank you Kimberley, it is starting to feel like an answer to me. My biggest concern was what its effect on my endometriosis will be, but I've done some research and found that the estrogen from soy could actually help protect AGAINST endo, unlike your body's own estrogen which stimulates endo.
It's too late for me this cycle, tomorrow will be CD 6, but if af shows next cycle, I'm gonna try it.
I'm already on cycle 24 since first ttc, so that's why I'm starting to consider alternatives.
And your story is hugely encouraging, thank you so much.
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Here is some more info for anyone else wondering about the effect of soy on endometriosis:
"For women who suffer from endometriosis, Dr. Andrew Weil recommends "minimizing your intake of estrogen from outside sources, such as commercially raised animal foods. Eat soy foods such as tofu, tempeh, and miso, which are rich in plant estrogens and seem to block more harmful forms of estrogen. Reduce the fat in your diet. Limit your alcohol intake. Make sure you get nourishing food and eat lots of fiber. Exercise regularly. Also, cut dairy foods from your diet." Dr. Weil maintains that regular aerobic exercise reduces circulating estrogen levels in the body."
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And here is the info on research that was done at a university in Japan:
BACKGROUND: Progression of endometriosis is considered estrogen-dependent. Dietary soy isoflavones may affect the risk of endometriosis, and polymorphisms in estrogen receptor genes may modify this a__sociation. We examined a__sociations among soy isoflavone intake, estrogen receptor 2 (ESR2) gene polymorphisms and risk of endometriosis. METHODS: We recruited women age 20-45 years old who had consulted a university hospital for infertility in Tokyo, Japan in 1999 or 2000. A total of 138 eligible women were diagnosed laparoscopically and cla__sified into 3 subgroups: control (no endometriosis), early endometriosis (stage I-II) and advanced endometriosis (stage III-IV). We measured urinary levels of genistein and daidzein as markers for dietary intake of soy isoflavones, and genotyped ESR2 gene RsaI polymorphisms. RESULTS: Higher levels of urinary genistein and daidzein were a__sociated with decreased risk of advanced endometriosis (P for trend = 0.01 and 0.06, respectively) but not early endometriosis. For advanced endometriosis, the adjusted odds ratio for the highest quartile group was 0.21 (95% confidence interval = 0.06-0.76) for genistein and 0.29 (0.08-1.03) for daidzein, when compared with the lowest group. Inverse a__sociations were also noted between urinary isoflavones and the severity of endometriosis (P for trend = 0.01 for genistein and 0.07 for daidzein). For advanced endometriosis, ESR2 gene RsaI polymorphism appeared to modify the effects of genistein (P for interaction = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Dietary isoflavones may reduce the risk of endometriosis among Japanese women.
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I think the stuff about your diet you mentioned can be really helpful too. During this time I started eating healthier and added lots of soy foods to my diet and took the New Phase pills, who knows which it was that did the trick but I think it was probably both. Seems silly but I have read lots about endo, not because I have it but when I was struggling to get pregnant I read about every article I could find on infertility and endo popped up alot. They say if you go on birth control for 2 or 3 months it will allow the endo to shrink and sometimes you can concieve after that. Just a thought. My bf has endo too and she hasn't been sucessful concieving yet. She has done the endoscopy surgery thing, and one ivf cycle with no luck, Thanks for the info, maybe it will help her too!
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Well, it's easy to eat more soy once you've tried soy-based products. I love vanilla soy milk with cereal! And meatless meats are tastier than ever. There may not be a convincing meatless steak, but meatless sausage, chicken patties, and burgers are better than the real thing, IMO. Soy hot dogs are pretty good, too. Edamame is delicious and you can buy it frozen to prepare at home.
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Hello im new to this forum, and had a question after reading this about soy. If Soy Isoflavones are one of the main ingredients in the over the counter medicine "Estroven"do you think can it help conception?
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