How Wheatgrass Lowered My FSH

Once you hit age 40, all sorts of changes happen to your body, especially your fertility. I will say that when I turned 40, I never felt younger in all of my life. Unfortunately, my reproductive system said otherwise.

*My morning wheatgrass shot. Add a little fruit at the end for a chaser if you cant stand the taste.*

Let’s talk a little bit more about these hormones, in particular, your follicle-stimulating hormone level or FSH. Think of FSH as the hormone that sends signals from the pituitary gland to stimulate the growth of ovarian follicles in the ovary, before the release of an egg from one follicle at ovulation.

So why is this important? As you get older, FSH levels tend to be higher because as your egg reserve decreases, this number gets higher. Think of it like a car running out of gas. The car may exert more energy (higher FSH) in order to move from point A to point B. Ok, so our bodies are not old cars! I just thought the analogy would be easy to understand 🙂. The higher your FSH, the closer you are to becoming pre-menopausal. Note, FSH CAN fluctuate every month up or down.

My current insurance plan requires my FSH to be under 19 in order for them to cover my IVF cycles. And I have to get this checked every six months. It really sucks to be honest and it isn’t fair. Most women who are older NEED help with conceiving and there shouldn’t be limitations on numbers. But the insurance industry issues in the infertility space is a whole other blog post I will write one day.

As we got ready to prepare for another round of IVF and switch clinics, I was faced with having to get my FSH checked again. It had been six months since the last check. Naturally, I was very nervous so I decided to get the lab work done on my own and not run it through insurance in December 2021. I wanted to see where my numbers were since the last check-in in March of 2021. My FSH level in March was 8.6 which is normal. Fast forward to December, my FSH was now an 11.3. Yikes! Still under 19 but higher than April.

I am in a bunch of Facebook groups for infertility for my clinic, for my age group, and other interests as it relates to infertility. I have found these groups to be EXTREMELY helpful when I have questions about anything related to treatment, emotions, tricks, and insight. The first thing I did was go to one of my Facebook groups and research ways to lower my FSH naturally. Almost everyone recommended taking wheatgrass daily for one to three months. I ran to Amazon and found a wheatgrass powder and had it delivered as fast as Amazon Prime could send it lol.

Every morning before breakfast, I would mix about one to two ounces of water with a tablespoon of wheatgrass powder. It was NOT delicious and tasted like what I imagine fresh cut lawn grass to taste like lol. But, it was a mild taste, not bitter so I just eventually got used to it.

Come January 12th, 2022 it was time to test my FSH again for the insurance to re-qualify our next IVF round. My levels had to get checked between days 2-3 of my menstrual cycle. I was so nervous waiting for the results because if my FSH was 19 or higher, my insurance would deny my coverage for a lifetime, ugh!! About a week later I got my results and my FSH was at the level...drumroll.... 6.5!!!! I was in shock. I don't know if the wheatgrass helped 100% but I am sure it did SOMETHING! I couldn’t be happier with these results and in just one month.

Wheatgrass has other health benefits for fertility as well so I continue to drink it every morning as we prepare for another round of IVF. Wheatgrass includes the following nutrients that are good for fertility:

Chlorophyll
Vitamins A, C & E
Iron
Calcium
Magnesium
Folic Acid

The concentrated amounts of antioxidant vitamins C & E along with chlorophyll make wheatgrass a great detoxifier that can help cleanse your body ready for pregnancy.

Folic acid, iron, and magnesium are all essential minerals for a healthy pregnancy and can help your body get in shape ready to conceive. Wheatgrass is also suggested to help improve egg quality. Remember, it takes about 90 days for a follicle to fully mature and for you to see a difference (although I saw a change in a month, everyone varies). Note, if you are currently going through the IVF process, and are taking stimulation medications that supply FSH like Gonal F or Follistim, do NOT take wheatgrass during this time. You want the medications to regulate your FSH and taking this supplement could absorb all the medication you are injecting.

Wheatgrass comes in powder and capsule forms. I used the powder but the capsules would be good if you just cant stomach the taste of the powder. You can also mix the powder into a smoothie to cut that grassy taste. Personally, I wanted it in the most concentrated form with no added sugars or anything. Here is the brand I purchased on Amazon: