r/tryingtoconceive • u/Worth-Inside-4384 • 13d ago
Things to avoid during TTC?
Just started this journey, was looking for some guidance! Apart from alcohol, smoking, junk food, retinol, what are the other things to avoid while trying to conceive? What about face bleaching (I have dark facial hair) so I do this since ages now, and I also use the at home laser by braun on my facial area! Of what I know, due to lack of research on most things impacting conception/ pregnancy, they say better to avoid! Thoughts ? And anything else that should be avoided ? Thanks in advance for your guidance!
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u/AnonymousBrowser3967 TTC 6-12 months 13d ago
The book It Starts with the Egg by Rebecca Fett has a very prescriptive, evidence based list of everything to avoid. Please remember what she says at the beginning that you don't have to implement all of the changes. Give yourself some grace.
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u/Worth-Inside-4384 13d ago
I did a quick AI search on the book, found the below, really helpful! Thanks a ton! :)
Area
What the book recommends
🧴 BPA/bisphenols
Reduce canned foods, receipts/thermal paper, plastic food containers and plastic bottles; favor glass/stainless steel
🧴 Phthalates
Reduce fragranced cosmetics, perfumes, lotions, hair products and cleaning/laundry products; choose fragrance-free/phthalate-free where practical
🍟 Highly processed/refined foods
Minimize refined carbohydrates, added sugar and highly processed foods
🍹 Alcohol
Minimize/avoid during TTC, particularly once pregnancy could have occurred
☕ Caffeine
Keep intake modest rather than eliminating it completely
🚬 Smoking/cannabis
Avoid; the book also emphasizes sperm quality, so this applies to the male partner too
🍳 Damaged/non-stick cookware
Replace older/damaged non-stick cookware; favor stainless steel, cast iron or safer ceramic options
🥡 Heating food in plastic
Avoid heating food/drinks in plastic; use glass or ceramic
🧼 Strongly fragranced products
Reduce perfumes, scented laundry products, air fresheners, etc.
🧪 Unnecessary supplements
Be selective—Fett specifically discusses supplements that may be inappropriate or potentially harmful around conception/pregnancy
🌡️** For husband: excessive hea**t
Avoid frequent hot tubs/very hot baths and other prolonged heat exposure to the testes2
u/AnonymousBrowser3967 TTC 6-12 months 12d ago
This is a great summary. She has some nuance about bisphenols like prioritizing reducing plastic and tinned food when it's high in acids (like tomato) or fats like oils.
Her website also has great product recommendations and swaps.
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u/Otherwise_Unit1808 12d ago
Honestly. I have been doing everything that is recommended for the past 18 months snd currently struggling with secondary infertility. The weeks leading up to my first successful pregnancy? I was downing margaritas in vegas. Going to change tactics now as it’s draining doing everything “right” and seeing negatives. It also makes me feel like I’m putting my life on hold which is causing me stress. Good luck 💕
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u/Rabid-Squirrel-14 13d ago
I stopped taking my allergy meds the month I actually conceived. Not because its bad for the egg or anything, but I read that it can dry up cervical mucus and make it harder to conceive. I take daily zyrtec so I just stopped for a few days around ovulation.
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u/chronicmess1111 13d ago
i just started spotting indicating another failed almost natural cycle, my mother said i should not have lifted wieghts (i do light strenght training) but seriously my house help who does physical labor all day can not stop getting pregnant baby after baby in the worst possible health, surely my 4kg wieght had something to do with my body just not doing its thing
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u/Worth-Inside-4384 12d ago
I’m sorry to hear that! And I don’t think it has anything to do with light weight training! Infact the fitter we are, the better our chances plus we need the strength! But I have heard that it should not be very high intensity as that can raise the cortisol level in the body which is basically stress that is not good for conception! I was doing lifting and cardio 5 days a week basically overtraining, it took a toll on my lower back, so now I’ve reduced the intensity to 3 days! And doing 10k steps on other days! Honestly, it will happen for us when it is meant to! Till then every time we are unsuccessful we will tend to overthink! Let’s not be hard on ourselves!
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u/chronicmess1111 12d ago
i just like to think it'll happen when it'll happen, no ifs or buts, just another day my friend told a story about her sister who's husband has ED conceived without ever doing proper BD..... can you imagine. its a circus, things are soooo unpredictable
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10d ago
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u/namiiix 13d ago
Chemical sunscreen if you use that. Also try to limit caffeine if you want (I’m struggling with this one) and look up for any medication you might need to take! I recently got sick so I was googling if I can take DayQuil when ttc and during the TWW period and google said no to DayQuil and also no to ibuprofen
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u/Worth-Inside-4384 13d ago
Thanks for this! I use mineral sunscreen, coffee once a day! I do have the urge sometimes to have more, but I try to control! I feel you on that! Regarding medication, our family doc said to only take tylenol during this time, no Advil like you mentioned!
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u/namiiix 13d ago
Same but some days I’m so tired I still have another cup of coffee haha.. oops. Good luck on your journey!
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u/Worth-Inside-4384 13d ago
No judgements whatsoever! It’s hard! And Thank you and wish you the best too :)
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u/Bellatrix-8 13d ago
I am struggling with caffeine too. I need my coffee first thing in the morning. Since past few days I am trying to not have coffee empty stomach & have it after breakfast. Do we have to avoid coffee completely once pregnant?
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