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Sleep, sugar, stress, supplements: Fertility Specialist Dr Payal Jaiswal reveals their link to a successful IVF journey
Sleeping well, managing blood sugar, reducing stress, and taking the right supplements can improve your IVF experience and support overall well-being.
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IVF is a carefully monitored medical treatment involving ovarian stimulation, scans, medicines, egg retrieval, fertilization, and embryo transfer. While these steps form the core of treatment, a patient’s general health and day-to-day well-being also deserve attention during an IVF cycle. Four areas are particularly useful to keep in mind: sleep, sugar management, stress support, and supplements. These four ‘S’s do not treat infertility or guarantee better IVF outcomes. Still, they can help patients remain better supported physically and emotionally better supported while treatment is underway.
Sleep: Give your body enough time to recover
IVF can disrupt your usual routine. Early appointments, anxiety about results, and changes in your daily schedule can all affect sleep. “Try to maintain a regular bedtime and wake-up time and aim for adequate sleep rather than relying on catching up later,” Dr Payal Jaiswal, Fertility Specialist at Birla Fertility & IVF in Indore, tells Health Shots. While getting more sleep cannot guarantee better IVF results, being well rested can make it easier to cope with the physical and emotional demands of treatment.
Sugar management: Keep meals balanced
Blood sugar deserves particular attention in women with PMOS, insulin resistance or diabetes, as these conditions can affect metabolic and hormonal health. Regular, balanced meals containing protein, vegetables, fiber-rich carbohydrates and healthy fats can help maintain steadier energy levels. Gentle physical activity, such as walking, may also be useful when appropriate and permitted by the treating doctor.
Stress support: Treatment can be emotionally demanding
There is often pressure to “stay positive” during IVF. Still, patients should not feel that being anxious or upset will determine whether their treatment works. Fertility treatment is stressful, and those emotions are understandable. This could mean speaking with a counselor, practicing relaxation or breathing exercises, staying connected with people you trust, or simply giving yourself some time away from fertility-related conversations and online content.
Supplements: More does not always mean better
Other vitamins or supplements may be advised depending on nutritional status, medical history, deficiencies, and the individual treatment plan. This is one area where patients should be particularly careful about taking advice from social media. Supplements marketed for egg quality, fertility or hormone balance are not automatically necessary or appropriate for everyone. Patients should therefore tell their fertility specialist about all vitamins, supplements and herbal products they are taking before starting IVF.
The 4 ‘S’ IVF checklist
During an IVF cycle, it can help to keep a few basics in mind:
- Maintain regular and adequate sleep.
- Keep meals balanced and manage blood sugar appropriately, particularly with PMOS, insulin resistance, or diabetes.
- Have a support system for the emotionally difficult days.
- Take only those supplements that have been discussed with your doctor.
- Continue prescribed medicines and follow the IVF schedule carefully.
- Discuss major changes in diet, exercise, or supplements with your fertility team.
IVF outcomes depend on several factors, including age, ovarian reserve, sperm parameters, embryo development, and individual reproductive health. Lifestyle measures cannot replace fertility treatment or overcome every biological factor. But looking after sleep, nutrition, emotional well-being, and appropriate supplementation can help you stay better prepared, both physically and mentally, for the process. The goal is to give your body the basic support it needs while your fertility team takes care of the medical side of treatment.
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