Medications' Effect on Cervical Mucus
Dear clients & friends,
Welcome to my eighth issue of "The Good Fruit" newsletter by Natural Fruit FertilityCare Services.
Many women don't realize that the medications that they take can positively or negatively affect their cervical mucus quantity or quality, since it is not typically listed as a side effect and it may not be common knowledge or a topic that is usually discussed. However, the amount of cervical mucus and its quality are especially important for a couple who is using a natural method of family planning to either achieve or avoid pregnancy or who is using this observation to assess the woman's health. I often have clients ask why they have either too little or too much cervical mucus, or why they have poor quality cervical mucus. Going over their medication lists, we can usually see some possible causes.
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In fact, women often don't realize that an over-the-counter medication taken temporarily such as for the common cold could significantly affect the cervical mucus. I tell my clients: if a medication makes your respiratory mucus runny, then it can also make your cervical mucus runny; if a medication makes your respiratory mucus dry up, then it can also make your cervical mucus dry up. They are very surprised to learn this!
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I show the cycle above from the Picture Dictionary as a "typical cycle" with a regular-looking mucus cycle buildup, although many variations of this are also normal. Generally, a cycle starts out with 3-7 days of menstrual bleeding, which can then be followed by some dry days. Then, the mucus cycle will begin as sticky, cloudy or tacky, cloudy for 1-2 days, and then become clear, stretchy, or lubricative for 3-4 days. A regular mucus cycle would therefore be on average 5-6 days long. Then, the rest of the cycle would generally be dry.
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If clients observe much different mucus than this, their medications might be a contributing factor. Here I'll present in general some medications' effect on cervical mucus that we know about.
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Antibiotics – (such as Amoxicillin) increases cervical mucus; may cause increased pasty.
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Antidepressants – decreases cervical mucus.
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Antihistamines – decreases cervical mucus (dries up respiratory mucus and cervical mucus).
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Antihypertensives – (blood pressure medications, such as Resperine) – decreases cervical mucus.
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Decongestants – decreases cervical mucus (dries up respiratory mucus and cervical mucus).
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Estrogen – naturally increases mucus production in pre-Peak.
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Herbs – FertileCM, Evening Primrose Oil – increases cervical mucus.
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Inhalers – Steroids have no known effect on cervical mucus production.
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Progesterone – naturally decreases mucus production in post-Peak; "progesterone" in hormonal contraception may make cervical mucus thick, white, sticky to not allow sperm travel.
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Vitamins – Probiotics (such as Lactinex, Acidophilus) improves cervical mucus quality (from pasty, cloudy). Vitamin B6 increases cervical mucus. Vitamin C decreases cervical mucus.
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Others – Expectorants (such as Mucinex, Robitussin, containing only guaifenesin) may improve cervical mucus quality by thinning it and making it more fluid and productive for sperm travel. Thyroid hormone has no known effect on cervical mucus production.
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Asking the client during each follow-up about all medications, vitamins, and herbs taken is an important piece of information that we can use when analyzing the client's charting patterns and biomarkers. Although a client may need to be on a certain medication for any length of time, we can at least know how these medications may be affecting her fertility signs.
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Have a fruitful day!
Patricia Deshane, FCP
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