I’ve heard of some wild claims being made on TikTok lately. My partner and I have been trying to conceive, so one thing stuck out to me. Is Mucinex helping people get pregnant? I know TikTok is not typically a reliable source of information, but it’s hard not to get swayed.
—Mucinex mystery
There is a wonderful recent research letter about TikTok and trying to conceive. The authors (bless them) went down the #ttc rabbit hole on TikTok and concluded that most of the things that were advised there did not have evidence. This included avoiding alcohol but also things like probiotic supplements and particular foods.
One thing that comes up a lot is Mucinex. This is a good example of where a little bit of bad data goes a long way. There is, for example, this paper, which is about one guy — literally, one person — who took Mucinex and then his sperm got better. And this paper from 1982, where researchers ranked sperm as having better motility after Mucinex in a small number of couples. But nothing has linked Mucinex to getting pregnant! Nothing! This is just random misinformation.
The most important thing to do to impact your chance of conceiving is to have sex timed to ovulation. Your best chance of conceiving is to have sex on the day of ovulation or the day before. If you aren’t sure when you’re ovulating, there are a number of ways to track it, including temperature tracking and ovulation tests. Sex up to five days before ovulation can result in pregnancy, but the changes are highest right around when you ovulate
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