Empty follicles at retrival? & drastically changing AMH levels?

Deardra77 · January 2014

Hi ladies :-), Wondering if anyone else had experience of this? Had an AFC of 21, RE reckoned he would get 11 eggs right before retrieval due to how the follicles had developed but turned out there were only 5 eggs (although all were mature which was good) and they all contained SER aggregates. Anyone else ever had experience similar to this? Is it normal or any idea what causes it? Or how to prevent a reoccurrence? They say in retrospect that it looks like I was over suppressed. I was on Lupron down regulation protocol. I was on birth control for 13 days, then off for 5 days then on again for 13 days, started 10 units lurpon with my last 3 days of the pill & then switched to 5 units of Lupron for the duration of stim meds. This time around they are looking at the possibility of a microdose Lupron protocol but not 100% as yet. Also, in other weirdness, in Dec my AMH was 3.3, rock star for 36!!! but they inadvertently ordered it again a second time this month & this time I was a 1.82. HUH? Didn't think it fluctuated much or went down that rapidly!?! Hope everyone is having a good day & TGIF!

Aurora1181 · January 2014

Hi! On my last ultrasound I had about 25 follies.. At retrieval only 15 eggs.. And only 6 were mature! Very frustrating. I've never been given an explanation as to why that happens.

Twinkie0612 · January 2014

I have always gotten fewer eggs than number of follicles. From what I read "empty follicle" is a misnomer. The follicle wasn't really empty, but something during the maturation process was messed up and the egg ends up stuck in the follicle. Sometimes this can be corrected my adjusting meds and/or triggering earlier or late.

Here's a link from my clinic's website on empty follicles:

https://haveababy.com/fertility-information/ivf-authority/empty-follicles-explained/

chucktgirl · January 2014

I'm sorry you didn't end up with the egg haul you expected. That is so disappointing. It hasn't happened to me, but I have read about it happening to many other women on the boards. Maybe try a search for previous threads?

Deardra77 · January 2014

Thanks so much for the responses ladies! I like the link to that article very much! Good to know that it looks like they were bad eggs, & not retrieving them has the potential to save so much more heartache than if they had been retrieved but then not compatible with life type eggs. That article really helps to put a glass half full prospective on a disappointment if it is to happen again.

poohniki · January 2014

Oh I am so sorry! As you know- I have SER and my clinic sees it 1 or 2 times for every 3000 cycles. So odds are no one else has this. My RE successfully treated a previous patient using the down reg with letrozole. I am not doing another ivf with my eggs- too risky. To not have SER you need to have a very low estrogen cycle. I was able to have an SER free embryo with a natural cycle. The letrozole inhibits estrogen, which is why my RE recommended it. I am doing this protocol for my next IUI since he suspects it will only result in 3 eggs. Whenever a doctor pushed for more- it was worse. My first ivf cycle was my most successful I feel because it was the least amount of drugs I was on.
I have articles on SER- but they are downright depressing. I'm sorry you are going through this. ((Hugs))

pblge · January 2014

Sorry this happened to you--I've read about it on these fora and it seems really heartbreaking. Sometimes I know zero eggs can be retrieved, so it's fortunate they got some.

Re the AMH--I'd love to hear others' thoughts on this. It's a pretty new test and I'm getting the sense they don't understand it very well. The levels are supposed to be pretty consistent (minor fluctuations only), but I've seen others whose results fluctuated a lot, AND who were able to bring it up with diet and supplements. I also don't think it correlates with outcomes as well as it's purported to. I have an AMH of 6 (no PCOS, although it's in the range), so I should be simply overflowing with juicy eggs for fertilization. Hasn't helped me a lick, as you see. On the other hand, I've seen several women freak out with diagnoses of DOR/low AMH who wind up pregnant naturally in under three months.

Anyone have some insight on this?

poohniki · January 2014

I hate to be a Debbie downer but research shows having one SER in the cycle means all eggs fall victim to extremely low fert rate and pregnancy rates even if they make it to blast. (Search SER aggregates and sibling oocytes. Ebner has one article that has the stats but he warns that even of you have a baby it is more prone to certain diseases- but the latest article debunked that- but the pregnancy rates still haven't changed)
Anyway- in regard to the AMH level. AMH level correlates to your vitamin d level. I would push to get your vitamin d level checked. I had an AMH of .77 and it jumped to 1.1 when my vitamin d level hit borderline for an average range. Some studies say that if my vit d goes even higher and further into the average range, so will my AMH. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22508713)

Want a personalized experience?

Empty follicles at retrival? & drastically changing AMH levels?

Re: Empty follicles at retrival? & drastically changing AMH levels?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards

Want a personalized experience?

Empty follicles at retrival? & drastically changing AMH levels?

Re: Empty follicles at retrival? &amp; drastically changing AMH levels?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards

Re: Empty follicles at retrival? & drastically changing AMH levels?