IVFers-- E2 levels?

healz413 · January 2014

Hey Folks,
I know I can post in infertility (I've intro'd there before), but I thought I'd start here, since I know you all better.

So, today is our fourth day of stimming and we went in for our ultrasound and bloods this morning. I have a decent number of follicles sitting at between 7mm and 9mm, which is not horrible but not great. The RE said that the real tell would be what my estrogen/E2 levels were. Last IVF cycle they were 160 on day 4, so she was hoping to see them higher since we cancelled last time due to poor response. Well, it turns out they were 71 today. I've been taking her standard maximum dose of stims--450 total (300 Bravelle and 150 Menopur). She's gonna have me take 375 of Bravelle tomorrow in addition to the 150 of Menopur to see if that will make a difference. I go back in Monday morning for my next ultrasound and E2 levels.

My AMH levels and antral follicle count are good, so my RE expected a much better response from me. In fact, the only reason I'm doing max dose stims is because we had to cancel before.

I'm going to acupuncture tomorrow (and I've heard it can help with estrogen levels) and I'm going to take the higher dose of stims as prescribed for tomorrow and hope for the best. But I'm also feeling like this is not going our way. The RE even mentioned on her voice mail that if I don't start responding to the stims, we may want to talk about switching to @Manada because even though her AMH is a lot lower, she might respond better to the stimming. While I'm not opposed to making a baby with M's awesome genetic material, my ovaries were supposed to give us a much better chance of getting pregnant and now I'm getting scared that it's not going to work.

Do any of you know what your estrogen levels were on approximately day 4 of stimming for your IVF cycles? Did anyone "recover" from low estrogen levels?

Thanks!

ball.and.chain · January 2014

Mine was 138 on day 4 of stimming; we upped the dose and it went to 627 a few days later.

I'm sorry the response has not been what you were hoping for. I'm crossing my fingers that things will start picking up soon!

2MamazInSeattle · January 2014

Nothing to add but ((hugs)). I never did an OE cycle. But I'm sorry things aren't responding optimally.

One other thought - you might actually post on PAIF as well - they don't at all mind people still in process asking for their take since they are all actually pregnant (i.e., whatever they did worked and generally everyone is happy to tell you about it). You might find some success stories there more so than on IF (where you might find some useful info too though of course), but no one there is pregnant... just some thoughts.

Sorry again, I'm sure you're bummed but you're not out - I'm sending positive vibes!!

KH826 · January 2014

My E2 was 112 on day 4, and I was concerned too. I posted about it here -- which is how I just reminded myself! My follicle count was also disappointing until about day 7 of stims and then I started seeing more growth. My RE encouraged me that I had "slow and steady ovaries" and I trusted her. On my last day of monitoring I only had 12 follicles, but less than 48 hours later we retrieved 18 mature eggs. My point is, it is still really early and you never know what the ultimate outcome will be until you let it totally play out. I will be sending lots of positive vibes your way. When is your next appointment? HUGS & TONS OF GOOD LUCK!

healz413 · January 2014

Thank you all! I am hoping that I'm just a really slow responder. The fact that some of you started low and improved well gives me some hope.
@kh826, I remembered your day 6 follicle count post but I did not remember anything about your day 4 e2 levels (probably because at the time I had no idea what they meant). Maybe I can pull a you! (We don't need 10 frosties--hopefully-- but a small handful would be nice. Although after all of this ultimately we want whatever it takes to get a take home baby)

Our RE is so invested in us after our journey with the assortment of diagnoses, procedures, and setbacks we've had. She left me three voicemails today about my e2 levels. The first was the basic info. The second told me she wanted me to go up to 375 of bravelle tomorrow even though she almost never does that. The third was to make sure that I got the first two and understood them and to tell me that she was asking the clinic's head nurse to look into getting longer IM needles just to make sure the meds were getting all the way into my muscle. (I carry my weight mainly in my belly, not my hips/buttocks so I don't think the issue is that the meds aren't reaching my muscles--BUT I do appreciate her thinking outside the box to try to help).

StacyLH24 · January 2014

I'm sorry it doesn't seem to be going well. If it looks like this cycle might not work, could you try the next with Gonal-F? Maybe the combo of meds just isn't the right one for your body.

I hope that it works out and that your body is just gearing up to produce like nobodies business.

trisholio · January 2014

I don't have any advice for you, but I want you to know I am really pulling for you and @manda. You both are in my thoughts and prayers daily, lots of positive vibes being sent to your ovaries :-)

healz413 · January 2014

Thank you, @StacyLH24 and @Trisholio. I appreciate the well wishes.
I actually did GonalF last time, so we've tried that particular one. I really don't know where things are going to end up. Hopefully in a few weeks we'll be laughing about how much worrying we did. But I just want it to be Monday already so I can talk to the RE again and see if my e2 is up at all.

GoaliesWife123 · January 2014

trisholio said:

I don't have any advice for you, but I want you to know I am really pulling for you and @manda. You both are in my thoughts and prayers daily, lots of positive vibes being sent to your ovaries :-)

This!!!

firstcomeslove2013 · January 2014

You know that C and I are thinking of you guys. Keep doing what you're doing and we're sending you lots of jock jams and positive thoughts, FWIW.

healz413 · January 2014

Thank you all so much. This has been one hell of a weekend (both in terms of infertility and outside of that) and it is so nice to know you all are thinking of us and rooting for us.

I'm gonna update more thoroughly in the TTC check-in, but our RE was happier today and less worried. I now have a cluster of follicles in the 9-11mm range (moving out of the antral follicle range) and she thinks this is a good sign. My estrogen results weren't back yet when I met with her, but I had the nurse look them up a half an hour later when we were getting our next batch of meds and they were in the 200s (which is still low but is up considerably from Saturday's 71). My next check is Thursday.

IVFers-- E2 levels?

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