Hormones and Follicles

NurseB35 · September 2015

Hi all! I'm 35 years old with normal FSH but low AMH and a follicle count of 9. This is my second month TTC and I'm 7dpiui. Anyone in a similar boat? Also, sorry if if it's TMI but for the last 3-4 months my period has gone from 5 days to 2-3 days and I'm not sure if this is something to be concerned about.

NurseB35 · September 2015

And this is only my second month and I feel like this whole thing is going to drive me insane

KLake42 · September 2015

When did your follicle count measure 9? Did you have 9 little potential follicles at the start of a cycle, or 9 big fat mature follicles right before your IUI? Where they all measuring at 15 or higher?

I'm 38, and my AMH and FSH are both moderately out of whack, and I'm TTC using medicated IUIs with frozen sperm. I haven't had more than 3 mature follicles before any IUI. If I had 9 mature follicles, my RE would have canceled the IUI, to avoid the risk of high order multiples.

You'll find more IUI folks on the Infertility board. Most of the women here are focused on times intercourse (not all).

babyexpress · September 2015

@NurseB35 I hope you didn't have 9 mature follicles, in less you want to be the next octamom. Are you seeing an OB or RE during this TTC process?

adunkin · October 2015

I'm 35 with a low AMH (0.8 - though it was doubled the first test in July) and an AFC of 5-7 (5 on left side, 1-2 on right side but right side never seems to produce). My cycles are normal (O around CD18-20 with a 10/11 day LP). I do have very light periods, but they are 5-6 days long. My RE said my tests show the beginning stages of DOR but my cycles don't show it yet, which is a good thing for TTC.

I'm also 6DPIUI on our second round of Clomid + IUI. (DH has low morph - 4%; we've been TTC with a few months off at one point since last July - this is officially our 11th cycle of serious TTC)

I totally tested out the trigger. I know REs recommend against it, but I couldn't help myself.

KarenBeth714 · October 2015

Hey just curious about this- how did you find out this info on your follicle count before ttc? Like was this done at regular gyn check up, or was it brought to attention because of some other symptoms? Or a specialist referral? I don't know anything about my follicles and wondering if I should?

adunkin · October 2015

@KarenBeth714 - We've been with an RE for 3 months (this time around). It was one of the first tests she ordered for us. You wouldn't know until an RE consult.

MNturnsVA · October 2015

@adunkin- How long did you TTC on your own before going to RE? I'll be 35 for almost 2 months now and we are going on to month 6 of TTC. My DH is going to be 43 this month. I'm going to get blood work done today and on CD 21 just to make sure everything is working correctly with out jumping to any conclusions or doing anything crazy at this point. The dr said that if we got to the 8-9 month mark they'd refer us to an RE if we wanted. I'm hesitant to lean that direction that way too quickly because then I feel like I'll jinx or something and If i can just be patient for a year, hopefully we'll get there on our own.....just wondering.....Many women on here say if you hit 35 and you've been trying for 6 months to go see somebody but the dr i saw last week didn't seem overly concerned.

babyexpress · October 2015

@MNturnsVA i'm about the same age as you and I just started going to a RE a couple of months ago. I'm on my 3rd medicated/monitored cycle with my RE. You learn so much about your chances each month with the RE. I stayed with my OB for years, testing maybe once a year. Honestly, I just thought I would have no issues and I didn't need a RE. I still have no explained reasons for why I haven't got KU, but now I have control of my chances each month. I think it really depends on how aggressive you want to be and you will know when the time is right.

MNturnsVA · October 2015

@babyexpress- So how long were you TTC before you went to an RE? We want to be pretty aggressive I think. I do not want to be having my first at age 37, so I'm really not trying to wait too terribly long. I am thinking that if we don't have a positive by Jan I'll go then because my deductible will start for the calendar year then.....good times. So what do you thin you have learned differently about your chances with an RE out of curiosity and were you temping and using OPKS before you went to an RE? This will be my 4th month temping and using OPKS. I started checking my CM this past month but don't feel very confident about what I was seeing.

babyexpress · October 2015

@MNturnsVA I wouldn't say I have been aggressively trying for the last couple of years, but I wasn't stopping it either. Me and DH have very busy careers and have had a crazy last two years living a part multiple times because of his job. Due to my age, it was time to get aggressive and things have finally settled down for us. With my OB, she has done basic b/w, recommended I go get a HSG (which will determine if your tubes are closed or open) and told us to get DH SA done (which we did twice the last 4 yrs). I also went to fertility clinic when we got married (in 2009) to make sure I was producing plenty of eggs. I was doing the basics through the years to make sure it was even a possibility.

Once I went to the RE, he is monitoring everything through your entire cycle. So its important to get the u/s done and b/w done during certain days of the cycle to check that everything is moving along like it should, because if it isn't, you might need extra measures done. The u/s will tell you how many mature (18mm plus) follicles you have before you ovulate so that you know what your chances are for pregnancy. For me, we went aggressive and started clomid + IUI the 1st round. That failed, so I did clomid + injectables + IUI + progesterone, that also failed. The thing is, as you get older your chances are so low when you are trying naturally (1%-3%) and my chances went up to 20%-22% with my RE based on the steps we were taking. I'm ready to get KU at this point, so anything that will help me in doing that is what I will do.

babyexpress · October 2015

@MNturnsVA also, the RE had another SA done on DH when we went to him and he had both of us do genetic testing. You never know if there is an underlying issue for both of you together that is not mixing well.

MNturnsVA · October 2015

@babyexpress- Thank you for sharing your story and background with me. I really appreciate it. I definitely want to have the best opportunity for this to happen naturally for sure but with my insurance changing as of today actually, I don't want to do anything too excessive or spend a lot of out pocket just yet because my deductible starts all over in 2 months. So any $$ I spend in the next 2 months doesn't really count towards anything. (it does and it doesn't. If i meet my deductible though of $500 on Dec. 12th, come Jan 1st, I have to start all over. so it just doesn't make a lot of sense to me to do a bunch before the end of the year at this point.) Plus I worry that a fertility dr would look at me like I'm crazy because I'm just over 35, like I've only been 35 for 2 months. And we are just hitting the 6 month mark of trying. I don't see the same GYN because I don't usually have a lot of problems, so when I went in for my ultra sound last week, I asked about a SA. The dr I saw that day said that SA's are usually one of the last things that they check because with men, that's one of the only things that they have to check. With women there are so many other things to check that they wait on testing the SA. With my DH being 43, I'm not overly convinced we shouldn't get him tested sooner than later though and he has a health savings account, not a regular insurance plan. I don't know. We'll see. I'd kind of like to enjoy Christmas this year too. Last year we were moving over Christmas and it was really hard. We didn't even put a tree up. I don't want to take away from that necessarily. I was going to call one of the fertility places though here in town and see how far booked out they are. May be worth at least an office visit in Dec and at least be a registered patient with them so that come January if we do want to do any testing we are good to go. I really want to trust that there won't be any problems though......ugh....but then I'll kick myself if there was a problem and I didn't go sooner......this journey is such a roller coaster!!!

babyexpress · October 2015

@MNturnsVA Don't worry, the RE will not think you are coming in to soon. There are plenty of 30 yr olds going to see a RE in my clinic and I see them on the Infertility Board all day long. The initial office visit won't hurt. You never know how long this process could go and what might pop up that would prevent you from trying. I went through several weeks of testing before I started a cycle with RE. The office visit should just be a copay with your insurance and it might make you feel better that a plan is in place, even if the plan doesn't start until next year.

KarenBeth714 · October 2015

Thank you all for sharing as well. I'm also 35 and on 3rd month ttc (actively) and I'm not sure when to take the next steps. I think I'll wait another month or two and see. Good luck to you all.

adunkin · October 2015

@MNturnsVA - We went off birth control in July '14 and started tracking in Sept '14. We actively TTC from Sept '14 to Feb '15 (had to take break from end of Feb to mid May for medical reasons). I turned 35 the end of May and went to see my OB. He ordered some initial tests as we went back to tracking and timing sex. In early July the OB called to say my tests looked OK but my husband's were bad and we needed to head to an RE right away (as just medicated cycles wouldn't help our issues - we would need at least IUI).

We also had a MFI diagnosis when conceiving #1 (he was a Clomid baby). Our OB said we ticked every box for moving on to an RE. Previous IF diagnosis, child conceived with ART, 7 months tracking TTC and I'd just turned 35.

FWIW, my RE doesn't do a lot of blood work during your cycle (she does mostly just AMH and AFC and ultrasounds). She definitely doesn't just do all the tests, she tailors your treatment and tests based on your situation specifically. Our consult appt just happened to be on CD3 and ended up also being our baseline appt for our first medicated IUI cycle.

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