Infertility

Low AMH Level

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Re: Low AMH Level

  • @lucyb1954 ooh. I hate when you know more than the person who’s supposed to be the expert. 
    My appointment with the RE is Friday. I just sent off my list of questions to her so she could review ahead of the appointment. Thanks to everyone for assisting me with what to ask! I think I put together a pretty good list!  :)
  • lucyb1954 - OMG I would be so annoyed re: genetic counselor visit.  They should have known better then to stick some newbie on you, don't they know you're practically an expert in this stuff??  I mean, will you still be able to consult with the counselor that your were trying to meet with in the first place? FWIW, I was starting to feel a cold coming on around the time of my final transfer and I was all stressed out about it but it turned out just fine. If you are really feeling crummy obviously let your RE know though to confirm it shouldn't affect retrieval.  


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  • lucyb1954lucyb1954 member
    edited October 2019
    Ugh @c-town18 I wanted to throw something at the wall I was so frustrated! I’ve put some feelers out to some FX support groups asking for recommendations so I’m hoping to get some response and even if I had to do a phone consult I’d be okay with that. 

    Went in for a scan today and got really disappointed. Follies on the right at 17, 8.5, and several 5mm follies or below. Nothing on the left over 3mm although there were 7 follies measured. I was really hoping against hope that I could get 3 eggs but it’s just not happening. 

    We triggered last time when I had a follicle at 21mm so I’m hoping to get there again before triggering. She did say that it was the most beautiful follie she’d ever see me grow but I’m also wondering if we should convert and take our chances 🤷‍♀️ 

    I have enough money for a DE cycle or an OE cycle so that’s stressful because I’ll be coming up on a hard decision. And the PGD testing is so expensive...wondering if I should take another shot with OE and bank a couple before sending them away for testing. 

    @emmasemm what do you think about an antagonist protocol for me? I don’t even really know what that is but I’m curious if I would respond better to that. If I didn’t respond at all or ended up canceling they would roll over my payment to another cycle whether for me or a donor. 

    @31magnolia I hope your appointment goes well tomorrow! I’m interested to hear what your RE says. 

    @hopefuljj how you feeling? Any luck on the OB front?
  • @lucyb1954 (hugs). I'm sorry you didn't get as many follies as you were expecting? What was your med protocol this time around?
    I'm interested too! I'm trying to stay positive and praying that I don't have to find another RE. 
  • @emmasemm that’s so exciting! What a beautiful appointment ❤️ It sounds like baby girl is just doing swimmingly. When’s your due date? I’m on the MDL protocol- 40 IU lupron daily, along with HGH, 375 Gonal F, 150 menopur. It’s hard to know if a different protocol or a different month would get me any different result or if I’m just kinda a lost cause. 

    After a discussion with my RE, my boyfriend and I have decided that, if after monitoring tomorrow, I still only have one follie in contention that we will not go forward with retrieval. It’s just too expensive. 

    We’re thinking about converting to IUI. It is a gamble but I also don’t know that I have many chances left. It’s really a hard choice and I worry so much about what I’d be setting up a kid for later in life. Idk. Maybe it’s time for me to give up on OE. 
     
    Needless to say I’ve been in and out of tears all day. 

  • @lucyb1954 oh I’ve been where you are now and I know how this feels. Do you have any MFI issues? Why not just convert to a trigger with timed intercourse? If it’s truly only one follicle and if you can fund another cycle (either OE or DE) then I would not go to retrieval on this one. But that’s my personal view.
    On the side, 40 Lupron a day is high!!! I was on max 20 units per day. My best cycle was using 10. Maybe talk to your RE about that. You must be getting crazy hot flushes!!! And you did estrogen priming before right? 
    But you’re right, it could just be the month was not your best one. Remind me - your estrogen and FSH were both nice and low the day you started stims right?

    And no matter how tough this is, we are right here behind you  <3
    Me 43 DH 45
    Married 12/2016
    TTC #1 since 04/2015
    AMA, DOR (AMH 0.65, AFC 2-4) and autoimmune issues (RA, APS), low TSH, adenomyosis
    7 retrievals, 3 transfers
    Jun19 FET BFP, due date 7th March 2020, DD born Feb20
    Sep17 IVF1 - 1ER, 1F, 1ET, BFN
    Nov17 IVF2 - 1ER, 0F
    Jan18 IVF3 - 3ER, 1F, 1ET, BFN
    Feb18 - second opinion and additional testing
    Apr18 IVF4 - cancelled (E2 too high)
    May/Jun18 IVF4 - 4ER, 0M, 1F, 1 frozen day 3 (not best quality)
    Jun/Jul18 IVF5 - 5 ER, 3M, 2F, 2 frozen day 3 (not best quality)
    Jul/Aug18 IVF6 - 4ER, 3M, 2F, 2 frozen day 3 (good quality)
    Aug/Sep18 IVF7 - cancelled (cyst)
    Sep/Oct18 IVF7 - 3ER, 3M, 2F, 2 frozen Day 3 (excellent quality)
    Oct18 IVF8 - Cancelled (cyst and too low TSH)
    Oct18-Jan19 bringing TSH under control
    Feb19 ERA and hysteroscopy
    Mar19 Investigation for fibroid and adenomyosis
    Apr19 adenomyosis confirmed, polyps removed
    Jun19 FET after 2 months Lupron, autoimmune protocol, transferred two day 3 frozen embryos
    Sep17 - Pergoveris 10-17 Sep, Orgalutran 15-18 Sep, Ovitrelle 18 Sep, ER 20 Sep for 2 follies, 1 mature egg, fertilized, ET 1x 2d 4-cell embryo 22/09, 05/10 BFN
    Nov17 IVF2 - Pergoveris 2-14 Nov, Orgalutran 5-14 Nov, Ovitrelle 15 Nov, ER 17 Nov for 3 follies, 1 mature egg, did not fertilize
    Jan18 IVF3 - Pergoveris 30 Dec - 8 Jan, Orgalutran 5-8 Jan, Ovitrelle 9 Jan, ER 11 Jan 3 eggs, 2 mature, 1 fertilized, ET 1x 4d 12-cell embryo 15/01, 24/01 BFN
    May/Jun18 IVF4 - Rekovelle 25-29 May, Menogon 30May - 2Jun, Zomacton 25 27 29 31 May and 2Jun, Cetrotide 30May - 3Jun, Gonasi 3Jun, ER 5Jun 4 eggs, none mature, two matured overnight, 1 fertilized with ICSI, Frozen day 3 but not good quality
    Jun/Jul18 IVF5 - Rekovelle 21-24 June, Menogon 25Jun-3Jul, Puregon 4-5Jul, Zomacton 21 23 25 27 29 Jun, Cetrotide 25Jun-5Jul, Gonasi 6Jul, ER 8Jul 5 eggs, 3 mature, 2 fertilized with ICSI, 2 frozen day 3 but not good quality
    Jul/Aug18 IVF6 - Rekovelle 26-29 Jul, Menogon 30Jul-7Aug, Buserelin 26Jul-7Aug, Zomacton 26 28 30 Jul 1 3 Aug, Gonasi 7Aug, ER 9Aug 4 eggs, 3 mature, 2 fertilized (normal IVF), 2 frozen day 3 good quality
    Sep/Oct18 IVF7 - Menogon 19-30Sep, Buserelin 19-30Sep, Zomacton 19 21 23 25 27 Sep, Ovitrelle 1 Oct, ER 3 eggs, 3 mature, 2 fertilized with ICSI, 2 frozen day 3 excellent quality 

    Fav Quote: The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return

  • @emmasemm thank you, it means so much to me to have you all behind me, I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you all ❤️

    I did estrogen priming so my E2 level was skewed at baseline but before we started priming I think it was around 50. After priming my FSH was 5. Yes the hot flushes have been crazy, I didn’t realize that was the lupron!

    I think we will convert to trigger with timed intercourse. No MFI but we did end up having to do ICSI last time, although andrology report was fine. Then I can be spared a procedure and relax more about it. 

    I’m going to ask my RE about the lupron and if we can reduce it, especially if I’m sensitive to oversuppression. We can roll over what we paid the clinic for this cycle into another cycle and still have the little nest egg for a DE cycle if we need to. I’m just so worried that if this takes I could be just passing the buck on my bum genetics to the kid. 

    Anyway we’ll do another cycle with OE and when we run out of funds for that we’ll go DE. I just want a baby. I had a dream last night in which my sister announced her third...more like a nightmare as she’s pretty much a mess. Oof. 

    But I’m inspired that I have my ladies on here who have been successful in building their families, whichever way was successful OE/DE. 

    oh @emmasemm curious if you know if cfDNA tests can pick up FX? I’m not sure if they can although several companies offer single gene cfDNA tests. 
  • @lucyb1954 - (hugs) I don't really know what to say, but I'm sending you hugs and positive thoughts out the Wazoo!
    AFM, I had my follow up today. Some of my questions the doctor couldn't really answer (ie. what follicle did the mature egg come from). She said she also thought that we would retrieve more eggs based on my E2 levels and the follicle sizes. She did say that the two eggs that were immature were GV, which is a level below immature. So it sounds like I really only had one egg. She said that egg did fertilize and progress well in lab and that it was last graded 4A. The really good thing is that she's open to trying anything. She brought up lupron and HGH and talked a little about both. We talked about the mini stim and even possibly doing HGH with it, if I wanted to go down that route. With mini stim she mentioned completing the letrozole and then starting menopur, but I told her I would like to try the overlap, since the trials I've seen follow that protocol and she's OK with that. So anyways, the ball is really in my court to how I would like to proceed. Right now, I'm leaning towards mini stim. A) it's cheaper and B) I'm not really expecting to get a lot of eggs with heavy doses of injections. Even when I did IUI, my follicle sizes were better with lower doses of meds. 
    She was also open to freezing at day 3 instead of waiting to blast and maybe even on my second retrieval during the mini stim protocol doing a fresh transfer. So basically she was very flexible. It's really up to me as to what I want to do. 
    @emmasemm she did mention using HGH with mini stim, but she said it would start at injection time. Did you start it before injections or during?
  • haha that smiley sunglass face is supposed to be the letter B with a ) behind it. 
  • lucyb1954 - The conversion to trigger and timed intercourse seems like a good decision if you only have one follicle in play.  If you only have funds for one more OE retrieval I'd want to see if you can do better than what you have on this cycle, but that's just me.  

    31magnolia -  Nice, it sounds like you and your RE had a productive meeting!  Did you guys talk timeline at all/do you have to take any time off or are you just waiting on CD1 now?  Any firm decision on your end about how you want to proceed?  I think the mini-stim plan sounds reasonable to me based on what you've told us.  
  • @c-town18 it was a productive meeting. The fact that she was so open to try anything was great. I think I’m pretty set on mini stim and will start that next month. Depending on the results I may take December off and regroup. I still haven’t decided on HGH. I’d like to get more info from the ones here who’ve used it (Brand, protocol, cost, thoughts). 
    Those of you who have used HGH please chime in.  
  • @31magnolia thanks for the good thoughts ❤️ I’m feeling better today. I triggered last night with a follicle at 19 and E2 at 327 and we’re doing the timed intercourse and that feels like the right decision. It seems like if you responded well to fewer meds that would be an excellent option for you and god bless less expensive amirite??? My first cycle was minstim. I did 5 days of Clomid 150, overlapping with 75 Menopur, and more menopur and follistim added later when I didn’t respond. I ended up canceling that cycle but I think you might have a different result if you already know you’ve responded to fewer meds. Oh and HGH - I used omnitrope and paid $1500 for 6 vials. Each vial lasts 2 days. I ended up with 2 mature eggs and 2 grade BB embryos. 

    At my appointment yesterday I had follies at 19, 10, several 6s, and many smaller. I had 15 follies, the most by far that’s ever been counted on me (I’m pretty consistent at 8-9) and it did seem that with the overnight growth/emergence of the 6s and growth of the 8.5 to 10 that more stuff was starting to wake up unfortunately it was just too late. I’ll start progesterone on Monday evening. 

    @c-town18 yep we’ll give one more cycle a try. Another cancellation and I’m donezo with OE. I think the protocol is mostly okay (although I’d like to reduce the lupron) but I have a regroup with the doctor in a couple of weeks. And especially as I’m fighting with the insurance company over genetic testing costs for the embryos which they stated they would cover given my Fragile X, I’m kinda just ready. 

    @emmasemm let me know if you think of any suggestions for protocol changes. Are you shopping for maternity wear yet? Sounds dumb but that’s something I really want to do!

    @hopefuljj hiyeee! ❤️❤️❤️
  • @31magnolia sounds like a good consult with a dr who is listening to you. I used Zomacton as the brand is called over here at 12iu per day and yes I used it during stims each month. But as mentioned because I did back to back cycles it meant I had the cumulative effects in the next cycles. Most Drs use it during stims as that is where some very limited research has been done. In “normal” patients it shows no difference. In severe DOR patients there was a difference - but trials were not blind or large enough so you can’t say for sure or with statistical significance. Also the “new” approach of using a lower dose (I think 2-6iu a day) for several months doesn’t yet have any results out I’ve seen yet. I know they struggled to get patients into the small trial.
    I definitely like hr willingness to freeze on day 3.
    And if you can manage it financially, physically and emotionally I would really recommend trying back to back. At least after the first one do the baseline when AF comes and then decide if it looks good if you go straight away again or not. I did 4 in a row and it was pretty much routine - easier than stopping and starting again in fact!

    @lucyb1954 If you’re like me it’s good to have just made a decision with this cycle and then get on and do it. Here’s hoping you will be a unicorn!!!  
    Sorry - tried to answer your clothing question in a spoiler and now it all ended up in there! 
    Your E2 at baseline is I mean day 2-4 of your cycle, the baseline before you start stims. Not the check before you start estrogen priming. They must still test your E2 and FSH and scan your ovaries before you start stims each cycle. 
    Have you had your DHEA and testosterone Levels tested? And did you try any a DHEA or testosterone priming? What it seems like is the estrogen priming did not prevent your lead follicle - but it did suppress your other follicles, but also helped bring out a much bigger cohort albeit very slowly! Or you could play with the type of estrogen priming - have you been using patches? We’re they every other day? Could you try instead estrogen pills and play with the dosage? If you either play with the estrogen or test the DHEA and testosterone and then play with that, do be prepared for a few crappy baselines and skipping the cycles though... So depends how much patience you have before you “go” for your last OE cycle...

    And only bought one pair of jeans, leggings and a few tops. Most of the clothes I own seem to be quite pregnant belly friendly so far apart from pants. But also as I’m 20kg less than I was before we started prepping for the FET then I can just wear my “too big” clothes at the moment - though some of those things are at risk of falling down and look a bit odd! My work dresses are typically princess line so are perfect for letting the bump grow under them!


    Me 43 DH 45
    Married 12/2016
    TTC #1 since 04/2015
    AMA, DOR (AMH 0.65, AFC 2-4) and autoimmune issues (RA, APS), low TSH, adenomyosis
    7 retrievals, 3 transfers
    Jun19 FET BFP, due date 7th March 2020, DD born Feb20
    Sep17 IVF1 - 1ER, 1F, 1ET, BFN
    Nov17 IVF2 - 1ER, 0F
    Jan18 IVF3 - 3ER, 1F, 1ET, BFN
    Feb18 - second opinion and additional testing
    Apr18 IVF4 - cancelled (E2 too high)
    May/Jun18 IVF4 - 4ER, 0M, 1F, 1 frozen day 3 (not best quality)
    Jun/Jul18 IVF5 - 5 ER, 3M, 2F, 2 frozen day 3 (not best quality)
    Jul/Aug18 IVF6 - 4ER, 3M, 2F, 2 frozen day 3 (good quality)
    Aug/Sep18 IVF7 - cancelled (cyst)
    Sep/Oct18 IVF7 - 3ER, 3M, 2F, 2 frozen Day 3 (excellent quality)
    Oct18 IVF8 - Cancelled (cyst and too low TSH)
    Oct18-Jan19 bringing TSH under control
    Feb19 ERA and hysteroscopy
    Mar19 Investigation for fibroid and adenomyosis
    Apr19 adenomyosis confirmed, polyps removed
    Jun19 FET after 2 months Lupron, autoimmune protocol, transferred two day 3 frozen embryos
    Sep17 - Pergoveris 10-17 Sep, Orgalutran 15-18 Sep, Ovitrelle 18 Sep, ER 20 Sep for 2 follies, 1 mature egg, fertilized, ET 1x 2d 4-cell embryo 22/09, 05/10 BFN
    Nov17 IVF2 - Pergoveris 2-14 Nov, Orgalutran 5-14 Nov, Ovitrelle 15 Nov, ER 17 Nov for 3 follies, 1 mature egg, did not fertilize
    Jan18 IVF3 - Pergoveris 30 Dec - 8 Jan, Orgalutran 5-8 Jan, Ovitrelle 9 Jan, ER 11 Jan 3 eggs, 2 mature, 1 fertilized, ET 1x 4d 12-cell embryo 15/01, 24/01 BFN
    May/Jun18 IVF4 - Rekovelle 25-29 May, Menogon 30May - 2Jun, Zomacton 25 27 29 31 May and 2Jun, Cetrotide 30May - 3Jun, Gonasi 3Jun, ER 5Jun 4 eggs, none mature, two matured overnight, 1 fertilized with ICSI, Frozen day 3 but not good quality
    Jun/Jul18 IVF5 - Rekovelle 21-24 June, Menogon 25Jun-3Jul, Puregon 4-5Jul, Zomacton 21 23 25 27 29 Jun, Cetrotide 25Jun-5Jul, Gonasi 6Jul, ER 8Jul 5 eggs, 3 mature, 2 fertilized with ICSI, 2 frozen day 3 but not good quality
    Jul/Aug18 IVF6 - Rekovelle 26-29 Jul, Menogon 30Jul-7Aug, Buserelin 26Jul-7Aug, Zomacton 26 28 30 Jul 1 3 Aug, Gonasi 7Aug, ER 9Aug 4 eggs, 3 mature, 2 fertilized (normal IVF), 2 frozen day 3 good quality
    Sep/Oct18 IVF7 - Menogon 19-30Sep, Buserelin 19-30Sep, Zomacton 19 21 23 25 27 Sep, Ovitrelle 1 Oct, ER 3 eggs, 3 mature, 2 fertilized with ICSI, 2 frozen day 3 excellent quality 

    Fav Quote: The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return

  • Interesting thoughts @emmasemm. I had done priming with 8mg estrace (4am/4pm) and I needed 2.5 weeks to get the FSH in check. Do you think trying a patch might be helpful? I also wonder if we did a higher dose for a shorter time might be helpful. 

    Re: DHEA. I started taking it in February at 25mg 3x daily. I never had my levels tested but would like to. I kind of think it messed with my cycles. I know I’m DOR but my cycle seemed to get really wonky around then. I lowered my dose during my first round of full stims and stopped taking it during this round of stims and now I’m not quite sure if I should go back on it as we’re doing TIC. perhaps just the dosage was too high. How does it cause crappy baselines?

    god bless princess line dresses! I have several of those too as I tend to gather more weight around the middle. And wow!!!! 20kg is a lot of weight to drop! At least as you get farther and farther along you can use those again. Hope you’re feeling good, fingers crossed you won’t have to go on bed rest. 🤞


  • @lucyb1954 I’m so sorry about your appointment, that would have had me red with rage!  And it’s also so frustrating that your follies didn’t start to wake up till you had already converted to timed IUI.   This stuff is all just so so so frustrating.  I wish it didn’t all have to be so hard.   @31magnolia RE the HGH, I know it cost me just around 1k a cycle, it was called omnitrope and I started it with stims. I think I said this before but I’ve heard it has best results for women in their 40’s.   I used it anyway.  I’m glad you had a good meeting with your RE. 

    @emmasemm hooray for a wonderful anatomy scan!!!!!! I can’t even imagine the relief and joy you must be feeling!   So so exciting:)

    AFM
    last week I woke up with dark brown spotting on my pantyliner and then had light pink all day when I wiped.  I was so horrified I was crippled with fear. It was just too similar to how it all went down with my miscarriage last November of my unicorn baby.  Went to my first RE appointment and lol’d at the tiny line that said “have you ever been treated for infertility, if so please describe when and treatment prescribed”.  It literally was one tiny line, you could fit maybe 10 words.  So I just wrote “this like is not nearly long enough”.  And squeezed in clomid, times intercourse, IUI, own egg ivf, DEIVF.  I also had to write in info about the donor all over cuz there were so many questions that were about mom but really I know they wanted genetic mother. Not biological mother.   Also had to explain to 3 different people that it was a DEIVF baby but everyone was super super nice so that was good.   Little bean was waving her arms all around on the sonogram, it was so weird to have one over the belly for once.  So I guess nothing to worry about with the spotting last week. I’m 10 weeks today.  Can’t wait to be out of the first trimester...even though I bet I’ll still be really worried.  Next apt Thursday with the high risk doctor at the practice:)
    Me: Hashimoto Autoimune Disease
    Homozygous MTHFR Cr677
    DOR - AMH  .27 High FSH (don't even know how high)
    2 iui's to start - BFN 
    IVF 1 -3 made it do day 5!    2 5AA 1 6BB  PGS results =  all abnormal :(
    IVF 2 - stimmed for 19 days. insanity. Had 5 follicles that looked mature but only 2 contained mature eggs the others were empty.  Nothing made it to day 5
    IVF 3 - added in HGH - 4 mature follicles (had some empties again) 3 made it to day 5/6 for PGS (held for testing with next retrieval
    IVF 4 - Upped my dosage for the first time - Canceled 11 days into sims - looked like 1 follicle and we were afraid it was empty
    IVF 5 - Canceled -  looked like 1 follicle and we were afraid it was empty
    IVF 6 - 3 mature, 2 fertalized 1 made it to day 5 and sent for PGS

    Sent in IVF round 3 and 6 (4 embryos) for PGS testing and got 2 normal embryos!!!  1Boy and 1Girl. Took a little over a year to get those two embryos so demanded all sorts of test prior to attempting transfer. Did EFT, ERA and NK Cells testing.

    FET#1 - Intralipid drips, Prednisone, and did a depot lupron shot before starting the FET protocol
    Chemical pregnancy
    FET#2 - PGS normal boy - BFN
    Natural pregnancy - cycle following the FET2????   Miscarriage at 8 weeks.  viability scan had shown an enlarged yolk sac so I had been warned that it was likely not chromosonally normal :(

    DEIVF cycle - picked a donor who is willing to be open! Her cycle resulted in in 4 PGS Normal embryos
    1st transfer - chemical pregnancy
    2nd transfer - success, May 17 2020 due date!
  • @hopefuljj hiyeee! So glad everything is lovely with the little bean! I was a bit worried, hadn’t seen you online but you must have been so relieved to little one waving around at you! I can’t imagine how freaked out you must have been, many hugs to you ❤️ Did you decide this doctor is good or are you still interviewing candidates? Glad you argued for a high risk doc if that’s what you feel is best for you. 

    Ugggg, ovulation has been so painful this time around, that egg was so big it must be disturbing my Fallopian tubes. Poor lady parts, they been through so much lately 😖😂
  • @lucyb1954 for some reason I couldn’t post from my phone on this board and I never use my computer, so it would let me read but if I hit reply it would send me in this weird loop, eventually I solved it by logging out and changing my password which didn’t seem to work when logging back in, and now here I am!! I’m so sorry to hear you are dealing with painful ovulation! Seriously, poor lady parts, if only we could send them all off to a female anatomy spa or something! 😂
    Me: Hashimoto Autoimune Disease
    Homozygous MTHFR Cr677
    DOR - AMH  .27 High FSH (don't even know how high)
    2 iui's to start - BFN 
    IVF 1 -3 made it do day 5!    2 5AA 1 6BB  PGS results =  all abnormal :(
    IVF 2 - stimmed for 19 days. insanity. Had 5 follicles that looked mature but only 2 contained mature eggs the others were empty.  Nothing made it to day 5
    IVF 3 - added in HGH - 4 mature follicles (had some empties again) 3 made it to day 5/6 for PGS (held for testing with next retrieval
    IVF 4 - Upped my dosage for the first time - Canceled 11 days into sims - looked like 1 follicle and we were afraid it was empty
    IVF 5 - Canceled -  looked like 1 follicle and we were afraid it was empty
    IVF 6 - 3 mature, 2 fertalized 1 made it to day 5 and sent for PGS

    Sent in IVF round 3 and 6 (4 embryos) for PGS testing and got 2 normal embryos!!!  1Boy and 1Girl. Took a little over a year to get those two embryos so demanded all sorts of test prior to attempting transfer. Did EFT, ERA and NK Cells testing.

    FET#1 - Intralipid drips, Prednisone, and did a depot lupron shot before starting the FET protocol
    Chemical pregnancy
    FET#2 - PGS normal boy - BFN
    Natural pregnancy - cycle following the FET2????   Miscarriage at 8 weeks.  viability scan had shown an enlarged yolk sac so I had been warned that it was likely not chromosonally normal :(

    DEIVF cycle - picked a donor who is willing to be open! Her cycle resulted in in 4 PGS Normal embryos
    1st transfer - chemical pregnancy
    2nd transfer - success, May 17 2020 due date!
  • @lucyb1954 ok so you should probably get your testosterone and DHEA tested with your next baseline (though hoping you don’t need one!) - and DHEA can absolutely screw with some people’s cycles, especially if you don’t need it. I tried for a month and then my doctor agreed I should stop as the side effects were awful for me, plus it didn’t help my bloodwork at all.
    And definitely ask about patches instead of estrace! 

    @hopefuljj oh wow so pleased that first OB appointment went well! 
    I bought a “bump to birthday” book and yesterday finally got up to date with filling it in with all the writing and pictures (I didn’t start until after our Harmony results so had a lot to backfill!). And looking back at our early scans and now I can hardly believe it. It’s takes some effort but recommended as there is so much you forget so quickly and I want to savour every moment of this.
    Me 43 DH 45
    Married 12/2016
    TTC #1 since 04/2015
    AMA, DOR (AMH 0.65, AFC 2-4) and autoimmune issues (RA, APS), low TSH, adenomyosis
    7 retrievals, 3 transfers
    Jun19 FET BFP, due date 7th March 2020, DD born Feb20
    Sep17 IVF1 - 1ER, 1F, 1ET, BFN
    Nov17 IVF2 - 1ER, 0F
    Jan18 IVF3 - 3ER, 1F, 1ET, BFN
    Feb18 - second opinion and additional testing
    Apr18 IVF4 - cancelled (E2 too high)
    May/Jun18 IVF4 - 4ER, 0M, 1F, 1 frozen day 3 (not best quality)
    Jun/Jul18 IVF5 - 5 ER, 3M, 2F, 2 frozen day 3 (not best quality)
    Jul/Aug18 IVF6 - 4ER, 3M, 2F, 2 frozen day 3 (good quality)
    Aug/Sep18 IVF7 - cancelled (cyst)
    Sep/Oct18 IVF7 - 3ER, 3M, 2F, 2 frozen Day 3 (excellent quality)
    Oct18 IVF8 - Cancelled (cyst and too low TSH)
    Oct18-Jan19 bringing TSH under control
    Feb19 ERA and hysteroscopy
    Mar19 Investigation for fibroid and adenomyosis
    Apr19 adenomyosis confirmed, polyps removed
    Jun19 FET after 2 months Lupron, autoimmune protocol, transferred two day 3 frozen embryos
    Sep17 - Pergoveris 10-17 Sep, Orgalutran 15-18 Sep, Ovitrelle 18 Sep, ER 20 Sep for 2 follies, 1 mature egg, fertilized, ET 1x 2d 4-cell embryo 22/09, 05/10 BFN
    Nov17 IVF2 - Pergoveris 2-14 Nov, Orgalutran 5-14 Nov, Ovitrelle 15 Nov, ER 17 Nov for 3 follies, 1 mature egg, did not fertilize
    Jan18 IVF3 - Pergoveris 30 Dec - 8 Jan, Orgalutran 5-8 Jan, Ovitrelle 9 Jan, ER 11 Jan 3 eggs, 2 mature, 1 fertilized, ET 1x 4d 12-cell embryo 15/01, 24/01 BFN
    May/Jun18 IVF4 - Rekovelle 25-29 May, Menogon 30May - 2Jun, Zomacton 25 27 29 31 May and 2Jun, Cetrotide 30May - 3Jun, Gonasi 3Jun, ER 5Jun 4 eggs, none mature, two matured overnight, 1 fertilized with ICSI, Frozen day 3 but not good quality
    Jun/Jul18 IVF5 - Rekovelle 21-24 June, Menogon 25Jun-3Jul, Puregon 4-5Jul, Zomacton 21 23 25 27 29 Jun, Cetrotide 25Jun-5Jul, Gonasi 6Jul, ER 8Jul 5 eggs, 3 mature, 2 fertilized with ICSI, 2 frozen day 3 but not good quality
    Jul/Aug18 IVF6 - Rekovelle 26-29 Jul, Menogon 30Jul-7Aug, Buserelin 26Jul-7Aug, Zomacton 26 28 30 Jul 1 3 Aug, Gonasi 7Aug, ER 9Aug 4 eggs, 3 mature, 2 fertilized (normal IVF), 2 frozen day 3 good quality
    Sep/Oct18 IVF7 - Menogon 19-30Sep, Buserelin 19-30Sep, Zomacton 19 21 23 25 27 Sep, Ovitrelle 1 Oct, ER 3 eggs, 3 mature, 2 fertilized with ICSI, 2 frozen day 3 excellent quality 

    Fav Quote: The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return

  • @emmasemm can you download all your posts and research? So much went into the making of your bump! ❤️ 

    What’s really the difference between the patch and the pills? And what is the dosage of the patch?

    @Imajin99 I hope you’re doing well ❤️ 
    @31magnolia when do you start estrogen priming and stims? If this doesn’t take I’ll probably start priming mid November so we might be cycle buddies. 
  • @lucyb1954 My fingers are still crossed for you. But I am trying to start next month. Still waiting on the clinic to clear up some admin things. Like they currently have PGS testing built into their contract. If all goes well though I will start stimming sometime around 11/9. 
    My doctor said they typically wouldn't do estrogen priming for mini stim, but I'm going to ask her again about that. My main thing now is deciding what mini protocol to take. I'm deciding between two. One is Take Clomid starting on CD2 or 3 and continue that until trigger, but add in injections on CD6 or 7 every other day. The second one is to take Clomid or Letrozole starting CD2- 7 add injections on CD4, every day up to trigger. I also am not sure which injection to try first, menopur or follistim. In both cases I believe the injections will be a dose of 150iu . 
  • @31magnolia thanks 🙏 after everything I just can’t get my hopes up. I did estrogen priming with min stim. I think if your FSH is high it’s probably worth doing although @emmasemm would know better than me. If you know you’ve had a good response to letrozole I’d probably stick with that, but that’s just me. I don’t really know the pros and cons of letrozole vs Clomid. But I think with clomid you have to get the dosage just right. 
  • Just an FYI on clomid vs letrozole, clomid supposedly raises your FSH for a few months where letrozole is not supposed to have such long term effects so might be better if you end up doing a cycle after this one, to not have that happen.  Just a thought
    Me: Hashimoto Autoimune Disease
    Homozygous MTHFR Cr677
    DOR - AMH  .27 High FSH (don't even know how high)
    2 iui's to start - BFN 
    IVF 1 -3 made it do day 5!    2 5AA 1 6BB  PGS results =  all abnormal :(
    IVF 2 - stimmed for 19 days. insanity. Had 5 follicles that looked mature but only 2 contained mature eggs the others were empty.  Nothing made it to day 5
    IVF 3 - added in HGH - 4 mature follicles (had some empties again) 3 made it to day 5/6 for PGS (held for testing with next retrieval
    IVF 4 - Upped my dosage for the first time - Canceled 11 days into sims - looked like 1 follicle and we were afraid it was empty
    IVF 5 - Canceled -  looked like 1 follicle and we were afraid it was empty
    IVF 6 - 3 mature, 2 fertalized 1 made it to day 5 and sent for PGS

    Sent in IVF round 3 and 6 (4 embryos) for PGS testing and got 2 normal embryos!!!  1Boy and 1Girl. Took a little over a year to get those two embryos so demanded all sorts of test prior to attempting transfer. Did EFT, ERA and NK Cells testing.

    FET#1 - Intralipid drips, Prednisone, and did a depot lupron shot before starting the FET protocol
    Chemical pregnancy
    FET#2 - PGS normal boy - BFN
    Natural pregnancy - cycle following the FET2????   Miscarriage at 8 weeks.  viability scan had shown an enlarged yolk sac so I had been warned that it was likely not chromosonally normal :(

    DEIVF cycle - picked a donor who is willing to be open! Her cycle resulted in in 4 PGS Normal embryos
    1st transfer - chemical pregnancy
    2nd transfer - success, May 17 2020 due date!
  • Interesting info @hopefuljj my cycle was so effed after Clomid. Between the FSH and the 3 giant cysts no wonder my cycle had no idea what was happening. Let us know how your appointment goes today!

    AFM I feel like a grumpy, bloated narcoleptic on the progesterone.  Gah!!! 
  • Thanks @lucyb1954 and @hopefuljj. That is good to know about the clomid. I’ve seen so many mini stim cycles that use it. I guess I’ll go with letrizole for the first cycle and maybe do the follistim instead of the menopur.  Depending on the results I may or may not switch to menopur the second cycle. 

    @lucyb1954 I’m finally starting to feel like myself again being off the progesterone and estrogen! Last week was hard!! I felt so down! I didn’t feel like that after the iui. But my doctor also only had me taking progesterone then and a lower dose. 
  • @31magnolia for sure! The estrace made me depressed and the progesterone makes me grumpy and irritable. Also I now have a yeast infection on top of it. So you know. All the things. All at once. 

    For me the Follistim is the most important piece, the menopur alone doesn’t do it. But it’s so hard to really know how you’ll react and everyone is so different. 

    Hope the rest of you ladies are doing well ❤️❤️❤️@emmasemm @hopefuljj @Imajin99
  • @lucyb1954 how are you doing?
  • Oh thanks for asking! I’m meh. Took a test this morning and got a BFN.  Depressing even though that’s what I thought it would be. I’m having trouble being positive today... I usually have some amount of hopefulness but not today. I’m sure I’ll perk up but sometimes this just such a hard road and I’m ready for it to be over. It looks like I’ll probably start stims again around December 1 or perhaps a few days earlier. How are you doing? Did you decide to do estrogen priming?
  • Aww. I know how you feel. Sometimes it is hard. I’m up and down all the time. 
    I’m going to do the estrogen priming but haven’t spoke to my doctor about it yet though. My regular nurse quit and I haven’t reached out to the two nurses that are taking over her cases. I may not even be starting next month because we can’t get the clinic to call me back about changing the mini stim contract to not include PGS testing. I don’t think they should have that as a requirement and apparently the mini stim is so new for them that no one has asked them about it. Anyway, I’m not happy. I’ve left 2 VM messages AND have written 5 emails. the first time the person said she forgot to ask and that she was going to do it that day and now I can’t get her to respond back. 
  • @31magnolia that’s awful! Ugh. I’m not a huge fan of my nurse coordinator but she is pretty responsive. She just mostly thinks I’m nuts and I don’t much care. It’s also weird that they would require PGS testing. Doesn’t that eliminate the possibility of a fresh transfer? I can’t believe you’d be delayed a cycle because of their bad service 🙄
  • @lucyb1954 well someone heard my cry because the clinic called me yesterday and we got everything worked out. Spoke to the nurse and billing manager. We’re all good. So next week is a go. I’m so happy because I was having a maybe this isn’t meant to be moment on the way home and was VERY down. 
    So they will exclude PGS testing but it doesn’t change the price, which is fine because I’m getting a discounted rate. 
    I also left another message for the nurse this afternoon regarding the estrogen priming. I went back through my records and noticed they didn’t donut for my IUIs but did for the IVF. 
  • Oh good! I totally know that feeling. I’m still feeling pretty down, I just stopped progesterone yesterday so I’m guessing some of it is from that. Sometimes I just feel kinda doomed like this just won’t happen for me.  I have a follow up with my RE on Tuesday but the nurse coordinator today told me the clinic closes from Dec 19th until after new year’s so she’s worried about me starting stims early December because last time I needed to stim so long 🙄 that would really suck if I had to wait two more cycles. 

    In any case lots of luck @31magnolia! @hopefuljj I’m thinking about you ❤️ And you too @emmasemm how are you feeling? Placenta being cooperative??? 😆
  • @lucyb1954  Thank you for always thinking of me and my apologies for being MIA, had a few things with family and work going on.  Sorry to hear about your cancelled cycle but it looks like you made a good decision.  It only takes 1 and trigger with TI can lead to success.
    @hopefuljj & @emmasemm So happy to catch up on your posts and hear that everything is progressing well.
    @31magnolia Wishing you well and success in this cycle, it looks like you have been given some excellent info from the ladies here and your RE is listening to you.  
    AFM: In the middle of a mini-stim cycle of only injectibles as the combination of letrzole and injections didn't work well for me.  On top of that after cancelling that cycle, my cycle was delayed by 20 days.  For someone that has been on a regular schedule it felt odd and I had PMS for a whole month.  Will keep you posted on how the cycle progresses, this will be the last with OE.  We have an appointment with a counselor, requirement for our clinic, and meeting with DE co-coordinator in early December.  Our clinic uses 3 different Egg Banks and DH and I have finally decided on best one for us.  

  • @Imajin99 thanks for the well wishes. FX this cycle is successful for you, but it’s good that you already have a game plan in mind if it’s not. What was your medicine protocol/dosage for the last mini stim vs this one?

    @lucyb1954 Yep,  that’s my feeling sometimes, too. I can’t believe your clinic is closed that long! I guess that’s one of the good things about mine. They have multiple locations and the main one is always open. If it’s the weekends or holidays then it’s by appointment only, but they are always open. 
    How long do you usually stim for? If you stopped progesterone a couple days ago wouldn’t you be able to stim in a week or so? Or do you have to skip the November cycle?

    AFM, I think I’m going to ask about out adding low dose HGH to this next cycle. I’m going to talk to the nurse tomorrow about it. 
  • @31magnolia I think I have to skip the November cycle because I won’t get the benefit of estrogen priming if I roll into this cycle. I don’t know when I’ll get my period after stopping the progesterone, I’m hoping it will pop up soon. @emmasemm could they use progesterone to control the timing of a bleed in November and roll into a cycle that will give me good timing for a retrieval before they close for the holidays? I’m supposing that’s true but then I have the same problem with not getting the estrogen priming. 

    Last successful cycle I stimmed for 16 days before triggering (18 days total). My canceled cycle growth was moving faster but unevenly as I had that one big follicle. If I started stims by 12/1 I’d probably be okay but I want to make sure I have enough time.

    btw, I did HGH and I don’t know if it was helpful but since it was used in my only successful cycle I’m going to keep it up.  

    @Imajin99 good to hear from you ❤️ This is such bullshit isn’t it? I’m sending you hugs and good wishes for your cycle. It’s always good to have a backup plan, it always feels reassuring to me. 
  • emmasemmemmasemm member
    edited November 2019
    @lucyb1954 yes you can use progesterone at the same time as estrogen priming even to control the time of your bleed. 
    And most authorities require all fertility labs to close once a year for a deep cleaning for a few weeks, so that’s not abnormal at all - and many choose to do it over Xmas as actually not as many people want to do a cycle over Xmas since lots of people travel or have guests. 

    @imajin99 good to hear for you and hope this cycle goes well. Also great you have your next steps planned out ready to implement if you need to

    @31magnolia great that you got the paperwork sorted to get going with this next cycle. I hope your discount is really good, as PGT-A normally comes between $3000-7000 depending on the number of embryos included and the turnaround time... 

    @hopefuljj keeping you in my thoughts as always

    and to our famous grads @hopeful_mom and @jamieh2000 miss you guys

    AFM update in spoiler in case anyone is having a tough day
    Yesterday we hit 22 weeks. Ferrari is kicking up a storm and omg I love it. Nobody had ever told me just how special it feels. I could literally just sit and wait for the next kick all day long and do nothing else. She’s in a regular pattern already so that’s very reassuring. I definitely look pregnant not just chubby as my bump has taken on a life of its own by now. Other than being ready for bed by 8pm every day I’m generally feeling on top of the world - except today I woke up with a sinus infection so now I’m breathing like Darth Vader! Next big appointment is next week for the extended glucose test. Let’s see if we get past that - and if my blood pressure will plateau as it’s still in the safe zone but trending upwards. 


    Me 43 DH 45
    Married 12/2016
    TTC #1 since 04/2015
    AMA, DOR (AMH 0.65, AFC 2-4) and autoimmune issues (RA, APS), low TSH, adenomyosis
    7 retrievals, 3 transfers
    Jun19 FET BFP, due date 7th March 2020, DD born Feb20
    Sep17 IVF1 - 1ER, 1F, 1ET, BFN
    Nov17 IVF2 - 1ER, 0F
    Jan18 IVF3 - 3ER, 1F, 1ET, BFN
    Feb18 - second opinion and additional testing
    Apr18 IVF4 - cancelled (E2 too high)
    May/Jun18 IVF4 - 4ER, 0M, 1F, 1 frozen day 3 (not best quality)
    Jun/Jul18 IVF5 - 5 ER, 3M, 2F, 2 frozen day 3 (not best quality)
    Jul/Aug18 IVF6 - 4ER, 3M, 2F, 2 frozen day 3 (good quality)
    Aug/Sep18 IVF7 - cancelled (cyst)
    Sep/Oct18 IVF7 - 3ER, 3M, 2F, 2 frozen Day 3 (excellent quality)
    Oct18 IVF8 - Cancelled (cyst and too low TSH)
    Oct18-Jan19 bringing TSH under control
    Feb19 ERA and hysteroscopy
    Mar19 Investigation for fibroid and adenomyosis
    Apr19 adenomyosis confirmed, polyps removed
    Jun19 FET after 2 months Lupron, autoimmune protocol, transferred two day 3 frozen embryos
    Sep17 - Pergoveris 10-17 Sep, Orgalutran 15-18 Sep, Ovitrelle 18 Sep, ER 20 Sep for 2 follies, 1 mature egg, fertilized, ET 1x 2d 4-cell embryo 22/09, 05/10 BFN
    Nov17 IVF2 - Pergoveris 2-14 Nov, Orgalutran 5-14 Nov, Ovitrelle 15 Nov, ER 17 Nov for 3 follies, 1 mature egg, did not fertilize
    Jan18 IVF3 - Pergoveris 30 Dec - 8 Jan, Orgalutran 5-8 Jan, Ovitrelle 9 Jan, ER 11 Jan 3 eggs, 2 mature, 1 fertilized, ET 1x 4d 12-cell embryo 15/01, 24/01 BFN
    May/Jun18 IVF4 - Rekovelle 25-29 May, Menogon 30May - 2Jun, Zomacton 25 27 29 31 May and 2Jun, Cetrotide 30May - 3Jun, Gonasi 3Jun, ER 5Jun 4 eggs, none mature, two matured overnight, 1 fertilized with ICSI, Frozen day 3 but not good quality
    Jun/Jul18 IVF5 - Rekovelle 21-24 June, Menogon 25Jun-3Jul, Puregon 4-5Jul, Zomacton 21 23 25 27 29 Jun, Cetrotide 25Jun-5Jul, Gonasi 6Jul, ER 8Jul 5 eggs, 3 mature, 2 fertilized with ICSI, 2 frozen day 3 but not good quality
    Jul/Aug18 IVF6 - Rekovelle 26-29 Jul, Menogon 30Jul-7Aug, Buserelin 26Jul-7Aug, Zomacton 26 28 30 Jul 1 3 Aug, Gonasi 7Aug, ER 9Aug 4 eggs, 3 mature, 2 fertilized (normal IVF), 2 frozen day 3 good quality
    Sep/Oct18 IVF7 - Menogon 19-30Sep, Buserelin 19-30Sep, Zomacton 19 21 23 25 27 Sep, Ovitrelle 1 Oct, ER 3 eggs, 3 mature, 2 fertilized with ICSI, 2 frozen day 3 excellent quality 

    Fav Quote: The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return

  • @emmasemm - yeah they switched me from original contract to the mini stim contract, which included two retrievals and they are counting the one I just did as one of the retrievals. So I’m not having to start completely over with the cost.  I’m saving $5000. Plus they  Usually charge $2750 admin fees for PGS (up to 10 eggs) and then you have to pay the third party $215 per embryo. They also put me on the unlimited transfer contract, which means a significant discount for the second transfer and after that the transfers are free. I’m happy. 
  • @emmasemm that’s amazing ❤️ What a lovely update. Fingers crossed your blood pressure cooperates! And I hope your sinus infection goes away quickly...as if you need anything making you even more tired!!! Keep us posted, it’s always good to hear from you. 
  • @emmasemm yes, loved the embedded spoiler!!

    @lucyb1954 ok. That makes sense.
  • I just had a follow up appointment with my RE. we’re going to do one more cycle but not start until December. I can still start stims at the end of December but given that I stim so long I don’t want the prospect of the lab closing making me more stressed. It’s disappointing to skip a cycle but I think it will be better for me not to feel rushed.  

    She agreed to the protocol changes I requested, the Vivelle patch, and lower lupron dose. She doesn’t have experience with the lower dose lupron protocol and seemed worried I would ovulate early. 

    The protocol will be largely the same with EPP, followed by 2 days of lupron plus HGH, and then full stims on the third day with 375 Gonal, 150 menopur, 50 hgh, and 10 units of lupron AM and PM. Does this look in line with a MDL protocol? I don’t know much about it. 

    @emmasemm one thing my RE said was kind of perplexing. She said the more stim cycles we do, the less chances of success. I don’t know if this is because my AMH keeps dropping or what but I thought that was curious. 

    Anyway don’t know why, appointment left me feeling kinda sad. 
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