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Viewing 1 to (20 Total) Low AMH - to continue treatment in NZ, to go abroad or, to seek a donor |
Katiepie
Total Posts: 7
Joined: April 1, 2017
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Hi everyone
I'm new to this site and was wondering if there was anyone going through the same thing as me and my husband.
We found out late last year that I have a super low AMH level and, as a result, our Dr. has given us a 5% chance of pregnancy success (through IVF) using my own eggs. She has also told us that in a years time we may not have any chance at all. This was been devastating news for us.
Because we don't have time to wait for any sort of public funding we are having to pay for treatment ourselves. We have just had a round of IVF (long protocol taking Menopur 375) which was cancelled as I wasn't responding well to the medication (I had only 2 follicles - a 25mm and a 12mm after day 9).
We are now about to embark on our second cycle with Elonva. On the one hand, I am glad we have a new treatment plan but, on the other hand, our chances are just so low, I do wonder whether continuing with my own eggs is worth it given our prognosis. It's hard not to worry and I am constantly on edge as I just don't know if treatment is going to work for us.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? Had similar treatments? Had success?
We have also been looking at overseas clinics - one of which has said they can give us a better percentage success rate than here in NZ. Has anyone gone overseas for treatment before? I guess we are just looking for a bit of hope
Thanks x
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Posted on April 1, 2017 at 4:26 PM
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beema
Total Posts: 7
Joined: April 27, 2017
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Re: Low AMH - to continue treatment in NZ, to go abroad or, to seek a donor
Hi, I'm in the same position as you. Found out in January, can't get funding but don't have a year to wait. First round of short protocol was cancelled. Just had my Elonva shot yesterday. I think this will be my last round whether we get eggs or not. We will move on to IUI because I still ovulate.
Just because you don't response well to the IVF drugs doesn't mean you can't get pregnant naturally (if you are still ovulating, and if your husbands sperm is all good). I am seeing a fertility acupuncturist and he said one of his patients with 0 AMH got pregnant naturally and had a healthy baby.
I didn't think of going overseas for a better success rate, but I am interested in finding out. Hopefully someone will reply about that.
Posted on April 27, 2017 at 3:03 PM
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Katiepie
Total Posts: 7
Joined: April 1, 2017
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Re: Low AMH - to continue treatment in NZ, to go abroad or, to seek a donor
Hi
Thanks so much for your response You sound as though you are in a really similar boat to myself. I will keep my fingers crossed for you for this cycle - I had my Elonva injection on Monday so have a scan myself early next week. We aren't expecting big numbers but we are hoping we will make it to egg collection this time. With the last cycle it seemed like everything went into one follicle - so we are hoping Elonva will work it's magic and the meds will be distributed a little more evenly
That's great you are doing acupuncture. I am too - it's wonderful! I just had an appointment today. My acupuncturist gives me so much hope and keeps me positive which I think is so important. It's so hard not to worry about things when going through IVF - there is so many unknowns. So it's nice to have something to look forward to and be positive about. She has also told be about lots of success stories too - it's nice to know that there is hope.
I ended up doing some research of my own into overseas clinics (Spain, USA and UK) and what they all offer - it was really helpful. I just wanted to make sure that there wasn't something that could be done / offered overseas that wasn't available here. Seems like there isn't but, it was good to talk to different specialists and see what they had to say about protocols etc. After speaking to the UK, we have decided to try a few IVF cycles with the intent to freeze if we have any embryos. As age is still on my side, it's our best chance to get out the eggs that I have. I am not sure how it will go - it will depend on this Elonva cycle as to how that plays out. But that's the plan at this stage anyway. I had thought about IUI's too but, my hubby has a lower than average count - hence why we are having to go down the IVF route each time. I am also taking Ubiquinol which is meant to help assist / improve egg quality. It's not a hormone or anything so doesn't interfere with the IVF cycle and meds but it's used a lot in treatment overseas so I decided to give it a go too. I am happy to answer any questions about what I found out if it helps
Posted on April 27, 2017 at 5:09 PM
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TashNZ
Total Posts: 5
Joined: April 27, 2017
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Re: Low AMH - to continue treatment in NZ, to go abroad or, to seek a donor
Hi, I'm new to this forum too but your story sounds very similar to mine and my partner's. We have been TTC for about a year and a half, and tests last year showed that I have a low AMH (4.5 on one test, 6.3 on another). We're not eligible for public funding because there are no other identified issues. We have done 1 round with high dose gonal F (300), which produced only 2 follicles, with only 1 egg retrieved that didn't fertilise. We've just done another round using clomid only (which I believe is referred to as a mini IVF) that also produced only 2 follicles but with much much better E2 levels at our day 8 scan. However, we decided not to proceed to IVF, which was a tough choice - you never know, something might happen naturally! We're hoping to keep trying with the clomid because that gave better results than the stronger drugs (much cheaper too of course). Have you had that suggested as an option? We were also offered Elonva as an option on the basis that it can produce better results for poor responders, so I'm interested to hear how it goes for you - all the best!!
We've been thinking about going overseas but for egg donation, if IVF doesn't work out for us. Seems like quite a few options but also a lot of information to think about.
Good luck
Posted on April 27, 2017 at 10:43 PM
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Katiepie
Total Posts: 7
Joined: April 1, 2017
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Re: Low AMH - to continue treatment in NZ, to go abroad or, to seek a donor
Hi TashNZ
Your story does sound similar to mine and my hubby's We have been TTC for a year now but obviously with no luck. I have an AMH level of 2.0 so we only have about a 1% chance of conceiving naturally. We are actually on the public funding waiting list because of a few other issues but, with the 18 month wait time we have been given, its really unlikely IVF would work for us at all at that point.
That's great about your E2 levels improving after a round using clomid. We were given both Elonva and Clomid as options to try after our first round got cancelled. We decided to try the Elonva because the first cycle we did was a long protocol and we wanted to try a short protocol before moving onto something else. We also heard good things too about its results in poor responders - so we are hoping we will have a few follicles when we go for our scan on Monday. It would be great to make it to egg collection at least and actually see what my eggs are like too - at this stage we haven't got that far so it would be nice to feel like there has been some progress I will definitely let you know how we go If we don't respond too well we will use clomid next The price tag is definitely appealing too!
I hope your next clomid round goes well for you I will keep my fingers crossed for as many follicles as possible! I know the number can vary month to month. We are going to try and do a few cycles with the hope we capture a month where there are a good few follicles. Not sure how it will pan out but it's worth a shot
We've looked at egg donation overseas too and have the paperwork to fill in here if we want to put our names on the waiting list in NZ. I was going to fill in the form over the weekend just to get the ball rolling but I think I will leave it until after this cycle - see how that goes. You are right - there are so many options and things to think about!
Posted on April 29, 2017 at 4:30 PM
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TashNZ
Total Posts: 5
Joined: April 27, 2017
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Re: Low AMH - to continue treatment in NZ, to go abroad or, to seek a donor
Hi Katiepie, I hope your cycle has gone okay - they are such a hard thing to go through when you can't be sure whether it'll work at all. It sounds like you've been told something similar to us - do a few cycles, hope for a good month (in terms of follicle numbers and E2 levels I guess), and be prepared to cancel after the first scan and try again. Like you say worth a shot
My partner and I are still struggling to know how to tell whether to proceed or not at day 8 - at our clinic (and probably others) you are basically committed to paying the full cost if you proceed through to egg collection, even if you don't end up with anything to transfer. Have you been given much in the way of guidance? And how did you find the Elonva?
All the best!
Posted on May 7, 2017 at 8:10 AM
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Katiepie
Total Posts: 7
Joined: April 1, 2017
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Re: Low AMH - to continue treatment in NZ, to go abroad or, to seek a donor
Hi TashNZ
Hope you're having a lovely weekend!
Thanks for your message So far our Elonva cycle has gone really well. I think we hit a good month in terms of follicle numbers. With our first cycle (which was cancelled) I had 2 follicles and they were drastically different in size. This time around I had 6 follicles (second scan results showed a 21mm & a 15mm on the left ovary and an 11mm + 3 x 18mm's on the right ovary). We triggered that night. At egg collection, we retrieved 6 eggs, 5 were mature and, 4 were fertilised by the following day. We have been told that we have done really well so far - but we are still so apprehensive as there are so many more stages to get through and, we have been told the likelihood of conceiving is low - it's hard not to think about that. Transfer is scheduled for Wednesday but, we have to wait and see how things go over the next few days as to whether that's a definite. We have fingers and toes crossed there is at least one that we can transfer.
It does sound like what you have been told is so similar to us! It's such a hard thing not knowing which month might be a good one in terms of follicle numbers and E2 levels. And such a costly exercise to find out! I was speaking to a specialist in the UK who said that follicle numbers (for AMH of 2) are likely to be anywhere from 2 to 6 on any given month. This is why he recommended doing a few cycles to capture a good month. He didn't say not to go ahead though if we have less follicle numbers than the higher end - because you never know..it only takes one. He said that doing a few cycles in a row gave us a bit more of a chance because it was giving us that opportunity to see a month with a higher number of follicles.
For this Elonva cycle, we decided that if we got 2 follicles at a similar size at our scans, we would go ahead and trigger. Because the first cycle was cancelled, we weren't able to find out what my eggs were like because we didn't get to collection. So, to get a step further and have the ability to learn a little bit more about my eggs was important to us - at least we would be able to take a look at the quality of the eggs and have a little bit more information to work with for any future cycles we might have to do.
I totally understand what you mean about deciding whether to go ahead on day 8 though. It's so difficult to decide - especially when you know you have to pretty much pay the full amount of treatment if you do decide to go to egg collection. It really is such a gamble. Advice from our clinic has pretty much been to go ahead if we have a few follicles - because were probably aren't going to get more than a few and I am not getting any younger (currently 33). I think if this round doesn't work, we will do another Elonva cycle. And not because of the numbers but because my follicle sizes were similar - and they weren't with my first cycle.
I hope all that info helps - so sorry for the super long message! How are things going for you at the moment? I hope you are keeping well x
Posted on May 7, 2017 at 11:41 AM
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TashNZ
Total Posts: 5
Joined: April 27, 2017
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Re: Low AMH - to continue treatment in NZ, to go abroad or, to seek a donor
Hi Katiepie, I'm so glad that your cycle is going well! And it's really interesting to hear how Elonva has worked for you - your long messages have been great! I have had quite a few friends go through fertility treatment, but we all have different issues and none of them really fall into the poor responder category so it's hard to truly compare notes.
I must admit that I have been tempted to give Elonva a go, just to see one way or another how I might respond. Although I guess things can vary from cycle to cycle anyway regardless of the drug used. You're right, if would certainly be easier if it wasn't such a costly process!
I know what you mean about all of the stages/hurdles, but take heart from how things have gone to date. I'll be thinking of you and hoping for a great outcome!
All the best
Posted on May 8, 2017 at 8:04 PM
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beema
Total Posts: 7
Joined: April 27, 2017
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Re: Low AMH - to continue treatment in NZ, to go abroad or, to seek a donor
Hi guys.
Congratulations on those results Katiepie! Unfortunately my Elonva cycle was cancelled today, I had three follicles on my left ovary and none on my right. The clinic decided to cancel because it's was day 14 of my cycle and the biggest follicle was only 10mm. Pitty I wasn't able to continue beacuse, like you mentioned above, I really wanted to see the quality of the eggs.
(My AMH is 3.9 and I am 30)
Posted on May 9, 2017 at 4:32 PM
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Katiepie
Total Posts: 7
Joined: April 1, 2017
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Re: Low AMH - to continue treatment in NZ, to go abroad or, to seek a donor
Hi Beema,
I am so sorry to hear that your Elonva cycle was cancelled today. I really hope you are ok. If you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to reach out. Do you know yet whether you will try IVF again with a different medication? Like you mentioned earlier on too, IUI sounds like a good option seeing as you are ovulating regularly. Hubby and I have talked about doing IUI's if IVF doesn't work for us. If you decide to go down the IUI route I really hope it goes well for you! Or even better naturally. I have heard so many stories myself of couples doing IVF and then falling pregnant naturally!
Thinking of you x
Posted on May 9, 2017 at 9:37 PM
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beema
Total Posts: 7
Joined: April 27, 2017
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Re: Low AMH - to continue treatment in NZ, to go abroad or, to seek a donor
Thanks Katiepie, it feels pretty crappy, it makes me wonder if I should be doing more, like take up Yoga etc.
I just had my follow up appointment, clomid was offered to us this time, he gave me a prescription for 3 months worth. It sounds like the idea is that I take the clomid for 5 days when my period starts and then do a scan, if things look good then I'd start IVF drugs, if not then I can convert to IUI.
It was interesting to hear your husband has low sperm count, my partner does too but luckily he is still able to do IUI's (borderline). He has to take a second test to confirm he results, I just hope the count doesn't go down for the second test because otherwise IUI will no longer be an option. I wonder if he can freeze like three lots of sperm (over like 3 weeks) and then use them all at once for an IUI. Lol.
I forgot to ask my specialist about Ubiquinol, do you take that instead of prenatal vitamins? I'd definitely be keen to give it a go.
Posted on May 11, 2017 at 11:42 AM
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angeandseh
Total Posts: 2
Joined: May 11, 2017
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Re: Low AMH - to continue treatment in NZ, to go abroad or, to seek a d
Hi Katie pie, I've just signed up and read all your posts I am a long standing member of the NZ IVF fertility we site on Facebook and am wondering if you are a member on there? There are so many ladies on there all going through the he same thing..lots of great advice too..have you heard of or read the book "it start with the egg" by Rebecca Fett it is amazing! Has everything in there that you need to help you improve egg quality..have you done research on this aspect of infertility...it CAN be improved...this cycle will hopefully work for you but hopefully others will read my message too and if you need to do another cycle you can try some of the things in the book...if I could make a recommendation one thing I believe in the most that has an affect on egg quality is Ubiquinol..if you can get yourself on this for as long as you can before treatments it should help..400mg is best for someone with low AMH, also turmeric tablets, melatonin two months before treatment, b12, vit D, above what is in the pregnancy vitamin, specialist won't tell you what you can do to help your egg quality as they don't believe it can be helped...however these are all natural supliments and seem to work in a lot of cases...my partner is female we are using her eggs as I can't have kids, and her AMH was 10, 3 yrs ago..before she started taking any sups we were doing a little Chinese herbs and acupuncture (which I believe works too but you need at least a year doing it) first cycle was a complete flop no mature eggs as they underestimated her and though good AMH young 33, does not mean your quality is going to be good even with high AMH...second cycle was better but has just started taking sups...got one fresh and one frozen embryo..third cycle,,,just done in April, a year or more on sups everything I suggested and more(also good quality fish oil from usana,) this time we got 11eggs only ever had 7 in cycle two, 9 were mature, 8 fertilised and we got 4 embryos, one put back fresh at day three which they recommended as they thought the other were not looking so good...however they all survived but here was knowing if the one we put back would have made it to a blast..it ended in a chemical pregnancy, low levels show up in hsg test..we have now just on Monday transferred our best 5BB embryo..even if non of these work I believe this was a huge improvement on the other two cycles oh and did I say her last AMH test (that they took this year cos we were with a different clinic for public funded cycle this tie ) was 12!! It went up in three years and is not supposed to do that!! They had not explanation for this!! Please try to help yr quality if u can..and join the Facebook group..all the very best and please keep us updated as to how thugs go!! Xx
Posted on May 11, 2017 at 5:35 PM
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Katiepie
Total Posts: 7
Joined: April 1, 2017
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Re: Low AMH - to continue treatment in NZ, to go abroad or, to seek a donor
Hi Beema,
I've been thinking about Yoga too! It's meant to be really good for relaxation I did try pilates but I think I tried one that was a bit too intense! I was sore for days afterwards! lol! Don't think it was the best decision I've made!
That's great news you were able to have a follow up appointment so soon! I'm so pleased it went well and, that you have something new to try! I will keep my fingers and toes crossed that it works for you and, that your hubby's second test still allows you the option of IUI if you choose to do so. That thought did cross my mind regarding the freezing of lots of sperm too! It's not a bad idea! Could be worth asking just to see what they say? With our IVF round, we chose to do IMSI - so hubby's sperm was put under a microscope with a magnification 600 times the normal size. It just helped select the best ones from the bunch - as he has a few abnormal ones too!
Ubiquinol is meant to help with egg quality so, I take it as well as Elevit (and hubby takes Menevit). Quite a few clinics around the world recommend it and, my acupuncturist put me on to it. I am not sure if it has made a difference because I don't have another cycle to compare but, for given my low AMH, the dr did expect poor quality eggs with this round - and I ended up with really good egg quality so... I like to think that it had something to do with it! It was worth giving a go anyway It also doesn't have any hormones in it so it won't interfere with IVF meds etc - where as some other things do . I get mine online at Pharmacy Direct. It's about half the price of buying at a health store I have put the link below for you just incase you wanted to take a look
http://www.pharmacydirect.co.nz/GO-Healthy-GO-Co-Enzyme-Q10-Ubiquin...
xx
Posted on May 11, 2017 at 7:22 PM
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beema
Total Posts: 7
Joined: April 27, 2017
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Re: Low AMH - to continue treatment in NZ, to go abroad or, to seek a donor
That is great news your eggs are good quality Katiepie, so glad things are working out for you, I would love to continue to hear updates from you. A doctor I spoke to said the same thing about AMH levels having a correlation with egg quality, but she also said since we are young our egg quality will be better than a 40 year old with the same AMH. I will definitely get some Ubiquinol right now though!
Good idea getting IMSI, I hadn’t heard about that before but sounds like a great idea, you don’t want those abnormal ones getting in!
Angenadseh, thanks for the tips around extra supplements, I was considering upping my Vitamin D but since I was already taking a pre-natal supplement I didn’t want to over dose on anything. I’m taking Elevit, what dose of turmeric, melatonin, b12, vit D should I be taking?
I wasn’t able to find that facebook group you mentioned, do you have a link? I don’t think I will post on it because it lacks anonymity but I would like to give it a read at least.
Posted on May 12, 2017 at 11:48 AM
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angeandseh
Total Posts: 2
Joined: May 11, 2017
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Re: Low AMH - to continue treatment in NZ, to go abroad or, to seek a donor
hi bea, thanks for your reply
Are you on ubiquinol? If not if you can get on 2x200mgs or even 200 to start if u can't afford it, in my opinion this is the most important one to be on..turmeric is a fantastic antioxidant, go to iherb and they sell there I can't R.E.M. What dose it was..melatonin is hard to get, need prescription, out specialist gave to us, 3mgs just one, but just the moth before and then the few weeks up to egg collection,, if u look at b12 content in the elevit it may not be that high, Sarah takes the clinicians drops 1drop a day 50mgs, low b 12 can be linked to miscarriage..the facebook web site is called Fertility support sight is called Fertility family NZ (IVF, IUI FERTILITY SUPPORT GROUP, NEWZEALAND. If u can't find it you could tell me yr face book and I can add u, I'm a.bit hard to find my mine is Ange or angie kearney friend request me and I can add u,
Posted on May 14, 2017 at 2:33 PM
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beema
Total Posts: 7
Joined: April 27, 2017
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Re: Low AMH - to continue treatment in NZ, to go abroad or, to seek a donor
Hi Katiepie and TashNZ,
I was just wondering how everything was going with you guys? I also wanted to give you an update about my situation too.
After two failed attempts of egg collection, we tried Clomid and we hit a good month because they were able to get five eggs. Three of them fertilised, but unfortunately only one developed in to a healthy day five blastocyst. Our original plan was to freeze all, but I didn't want to risk my only chance (since we were completely out of money), so they transferred that one and it stuck. I'm 10 weeks pregnant :O
Katiepie, I was wondering if you could contact me? I created a temporary email address (since this is a public forum):
beema082017@gmail.com
Posted on August 17, 2017 at 9:53 AM
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Katiepie
Total Posts: 7
Joined: April 1, 2017
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Re: Low AMH - to continue treatment in NZ, to go abroad or, to seek a donor
Hi Beema
Congratulations on your pregnancy - I am so so happy for you! And you must be over the moon I am so pleased your Clomid cycle worked, you were able to capture a good month and, ended up with a beautiful embryo to transfer on Day 5! I completely understand why you would choose to transfer in that situation too. Our original plan with our Elonva cycle was to freeze all, but with embryos ready to go and the thought of spending more weighing on our mind we decided to transfer too! We are currently 17 weeks pregnant with our first little embie and have one more in the freezer. We are so excited and so grateful to have had such a positive result (excuse the pun lol) after being told of our low chances.
Of course - I will flick you an email using the address you posted shortly x
Posted on August 17, 2017 at 2:43 PM
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TashNZ
Total Posts: 5
Joined: April 27, 2017
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Re: Low AMH - to continue treatment in NZ, to go abroad or, to seek a donor
Hey beema,
Congratulations on your news! That's so great, I'm really happy for you, and pleased to hear that the clomid worked out My partner and I are still a work in progress! Last time I wrote we'd tried 1 clomid round but decided not to proceed. We went on clomid the next month - we decided not to do an IVF cycle but coincidentally we had an appointment with our specialist on day 8 of my cycle so were able to have a scan and get bloods done. Again, only 2 follicles but very good E2 levels. After that we decided to give Elonva a go - worst round yet! (Only 1 follicle and barely any E2 activity showing). So we're back to the clomid, and my specialist has said we shouldn't even bother with Gonal F top-ups because it obviously doesn't have much effect on me.
For our last (just completed) clomid round we have 4 follicles at day 8 between 8mm and 10mm - definitely the best result in terms of numbers. However, my E2 levels were not high and I also had a cyst so we decided not to proceed.
I'd be really interested to hear what your clomid experience was like - we started off with 50mg but for the last cycle went up to 100mg. What level were you on, and did you do top-up injections (of Gonal F or some similar drug) after day 8? How many clomid rounds did you go through before proceeding to egg collection?
All the best and thanks for getting in touch!
Posted on August 17, 2017 at 9:19 PM
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beema
Total Posts: 7
Joined: April 27, 2017
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Re: Low AMH - to continue treatment in NZ, to go abroad or, to seek a donor
That is great news Katiepie! And thank you for you email I will respond soon. If anyone in our position checks this forum in the future I think this could give them hope.
I'm sorry to hear that TashNZ, that's such a long time to keep being disappointed. It was my first round of Clomiphene (is that the same as Clomid) that worked, I was actually on 150mg, a very high dose which I actually couldn't get all at once from the chemist! I started the pills on day 2 or 3 of my period, then after five nights of being on Clomiphene, I had a scan and there were three small follicles, we decided to proceed so they put me on Puregon 150. My follicles were growing very slowly, so I was on that for nine days, the people doing the scans would make comments like "you must have the record for most scans". At some point two more follicles popped up but they suspected only three would mature. At the egg collection they were able to get five eggs, three fertilised (I wonder if they were the mature ones), and only one turned in to a healthy blastocyst (I wonder if that was the egg from my dominant follicle).
Posted on August 21, 2017 at 10:46 AM
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TashNZ
Total Posts: 5
Joined: April 27, 2017
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Re: Low AMH - to continue treatment in NZ, to go abroad or, to seek a donor
Thanks beema, that's very helpful! I'm off for a scan tomorrow to see if the cyst has gone, in which case we'll have another go with Clomiphene. Hope all is going well!
Posted on September 11, 2017 at 9:20 PM
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