OLDER MUMS! Any one had AMH tests?

[MamaPlusAge]

I am an older mum ( almost 43) and have struggled recently to sustain a pregnancy...

I have paid to have this test and awaiting results - consultant said he 'hoped' I would be 5+ but googling this sounds LOW...

Any one had it...?

Thanks

Hi there

I had one at 38/9 and it was something like 2.8

I have read that it's only 70% accurate. I eventually had IVF (Succesfully) even though they did say that with such a low response I would be a bad responder to the fertility drugs.

Thanks for that Duelling fanjo and many many congratulations the IVF! Brilliant

Sounds worrying about the accuracy as my consultant made out it was THE test and we paid for it

anyway - sounds like there is hope even with a lowish response?

Yes, there is hope. Mine went from 12 to 2.8 in 9 months and I really wasn't convinced by the accuracy of it anyway.

I started drinking wheatgrass, there's no hard and fast medical evidence that it helps but everything I read said it would and also I was told that it's not the quantity of the eggs you have but the quality that counts. it only takes one good egg.

Also plenty of older women have good egg reserve so don't be too down about it.

I have recently had one - I'm 39 and my result was 14.9. But I am now also questiioning the accuracy from what you've said dueling. Did anyone say why it would drop? I've an appointment with a consultant tomorrow so I'm going to ask him about this.

... and duelling, where do you get wheatgrass?

I bought wheatgrass powder on ebay! Had 2 teaspoons in a small amount of juice every morning. I have no idea if it 'worked' and it is absolutely disgusting, but I felt like I would do anything to help me through IVF. I found the fertilityfriends forum really helpful RE diet. particularly this thread.

this site has some good info and links. I also had acupuncture. I have never been a follower of alternative medicine but if anything the acupuncture did help to relax me and I paid much more attention to my diet.

chocciechip I would think 14.9 is an ok result. I don't know why mine dropped so rapidly.

Hello Duelling I am interested about the wheatgrass. I started a 3 month course of acupuncture in early July and am nearing the end of it. I had 3 ICSI cycles all of which failed. the first one was March 09, then Sept 09, then May this year. It's really knocked my spirit. I feel subdued and that no one wants to be my friend. I feel that my friends pity my situation and then thank their lucky stars that they didn't have any problems conceiving their children and have completed their families. I'm 36 but feel I may as well be 56. Life and family has passed me by. Thsi sucks. My life wasn't supposed to be like this. I'm miserable and fed up. My work is suffering terribly. My marriage is suffering massive damage. I know some couples say it brings them closer but that's not true for me and DH. I'm at his throat morning noon and night. I actually feel like running away. The only thing stopping me is the risk of losing my job if I just got in my car and drove off to some other place, miles away and abandoned my desk and work. I work in a solicitors office.

I resent my colleagues who take their annual leave as most of mine has been used up for a holiday in March 2010 and some leave for the ICSI attempt in May this year.

I think i'm going to change clinic if we decide to face another attempt. My first 3 ICSIs were funded by the NHS and I know i'm very fortunate to have had those. Some couples don't get any assistance. I know i must be grateful and I am.

I cannot communicate to DH how awful i feel most of the time. I wake in th early hours of the morning and worry that my life is destined to be childless. I have no known problems eg tubes etc. I'm thankful for that too. I am scared that my life will not involve a child of our own and i;m not sure I have the strength of character to live life with young cousins and friends' young babies and children. It's painful. It's horrible. It's not how it was supposed to be. I feel sorry for myself and need to get a grip. Does anyone have any advice please?

KC11 I am so sorry to hear what you're going through. Why not copy and paste your message as a separate stand-alone thread here in the conception forum? I'm sure there are lots of people who can give you better advice than I can but they might nt read this post.

I'm about to possibly start on the IVF route myself (39, two MCs and then 'unexplained infertility') and I am thinking about maybe going to see a hypnotherapist/counseller who specialises in this area. I have it locked into my mind that I will never be a mum, and I find it nearly impossible to cope with friends and their children and PGs. In fact, I have become a recluse and avoid them all the time. I do feel as if I am carrying a lot of grief all the time.

DH and I have been brought closer, and I feel very grateful for that. I think partly it is communciation communication - because I keep telling him about the problems other people have in their relationship (via MN) and we both making a mega effort to be kind to each other to try avoid the same pit-falls.

But I am wondering if a counsellor specialising in this area might also be able to help you figure out and mend some of the problems between you and your DH. You need each other right now.

What has the medical care been like at your clinic - on a personal level I mean? Prof Lesley Reagan at St Mary's talks about how important 'Tender Loving Care' is with couples even if nothing can be medically done. Just 'being cared' for is enough. I just had an appointment with a consultant today and felt he also understood this. I have been hopelessly negative about my care, and today made a difference to me. Being PROPERLY heard by an understanding professional matters a great deal. If you're not getting this, then change.

On the holiday front: DH and I also haven't been able to afford a holiday this year. What we've been doing instead is packing a picnic, blankets, hats and books and heading off into the countryside somewehre for day trips. Spending the day together talking, sleeping and reading outside. We do the same thing the next day as well so the whole weekend is 'a weekend away'. We've always meant to do this, but never mustered the energy. Honestly, I feel re-charged and refreshed and relaxed after every outing. It's not sunny Spain, but....

x

Thank you all for your responses
KC11 I could not fail to be touched by your post. I am so lucky to already have children but have had fertility issues in the past and know how horribly all-consuming it can be. I really think you need some counselling - what you are enduring sounds too awful and you should not be suffering in this way. Please look after yourself

I got my result today and it was 18.47 which was encouraging but the doctor stressed it was only follicular numbers not quality being tested.

At 43 I am hoping to whoever that it's not too late

KC11, I am so sorry I missed your post. I absolutely understand the dispair you and your DH are feeling and wouldn't want to even attempt to make you feel better because i really do know how S**t it is

Have you thought about IVF as a next step? Can you get funding? I managed to get funding on appeal, as I had been turned down due to my age but they realised I had been referred too late by my GP.

I think Counselling can be a great help, though I didn't ever get it myself and know what it is like to feel resistant to it. I can completely understand the awful feeling that you are destined to be an aunt or a god-parent for the rest of your life, and the jealousy other people can inspire when you are having such a battle to just have one child.

When I was trying to get pregnant I couldn't stop myself imagining a future without children but I had to some how keep myself going and keep hoping. The acupuncture really did help and while going through the IVF I surprised myself with how positive I felt. I was one of the lucky ones and it worked first time for me.

I really hope you have some success and that you can keep communicating with your DH.

41 here 42 in two weeks and 2 mcs in past year..

had no idea about these tests or what they are for??
had the 2 and 21 day tests and just been sent which was all normal so heaven knows where we go now..0_o

Hi. Sorry for the silence. Have taken the plunge and started seeing a counsellor. It already feels better. She made me feel normal for having emotions that spill out at the least expected time. Also having acupuncture once a week and an occasional back and neck massage. I will enjoy this pampering and who cares if it costs a little bit of money. I don't drink don't smoke and hardly go out so that money is well spent I feel. I can always swith to one acu session a fortnight if it gets to be too much expense. I do feel better than i did.

My close family member has now had her baby and I can hold the baby without even feeling the first hint of tears. Have been much better than i thought i would be. i keep tellin myself that one day i'll have one of my own and that the cuddles are good practice for me!!!!!!! It helps me get through it.
My confience in my work is a little better and i keep reminding myself that it's not really true that i'm rubbosh at m job it's just the lack of concentration power that makes me feel inadequat. I will keep reminind myself that i can do my job and that i'm doing a good job. working with the general public can be a nightmre but let's face itit's only paperwork, it's not life or death nor do i have someone liberty in my hands. Thank god I have a nice des job and not a job where i'm out in the thick of some dangerous situation. Our policeand ambulance men and firefighters are so amazing. I couldn't do a job like that. that sounds like i'm crazy but i think you get my drift. I'm putting some perspective on my employment and thinking how fortunate i really am.

God bless to you all TTCers. Let's keep each other inspired tocarry on. Good luck ladies.

I forgot to say I got my AMH result toda. The clinic said between 5 and 15 s normal. My result was 8.2. I don't know if the lower end of the scale is good or bad. Does anyone know whether 5 is bad? or good? Thanks.

The higher the number for AMH results the better. So 8 is better than 5.

KC I was also moved by your post, you sound really low. I'm glad you have found a counsellor and are treating yourself to acupuncture and massages - giving your body a little bit of loving and giving yourself an outlet for the mental turmoil are both very healthy steps.

Do you have any trusted friends in real life who understand what you are going through? I post on the BESH thread if you feel a bit of internet support might help, we're a nice bunch underneath the joking and bitterness. It might help you feel that you are not alone in all this.

Your AMH result is encouraging, but after 3 failed ICSI attempts I would be thinking of getting some more investigations done to understand why they are failing. You can obviously get to a stage of producing eggs and embryo's so need to know why they are not sticking.

DuellingFanjo I recently had my AMH results come back as 2, so it's given me some hope hearing you were successful with similar results. How many IVF attempts did it take? Was it on the NHS?

Thanks only an phase it's goog to know my AMH result is in the normal range. Big relief.

BarbiesBeaver - you're right. I do want to find out why the embryos aren't sticking. The clinic have said that they might recommend that I take a junior Asprin daily to help thin my blood. They also mentioned that i can have some other blood tests done for LUPUS, an Anticoagulant test and some killer cells blood test. These are costly but do you guys think i should get them done sooner rather than later? They cost approx £450 in total. As i'm changing clinics i thought they would want to repeat tests for FSH and LH and Estradiol/Oestrogen. But they haven't mentioned doing these yet.

Duelling - what was your AMH? what did your clinic say about it? how did they adapt your treatment? Was it IUI or IVF or ICSI?

I would think if you're shelling out thousands for IVF/ICSI then £450 would be well worth spending. I think there are clinics specialising in inplantation/Killer cells type tests, it may be worth having a flick through the fertility friends website to get some recommendations for clinics near you. I would get together a list of clinics you're interested in and ring/e mail them to suggest what sort of tests they might do and what prices they would charge. After three goes of ICSI you want to give yourself the best chance you can. Good luck!

Barbs - hiya mate - when you told us about your AMH numbers the other week, I was sure that DF had had a similar result to you, but I couldn't find the thread where I had been stalking talking to her. Have found now and it was here, which confirms that IVF worked for her on the first go, hurray hurray! :)

Hi everyone, I turned 36 in May and had an AMH test at Zita West a few weeks before that. It came out at 5.04 which is in the "low" bracket. Anecdotally I've heard of women conceiving fairly easily with AMH levels much lower than that (0.2, for example). But the nurse at ZW told me to start TTC straight away, especially if I wanted more than one child.
She did tell me however that a reading around 5 was normal for my age. After which she started going on about egg donation, which I think was a little bit premature ! grrrr.

Just started TTC (second month of trying) and almost wish I hadn't taken the AMH because then I wouldn't have this figure haunting me ! I know it only takes one good egg but the pressure of the whole situation has taken the fun out of life. KC11 I can totally sympathise with how you feel.
Good luck everyone, keep those spirits up.

Good luck birdie. I'm 36 as well. I've never ever been pregnant. I had a scare when i was 21 and my period turned up about 2 weeks late. The test i did was negative. At that time I didn't feel remotely ready for a family. I'd only been seeing him for about 6 months. When i told him I was late he panicked and told his mum. She was brilliant and said she buy a test for me but i had already bought one and it was negative. He stopped phoning me and made excuses so we didn't see each other for a couple of weeks and shortly after when he came back from a two week holiday with his mates it was obvious he didn't want to go out with me any more so we finished.

Since then i was extra careful and went on the Pill. At that time I was going out with my now husband. We agreed that a baby was not something we felt ready then. We just always presumed that when we felt grown up enough and had married and were financially secure we'd decide to start a family and within a year i'd be pregnant. That unfortunately didn't happen. Can you psychologically STOP yourself conceiving? Am I hung up on not conceiving so much that my body has switched off the chemicals?

My husband and I bicker a lot about trivial things like who ate the last yoghurt or why someone didn't buy any catfood when they knew we'd run out. These little arguments run and run in our house. Mr Husband tells me that I'm a lazy person and wouldn't be willing to get up five times a night to tend to a baby and that he thinks he would have to do everything because I currently like a lot of sleep. I've always liked sleep since I was a teenager and out til the early hours and then would catch up on sleep because I could and didn't have responsbilities. I still like a lie-in til 9-9.30am whenever i can. In a house that is only occupied by cats who sleep 23 hours a day there's not much care they need from me. DH is an early riser. He works shifts that often start at 5am. He says he wants to have children but does say that it's not the be all and end all for him. How do I come to terms with the possibility that it could just be the two of us? Don't misunderstand me i love him but i don't thik just him and me is engough for me. I don't want to resent him but I feel like the reason we've not got pregnant is because of me. If i don't deserve a child then does it mean I won't ever experience that feeling/bond between mother and child? Have i been a bad person? Do I deserve a child? I think i could provide a lot of love and support for a child. I do want the child to be mine (carried by me) but i would consider using a surrogate or adopting but DH says he doesn't think he would want to adopt. He says he doesn't know how to explain why.