Low AMH levels

[mlruirod]

Hi,

I'm new to this site and trying to look for some advice, but probably for reassurance the most.

We've been trying to conceive for 4 years now with no luck. We managed to get pregnant 2 years ago but I had a missed miscarriage (I started bleeding the day before our 12 weeks scan to find out there was no fetus, just an empty bag). After a year of trying to conceive again, we asked our GP for a referral to an infertility unit. All tests results came back fine but the NHS has accepted to fund our treatment.
We were very excited about this, but in my first appointment, the consultant told me the my AMH test result shows the I'm close to the low limit for low ovarian reserve. I'm 36 years old and my AMH level is 5pmol/l. He said they can give me strong injections that could help eith the IVF treatment but the chances for success are lower. I wonder now whether this is the reason why I couldn't conceive or the miscarriage.

Has anyone been on the same boat? Did IVF work for you? I can't atop thinking about this since my appointment and would like to know other people's stories.

Is there anything I can do to improve my ovarian reserve. I know it's impossible to improve the numbers, but maybe the quality of my eggs?

Thank you in advance
ML

Hi
when I was tested at 31, my AMH was 6.3 so incredibly low for my age, along with a low Antral follicle count.
I also have twisty slow tubes so we were referred for IVH. I took q10 as I read it could help and had acupuncture.. but really that was to make me feel like I was doing something.
my clinic recommended taking folic acid and these proxeed sachets too.
I did get 8 eggs and we had twins (now turning 7!) so we were really lucky that ivf worked for us but do ask if you have any questions x

Thank you very much for your reply! It's great to hear you managed to get 8 eggs and I'm glad it all went so well for you. Thank you for sharing these supplements, I am going to buy Q10 and the proxeed sachets, hopefully they'll help.
Did you get pregnant in your first transfer?

I'm so excited and nervous at the same time. I've been through so much sadness, frustration and stress in the last 4years and now that I know I'll start IVF soon I want to try anything I can to make it work for us, but it's so scary at the same time!

We were really lucky that it was our first round of ivf yes.
I remember feeling completely the same I hear you. Your clinic should offer counselling too which may be worth bearing in mind xx

To hopefully offer some hope, I had some testing done and at the age of 24 mine came out at 4.3PMoL (they said this could be due to my implant being taken out a few months before, but it could also be just that I do have a very low egg count). I just used the Premom app and ovulation tests to track my peak days and I'm now 21 weeks pregnant with a lovely little girl! With heavy tracking it didn't take me long at all to conceive xx

I had a high AMH, but can only assume my egg quality was poor. We TTC 12yrs, 2 rounds of IVF and 3 losses. No actual fertility issues found. We don't have children, but here are some things I tried:

• Get a copy of 'It starts with an egg'. I bought a copy from ebay. Some good tips on cutting down potential pesticides and contaminants which might affect fertility
• I started taking ubiquinol. I think this is a more potent CQ10
• Started DH on lycopene supplements.

Obviously being a healthy weight and limited alcohol/caffeine is recommended too.

@mlruirod buy Ubiquinol that is active form of coq-10. It's more expensive but is more beneficial.

I've been TTC for 4 years and have done heavy tracking, medium tracking, no tracking (as I was getting too obsessed), taken supplements,e tc and no luck. I did get pregnant 2 years ago but it ended up in an early miscarriage.

I'm not sure if my low egg count has been always a thing or if it's a recent thing as I'm 36yo and it seems the numbers drops quickly after women turn 35yo. I'll just keep trying anything and hopefully ivf will increase my chances now 🤞

Thank you @SM4713 abd @Olika , I just bought the book and will be looking for ubiquinol too.

@SM4713 I'm so sorry for your losses and that you struggled so much with getting pregnant. I do worry alot that it'll never happen to me and I think it's because my sister never got pregnant either, but her circumstances was totally different to mine. However, it's always at the back of my mind.
Did you stop TTC or are still continuing?

@mlruirod Hello OP, I'm 39 and 31 weeks pregnant after our second round of IVF. I had my AMH tested just before our first round in August 2022 and it was 7.1. Six months later it had dropped to 3.6. But my doctor told me that AMH can fluctuate a lot, and the more important value is your antral follicle count.

I was very focused on trying to improve egg quality, even though there's not much concrete evidence that it's possible to do this. I took:

• FH Pro for Women (conception supplement that contains everything from It Starts With The Egg. Bloody expensive!)
• Magnesium
• Vitamin D + K2
• NMN (see catherinechong.com.au/nmn-and-fertility/)
• Vitamin C

This was all before my second round. On our first round I got 10 eggs and 2 blastocysts. The first transfer failed, I miscarried the second. On the second round I got 6 eggs and 3 blastocysts, better quality than the first round. The first transfer resulted in this pregnancy so we have 2 blastocysts in the freezer.

I don't know if the supplements helped, or if this was just my lucky round.

But really, all that to say that yes, you can absolutely get pregnant with low AMH.

I wish you massive luck!

Hi, I had low AMH after TTC for a few years. Had my first round of IVF at age 39 and was incredibly lucky to find out I was pregnant just before I turned 40 and now have a 20 month old little boy.
I wish you all the best with your journey, stay positive x

Sorry to hear you're going through this. It's really positive that you're going to start IVF so that's something to hope for.

I also have very low AMH, and I found out when I was 26. I'm 28 now and have only been trying for a few months with no luck, but I'm feeling very worried and anxious about it. I'm fully expecting things not to work out for us, then again I never was an optimist! Hoping others have more suggestions for you than I do and good luck x

@countrypunk that's amazing and congratulations! You'll soon will be able to hold your little one 😊

Thank you very much for the advice, I'm going to start buying all these supplements, I'll try anything to get better chances!

@NorthDevonBeachLover thank you for sharing your story! I'm so glad it worked for you and you have your little baby now. This is really making me stay more positive!

@Nessie2395 I hear you, I'm not a very optimistic person either, and it's difficult to stay positive when you really want it and it doesn't happen.
Hopefully you'll be more lucky than me, you have only been trying for a few months so I'm sure your moment will come soon! However, if you feel it's not happening after 1 year, talk to your GP. The referall process is looong. I didn't speak to my doctor and kept on trying for 2 years, I finally got pregnant but it ended up in an early miscarriage and then tried again for another year- it was then when I talked to my GP and it's taken 1 year to finally have my first IVF appointment.
I wish you all the best with your journey and I'm sure you can be lucky even with low egg count, but if you feel it's not happening after a year, then call your doctor 🤞

Did you stop TTC or are still continuing?

After the 2nd round of IVF, I had a call with the consultant. She was the 1st one to explain multiple things with the eggs, PGD and my chance of conceiving- which were <5%. She asked whether I'd considered donor eggs. Well, she was the 1st to ever mention it, so no, I had never considered it!

At that point, after 12yrs TTC, I was 41. I looked into donor eggs in the UK and abroad, but then covid started. We decided to stop further IVF at that point.

In hindsight, there are a few things I could have done earlier on. My GP was useless, refused to do testing- even though the NHS said I was eligible for the initial blood tests. When I finally had a Day 21 test done, all they said was that it was normal. No further testing offered! I wasn't on mumsnet then, so didn't know what was 'normal'. I eventually changed GP's then paid for private testing. It may not have changed the outcome, but many years were wasted being told to go home and 'relax'! 😡

I had a very happy life though and lovely DH. Its just a different life the one I'd always thought I'd have x

@SM4713 your journey sounds so similar to.my sister's. She never got pregnant either and is living an amazing life but it was a hard journey for her. She is 9 years older than me and at the time, when she was TTC, she kept telling me to not leave it for too long as any problems could come up and it could be too late. I only felt ready to TTC when I turned 32 and now I totally understand what she meant.

I’m 35 and since the age of 32 (when I found out my amh was 2.0!) I have done 3 cycles of ivf and got pregnant each time but have lost all of them. I’m changing clinic at the moment and making sure that I do genetic testing on any embryos we do get. As I worry my egg quality isn’t that good. I’ve also had immune system issues found so will be getting treatment for that.
my first round I did everything with it starts with the egg and only collected 2 eggs and got one embryo, I ate healthy, no alcohol etc.
my second egg collection I took the usual prenatal vitamins, Chinese herbs, acupuncture and still enjoyed a few glasses of wine, had a holiday before with some sunshine and I got 6 eggs and 2 embryos. So I’m not sure what works!
wishing you the best of luck. I haven’t lost hope yet!