ARGC - any feedback

[wassp]

hello everyone

I am 36 years old devasted to have found out that my AMH level is only 2.88 and I have been told that the chances of me getting pregnant naturally is no more than 5% :-( (FSH 12) My husband and I applied to ARGC yesterday for IVF treatment but I understand there is a 6 weeks waiting time....

I would be grateful if you could;

• share any experience with ARGC and whether it is worth the wait
• anything I can do until we are seen by them in terms of diet to gain time (I see in some of my searches that they advise to drink lots of milk, avoid alcohol, coffee etc)

_ any sucess stories with low AMH level?

• any advice and tips that can help

Thanks and good luck to everyone who is trying!

Hi I hope you don't mind me marking my place on your thread. Would love to hear what others have to say too. We are quite likely going to be sending our registration to ARGC tomorrow. I really hope it isn't a 6 week waiting time for an initial appointment. Personally I'm not avoiding caffeine or alcohol in the run up to ivf, however I don't drink a lot of either anyway but I'd probably still have the odd drink. I am taking things that may hopefully improve egg quality such as omega 3 & Q10 and generally eating healthier. Good luck and I hope you hear from ARGC very soon x

Fingers crossed for both of us then! :-) I am actually exactly the same with alcohol and coffee. Just wondering if I should stop completely. I will have a look into Omega 3 and Q10 too, thanks a lot ! x

I had EC today with Argc. It was my first ivf. I think I did have to wait for 6 weeks for an appt. Then when you are ready to start they require you to do a monitoring cycle. Then it kicks off very quickly after that. I have to say I have been extremely impressed with them. You do have to be prepared to be at their beck and call once you start. The second week of stimming means you can't be more than 30mins away from the clinic. But I found it very reassuring have 2 blood tests a day. Things to be aware of:

Cost - they test your immunes, they given you a hysteo and if cytokines are raised in your immunes, this could delay treatment for a few months whilst you have humira. My NK cells were raised and I did Ivig which was £1500 a go. It's a matter of handing over your credit card.

Hormone levels- I believe they like your fsh to be below 10. So if it's above, it may delay treatment for another month. But don't forget fsh can really fluctuate from month to month. I think E2 has to be below 200 on day 1/2 as well. My progesterone was too high at the beginning and I didn't think i was going to start. Their point is that you will respond better when your hormone levels are quieter.

Wassp - I don't think they pay attention to amh or if they measure it, they use it to decide your protocol. My amh is similar to yours and I am 33 and so I was put on a flare protocol.

All in all, whatever happens, I have been super pleased with their treatment. They are chaotic but efficient. I was told today the average age of treatment there is 40. Just be prepared to roll with them.

Hello,

I have an ARGC baby, after several failed cycles elsewhere. Firstly, if you can be very flexible with the appointment date and time you can get seen sooner, just tell them you will take a cancellation.

The website Fertility friends has alot of info on ARGC, and they are a fantastic resource for during treatment.

I believe them to be worth it :) It did cost me a total of 20K though which included travel, so definitely not a cheap option. It is like IVF bootcamp, very intense, lots of trips to London. It will not be what you expect either! Its organised chaos, often with people queuing to the door at 7.30am. They dont forget you though, even though they work on paper files and not computers.

They will get you drinking lots of milk once treatment begins, related to egg quality I think. They dont worry about AMH levels IIRC, but are concerned with FSH.

I took vitamins, ate Brazil nuts, drank pineapple juice, had acupuncture gave up caffeine and alcohol prior to treatment, mainly as it was my last throw of the dice and I wanted no regrets if it failed, who knows if any of that helped.

Just a word of warning, their walls are plastered with baby pics, I found this incredibly hard on the first visit (very soon after a recent IVF failure) and although I see why they do it, I wish they wouldnt!

Hope it all works out for you both

Thank you so much joycep and firstpost !!!! Very helpful indeed!

My work is only 30 min away to ARGC so I am hoping work will give me some flexibility when the treatment starts. Mind you not sure how effective I will be during the day.. Obviously if we are lucky enough to start the treatment straight away. I never heard of hysteo before, think will learn more when it all starts.

Once again thank you so much for taking time to respond. Joycep - I hope all goes well for you!! all the best of luck :-) please share your experience as you go along.

Firstpost - great to hear you have a success story :-) and thanks a lot for the advice on food too. How much milk are they suggesting to drink? Is there any other food that I should avoid other than caffeine and alcohol? I have a mild dairy intolerance but will find out what else I can do if milk doesn't work for me.

xx

I have 2 ARGC miracles and obviously cant praise them enough. I had 5 cycles of ICSI/IVF, no additional meds or tests and was 38 at the last attempt.

I'm an absoleute control freak and hated not really understanding what was happening or what questions I should ask. Mr T believes to have the best chance you need to be relaxed and I worked really hard at that!! I also gave up everything 'bad' to maximise my chances, its not forever!

But most of all you just need to have total faith in ARGC and go with the flow (or as firstpost says bootcamp is a better expression for it!). There is no point questioning, trying to come earlier or later, have less appointments, query treatments.. They're the best and thats what you're paying for.

Good luck, its a very difficult time when you're in it... but once its over, its sooo worth it and looking back now its seems such a short time and such a small sacrifice.

xx

@Pattaz2711 Just saw your pregnancy test. Line is definitely darker! Keeping everything crossed for you x

I did two cycles, both successful but the first resulted in a miscarriage, chromosomal abnormality so nothing to do with the treatment the first time I had ever been pregnant and just one of those things. Second time positive result, full term pregnancy and a bouncing baby boy!

Along with everything that everyone is saying I would add acupuncture but with someone who is specialised in infertility acupuncture. It really helps raise the number of eggs collected. The first time I did acupuncture and I think 24 eggs were retrieved. Second time had to cut back on costs and so didn’t do the acupuncture and then 8 eggs. But having said that you only need one egg and one sperm. Also it is a very emotional and trying time so relaxing on your back on the couch for half an hour while someone treats you personally is never a bad thing.

ARGC is expensive but imo you get the best care and lab work in the final stages when it really counts.