Egg collection and no eggs

[Rosiestraws]

Just had my egg collection for egg freezing this morning and they got no eggs..So gutted.

I've got DOR with AMH of 0.8 and I had 5 follicles on the start of the medication (went up to 7 but the two new smaller ones never progresse big enough) So gutted as I had 3-5 decent looking follicles and had got my hopes up that I might get that number of eggs at least :(

I'm 34 and the doctor has said I'm still young and we'll try something different next time and recommended a supplement of Coenzyme q10 600mg a day now for 4-6 weeks and I can try again in a month or so.. I'll also have a meeting with my consultant in a few weeks (she's on annual leave!) to discuss changing medication/what to try next time.

I was going into theatre 25-30 mins late so I'm wondering if that played a role? She also said my right ovary (which only had 1 follicle was really tiny (I think she mentioned 4mm) and in a difficult place so they didn't try to get this but it had been almost 14mm on a scan on Monday and then dropped down to 13mm on Wed but consultant then said she wasn't worried etc... Now I'm wondering if something strange was going on then to.have made it start shrinking etc!

Also on my left ovary on Monday there were 4 good sized ones but one wasn't visible on the Wed scan so just makes me wonder if something was wrong then! She said I hadn't ovulated.

Just so dejected and wondering if anyone has any advice/similar experience...particularly with DOR if that might have played a role..?

TIA

Hi. I'm sorry I have no advice or experience but just wanted to say I'm sorry that happened today. I also have low amh (under 0.5). I had just 2 follicles in November, have been taking dhea and coq10 since then and had 5 last week. I am on norethisterone now and due to start injections soon, we are doing flare protocol. I've been told my chances are low but I'm also staying optimistic so I completely understand how you must feel right now. Can they try a different protocol next time?

Yes the doc who did the egg collection said they'd try a diff protocol next time and diff supplements etc so I guess that's a possibility. I'm just so shocked and wondering if it was timing that went wrong for taking the trigger or something. Surely the fact that my right follicle had shrunk 1 mm Monday to wed and then 10mm by egg collection must mean something?! And one other follicle had disappeared from mon to wed...wonder if ovulated and they missed it !?

thanks for your reply.. Maybe someone else will come along with similar experience ..

I'm so sorry Rosie, I don't have the same experience but just wanted to say how awful, it must be very distressing.

I have DOR / low AMH and had cycles cancelled before egg collection if follicles hadn't grown as expected and that was disappointing enough, and my last cycle got fewer eggs than expected and nothing to transfer, so I have some idea of that feeling a lot of effort with nothing tangible at the end.

I don't think a 30 minute delay would have made a difference. What was your trigger?
I'd want the clinic to be looking very closely at all the things they can do for a better outcome next time. Take care 💐

Hi @Rosiestraws I'm so sorry this has happened to you. I also have DOR with AMH of 0.4pmol.

I just wanted to clarify - was it that each follicle was completely empty with no eggs? Or were they not mature enough?

If they weren't mature enough, it might be that they need to change the dosage of your meds, maybe try a different trigger? Do you mind me asking which meds you were on?

Just for reference I had 3 follicles at baseline, and I was on a short protocol with low stims and that seem to work well with me.

Again I'm sorry you went through this, it's such a rollercoaster isn't it.

Thanks for your replies.

it was that each follicle was empty - no eggs at all..She said they even got someone else in to check etc and I was in for 45 mins instead of 15 as they were really trying to make sense.

Having said that I've recently remembered she said something about 4 follicles on left having none which is correct for 4 good sized follicles I was expecting but there should actually have been 6 follicles there total including the tiny ones* so I'm wondering now if this means that she didnt even SEE all so there were 2 more than might have disappeared or shrunk between scan on Wed and EC sat.

• another interesting thing was I had 5 decent sized follicles on Monday on left but on scan on Wed 1 of these she couldn't see. At the time she said she wasn't worried and it was to do with maybe bowel obscuring things a bit and fluid or whatever but now that combined with the right follicle having shrunk slightly (and then a LOT by Sat) makes me.think it seem like there's something wrong.

I was on Menopur 150iu, Gonal-F 300iu and I didn't respond that well to.begin with so ended up taking them for 14 days, Fyramandel started mornings 0.25mg day 9, trigger was 50iu Buserelin..

@ohsheglows do you mind me asking what drugs you were on for the one it worked for you and how many eggs?

@LongerthanMrTicklesarms so everything online says 37 hours causes no eggs so I'm just thinking well if they went to.right ovary first, couldn't get it then told me they were in there 45 mins then maybe some at least of the left side was done by 37 hours? :(

@Rosiestraws in that case if the delay in getting you to thratre has contributed to the situation I would hope your clinic would take that on board, some other posters may be able to help with that.
My last few egg collections I think I went to theatre after 36.5 hours but I'd need to check.

I think it's really awful what happened and if the clinic were at fault or there's a good chance they were I'd want some discount for the future, I just personally don't know enough about the technical aspects to say if that's the case. Plus I imagine the clinic would try to wriggle out of it!

Have you got a package with them?

@Rosiestraws I second what the above poster says - if it was an early ovulation issue, I'd hope that the clinic would take this into consideration and discount for the next cycle. Or call you in at the right time the next time you go in for egg collection!

So I'm on short protocol. I did about 8 days of 150iu Bemfola, then 4 days of cetrotide and ovitrelle as my trigger. I had 3 follies on baseline but ended up with 8 eggs. Only 6 were mature though.

Thanks for the replies ladies.

I guess I don't know yet what happened but it just seems like surely it must have been early ovulation or something to cause the right follicle to shrink. Unless it's something more serious like no eggs in my follicles or something.. ugh I guess will have to wait and see what the doctor says/recommends..

I thought before EC that with that my last scan being on Wed morning and then EC on Sat morning it was a bit of a concern because surely lots can change in between so I'll certainly be insisting on scans closer to EC next time. Wish I had previously! And ditto for blood tests to check if I've ovulated or oestrogen levels etc. I was also told earlier on last week that my EC would be on Fri and then on Wed I was told it would be Sat - I had one at 18mm, 1 at 17mm and two others around 13mm or above on the Wed (so given the few extra days could have gotten bigger) so I did at the time wonder why it was not going ahead as Fri and I wish with hindsight I had questioned it! I had just assumed it was to give time to bring the smaller ones up to a good size, but if I had 2 already good size and 2 more almost there (well I know not technically but I've read that 14mm above often has a decent egg) then surely should have gone ahead sooner. But it was nurses telling me Fri first and my consultant saying Sat so I just assumed it was the nurses guessing and I should trust the consultant.

Yes I have a three cycle package but with a guarantee (due to my DOR and me asking specifically for one) that I can get a refund of the difference between one cycle and the three cycle package if I chose to not go ahead after the first cycle or the same after 2nd cycle (so I'd have to pay for 2x cycle of their standard amounts but get the rest back). So there's a bit of leverage for me to choose to go elsewhere if I'm not happy with their explanation/plan for next time etc.

It's comforting also to hear that it's not unusual to be going in for the op at 36.5 hours. I just think if 37 hours means disaster for eggs then surely it's not DEAD ON 37 that makes a difference? Like 36 hours 59 min it's ok, 37 min all gone wrong - cant be right? So therefore there must be a bit of wiggle room between "this is ok" and "this is starting to be cutting it fine" where it starts being riskier and perhaps I was too far towards the end of that gap? I will certainly insist on it being 36 hours next time if I can!

Hi @Rosiestraws this is an old thread but I hope you still get this. I wondered if you were with Create (the 3 cycle package) and how the next round went. I’m in same position - no eggs collected

I'm so sorry this happened to you!

I also have low AMH and my first round (when I was 33) I had four follicles and got one egg. Amazingly, that egg did become a blast, but the transfer failed. My consultant is working on a study of how CoQ10 helps in these cases and on my second round, I took CoQ10 for 3 months beforehand and they also added letrozole. That time (when I was 35) I got four eggs, which isn't massive numbers but a vast improvement for me! They all fertilised and I ended up with 3 top graded blasts.

Hi @Doxy21 Sorry I don't really check these old threads regularly so I didnt see your reply. So originally I was with London Womens Clinic and after this one I had a couple of cancelled cycles before stims and then one where a similar thing happened where I had 2 follicles on a penultimate scan before EC then only one of the scan before and they couldnt explain it. They said I could go ahead but only with chance of getting one so I didn't bother. In the end I changed to Create and I found the medical side of things much better (the admin/organisation there is pretty rubbish but I'm fairly easy going about that stuff - I figure the medical results are what matters).

The difference with Create was that they did the blood tests throughout the cycle and almost every cycle I was at risk of premature ovulation and they would do things such as add in an extra cetrotide shot to try to prevent this or ask me to take some medication on top to stop the follicle rupturing. I still had two cycle where I ovulated one egg prior to EC but they also had scans right before the EC - in theatre - and I could cancel then, keeping the "cycle" intact (albeit having to have already paid for meds and bloods etc).

As far as I understand it for COenyzmeq10, that's all to do with the quality of the egg, not how many you grow or collect. Create did not recommend I carry on with this so I didn't.

I was egg freezing and it was a long and expensive journey - from the ages of 35-36 I did 9 cycles with Create and froze a total of 12 eggs. I have no idea if the eggs are any good as I have not used them but I was much happier with their treatment etc than when I was with LWC.

Hope that helps.

Thank you so much. That’s really helpful!