Cancelled IVF, no response to stimulation

[Itsjustme2021]

My cycle was cancelled earlier this month and I’m yet to have a follow up call with my clinic. I never really asked any questions about my pre-ivf teat results and I can’t stop thinking what could have gone wrong.
Any suggestions on what I could ask on my follow up call?
Also, my period arrived on time like it would which was surprising, we are thinking of trying naturally for the next couple of months. It would be interesting to know if seeing my period means my body has recovered already.

No response to stimulation could mean diminished ovarian reserve, so definitely ask for your previous test results - FSH and AMH are key indicators of your egg quantity and quality. However the fact they attempted IVF means your results couldn't have been too bad. For those with severe diminished ovarian reserve, they wouldn't even attempt stimulation and would suggest you use donor eggs. Sorry I know that's not what you'll want to hear and of course that might not be the reason but it is a possibility.

Hi @Itsjustme2021

I’m sorry to hear about your recent cycle, what’s your background: age, how long you’ve been trying.

Unfortunately we often have to become our own advocate when having IVF, so you will likely benefit from finding out everything that’s happened to date: what has been normal and what has been normal and what happened in this cycle.

You might want to ask and note down all the results from the tests you’ve had, this should include:

• Day 3 bloods: LH, FSH, TFT's, testosterone, DHEA, sex hormone binding globulin, PRL
• Day 21 progesterone
• AMH
• Results from the US including AFC
• Results of the sperm analysis

Ask what happened in this cycle, how many follicles were present and how were they growing as you took the stims, what size did they get up to.

And ask what protocol do they plan to use next time.

I always have questions for review appointments and sit with a pen and paper noting everything down.

@Itsjustme2021 I am sorry for your poor response. I had a similar thing recently, although I did go ahead with egg collection but only got 3 eggs but only 1 mature which did not divide properly. I have had a review following this and we discussed my AMH levels which were low (3.5), AFC again was low (9). And then discussed my stimulation medication, I was already taking the max dose I could butnwe discussed different stimulation medications. Also discussed trying short protocol instead of long.

However in my case due to my test results and the fact I was already on the max dose meds the consultant did not hold a lot of hope on much improvement. So we are now considering donor eggs. But think you need to be asking about the above first to make a decision. Hope you have a review soon and it goes well

Hi I've just started my first round of ivf and it was cancelled due to my follicles not growing quick enough but I have pcos and have 60 follicles from stims but without stims my follicle count is 50 I felt normal on stims as if nothing was happening which explains my results. But I wanted to know should I try naturally this cycle as it seems like I haven't ovulated yet. On cycle day 12 today and I usually ovulate cycle day 20 without fail. Any advice please

@Beunique i was similar. 46 follicles at baseline scan and 150 menopur and they didn't want to up it due to risk of OHSS due to having PCO like ovaries. I don't have PCOS as no symptoms other than loads of follicles. I only got 6 eggs 5 of which were mature.

My ovulation after my failed fresh transfer (early miscarriage) as not until day 28/29. I used tests and it was a stringer positive. Not that I think it will work naturally but it is handy for predicting things

@Itsjustme2021 I don't think amh etc makes a high difference. Im mid 30s now and I have a high amh and AFC with my fsh etc all within good levels for fertility. So it just goes to show that sometimes it is just the medication or just the body being the body. Even normal can't prevent things.

I would ask about using a different protocol if this was unexpected based on FSH, AMH and AFC. I had a good AFC and slightly low AMH and had a very poor response on a long protocol. On the short protocol my response was good and I got ca.17 eggs in each round.