Low amh / 3 lead follicles - need some hope!

[VenusStarr]

I'm doing my first round of IVF, this is my one and only nhs round. I have low amh (5) so was warned they weren't expecting much from me. I have had 4 naturally concieved miscarriages and am following an immune protocol but worried about my low numbers.

I've been on stims since Thursday and had my first scan today. I have 3 decent sized follicles: 2x12mm, 1x10mm plus 5 smaller ones all about 5mm. The nurse seemed happy but thinks that the smaller ones won't come to anything. Follow up is Wednesday and looking at egg collection sometime between Friday and Monday.

I'm on another thread and everyone has loads of follicles / eggs, so struggling not to compare. Due to my low numbers, we've already discussed a day 3 transfer, but I'm worried we won't even get that far.

Please share any positive stories. X

@Scirocco sorry to hear the last one didn’t make it to the freeze. Fingers crossed for your little embryo on board. Must be frustrating about the protocol but hopefully you won’t need to do it again for a while 🤞
Hope you’re staying sane waiting. I was fine until the last few days. Take care.

It's over. Had red blood yesterday and pretty sure it's af today at 8dp5dt. Doctor told me to stop aspirin and clexane, he said it can go either way but I know it's not going to be good news tomorrow @39andabit x

I'm sorry @VenusStarr. This really is a rotten situation. I'll be thinking of you and hoping for a happy surprise for you tomorrow. 💐

@Scirocco sorry that you didn’t get to freeze I know how it feels but the one you have is a great one so fingers crossed. Do you have more rounds with the same clinic? I only have one round on nhs and it felt terrible to have nothing frozen 🥲

@VenusStarr I am so sorry really thought this would ve worked but remember you re in a great position with your frosties and you won’t have to wait long. I am also on alert about having my period anytime soon it is so scary 😦

@jolly86 I can have another 2 rounds with the same clinic under the NHS or I can look at private.

I'm undecided, as I've had a horrible experience with the clinic and my DH has had it even worse, but it's the only NHS clinic available. I've heard mixed reviews about the local private clinics. And I've had to use up my annual leave on this cycle so would have to fit anything else around my work which means I can't look further afield until next year (which feels a long time to wait...).

@Scirocco I wasn’t very happy with my clinic either so definitely won’t be paying there privately. I plan to go to turkey and possibly get some more tests done at the same time such as sperm dna fragmentation etc while doing a cycle. But it s currently in red list so that’s stressing me out 😒 I understand some people go on private with nhs funding how does that work? I had searched about it and I thought you could demand to use your funding at a private clinic that takes nhs patients. It is frustrating that your work wouldn’t be more flexible in the end it’s a medical condition we’re faced with😔

@jolly86 I work in healthcare in a pandemic - I'm grateful I got any annual leave at all... First time off I've had since this whole thing started. The clinic weren't able to work around my clinical responsibilities so there was no way I could have done both at the same time. Most people I work with don't know anything about what I've been doing, only my line manager who had to know in order to approve leave at short notice!

I think some English trusts will provide NHS funding for private clinics if, eg, there isn't capacity within NHS services within a reasonable timeframe. I'm not an expert on English funding though so I could be wrong...

I'm so sorry @VenusStarr. Thinking of you today. This whole process can be so cruel. Take the time you need to process it all before thinking about next steps. Hopefully your clinic might be able to offer some guidance. I really hope you have a better outcome next time 🤗

@VenusStarr so, so sorry. That’s awful for you. I know there’s nothing to say that can help but look after yourself and take time to grieve. Try and keep some of your positivity for the next try. Thinking of you ❤️

@VenusStarr oh I'm so so sorry to read this, how devastating 💔 thinking of you today lovely - you will get through this - keep thinking of your embabies on ice 🌈xxxxx

@jolly86 just re your question about choosing a clinic. I think you can choose any clinic that takes NHS patients. I had a referral to my local infertility clinic in Dec 19, eventually had an appointment on the phone in April 20, I was due to start ovulation induction in June but they basically said I would be lucky to be seen before Christmas as there was such a waiting list and the clinic closed for ages during lockdown 1. So I called the private clinic and was going to pay privately but the consultant said if I could get my GP to refer there I could do that bit (not IVF because of my age) for free. So I’m short I think you can ask your GP to refer you to any clinic that takes NHS patients.
Interesting re Turkey - is it much cheaper?

@39andabit thank you yes I figured out maybe I could have asked to be private but just went with the nhs clinic at the time. I don't have any more funded rounds unfortunately. If I had frosties, I could do 2 frozen transfers on the nhs that's why it was more upsetting not to get any :( In terms of Turkey, yeah I gather it's not a common choice but I got family there and had most of my tests there last year to fasten things up - like hsg, amh, even some genetic test. There's a big industry there and people do IVF much much more often. Everything is cheap and not a hustle. I can just go on the second day of my cycle- no need to book or waiting times- of course given that I have the tests ready. That was my backup plan but travel restrictions are disturbing at the moment, so we'll see.

@VenusStarr hope you're feeling better and thinking of your frosties X

Sorry for disappearing @39andabit @jolly86 @Scirocco @MGee123 had a long day. My hcg is 5.2 but frustratingly I tested a faint positive on a frer this morning. Can't attach a pic but it's definitely there. Clinic have put us down as negative and to stop all my meds. I don't really know whether the test means it did try to implant. I'm going to test in the morning to be sure.
The clinic are going to review our cycle and outcome and then contact us for a review. The bleeding has tailed off now to very light brown spotting. Feel a bit numb xx

@VenusStarr don’t apologise you need to do whatever helps you and put yourself first.
That’s really frustrating about the tests. I think you might be right it could be a chemical pregnancy isn’t that the term?
I’m wishing you all the best for next time. You’ve been so supportive and kind of everyone on here so make sure you’re kind to yourself. ❤️

Yes, I've had one chemical before @39andabit I had a v faint line on the day af was due, hit and miss lines depending on test sensitivity but a couple of strong ones then my af arrived 5 days late. Bit weird that the bleeding has stopped now.
Not sure what is better, knowing it implanted and failed or it didn't implant at all 😔

@VenusStarr i understand having implanted and failed is better, as it means there wasn’t a problem with the implantation process but the embryo s genetics, but next time when the embryo is genetically right it will stick. I read this some where during my google research, and this person was saying we should test early to catch chemical pregnancies as it is a reassurance.

@jolly86 @Scirocco I think you can request referral to any NHS or private hospital which provides fertility treatment for NHS patients. I don't think you can request treatment at a private clinic that doesn't already take those with NHS funding. Some do and some don't I believe. Definitely worth exploring - a call to any clinics you're considering should get you the answer.

Sorry you've had a rubbish experience @Scirocco. Really not what you need when you're going through all of this. We forfeited our NHS funding and went private as the wait was going to be so long. A bit of a gamble but luckily for us it paid off. Our private round was £6500 in total (including meds) and our experience with the clinic was really positive.

Does your work have a policy around IVF treatment? I eventually found mine in the sickness policy, which I thought was rather odd! Ours states you can request time off for appointments and it is at your managers discretion, so depending on how agreeable your manager is you might be able to take some time that way if needed?

Morning all, another faint positive this morning 😢 ugh. This feels especially cruel. I've messaged my recurrent miscarriage clinic for some advice. I'll test again tomorrow and let the clinic know, although I think it's to do with the sensitivity of first response tests. I've stopped the meds anyway.

Just seeing the messages above - I had my nhs round at a private provider but my ccg had chosen them. I believe there is a way to request to move your nhs funding as we looked into it, but you have to ask your GP to request a code to send to the clinic and my GP didn't know how to do this. Luckily, my ccg ended up choosing the provider we wanted anyway and that only happened because of covid.

I'm in the nhs and my trust has ivf in the special leave policy, similar to yours @MGee123. My friend is at a London Trust and they get 5 days per cycle for 3 rounds. So very varied. X

@VenusStarr I am sorry that sounds really messed up.. It means if you didn't go for your blood tests you wouldn't be able to know by the home tests.

I now feel upset that I went with the NHS clinic who ended up not freezing our bc embryo while I read many other places do and people get FET's with those. We only get one try yet they are so strict about freezing criteria. I also wouldn't mind having a double transfer but they don't do that either. Poor poor experience :(

@Jolly86 what do you mean by BC embryo?

@Delectable It was a 4bc. they say they need at least bb to freeze.

Ok. I just had a failed cycle in Greece last week. Our embryos arrested after day 3. I'd done a cycle in Turkey last year too, not so great blast but no grading.

@Delectable I am sorry for the failed cycle :( Where did you go in Turkey? I don't think they routinely tell the grades indeed but I asked my doctor over there they definitely freeze bc grades, maybe even lower ones. I feel they are less strict about the quality over there- maybe because it is private and you pay for freezing who knows.

I'm amazed at the sensitivity of frer @jolly86 on one way I'm glad it looks like it did try to implant, but perhaps too late (I suspect it was Saturday when I had the bleed) but this also means it's my 5th loss 💔 but it also gives me a bit of hope that when we do a FET, we have a good chance. It's all a bit confusing and very sad.

I'm sorry about your embryos that they didn't freeze, It's definitely worth exploring this further with them. The consistency across clinics is not there. We are self funding from now on as my nhs round was one fresh cycle. How are you feeling in your tww? Xx

@VenusStarr awww it is so stressful :( Has the clinic said it's definitely negative or is there any chance of slow rising? I agree it is very confusing. You think it is a chemical pregnancy this is very common with ivf, not sure you should directly relate it to your previous losses. Did they found out what was the cause for those? I also had a loss at 5.5 weeks last october, it was my first and only pregnancy.

I think we will have a meeting after the cycle and we should be able to ask questions there. I feel this 1 round policy is very poor given the success chances. Is yours 1 cycle fresh only hence not even funding the frozen transfers? Mine was 1 fresh and 2 frozen. I don't get to use the frozen while you have to pay for it. Frustrating.

For my tww, I am not feeling anything :( except for very much enlarged breasts but I imagine that's the progesterone pessaries. I know I can test at the moment and it should be reliable enough (last monday was transfer), but I am too scared and hence probably will wait for 4 june- unless I have my period before. I think the pessaries prevent us having our period at the regular time even if the cycle fails though?