IVF with low amh/ afc

[Katie567]

Hello, I am about to start IVF. I have diminished ovarian reserve - (amh 6, fsh 12-18, afc 5) and I'm 37. I've struggled finding success stories of IVF at my age (or older) with similar numbers. Can anyone share any hope? Thank you

I wish you good luck dear!

Thank you :)

Hi @Katie567!
I started IVF at nearly 39 with low AMH too. This was subsequent to 6 pregnancy losses due to: growth anomalies for baby 1 (termination at 14w) followed by 5 miscarriages. I also have a blood clotting disorder.
So, i started IVF in Dec 2020, and did two rounds. I got 9 follicles from round 1 and 7 from round 2. I ended up with 5 blastocyst in total that were PGS tested (cause with low AMH, the quality of embryos is low, therefore trouble to get pregnant). After the testing, we had 2 embryos chromosomically normal. I had one implanted end on May 2021, and it split! I am now 21 weeks pregnant with identical twins boys :) risky pregnancy because of additional medical issues, but medications and regular scan are working so far!
I hope this will give you some reassurance, I have read many other successful stories for women in similar situation. There is definitely some hope for you :) !!!
Xx
S.

@Sophfr17 thanks so much for your experience and congratulations on your twin pregnancy! Its definitely reassuring. Can you tell me what your amh/ afc was if you dont mind? also, what protocol you used and if you did any lifestyle changes/ supplements etc to prepare?

I have actually opted out of pgs testing for now, as I want to do a fresh transfer.... now i'm questioning it! I had a healthy pregnancy with my daughter in 2018, however had 2 losses last year and no pregnancies this year, so quality may be an issue now.

You are welcome @Katie567!
In April 2020, my AMH was 6. Don't know how much it was when I started IVF in Dec 2020. Apart from the 1st termination after the anomalies discovery (unexplained), there were two hypotheses for my 5 miscarriages, blood clots or low quality embryos. Or both. The last two mc were under blood thinning meds, but still, it didn't work. It may case, I am called hyperfertile, meaning that I implant all embryos, even the ones that are not meant to give a baby and that would miscarry in any cases. Thus, PGS was highly recommended, combined with heparin and aspirin to keep my blood fluid. I would recommend PGS, it can save a lot of time, but that's your decision of course :)
I didn't change anything in my lifestyle, only added folate every day 400 micrograms. I am thin anyway and eat well, I didn't stop coffee, which I only drank in the morning, or drinking a glass of wine when I wanted. To be honest, i dont believe in the theory that adding many supplements would reverse the quality of your eggs. However, my partner was taking supplement daily to make sure he had enough antioxidants, such as selenium, cause sperm as you know is made new all the time. You can find lots of combined supplements for men.
Please let me know if you need any other information :)
S.

Thank you! I guess with the pgs, in the long run, it will save time. But the fact I can't do a fresh transfer and will have to wait a month to freeze and test means I would wait a month which I'm.not happy about. Anyway will think about it! Thanks for your response :)

Hi there 👋 a year ago I had af 6 and amh 5. I cycled with argc and did pgs. I got 2 five day embryos and one was pgs normal and is on ice. I did another round and did a fresh transfer ( I only had one egg make it as my af had fallen to 4 and amh must have been so low) I’m now in third trimester.
My mantra was ‘it only takes one’ . I felt I was an impossible case when others were women retrieving 10-15 eggs. However, many of those ladies end up with only couple more embryos. It’s about quality and It really does just take one. My clinic believed in me and didn’t make me feel any less able to conceive then those with high af etc.
I did go for it diet and health wise beforehand. I had all the supplements in its starts with the egg’ as did my dh. I did a low carb and high protein diet. I also did immunes treatment to stop me rejecting implanted embryos.
I remember in my last round where the af was so low and feeling despondent and the doctor said , we had a lady in here with one follicle and one egg and she had her baby now. I really hung onto that

Ps all this happened between 39-41, so older than you! Keep us updated

Oh what a lovely story! Congrats on the pregnancy! It's so tough isn't it. I'm really trying with the diet. Did argc have any specific guidelines on dietary stuff.

I haven't done the immunes testing because I have had a successful pregnancy before so I'm not sure it's an issue for me....? I know argc are big on it though!!

I had a first successful pregnancy too ( fell quickly and no issues) immune issues are commonly triggered by the first pregnancy. It’s like your immune system allows the first one through and is then primed to attack any others. I have a few friends on here managing to get pregnant second time with immunes after multiple mcs or failure of euploid Top rated embryos. I never thought of it until recently and had tests done via Shehata and Gorgy and had high killer cells and every test was bad basically! So I’ve been on steroids, intralipids , clexane and progesterone support for the first trimester and now just on clexane.
Argc didn’t guide me on pre ivf stuff , I just read and researched myself using ‘it starts with the egg’

Oh ok interesting... How much were the tests if you don't mind me asking? I am going to be on clexane and progesterone but not the intralipids

Prednisone was the steroid I took too , 25 mg.
I had something called a Chicago blood test an eye watering 600 quid from memory and I had LAD which was over a thousand I then had to retest throughout the pregnancy but you don’t mind as much when it’s going ok

This is where I went and tests offered. It might be worth having a consultation. Or there seems to be a Free webinar Coming up.

www.fertility-academy.co.uk/immune-testing/

Found costs

www.fertility-academy.co.uk/fees/

Thank you! How did you know to do all this testing? Did you have implantation failure before? My consultant hasn't recommend anything for immune disorders.

I had 4 mcs in a row after ds. I saw a few things on here about immunes. I then spoke to dr Shehata and he said it’s impossible that all those mcs were due to age. He said you can’t toss a dice 4x and get the same result.
I had killer cells tested and they were high. I then did some of the other testing with Gorgy and that was all bad too.
My friend on here had 7 mcs in a row and 2 euploid AA fails and is now furthest in pregnancy yet since starting immune treatment.

It can be controversial and some people, doctors, don’t believe in it but it seems to work so 🤷‍♀️ my siblings all showed the same pattern as me and one sibling had the immunes too and has 2 kids now. I believe in it.

Hi @Katie567
I am 41... Had my DS in 2017 first fresh IVF when I was 37, AMH 7 and FSH 8 I think.
Had my DD in 2019 aged 39 (only 3 mature eggs collected) where my AMH was 5.2 and FSH 6ish I think.
I seem to get 4 follies on right side and 8 on the left.
We are moving onto cycle 3... In May my FSH was 15 and I was told IVF would likely be unsuccessful. I took the below supplements for 3 months and my FSH measured in September as 6.2 and my AMH is sill 5. I took initially 50mgs Dhea (reduced to 25mgs after 6 weeks as my testosterone levels were now good), ubiquinol, alpha lipoic acid, proceive for women, manganese, melatonin, omega 3 and wheatgrass.
Good luck xx

Thanks for your story @firefly37! I have started on a lot of the iswte supplements but not melatonin. Might mention that to my doctor, I remember it being controversial for some reason but can't remember why...

I think some women are more nervous about dhea... But it raised my testosterone from less than 0.4 to a much better 1.4. I haven't heard anything negative about melatonin so would be interested to hear x

I took melatonin and clinic was happy to prescribe, plus it helps you sleep which is a bonus!

@Katie567 not exactly what you've asked but just to give another aspect to it...

I was diagnosed with DOR at 33 - AFC 6 but FSH 17.9 and AMH 2.4. We had 5 rounds of IVF, all with donor eggs, 8 embryos transferred in total and all failed. Not a single BFP. We were told to give up, which we did.

6 months later, I got a BFP naturally!! Absolutely gobsmacked. 7 month old DD is upstairs sleeping now 🥰

I always thought these miracle stories happened to other people, but it happened to me! So as a pp said, it really does just take one.

Aww thanks for your story @jemimafuddleduck. I have heard of dor ladies getting natural bfps, never think of it happening to me though although we will definitely carry on trying naturally if the IVF doesn't work.

@firefly37 I am already on dhea for low testosterone but might get it retested to see where I am!

@Dreamsupreme
I will.ask them about melatonin, not sure how much it's worth it now as I am starting my egg retrieval next month, so won't be able to do 3 months, but worth a try! Thanks

My AMH was 10 and I was 33 for my first cycle. Anyway I somehow ended up with OHSS, 24 follicles and 19 eggs which was unexpected! However only two fertilised for some unknown reason, just one turned into a top top quality embryo and I now have identical twins. I think what im trying to say is IVF is totally unpredictable, your numbers are a guide but really you have no idea at all what will happen.

Wowser! Congratulations! Did you have a high afc? Did you happen to have generic testing on your embryos or just do a fresh transfer?

AFC really varied, it was 8 when I had fertility testing, then 22 when we planned the IVF, then at the start of the IVF it was 4. No idea why it went up and down so drastically! We did a fresh cycle, no genetic testing or anything.

They said low fertilisation rate could be something to do with the sperm or the eggs ... that narrows it down!