Trying again but feeling so down about my low follicule count

[Hannah143]

Hi everyone, after our first failed IVF round back in November we have decided to try again on my January cycle. Today was the day of my first scan, we are now waiting for my period to arrive any day now so I can begin the new treatment on day 2.

I'm 38 and my husband is 36 and I have no other problems except I have a low follicule count and I guess egg quality could be better too. The first round they only got 4 eggs, 2 fertilised, 1 didn't do anything and the other multiplied too quickly so they discarded 2. We had 2 X grade 2 and 2.5 transferred after a 2 days. We didn't get any to freeze and are having to start again.

This time round I am on an Antagonist programme and they have changed my drug treatment plan, which I'm hoping is a good thing.

I had my first scan today to check my follicules and womb lining and I only had 3 each side. I've been feeling really down since our appt this afternoon as the reality of low egg reserves is very real. I'm starting to panic about such low chances of this ever happening and all the time people are telling me my age is a problem and I need to get a move on. I really don't know what else to do.

Does anyone know how I can increase my follicule count and egg quality? What changes can I make to my lifestyle? Diet, etc.

I've taken 6 weeks off work to ensure I'm super chilled and focussing on me and have started yoga and meditation at a local Dahn Yoga centre too.

Your advice is greatly appreciated ladies, thank you xx

[Murph82]

Hi Hannah, I was in a similar situation to you. I'm 33 and my AMH is 4.8 which indicates I have the egg reserve level of a 50 year old. I only had 7 eggs collected (which was more than they thought) and only one made it to blastocyst. I'm currently 10 weeks pregnant so it's possible for you 😬 I had acupuncture during the treatment and on the day of embryo transfer I had it before and afterwards. It really helped me stay calm and there's loads of research that supports acupuncture during IVF. I also did yoga. I started taking seven seas pre pregnancy vitamins a month before I started my cycle. Please stay positive, if your clinic have changed your drugs, they must know what they're doing. Good luck with your cycle xxx

[Hannah143 in reply to Murph82]

Hi Murph82, thank you so much for your reply. Congratulations that just wonderful news, delighted for you 😘.

Would it be ok to ask you if this was your first round? Or did you try a few times?

Were you advised to eat anything different?

Thanks for the acupuncture tip, I will look into that.

Delighted for you xx

[Murph82 in reply to Hannah143]

Yes it was my first round. We only had one funded cycle and I didn't have any frozen so was so happy. Still very nervous and think I will be until my 12 week scan on the 15th. I had a scan at 7w6d and all was fine but it doesn't stop you worrying! I cut out all caffeine ( I was a massive Diet Coke drinker) and changed to Coke decaf and decaf coffee. Apart from that I didn't really change my diet. During the 2 week wait I ate fresh pineapple every day as it's meant to help with implantation (not sure if it does or not but I was willing to try anything!). Do look into acupuncture, I swear by it xx

[Hannah143 in reply to Murph82]

Going to look into that. Thank you for sharing that with me.

We are all fighting so hard to get pregnant that when it eventually happens it must bring a whole new level of anxiety. I hope everything goes well at your scan 😘 xx

[shell1402]

I have low egg reserve as well my consultant advised to get she 75mg as it can help to improve egg quality I am currently on down reg stage of my first cycle good luck X

[Hannah143 in reply to shell1402]

Thank you Shell1402, what did she advise you take?

Good luck with your cycle hunni, I hope it you get your BFP 😘 xx

[shell1402 in reply to Hannah143]

Sorry it's called dhea x

[Sweetpea76]

Hi, I'm 39 and have very low AMH levels. Over the past year we've had 3 ICSI cycles.

3 eggs from 6 follicles on the first attempt but all eggs degenerated during the ICSI procedure so no transfer done.

4 eggs from 4 follicles on the second attempt, 2 fertilised and were transferred but BFN.

3 eggs from 4 follicles on the third attempt, 2 fertilised and were transferred back...I'm currently 6 weeks pregnant and have my 7 week scan next week!

First cycle I was on 300iu Menopur injections but this was increased to 450iu for the 2nd & 3rd cycles.

Second cycle we opted for Assisted hatching and embryo glue as self funding.

Third cycle we opted for Endometrial scratch, assisted hatching and embryo glue.

I started weekly acupuncture sessions after the first attempt. I'd highly recommend as I didn't suffer so much from the meds side effects on cycles 2 and 3, plus was so much calmer, more relaxed and more positive.

On the day of transfer I had acupuncture sessions before and after the procedure. I'm still having weekly acupuncture sessions now.

Food - I didn't give up anything (already a decaf tea drinker) and I didn't eat any "super fertility" foods such as pineapple or spinach.

On the third cycle, I did take two weeks off of work following the transfer and completely chilled out!

Good luck 🍀 xx

[Hannah143 in reply to Sweetpea76]

Thanks for sharing this with me. It does give me hope and you are the second lady to recommend acupuncture. Going to look into that.

In my first round I sniffed suprecur combined with 300 merional injections.

This time round I have been put on GonalF300 which they told me is stronger than Merional. I wonder if it should be a higher dose than 300 to work?

We are self funding now too so I'm going to ask them about assisted hatching and embryo glue. What is an endometrial scratching?

I'm going to be off until 1st Feb so want to chillax as much as i can.

I'm absolutely delighted to read your news, that's just wonderful. Congratulations 😘😘 enjoy every moment Sweetpea76

Thank you for sharing your story with me xx

[Sweetpea76 in reply to Hannah143]

An endometrial scratch is a fairly quick procedure where they "scratch" your endometrial lining. The theory is that it creates a rough surface in the hope that the embryos attach. I must admit that it wasn't a pleasant procedure to have, but this was our third & final attempt so we threw everything at it!

It's a fairly new procedure and there aren't many statistics to prove that it works, but when you're self funding, it's a small price to pay in the scheme of things. xx

[RebeccaTO]

Please definitely look into acupuncture... You can find specialists who do it specifically for infertility and I have yet to hear if anyone who wasn't instantly successful once they'd tried it!

Two of my friends kept losing babies in the early weeks but as soon as they tried acupuncture they kept them (now have two each), another had bad endometriosis and was told it was highly unlikely she would ever conceive... First month of acupuncture, boom! Another friend tried for a year, then tried acupuncture and suddenly she was pregnant with twins! I have also heard of other friends of friends who said it helped their IVF to be successful.

I'm just waiting on some results and then am booking myself straight into a practitioner! Anything that might help, I'll try it out!

Best of luck x

[Hannah143 in reply to RebeccaTO]

I've booked my first Accupuncture session for this Thursday. I'm going to have 3 sessions before ec and one on et day. Thank you for your advice xx

[RebeccaTO in reply to Hannah143]

Fab! Good luck, I have everything crossed for you! xx

[Missmmc]

Hi Hannah

There aren't any supplements that can improve on egg reserve, you are born with a certain amount of eggs and that's it. But there are some supplements that may improve your egg quality which when it comes down to it is the most important thing as it only takes one.

The main supplements are Ubiquinol which is a refined form of Co-Q10 so better absorbed and DHEA.

On my first 2 cycles I only had day 3 embryos, I started Ubiquinol and my new clinic put me on DHEA. I had 2 cycles where embryos were frozen at day 3. Didn't get many eggs on both cycles and had a total of 6 day 3 embryos. But the all survived the thaw and made it to blast. We had a FET and got a BFP but sadly no heartbeat at 7 week scan. But I do have 4 blast frozen for another cycle.

So I did get improved quality and just have to hope that my golden egg is sitting in the deep freeze.

I also recommend Rebecca Fretts book "it starts with an egg"

Good luck Hun x

[Tlove]

Hi, I had my first round in Sept and had low amh, at 3 and only 5 follicles at initial consultation. When I did the cycle, my right ovary didn't even respond and I got 4 follicles on left, of which 3 were mature and fertilised. All 3 went to blastocyst and 2 looked good so both were transferred and I'm 12 weeks tomorrow with twins! Previous to all this, I found out I have hypothyroidism, then had 3 early miscarriages and found out I have aps, which means I now inject with anticoagulants daily to prevent clots and more miscarriage. For the last year I have been on high dose folic acid - if you're not already taking any you need to start. I'm on high dose because of the mc, the dose in the Pregnacare conception is enough for most people. I have also been taking Pregnacare since starting to try for a baby, 4 years now! This time round I am also taking mor Epa omega 3 prenatal capsules. Someone told me they are good to prevent mc but they are also essential for a developing baby. Otherwise, I'd say to get your diet in good shape and do some relaxation techniques. Get your partner to help as much as possible around the house and talk to him about it all. Good luck - each stage of this is difficult and I can't wait until my next scan so I can be sure all is well with my little ones.

[poochi]

Hi - as someone else has said Ubliquinol is a must for improving egg quality as apparently it is in every cell of the body & starts to decline as our bodies have trouble breaking it down from food.

Its also good for sperm quality so seen as it takes 2 i'd get your DH on them as well.

No science behind it but I also take Royal Jelly as the theory is the queen bee is just a bee until she eats royal jelly. She then lives off this alone and becomes the queen who produces thousands of eggs! Granted we dont want thousands but I'm willing to take the chance (my last antral scan didnt show thousands but i did have an improvement)

Good luck x