IVF with a low AMH

[steph85ryan]

Hi, I am 34 and just found out that i have a low AMH (5.4), at the time the clinic told me that due to my age i just needed a higher dose of one of the drugs and that i should have a similar chance to everyone else. so i then and contacted a donor bank and imported my sperm. I then received a letter from the clinic saying that "you are aware of the low chance of success due to low ovarian reserve" and now Access fertility have turned me down for any of their refund programs, i am only eligible for their 2 cycle no refund program. I feel like i have just been told i'm infertile, i don't know what to do next. Any advice?

[Katbaby19]

Hi steph, who told you that you had low ovarian reserve? Was it your clinic? I was told I had a low AMH at 10.3 and I was still given the option for any of the refund programmes. I was also told to take the highest dose possible for the treatment. I would just query all that has been said so far.x

[steph85ryan in reply to Katbaby19]

Yes my clinic informed me and my second consultation. apparently low is anything between 5 and 15 so I guess I am the low end of low but still came at quite a shock. Thought at least they would offer me the 3 cycle option. Seems harsh that they offer less cycle to those that will probably need more but I guess they are a business at the end of the day.

[CAS2]

I was AMH 8 at 39 and was offered the refund package for 3 (but only went with the two in the end). What was the reason Access gave you for turning you down?

[steph85ryan in reply to CAS2]

They just said it was due to my low AMH. Apparently they judge it on a patient by patient basis and don’t have a threshold, feel pretty hard done by tbh.

[CAS2 in reply to steph85ryan]

I'm not surprised, it's a rubbish answer from them

[steph85ryan in reply to CAS2]

Thank you good to have support

[Olivia1980xxx]

Hi steph. Over month ago I finished my 3rd cycle with my AMH being low 5.7 and I’m 39 this year.

I was on synarel spray and gonal f 375 .

They collected 14 eggs 10 where mature and 6 fertiliser.

I had one grade A+ put back in and another 3 grade A to freeze.

Didn’t work but I never had such a good outcome.

So I got 4 frostie in total (one from my second cycle).

Don’t worry hun u younger then me and your AMH is not that bad .

Keep us updated xx

[steph85ryan in reply to Olivia1980xxx]

Thank you for the support, good luck with your journey too, I’d like to know how it turns out x

[Olivia1980xxx in reply to steph85ryan]

I have my baby girl just turn 2 yesterday from my second cycle.

We not ready yet to go through cycle using my frostie but I will definitely keep update.xx

[steph85ryan in reply to Olivia1980xxx]

That is lovely, thank you and happy birthday to your little girl xx

[Oxfordgirl in reply to Olivia1980xxx]

Olivia did you do anything differently after your first cycle? Like supplements?

[Olivia1980xxx in reply to Oxfordgirl]

Thank u hun.

I wasn’t taking any special supplements part from folic acid .

I tried to eat healthy , I drink more water around 2 to 3 litres a day .

Aha before ET I had reflexology.

After ET I kept drinking water , keeping my feet warm and relaxing.

For some reason i was really positive that will work ...

Do u know what type of meds they will give u ? When u goons start? Xx

[Lowamh]

My amh is 6.5 and I could only go with the 2 cycle package. That doesn’t mean you won't have success though, your amh indicates you will need to be on a high dose of the meds. I had better results on long protocol but others have better results with short protocol. It all depends on how your body reacts and cycles are trial and error. Like Olivia said, you are young too. Good luck x

[steph85ryan in reply to Lowamh]

Thank you

[Oxfordgirl]

I think it’s amazing how little consistent information there is about fertility, one specialist says one thing, another something slightly different. I also have a low amh - 6.9 - and was on the same dose as Olivia above, this is the highest my clinic goes but I’ve seen others on 450 Gonal F. Again they determine this as specialists and your results. All I’d say is that the chances are the same but you should not delay treatment and do it now as opposed to a few years from now when your amh will be lower. Access fertility is a business, it’s like buying an insurance policy and they need to be profitable whilst providing a valuable service at the same time. I was told to take 3 months dhea 3x25 dose daily before starting the next cycle, you may want to give that a go. It can’t increase your amh but it can help your follicles respond better to the stimulation drugs.

[steph85ryan in reply to Oxfordgirl]

Thank you

[Tiffs]

I was told I had an amh of 5.2 and I was 37. Went through two cycles but in the end had a natural pregnancy so don’t give up! Xx

[steph85ryan in reply to Tiffs]

Wow that’s lovely, thank you x

[MrsDx]

Hello, at 30 I only had an AMH of 3.8 so the clinic told me they were concerned it would not work. I was devastated and this ,coupled with high FSH, meant me were not eligible for NHS funding at all. We had enough saved for one round of treatment so the doctors put me on DHEA tablets for 3 months before treatment to try and improve my egg quality. In the end we only had 2 good eggs but they are now 3 year old twin girls. It was such a devastating blow to us but I just wanted to leave you a message to say hang in there because even if the Doctors are not overly positive, it can still work. The icing on the cake is that I fell pregnant naturally last year and now have a 3 month old baby boy. God knows what my Egg reserve is now but a miracle still happened. Keep positive and wishing you lots of luck with your journey xx

[steph85ryan in reply to MrsDx]

OMG thank you, that is such lovely news, congratulations x

[Liz22]

Hi I had a really low Amh at age 30 can’t remember what it was now but I think lower than yours - means they are going to have to give you more drugs to get your body to give the most eggs. I got put on the max dose of menopur and got 10 eggs this time from it - 2 made it to day 5 and I now have a beautiful little boy. You have your age on your side. I also got told to take DHEA supplements on the run up to treatment as this improves egg quality. I would also massively recommend taking a vitamin D supplement to anyone trying to conceive as research has shown this can massively reduce your miscarriage risk. I had 3 cycles by ICSI (2fresh 1frozen) to get my daughter following results of my husband having azozpermia and I had low amh and a useless left ovary !! And then went through access fertility with 3 cycles and refund with 1 cycle of icsi at age 32 to get our son. We are very fortunate and I wanted to tell our story so you don’t loose hope as our odds seemed heavily stacked against us and here I am a mummy after 5 years of trying , tests and disappointment. Sending you lots of hugs and luck xxx

[steph85ryan in reply to Liz22]

Thank you feeling so much more positive already x

[Cici85 in reply to Liz22]

Hi liz22 just read your comment, please can I ask a few question about azozpermia? As that is our reason for infertility and our first appt is in 4 days , so many things to do on that day like tests, scans , submitting of the forms(funding) and finally meeting with d consultant .

[Liz22 in reply to Cici85]

Yeh of course you can - ask anything you want

[Cici85 in reply to Liz22]

Thanks for the fast response . Am away for my 34th birthday in turkey but all I think of is my appt for Thursday . My question is when one has got azoospermia what happens ? Do dey use a donor sperm in most cases or get the sperm surgically ?

Also would getting the spark surgically not mean we have to wait a longer time ? We where told over the phone after our first appt we are starting treatment straight away . Pardon me for asking so many questions it’s not been easy trying for over 7years.🙏

[Liz22 in reply to Cici85]

Oh bless you I’m not surprised it’s an all consuming journey and you can’t help but have it on your mind. With us they checked my husbands hormones which came back fine so we gambled on there being something there surgically which thankfully there was and had enough to freeze as back up too. They gave us the option to have back up donor sperm in case they couldn’t retrieve anything surgically. In terms of time wise they did my husbands sperm retrieval the same time as my egg collection so they could use a fresh sample and as I said we had the surplus frozen so my husband didn’t have to have the retrieval done again on subsequent cycles. Do you wouldn’t have to wait any extra time if that needed doing as they do it as part of the cycle. Really hope that helps - I’m a knowledge is power kind of person so really don’t mind you asking. Hope you are managing to have a nice holiday despite all this being on your mind! Thinking of you, Liz

[Cici85 in reply to Liz22]

Thank you for the reply . Yes he had hormone test done which came out fine . We have our appt for Ivf at Barts Medivine and reproduction. I also got an SMS reminder saying we have an appt for Tuesday at d clinic where we previously did all test n scans n den referred to the main IvF clinic. I guess it’s just a follow up to ask if we have gotten a treatment date or so .we where referred for ivf in February .

I have been from

GP➡️Gyneacology outpatient➡️St Barts hospital which I hope n pray the miracle baby come 😁.

Thanks for your fast response .

Also just to let you know I have got mild endometriosis outside my pouch of Douglas whatever that means I don’t know😁.

[Rose2303]

Hi, I’m 29 with AMH of 4.5. I’m currently on stims for IVF as no luck so far. We also have MFI.

What was your FSH and AFC. I think they look at that together when deciding about funding ect.

I almost wasn’t eligible for nhs treatment due to my low AMH but as my AFC and FSH was ok I was allowed it. I’d imagine access fertility look at similar things. X

[steph85ryan in reply to Rose2303]

Thank you, they only did the test for amh as far as I am aware x

[Rose2303 in reply to steph85ryan]

That’s unusual. FSH is rested on day 3 bloods and AFC is the transvaginal scan.

My AMH went up to 7.1 on supplements so maybe you could get it retested and apply again? X

[steph85ryan]

Thank you for the info! Really helpful

[Hopeful28]

Hi. I can’t comment on the funding but I just wanted to say don't give up hope. I have low AMH like you and I am 36. My husband also has low sperm count and low motility so felt everything was against us. After four goes at ICSI and a miscarriage I am now sitting here with my eight month old little girl. Try and stay positive. X

[steph85ryan in reply to Hopeful28]

Thank you so much! That is amazing to hear

[Ivf2018]

My clinic told me to take vitamin cocq10 to get the level up worked a treat!

[SunnyDream]

Hello Steph. My AMH is 0.3 and I am almost 39. I had one failed IVF and stopped for some time. I had time to think everything over and decided to find a good clinic abroad where I could undergo this treatment and where the doctors will agree to take me. I found such a place, passed 1 failed ICSI+DE and the second one turned out to be positive. I had my hcg and now I am waiting for my scan to confirm. In spite of all the health issues I have, doctors agreed to help me and do everything possible so I could conceive.

Why don't you go to some other country in Europe for the treatment?

[Hidden]

Hi Steph,

My experience is that I am 39 and gave a Amh of 3.8 which is low. I too can't comment on funding. I was told by the nurse that I had barely any chance of getting pregnant through Ivf. I only had two fertilised eggs and only one went on to be a top grade embryo. I am now 20 weeks pregnant from Ivf first time! I had donor sperm so maybe the Sperm was really good. You are still young and that really helps regardless of Amh levels.

[steph85ryan in reply to Hidden]

That’s wonderful! Thank you x

[Blue1986]

Have faith. My AMH was 0,67 at 32 years of age. I was quite naive in the whole process and actually never asked what my dosage was, I'm sure it's written down somewhere. Anyway, I managed 6eggs, 2 made it to day 5, and one is inside me growing into a wonderful baby boy.

[steph85ryan]

Thank you, I will look into it

[MereenPulvizjk]

Hi there! Just read your point. I know sometimes it happens. Companies do have these policies! Well, I'm in the same position right now. I've got PCOS, which makes me infertile and not able to conceive. So, yeah! But, I'm still trying another way i-e IVF attempt in Kyiv, in upcoming months. Things work many times! I think you should look for options! IVF works, if you don't rely on them ask for a refund and try other centers for it! Every other have different opinions! It also depends on better docs!