What option to take next?

[Sammy91]

Hi everyone I had my first IVF with only one egg/follicle, And a cyst that started to grow because of the nasal spray. The cyst started to grow in front of that egg/follicle. Due to this my cycle had been cancelled. Have been told the only way forward would be to use a donor egg which is something I don't want to do.

With low ovarian response it is difficult to see what route to take next. I am 27 years old. Has become very stressful for me.

Thanks x

[JanB78]

Hi sorry u are in this position

U r young

Try embryo batching

There r clinics who specialise in this

[Sammy91 in reply to JanB78]

Hi thank you for your reply. What is embryo batching?

[Countrymouse56]

Hello. Sorry you are going through this. Agreed, you absolutely need to find a clinic who specialises in cases like yours. You are so so young so your eggs should be great quality. I’m much older than you and managed only 2 eggs in our first round of icsi but we were successful with that. I had consultants who tried to push me down the donor route and told me not to bother at all with ivf. Stay positive and get a second, third and fourth opinion like we did. Xx

[Sammy91 in reply to Countrymouse56]

Thank you for your message means a lot. Yes I I would try a different clinic next time. But not sure if there will be any point as I have low ovarian response with AMH 1.0. Xx

[Countrymouse56 in reply to Sammy91]

My AMH was 2.3 and a close friend of mine was successful with an AMH of 0.8! It can be done 🤞🏻🤞🏻xx

[Sammy91 in reply to Countrymouse56]

That's amazing, have you got any children?

[Countrymouse56 in reply to Sammy91]

I’m 40 weeks pregnant from our first round of icsi last year when my AMH was 2.3. My friend since being told she had an AMH of 0.8 has had one child with fertility treatment and then one naturally two years later! Xx

[Sammy91 in reply to Countrymouse56]

Do you know what clinic your friend went with? And what type of treatment did she have?

[Purplewitch18]

I think thats awful theyve said donor egg at your age! If you have a follicle then there could be an amazing egg in there. The cyst wont be there for ever, i had one in december, i can let you know how i got rid of it if you want to p m me. If you only have one follicle why are you not on a more natural cycle? X

[Sezk in reply to Purplewitch18]

Hey how did u get rid of ur cyst? D

[Sammy91 in reply to Sezk]

The Dr said apparently it would go by the time I have my next period.

[Hidden]

I would definitely get a second opinion - seems a very dramatic 'just give up and use donor eggs', so many people on here have had disappointing round ones and then got much better results with different protocols and drug combinations. Don't give up hope, find someone willing to listen and help x

[Sammy91 in reply to Hidden]

I thought it was very dramatic too. When they had told me I was in tears. But will definitely do my research and see if I can try a different clinic, even if it is in another country. Thank you for your message Xx

[ttcemmie]

One IVF and they're telling you to move to donor eggs?! Seems v drastic. I'd definitely get a second opinion. Different clinics and different doctors in the same clinic can have varying opinions and you have to advocate for yourself, because, unfortunately, you can't just blindly trust other people, even if they are medical!

[Sammy91 in reply to ttcemmie]

Yes it was tough but they said due to low ovarian response that is what they recommended.

[Sammy91 in reply to Sammy91]

Thank you for your message x

[magda22]

Hi Sammy, I agree with other comments - it would be good to get another opinion at another clinic. Low ovarian reserve is tough - I have it too, and my 4 IVF cycles did not bring great results. They told me immediately it would be difficult for me to have success, and donor egg provides a better chance, but they also said some women do get lucky. I guess it comes down to how many times you can afford to keep trying, but to give up with own eggs when you are so young, after one go, and a cyst interfering, is a shame. It takes time to get your head around donor eggs and what that means, so you could get another opinion, and another month might bring better results. Very best x

[Sammy91 in reply to magda22]

I'm so sorry to hear about your 4 cycles failing. Really wish you the best in this journey.

[Sammy91]

Thank you for your message Magda, x you are right not every cycle will be the same. I will have to wait till I am 100 sure as to what can be done. Have you tried DHEA?

[SharlyWarly]

HI Sammy, so sorry you've had a cancelled cycle - it's rather soul destroying when that happens, particularly when you are in a much younger age bracket!!! Yes you have low AMH but as others have said the quality is probably very good, so you are in with a chance. I wouldn't give up yet if I were you and definitely not after one round!!!

I don't know if you are paying for your treatment but if you are you might consider tandem cycles (not in the UK, only abroad - or at least I didn't find any in the UK). It's where you do IVF but alongside you stimulate an egg donor to produce eggs at the same time. On transfer day you can decide which to implant - or chose to freeze all. Then you can keep trying with your own eggs and have donor as a back up, without the pressure of definitely using donor straight away. If yours don't work out it has given you time to come round to using donor, if you so wish. Just a thought

Good luck x

[Sammy91 in reply to SharlyWarly]

Thank you Sharly Warly, I will do some more research on this. Do you know of any specific clinics abroad?

[Countrychic]

Hey Sammy, I am sorry to hear you have had such a difficult time. Our first round was unsuccessful with only four follicles, three eggs collected, only one fertilised and didn’t make it to transfer. Our clinic changed our protocol from long to short and changed our medication from Menopur to Gonal F. Our second round was much better, although not successful. We had two good quality blastocysts, one transferred (unfortunately did not implant) and one frozen.

Our circumstances are slightly different because my AMH is within the normal range, albeit the low end. However, the change in protocol meant my response moved from being a poor responder to normal which I didn’t expect. I would definitely seek a second option, after just one round, it seems a bit premature to say you don’t have a chance. It happens for other people.

We used DHEA and I went to acupuncture regularly on the three months before our second cycle which may have helped too. We were told if our second round was the same as our first round, they would recommend donor eggs but they wanted to try again making some changes. Although we haven’t had success, we feel more positive having a better second round.

Good luck moving forward 😊

[Sammy91 in reply to Countrychic]

I'm so sorry to hear about your 2 ivf cycles failing. I wish you success and the best of luck. Did you notice any personal effects of DHEA? That is one option I was recommended, to take for three months then trial another IVF cycle.

[Countrychic]

Hi Sammy, I look it for three months before my last cycle. I didn’t have any major side effects. My hair was a little more oily but I could still get away with washing it every second day. I thought my skin looked better than usual which was good. I definitely plan to take it again if we do another full cycle, I think it may have made a difference as our second cycle was much better - although we did also change protocol so it is impossible to say how much DHEA made a difference. It certainly didn’t hurt and there is a lot of research which supports using DHEA. Good luck moving forward 😊