Poor responder above 40

[Lilly12255]

Hi,

I am a poor responder (age 43) and my follicles are not growing. I would like to find out what injections doses other poor responders are, ahead of my doc meeting on Monday. This would help me to suggest alternatives medications/doses.

I would really appreciate if you could share your injections meds and doses if you are also a poor responder (very low AMH) and above 40. Please also share how many follicles you have/had growing and if you had an EC already, mature eggs collected and on on which day of the cycle (eg day 12, day 16, etc).

Thank you Xx

[kathgibson22]

Hi Lilly not sure what your amh is. Mine is 2.5ish ( I'm 37) I was on highest dose on meriofert ( 450) for 14 days. My follicles kept fluctuating 7 to 5 to 6 but in end got 7 eggs ( 6 mature)

Wishing you all the luck xxx

[Running79]

I had my last EC at 40. I was on

Fostimon 225 Then fostimon 150 for the first few days then swapped to a 225 then a 150 of Gonal F then I was ready. I had about 22 follicles.

I do not have low AMH

I had 12 eggs collected, 10 fertilised normally, by the 5 days we were left with three.

One was put back, and ended in a BFN

The other two were PGTA tested and found to have chromosomal abnormalities, so went in the bin as they weren’t fit for transfer

[PaulaDag]

Hi Lilly,

Sorry to hear you're in this situation.

So, I had my 1st stim scan Friday, day 8, and they also said I'm not yet responding much. I am on 300 iu Ovaleap. I am 42 and my AMH was 5.3 and AFC was 8. I have another scan booked Monday to see if they have had a growth spurt. I am thinking of asking to speak to the consultant if the nurse doesn't up my dose. I asked her to up me Friday but she wanted to wait. She did mention 450 iu of Ovaleap but that research shows it doesn't make that much difference, which sounded dubious to me.

My scan on Friday showed 4 follicles on the right ovary at 11.7mm, 11.4mm, 6mm and 4.8mm. The left ovary was worse with 6 follicles all 4mm or under. What sizes/no's are yours?

Good luck for your meeting on Monday. Let me know how it goes. I am dreading my 2nd scan on Monday and am hoping they grow lots over the weekend. It seems as if they like 3 follies over 16mm to proceed to EC so I am hoping they don't suggest cancelling. This is my first IVF cycle so internet and this site is really helping with information.

xx

[Lilly12255 in reply to PaulaDag]

Thanks for sharing. Mine are 5 and 6mm on day 11, so not looking good... xx

[PaulaDag]

Hi, really sorry to hear that. You could try to ask if they will up your dose. I’ve heard people can be on stims for upto 17 / 18 days so you could possibly respond better given more time if they increase the dose.

Also reading that high protein food, whole milk and lots of water helps. Jury is out on hot water bottles on the tummy to help follies grow - I can’t seem to get a straight answer and don’t want to do it incase it has a detrimental effect.

Such a stressful experience

Xx

[Hope76]

Hi am 44 and just started stimming with gonal f my dosage is 300iu - This is the maximum doseage my clinic will give. They did used to give higher doses but claim results were no different with say 400 to 300.

I Defo think my follicle count has gone down with age. When I was 38, I had 8 measurable follicles and managed to get 8 eggs in total. However at 44 it would appear I am starting with only 6 antra-follicles. Am trying to remind myself am a lot older now and focus on quality not quantity.

Something to bear in mind, I had a failed cycle once I.e only 1 egg collected and although it fertilised, it was not deemed viable for transfer. That cycle they had me in Menopur for stimming and I had a very poor response. Since then am back on gonal f and the response has been fantastic compared to Menopur. I am convinced my body just responds to Gonal f better so we always go with that now. It could be you respond to a certain FSH drug better than another.

Wishing you luck with your appointment 🤞🏼

[Lilly12255 in reply to Hope76]

Thanks for sharing. Do you have low AMH? I wondered about drug mix. My doc claims gonal F alone is not good for an old poor responder like me. But your case shows otherwise.

[Hope76 in reply to Lilly12255]

Hi unfortunately my clinic do not feel testing My AMH is necessary I have fought for it for years. I have a satisfactory FSH level so they feel no point as am already on the strongest protocol they offer for my age. They said if I really insisted on having my AMH tested they can do it but if result was really low they would ‘advise against IVF totally’ - so that kinda put me off 🙈

My clinic’s policy is ‘not to mix the FSH drugs’ . I have a 4 year old ‘miracle son’ as a result of my first ever cycle using gonal f only. This is now our 6th attempt for a sibling which has been one hell of an emotional rollercoaster... hopefully nearing the end 🤞🏼

[Lilly12255 in reply to Hope76]

When you were on menopur, was it just menopur youbhad or a mix or menopur and gonal f?

[alockie]

From what I have read, acupuncture or/and mesotherapy treatment to ovaries might improve eggs quality, if that is the issue.