I am just looking for some advice really. Unfortunately my first round of ivf was unsuccessful. 4 eggs collected, 2 mature, 1 fertilised but abnormally so nothing to transfer.
I had my follow up today and I’ve been told egg donation is probably the best route to take next (I am totally fine with this, I didn’t even think I could try ivf with my own eggs).
However, last time I done long protocol. I’ve asked her if we can maybe try short protocol with different drugs to see if we get a different response/better result. She told me that there would probably be no difference, but we could give it a go, but it won’t be until around January or sometime next year due to the backlog from covid.
But I’m not sure whether it’s just worth going ahead with egg donation rather spending more money on another cycle which probably will not work? The chances of success with an egg donor is 45-50% but only around 10% with my eggs (my AMH was 2.4 in October last year and I also have stage IV endo which may have compromised my egg quality).
What would you ladies do? Have you had any experience of this? Any advice would be welcome!
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Megandmog
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Hi lovely, so sorry your round failed, it really sucks- mine did too. Although I'm not quite at the DE Avenue yet , I have to be realistic as I'm 37 ( 38 in dec) with same AMH as you. I always said I would try one more time privately ( first round was NHS) with my own eggs so dont have the what if regret. If that fails again I'll probably think about moving to DE as time isn't in my side really
Hey hun, Sorry to see your cycle failed also 😢. My AMH is probably a lot less now. I do wonder what it is but don’t want to get it checked ! I am 29, 30 in October so luckily I do have age on my side, but like I say I don’t think I have great quality due to the endo. I was told in October last tear I’d need a donor so I’d got my head around that but then my clinic told me it could work with my eggs.
Fingers crossed for you hun xx we’re all in this together xx
So sorry you didn’t have a successful cycle. I have a low AMH for my age and I had a clinic who didn’t listen to me, put me on long protocol and I had three crappy rounds with them. Had early transfers due to poor development, never anything to freeze and I had convinced myself my eggs were bad.
I decided to speak to another clinic and get a second opinion. Best decision I made. They put me on short protocol, which is apparently much better for low AMH anyway and we had much better results! I ended up with three embryos in the freezer and I’m pregnant from the first one of those.
Even if you decide DE is the right thing for you, I would get a second opinion from another clinic and doctor first as honestly your current one sounds pretty dismissive and I wouldn’t want to base such a big decision on one opinion xxx
Hey Kibo, I too have convinced myself my eggs are crap lol. I have read so much that people with low AMH should be on short protocol. That’s why I mentioned it to her. She’s more than happy for me to proceed on short protocol in the hopes that it’ll work. So happy for you that you’ve got your happy ending & congratulations! I also said about changing the drugs and she suggested doing Menopur & Gonal F (last time it was just 300iu Menopur).
How can the protocol affect and change the outcome? So strange. I think I’d be full of regret if it didn’t give short protocol a go xx
That’s exactly how I felt. I would have always wondered what if and I felt by changing my protocol, whatever the outcome, I would know one way or the other and that’s what I needed! I guess it was either success or closure if that makes sense.
I also did a combination of stims for my short cycle so I was on 75 Menopur and 300 Bemfola (which is similar to gonal f). I have read that short protocol produces better egg quality than long so I think mine just needed an extra boost. I also did a double trigger which is supposed to help give them a final boost on quality and maturity.
If you do stay with your current clinic, I would push them to start you sooner than next year especially as you’ve got a lower AMH, you should be prioritised xx
Thank you for your reply. I agree with you, I have also read about the double trigger so will tell them I want that as well.
I am tempted to see if another clinic can do it sooner but I’m not sure how much faff is involved in that? Wouldn’t it be like starting from scratch? I am with an nhs clinic but paying privately xx
Hi Megandmog, I have low amh too, I just turned 36. I recently had to abandon my first cycle which was long protocol as I didn't respond well at all. I was told long protocol is standard at my clinic and if it doesn't work they switch you to short protocol which I'm due to hopefully start very soon. Everything I have read too (after my 1st round was such a fail) has told me short protocol is better for low amh so I wish I could have done that first! Long protocol uses down regulation to put us into a temporary menopause and then they use the stims to try and wake up the ovaries to produce lots of follicles....BUT if you have low amh you already have less active ovaries and so this aggressive treatment is too much for our bodiesto handle. In my case I had 3 follicles on scan day 8 and couple of days later I only had 1...I really think it was just too much for my body to handle. Short protocol works with your natural cycle and tries to stimulate the ovaries at the same time your body is naturally trying to grow follicles. I would definitely try short protocol and if it has the same results go down the DE route...That's what my plan is! X
So sorry to read you had to abandon your first cycle. That must’ve been hard 😏. I was on stims for 17 days in the end, and I also have just the one ovary.
I think I’ve definitely decided to try short protocol and if we’re not lucky then to do DE. Fingers crossed for your next cycle xx
Hey I have a low amh Iv done 7 rounds in total Iv done both long and short protacol I’m switching back to long on my next cycle only because I tend to get better quality eggs but I think it’s defo worth trying both to see what works for you remember every cycle you get different results and Iv also heard amh can change month to month (don’t know how true that is) try not to get caught up in the amh number if you convince yourself you have crap egg it will jsit make you feel sh*t I’m constantly told I have cr*p eggs but I have a 3 years old so they can’t be that bad and I’m going to keep trying for another xxx
Hi lovely. I am sorry your first round didn't work, I often think its a case of just trying to work out what your body can do and how it responds best.
I had a pretty poor response to long protocol - 3 eggs and BFN. I then moved to short protocol and got 13 eggs and a BFP! Although I sadly MC later on. Short was sooo much better for me than long, they usually say long protocol is a bit better for low AMH and older women but they admitted that its not an exact science and I proved them wrong!!
I was top dose Menopur (450) as well. My AMH is higher than yours (around 7) but I am 43.
I guess it depends how open you are to donor eggs, for me its a massive thing to get my head around, so I am always keen to try my own eggs and close off those options first. I get the delay though - nightmare!! Can you get access to another clinic to speed it up? January is insane!!
Thank you for sharing your story 🙌🏻 also sorry to hear about your MC.
I am reasonably open to DE. Last year my AMH was 0.6 and was told we’d need to use a donor, so I started the process when my clinic told me the chances of it working with my eggs is around 20% as my AMH had gone up to 2.4, so I’d already got used to the idea of using DE. At the end of the day, any baby will be plan A, but you May have to take plan B or C to get it if that makes sense?
I would like to try another clinic but I’m not sure if it’s as broad as it’s long. I don’t know what’s involved in changing clinics and how long it’ll take because it’ll be like starting from scratch. What do you think? xx
I'm so sorry to hear your first round didn't work. I'm in exactly the same position but still waiting for my consultant review after the failed NHS round so helpful to hear yours have said Jan as that could help manage my expectations for the next round.
We also said we'd do one privately to see if a short protocol or different drugs would be better. I've also seen others on here do 3 natural cycles to collect eggs before doing any transfers as this could improve quality if you know you won't be getting many eggs so going to ask the clinic if they would recommend that.
I'm tempted to stay where I am but now we're paying privately I've had a look into other clinics. Might be one that's a better fit for you, cheaper and closer to home or can fit you in sooner etc
I'm trying to take comfort in the extra information we now have in relation to the number of follicles, how they grew and the quality of those eggs so hopefully if you go through another round you can see if the next protocol has an improvement and then make your decision at that stage about DE.
Whatever decision you make you know that you've got some great support on here and that you've tried everything you can to start a family. Really hope it goes well and that you can get a date to start sooner. Take care xx
I would definitely look at another clinic. At least get their opinion on what they suggest. Other options are short protocol, flare protocol and “mild” IVF (see Create Fertility).
If the ovaries are stimulated too quickly or too much, the egg quality gets affected. It’s a bit like “flogging a dead horse” which is the only analogy I can think of although not very nice 🤦♀️.
In low AMH, it’s better to stimulate carefully to get a few higher quality eggs to make stronger embryos.
I also don’t understand why you’d have to wait until January! That’s a really long wait and time is of the essence with low AMH as it may drop further.
I also think that IVF is a 3 cycle treatment. The first cycle is a bit trial & error, the 2nd and 3rd should enable your team to optimise your protocol and medications and tailor it to you.
A friend of mine had AMH <0.1. On her third cycle she got one egg. It fertilised, she had a day 3 transfer and her daughter is now 4! She had two further IVF cycles with DE and now has a son.
Thank you for your message. I am looking into changing clinics but my current clinic is fine with me going on short protocol to see how it goes. They just said because of the backlog due to covid, we won’t be able to start a new round until then, but it could be before 🤷🏼♀️ xx
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