Failed Egg Freezing - low AMH

[Deesol21]

Hi everyone,

Great to know there is an online community to help when you're feeling all alone on this journey. I am 38 years old. Low Amh. AFC of 8. Two failed egg freezing rounds. Going for Round3.

My experience with egg freezing has not been a good one so far. I attempted to do egg freezing in Sept.

My 1st protocol:

Menupur 300 for 9 days

Began Cetrotide on Day 6 at night

On Friday Day 7, everything looked good during the ultrasound ..there were 5 follicles. Leading follicle around 15mm. On Monday(Day 10) I went in for the last ultrasound before retrieval and it appeared that one of the eggs started to prematurely ovulate..and all the follicles were to follow. I did some bloodwork to verify that I infact was starting to ovulate. It was my very first cycle ever.. I was devastating with this news. I took some time to take it in and accept it. I indulged with some pizza and wine. I had been eating so healthy for 3 months prior. No alcohol/coffee/sugar/friedfoos etc so I just wanted some comfort food as I dealt with the failure.

I decided to go for Round 2. I asked around and apparently doing it back to back has some benefits. (More eggs next round etc)

I changed drs for 2nd round due to location change.

Second protocol:

Gonalf 450 × 9 days

Cetrotide on Day 7 (for 4 days)

Last ultrasound on Day 10. 6 follicles. Leading follicle at 18mm. Doctor advised trigger shot should be taken Wednesday night (ovitrelle) and retrieval scheduled for Friday.

They only retrieved 5 eggs. However none were mature at the time of retrieval:((((((((( they told me that the lab would do what it could to make them mature. (Apparently it could take as little as 2 hours). I got the dreadful call at 4 pm that told me none of them were successful and we have no eggs to freeze. Again, I was devastated. Esp because I went though the egg retrieval this time. I know this is not a big deal to many who've gone through years of IVF or have gone through miscarriages...but for me it was still so upsetting not to mention emotionally, physically and financially exhausting.

At that point.. I wanted to close the chapter and revisit in spring. After I let it settle in. I realized it's better for me to get this done since I'm in the mindset. And walking away may never have me come back after 2 failed attempts. Plus high on horomones could have benefits?

Anyone out there have any experience with failed egg freezing and what I should do for round 3? 😫😫

So frustrating.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Dana

[Purpledoggy]

I'm so sorry you went through this - what a deflating outcome. It looks like you did 2 short protocols - with low AMH many clinics opt for long protocol (unless AMH is extremely low) so might be worth finding out about switching it up next time? From comments I have seen on here and elsewhere, short protocol carries much greater risk of premature ovulation than long as well. It seems to be horses for courses when it comes to protocol so as you have had 2 disappointing rounds something significant should change. A different option would be to try something like mild IVF given your low AMH, but I am not sure how appropriate that would be for egg freezing rather than going through with fertilisation as the aim is to get fewer but better eggs. Definitely have a long chat with your clinician about how they will change things up - if they aren't willing to change much then my personal feeling would be to look elsewhere. xx

[Deesol21 in reply to Purpledoggy]

Thanks so much for your reply.My dr is suggesting I skip this period due to remaining follicles/blood left over after egg retrieval. He wants me to take birth control on day 5 of this cycle for 11 days (2 tablets a day). He says this will reset everything so you can avoid big and small follicles growing at different times. He also suggests waiting until the leading follicle is 20mm this time instead of 18mm (for trigger shot) And also suggesting Duphaston pill instead of cetrotide. I really don't know... I am gonna give it another shot.

[Deesol21 in reply to Purpledoggy]

Just an update. I did Round 3. Retrieved 6 eggs and all were immature!! This time around I took Duphaston pills twice a day instead of Cetrotide. I didn't have egg retrieval until Day 15. The Dr was shocked himself that they weren't mature. I'm so confused as we had eggs above 20mm.

His only suggestion was Making them bigger before trigger shot or upping the dose of the triggershot ovitrelle.

This is the most frustrating thing I've experienced.

It's unclear to me how this would ever work and making me close this chapter.

Perhaps a MILD ivf would be more suitable.. I am really not sure.

[Purpledoggy in reply to Deesol21]

Argh that is so frustrating you poor thing! Egg immaturity is not something I have experienced but I know other ladies have found that increasing, switching, or even mixing trigger medication can help with immaturity problems. Millbanks did you have problems with this at one point? xx

[Millbanks in reply to Purpledoggy]

Thanks Purpledoggy Yes I did have issues with this on one cycle - the mix that they used just didn't do the job - or rather the combo was fine, but the dosage wasn't right. We only got 6 eggs (from a possible 12 as I think the trigger shot was too low) and ended up with 2 really low quality blasts that didn't take. I was on a high dose of Gonal-F & low dose menopur.

For the 2nd cycle they switched them round so had higher menopur dose and a lower dose of Gonal-F and had a triple trigger shot! But we got 14 eggs, which resulted in 8 blasts - so a massive improvement.

I know it's massively frustrating but it should be able to be corrected for your next cycle. Best of luck! xx

[Deesol21 in reply to Millbanks]

Wow amazing what you can get with different protocol. Happy to hear your success story. Thanks so much for sharing. I think I will take a little break now and re-visit in Spring. And will try the triple trigger shot!

[Millbanks in reply to Deesol21]

I know!! Crazy isn’t it. Best of luck to you xx

[Deesol21 in reply to Purpledoggy]

Definitely frustrating but out of my control. Thank you for connecting me with your friend who has experience with this. Amazing what a different protocol can do. Thanks again.

[Tates1982]

I'm sorry to hear you have had two failed rounds, it's devastating when this happens. I had 2 round with the NHS, I was on 450 menopur and cetritide. Although they did retrieve eggs I didn't have any success and nothing to freeze. I am now going private doing mild ivf, I had my egg retrieval yesterday and we got 6 eggs. I'm waiting to hear today how mNy have fertilised. So I can't give you a success story but it is worth trying a different protocol. Do you mind me asking what your AMH is ? Mild ivf does have high success rates for people with low amh.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do xx

[Deesol21 in reply to Tates1982]

My dr is suggesting I skip this period due to remaining follicles/blood left over after egg retrieval. He wants me to take birth control on day 5 of this cycle for 11 days (2 tablets a day). He says this will reset everything so you can avoid big and small follicles growing at different times. He also suggests waiting until the leading follicle is 20mm this time instead of 18mm (for trigger shot) And also suggesting Duphaston pill instead of cetrotide. I really don't know... I am gonna give it another shot. My amh is 0.34.

[Deesol21 in reply to Tates1982]

I wish you all the best...hoping your new protocol turns into a success story! We all need some positive outcomes to keep us going. Best of luck!!

[Deesol21 in reply to Tates1982]

Just an update. I did Round 3. Retrieved 6 eggs and all were immature!! This time around I took Duphaston pills twice a day instead of Cetrotide. I didn't have egg retrieval until Day 15. The Dr was shocked himself that they weren't mature. I'm so confused as we had eggs above 20mm.

His only suggestion was Making them bigger before trigger shot or upping the dose of the triggershot ovitrelle.

This is the most frustrating thing I've experienced.

It's unclear to me how this would ever work and making me close this chapter.

Perhaps a MILD ivf would be more suitable.. I am really not sure.