5pmol AMH aged 27, anyone had similar situation and success with ivf?

[Mlove12]

Im 27 and have been ttc for almost 2 years, amazingly, its only now come to our attention that my ovarian reserve is severely low and this subsequently means our ivf chances at also quite low. Wondering if anyone had any luck with ivf with similar levels and if you went private or through NHS? Any advice/comments are appreciated

[Pnw2020]

Hi. AMH is an indicator of how you might respond to IVF but AFC is also very important. Plus you should still have good quality eggs due to your age.NHS often requires AMH >5.4 to qualify for fertility treatment but check with your local area.

Have you had a HSG or SIS to check your fallopian tubes etc are ok? Presume your partner has also been checked.

You will definitely have options with IVF privately. Worth signing up for a few webinars. I did this and it really helped me understand the process and how treatment is very individual.

Have a read of ‘It starts with the egg’. Talks about supplements etc which might help.

To give you hope I am much older than you with a similar AMH and currently pregnant after second round of IVF.

Stay positive x

[Mlove12 in reply to Pnw2020]

Hi, thanks for replying!I dont think ive had an AFC check, may i ask what this checks for?

I have had an HSG and partner analysis is all good, so looking like its just the low count at the moment!

Consultant wants to do bloods again (not sure why tbh!) and then will take things from there, but im aware time is running out! Consultant suggested private clinic but we cant really afford it right now so its all a bit stressful.

Congratulations on your pregnancy! How exciting

Thank you for your advice its truly appreciated, i shall take a look at the book as ive heard lots of good things about it! X

[Positivechangeplease in reply to Mlove12]

You’re quite young so I would have thought that you’re a candidate for ivf. You need to check your local ccgs to find out what the restrictions are. But with mine you had to be trying for 3 years or have a problem. But low AMH as mentioned is a blocker to ivf. There are natural supplements you can take to boost it and also I’d ask the consultant what can be done to boost low AMH. That said, a friend of mine who was in her thirties with low AMH got pregnant naturally twice. So all is not lost.

[D38813]

Your egg quality will be high so hold onto that hope. I conceived naturally at 43 with amh 0.2. Look into supplements, they do really help. If not using a clinic learn to know when your ovulating, predictor kits, change in cm etc and don’t miss an opportunity. Dance three days before and every day until past ovulation.

Good luck xxx

[HollyCG]

Hey, I was diagnosed with a low AMH of 2.9 at the age of 27. I was petrified! I was told this was more than likely the the reason I hadn’t fallen naturally ( i had been trying just over a year at that point ) the consultant said i would only have a few eggs and the ones I had probably weren’t good quality. I rushed straight into IVF and on my first round got 5 eggs which surprisingly turned into 4 top grade blastocyst embryos - the first fresh transfer resulted in negative pregnancy test & so did the next frozen transfer. Something kept telling me deep down that if I was ovulating every month and the eggs I got were top grade surely my egg amount/quality wasn’t the reason I wasn’t falling pregnant. Went in for another egg collection to bank more eggs as I was still convinced my supply was going to run out & ended up with 6 this time I had them all tested and they all came back chromosomal normal which confirmed for me the eggs were not the issue something else was. Fast forward turns out I have high NK cells which was not allowing my embryos to implant - had treatment for this and fingers crossed I’m now 8 weeks pregnant. My point is I had my amh tested 2 years ago now and it was 2.9 so I’d be horrified to know what it is now but I am still producing eggs & they are still good quality because we fortunately have age on our side so try not to worry! I sent myself into complete and utter panic thinking my time was running out. It only takes on egg! Good luck! Xxx

[Mlove12 in reply to HollyCG]

Hi Holly,This definitely gives me hope!

I dont feel very supported by our nhs consultant so am possibly looking into private but its just the expense of it all, however i’d be damned if i let money get in the way of me and my partner having a baby lol!

Congratulations on your pregnancy! What a journey you and your partner have been through. May i ask what NK cells are and how they check for this? Im also thinking very similar to you, in that age is on my side and hopefully eggs are good quality, but something is niggling at me thag it could be something else such as implantation issues.

Thank you for your reply its really appreciated and gives me hope

[HollyCG in reply to Mlove12]

I went private from the start as I was too panicked after getting my amh results to wait on the NHS due to the backlog with COVID.

My first clinic were reluctant to listen to my concerns that it was actually implantation failure rather than my low AMH - it was after the 2 failed rounds with them that I moved clinic took my embryos with me & had further tests for implantation failure. If I had stayed there I would have gone through all 4 rounds and believed it was my embryo quality were the issue!

It is called the Chicago testing & involves blood test & biopsy of the endometrium lining. The problem is you don’t want to jump the gun & waste money having unnecessary tests if your only problem is low AMH as you could be lucky enough to have success on your first round if thats the case. I however regret not listening to my gut and having every test under the sun before going through those first two rounds as it was a complete waste of time money & embryos! Ended up spending triple the amount by the end of it.

Also I’m sure you’ve had this tested already but just incase make sure you have your thyroid levels tested as something as simple as this can stop you from falling pregnant

Xxx

[Purpledoggy]

5 pmol/L is low for your age but not so low when you compare the AMH of lots of us oldies who are getting pregnant late 30's/early 40's, and as someone else pointed out your egg quality will be much better! AMH does fluctuate a bit so it might also come out a little higher on a retest, so if you are refused NHS treatment on the basis of this value get it re-tested. My AMH was 7.6 pmol/L when I first started IVF at 39 and I got decent numbers of eggs (8 and 9 for the 2 rounds). Currently pregnant with 7 blastos in the freezer so IMHO how well the protocol suits you is more important than the actual AMH number (within reason). Best of luck xx

[CJohns]

I’m in a similar situation, but due to start treatment in December/January.

My AMH has been recorded at 2.2 and 1 during the last few months and I’m 28. My OH also has semen issues.

We have qualified for a free round on the NHS as our area look at probably of live birth being over 10%. We contemplated going private to speed things up, but our local private clinic is the clinic that our NHS hospital use and they could only bump us up by a few weeks (wasn’t really worth spending the £6-7k on).

I’d suggest not beating yourself up about your levels, but I still do it now, so I should practice what I preach 😅. The only thing I would say is that the sooner you have dates booked in (be that in a month or 6 months time), the calmer you will feel as you know there is a plan in place xx

[Mlove12 in reply to CJohns]

Hi,

Thanks for replying and sharing your journey.

Regarding ivf through nhs, did you have to wait 2 or 3 years? For some reason they are telling us 3 years, even though weve more than likely found the cause as to why we haven’t conceived yet, and i thought if they know the reason it can be changed to two years? I may be wrong though. Do you feel the nhs process was a supportive one? My consultant wasnt the most supportive unfortunately!

Thanks for sharing your journey

[CJohns in reply to Mlove12]

We didn’t have to wait… we were ttc for 10 months from sept 2020, in July we did a private fertility MOT due to being a bit impatient, and bang, we were both hit with disastrous results which were totally unexpected.

Our docs referred us straight to our local fertility clinic, initial apt was 01/09 and our transfer/egg collection week is booked in 14/02/22. Timescales to me are quite slow (compared to a lot of other regions and private clinics), but I had a few teary moments during apts and they managed to bump us up by a few weeks. If I hadn’t, I’m sure we’d be looking at March/April.

Your level is low for your age, so that should be enough for you to be put straight forward for ivf, I can’t understand how you haven’t been😬. My advice - cry, kick up a fuss, compare your levels to a 40 year old (who would get priority).

And with regards to the nhs journey…I agree. The nurses tend to be kinder, but I really feel like you’re treated like a number. I’m constantly being told to keep positive, whilst being told I have a 1 in 5 chance and that I need to consider donor eggs (I’ve been told this on more than one occasion). I pray it works first time, but in a way I look forward to going private so that I am in control of who we go with and hopefully a better service.

Yes we are younger and our eggs are probably better, but also do whatever you can to help your eggs in readiness. Improve your diet, take all of the supplements, cut out cosmetics with nasties and so on. It may even help getting pregnant naturally xx

[Pnw2020 in reply to CJohns]

Unfortunately it is three years without any miscarriages in some areas if there is not an absolute cause of infertility, and low AMH is not an absolute cause. FSH may also be a criteria. Check what your local CCG fertility policy says. You can look this up online usually. Best to be prepared. In my case I knew by the time I would have been eligible for NHS treatment that my AMH would have dropped below their limit and therefore went straight for private treatment. It’s a hard pill to swallow but affects many unfortunately and is definitely a postcode lottery. There are finance companies or upfront packages via Access Fertility that can work out cheaper. Some clinics offer packages themselves. As mentioned above may be worth looking into immune testing in your case before, oh and check vitamin D levels.

[CJohns in reply to Pnw2020]

Gosh I can’t even believe that😢.

It’s bad enough that most nhs trusts only give 1 cycle instead of the recommended 3. Let alone not having access to the treatment when you clearly have an fertility issue xx

[pink_lemon]

Hello, I was trying about 10 years older with less than half the level AMH. Could not get pregnant for a year also. Low amh should not necessarily be a reason for not falling pregnant. My first clinic gave me an option of IVF or HyCoSy (which flushes your fallopian tubes). I chose the later first as I found IVF too invasive at the time. It worked. Got pregnant immediately after the procedure and then again 4 months later (after a mc). Maybe that simple procedure could do it for you too. Older ladies with lower amh get to have their babies, so don’t panic. And good luck.

[FoxKinder]

Hey mlove12I have shared my story a few times but I had a little boy naturally in 2016 and then struggled to conceive again.

I had my AMH tested at our local nhs/local clinic and it came back like yours at 5.5. This meant I got put on a high dosage of drugs and on my first go of IVF I got 11 eggs, but all quite low quality. After a double fresh transfer and a BFN, i had one egg to freeze which I used in Dec 2020 as an FET and also got a BFN.

In the new year we decided to move clinics for our final go. They tested my AMH and it came back at 13.9 🤷‍♀️. This meant I got put on a lower dose of drugs. They also recommended various vitamins/supplements which I wasn't taking. In April 2021 I got 15 eggs and out of them I had 8 really good quality. I had a double transfer and I'm currently 33 weeks pregnant with 6 more embryos in the freezer.

I know this isn't always the case with everyone but I would recommend just getting your AMH double checked as this does affect the type and strength of drugs you are put on.

Good luck Ruth your IVF journey x x