3th cycle IVF, low reserve and poor responding

[Maya1985]

Hi ladies, I just wanted to share my IVF journey so far and ask for some other experiences. I am 37 with low amh. My first cycle was on elonva and then gonal F added. I had 4 eggs collected, non fertilised. It was a complete shock to us. We had been trying for 1 year and experienced 1 chemical pregnancy that year. Second cycle same protocol and ICSI. 3 eggs collected, 2 mature, 2 fertilised. Very slow growing embryos. At day 5 they told me the transfer will be cancelled. On day 6 they called and said 1 embryo miraculously became a blastocyst overnight. Poor quality. The transfer did not result in pregnancy. The FS told me to start looking for donor eggs.

We went for a second opinion and new FS told me to not give up yet. He put me now on 450 menopur. Yesterday I had to go for a bloodtest on day 5 and the nurse explained my oestrogen is very slowly rising. She stated it should be doubled by now. Tomorrow I have another blood test and if they see no improvement the cycle could be cancelled. I have prepared myself the best I could to cope with bad news but this has stung me. I have terrible headaches and feel extremely hopeless. The hormones always put my on an emotional rollercoaster but this time I feel absolutely lost. Any similar experiences and hope? Lots of love to all women out there going through this hell.

[DianeArnold Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK]

Hi May. By now a decision will have been made as to whether you got to egg collection or not. I do hope so. If not, you need to look back at ehat you have been through to get here, so now perhaps an egg donot will be the way forward for you. It's a hard journey, but hopefully you will get there. Thinking of you. Diane

[Skittles11]

Hi Maya

I'm so sorry you're going through this. I can relate as I have low ovarian reserve and have been through multiple IVF cycles, my body seems to do its own thing and some times I respond much better than other times (but I never get many eggs / embryos).

I wonder are you on long or short protocol? And is the first time you've tried a different batch of drugs?

I have had a scenario where my oestrogen was rising slowly and we went ahead to egg collection anyway and I got no eggs. It would have been better to cancel, in retrospect I believe that is the "kinder" option although none are favourable.

Your current doctor sounded like they remained optimistic. If this cycle is cancelled I'm sure you'll seek advice from them. Sometimes the suggestion of donor eggs comes at times when we simply are not ready and that in itself can spark additional distress.

Take good care xx

[LittleT123]

Sorry to hear this, IVF is such a rollercoaster for so many of us and then other people get lucky first time. I didn’t get anything to freeze on my first cycle and my embryo didn’t survive in the womb either. Im on cycle 2 now day 6 of stims and already having curveballs thrown at me in that they think they can see a polyp (they said this last time but when it got to Hysteroscopy investigate there was no polyp.) I’m 38 with good AMH but my partner has dna fragmentation so we are having ICSI this time. I can only pray that this isn’t a polyp it’s just thick lining in my womb that looks like a polyp and they will still do a transfer. I just feel like my clock is ticking and it’s never going to happen and I guess you feel the same. It’s so tough and people who haven’t been through this just don’t understand how hard it really is. Also I’m not sure about you but I feel that this burden is more on myself than my boyfriend because it’s my body it’s happening too. He copes fine with it all even though it’s him with the fertility issue not myself. I think the person going through the treatment suffers the most. Hope your ok, know our circumstances are different but our goal is the same and I understand your pain and frustration xx

[Cherrypie87]

I had a similar experience, had one FET on November last year, resulted in 7 follicles, which became 5 eggs from egg collection, 2 fertilised and did double transfer which failed. Fast forward to next cycle, in May this year, to only finding 1 follicle, they kept extending my stims to see if everything would get better, kept getting scans and eventually my lining went up then down and my egg went bigger for one scan and smaller on the next one 3 days apart. Somewhere in my brain this told me it wouldn't be a good quality if I did an egg collection. I asked the nurses to be honest and they were, it hurt and it wasn't what I wanted, but they made me realise what I was coming to terms with was I might get a better chance with donor eggs. They gave me extra injections and a couple of days to make the decision myself. My choices were to go ahead but my follicle might not even be an egg, but as soon as they do egg collection its counted as a round, on the nhs. Or I could abandon the cycle and get 2 more cycles with donor eggs. I chose to abandon and go for donor eggs. My amh is low too, I've just turned 35. The scary thing is they told me nhs waiting list was 4 to 5 years, but if you find your own donors, which somehow I managed to do, they take your place on the list which was at the top anyway but giving me a couple of months to get used to the idea, grieve, realise I still have a chance of carrying a baby and it will still be having my blood in my body and trying again but with donor eggs...I hope this helps and hasn't scared you. My advice, ask any questions, even if you think they're stupid, ask their recommendations, ask about the clinics counselling to speak to them, and decide what's best for you. Good luck, I hope it all works out xxx