8 Follicles on unstimulated cycle, 3 follicles on stimulated conventional cycle

[Islay14]

 Hi everyone,

I have just finished my first conventional IVF cycle resulting in three follicles & one egg collected which did get to blastocyst stage & was transferred but I got my BFN .

Prior to that cycle ( only the month before ) the clinic did a baseline scan where they found 8 follicles .

I’m just really confused about that as thought I should have more on a stimulated cycle than a non stimulated cycle . 

My AMH is low- 3.0.

So far my clinic has not been able to explain why this is . Has anyone else experienced this ? And we’re you able to get any answers?

[katymcg]

Hi lovely, this happened to me also. I have low AMH and didn't respond to the medication well. ask your clinic about natural/modified ivf . less drugs and usually less eggs but better quality for low amh. wishing you all the luck xx

[Islay14 in reply to katymcg]

Thank you katymcg - I will ! X

[DreamingOfTwo79]

Hello Islay14, I am sorry you got fewer eggs than you hoped for. I am a similar age to you and also have low AMH (3.8 in July). At my ORT in July they counted 13 follicles, however during both my egg collections (early Oct and early Nov) they retrieved 9 (all mature) and 7 (pending Day 1 call) eggs respectively while on the scans it would show around 15-17 follicles at my last scan prior to trigger. A lot of these were too small to contain an egg that would mature in time for the collection. While the antral follicle count during an ovarian reserve test is a useful indicator for general reserve, it unfortunately does not tell how many of these would actually respond to the stimulation and grow to contain mature eggs by the time of trigger. I was advised to take a number of supplements including DHEA and Melatonin to support follicle growth and quality and was also prescribed Zomacton (a human growth hormone) during my stimulation phase with 225iU of Meriofert and Fostimon. Wishing you the best of luck for any future rounds!

[Islay14 in reply to DreamingOfTwo79]

Thank you DreamingOfTwo79 - that is really helpful- I’ll ask about that ! X

[Axel131 in reply to DreamingOfTwo79]

Hi Dreaming, I'm just jumping in on this and wondering how long you took the melatonin for and what dosage if you remember? I asked my clinic about taking it and although they were happy for me to take it, they were very vague about when and how much and just said it was up to me! I've been on the DHEA for the last few months but most studies I've read only seem to take the Melatonin during stims so I'm wondering.

[DreamingOfTwo79 in reply to Axel131]

Hello Axel131, that’s correct, I only took Melatonin during the stimulation phase from baseline scan until trigger day, 3 mg at bedtime. Wishing you the best of luck!

[Axel131 in reply to DreamingOfTwo79]

Thanks so much, great to get some first hand knowledge!

[Koala365]

It's happened to me a lot that I have had a lot more follicles at the baseline scan than the number that have grown upon stimulation. For example on my worst cycle, I had 9 at baseline scan but only 2 follicles that grew large enough (with two much smaller follicles so far behind it wouldn't be possible to try to collect eggs from them). When I have queried this, I have always been told that the baseline just provides an indication but that not all follicles respond to stimulation and some may not even contain eggs so while it provides an indication that you have follicles that may progress a as a result of stimulation drugs, there is no guarantee that all of them will or that they will all grow at the same rate. For comparison, in another cycle, I had 9 follicles at baseline and got 5 eggs, of which 4 fertilised and 3 embryos were transferred in a fresh cycle. Another time I had 19 follicles at baseline and still only got 5 or 6 eggs because although quite a few grew it was not all at the same rate so they could only get a cluster of 5 or 6 growing together. I would ask your clinic for copies of the folliculargram where they plotted your follicle growth at each scan and a better idea of whether they are just not counting any of the follicles under 10 which grew but didn't grow enough by egg collection day and if there were follicles like that I would want their advice on how they could all grow at the same rate next time e.g. discussing using oestrogen patches the month before or something

[Islay14 in reply to Koala365]

That’s a good thought Koala365 ! Thank you ! X