Hi, I am currently awaiting investigations to see if we qualify for IVF on NHS. Our appointment is mid-Feb. I have taken an AMH test privately partially to put my mind at rest. They said the AMH had to be equal to or above 5.4pmol/L in order for us to qualify.
My test has come back at 1.25pmol/L (0.18ng/ml) is obviously very low so I guess we will be refused IVF on NHS but need to be officially told in a couple of weeks.
As I am fast approaching 42 years of age and childless, what are my options going forward, I really cannot image my life without a child.
Is my only real option now donor eggs? Or do we have a chance with my own eggs?
I am absolutely devastated and cried all evening . This has come as a huge shock and don’t know what to do next.
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Believeinmiracles82
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Hi there, you still have a chance. Your AMH is low but many on here have made lifestyle changes and taking various supplements. Please don't give up without trying with your own eggs first. What is your afc?
Hi, if you still want to try with own eggs I would definitely encourage you to give it a go. Even with low AMH people have different reaction to stimms medication. You might be lucky and still get some eggs, just read some of the stories here and you will see that some people are lucky and get a pretty good number of eggs.
Unfortunately I’m in the other category, I had 3 stimms so far, 2 on high dosage of hormones (350IU Pergoveris and second time 375IU Menopur) and one on a natural cycle( Letrozol plus 75IU Pergoveris) got 1-1 blastocyst in the first and third round and the natural cycle failed and had to stop stimms. My AMH was 6.2pmol or 0.86ng a year ago so my doctor reckons it is around 0.3-0.4ng. The clinic told us to go donor route after the first cycle but we were not ready for it. Due to our history of miscarriages ( 4 natural) we are PGT-A testing all of our embryos but our latest embryo is a euploid so we got very lucky.
Please don’t give up yet and give it a go, there are some positive stories out there! And if it doesn’t happen you can still consider the donor route ( we are doing the same in case our embryo doesn’t stick) people have created many happy families that way! X
hi, I’m sorry you’ve not received the results you were hoping for. I remember being devastated by my low amh too.
What gave me a slither of hope/control was to try and concentrate on making my body as good as it could be after reading the famous ‘it starts with an egg’ and adding in supplements, accupuncture eating higher protein diet with lots of nuts and fish and going in trying to manage my expectations.
My first round I got 3 eggs but none fertilised. Second round, 5 eggs, 3 ferilised and two transferred at day 3. Both have taken and I’m cautiously at 11 weeks now. I never thought it would happen for me.
I don’t know about the nhs funding regulations in Scotland but while you’re waiting, it might be an idea to do a bit of research into how to give yourself the best chance and to look into donor As well as considering natural modified ivf…it was on my list to try if we had a really bad outcome a second time.
Be kind to yourself and best of luck in whatever you choose going forward. ❤️🫂
Sorry you’re feeling so upset. I totally understand as I felt the same when I got my AMH results and it was a lot lower than expected. In my area you need to meet 2 out of 3 criteria for IVF on the NHS. One is AMH level above the 5.4, the other was FSH and I think the third one was AFC. Even though I didn’t meet the AMH level I was approved for treatment because both the others were high enough. They read them all in the whole to assess the chance of success. But remember, their threshold for success is about ROI and averages not at all about the very real individual human being behind those medical test results so even if the NHS refuses you treatment it doesn’t mean there’s hope if you went for treatment privately. I got one egg through to blastocyst even with a very low AMH level and currently in 2 week wait so that has given me hope that it’s still possible. Wishing you lots of luck and strength xx
honestly the wait in nhs is so long that I would say go private at age 42 even if your AMH wasn’t low as egg quality is time sensitive so the quicker you go for an egg collection the better (I’m about to turn 42 as well) so if it were me I’d start contacting clinics nearby and starting as soon as you can 🤗 and you can defo try at least one or 2 collections with your own eggs and see how you react to stims before the donor route? Even if the nhs do accept you and put you in a waiting list this would be my advice to give you the best chance 💜 but there defo is a chance! Xx
Yeah that’s true I know some areas that can happen (isn’t the case in Scotland we just need to not have any frozen embryos left privately) but I just think at 42 with low AmH waiting on the nhs (which in our area would be about a year and even longer if using donor eggs) is too much of a gamble for me personally but perhaps my area takes a bit longer than others and I’m hyper sensitive about time and have zero patience🫣xx
I didn’t know on my first consultation letter (only sent to gp and not me - I since requested it but didn’t automatically get a copy at the time. )The doctor had written down my figures - amh fsh etc saying that while I qualify now I may not be eligible by the time it’s my turn on the waiting list!!!! Absolutely disgusting this info wasn’t shared with me. Yes - go private if you can. I wish I had to be honest.
Thank you so much for all your responses and good luck on your own journey. My FSH was 7.9 in April 23 but don’t know the latest result. My AFC was only 2 but that was because they could only find the left ovary. I think the minimum is 4. I am not sure about the criteria so if it 2 out of 3 I could ask for the AFC to be checked again so see if we could get 4. I think I have done most of the waiting for NHS as I have waited 10 months. They said if we meet criteria then we would likely start in April. I would ideally like to try NHS as realistically we could probably only afford one try ourselves. I’ve been looking into Tandem IVF abroad which looks quite affordable for us. I think I will keep looking in to different options and vitamins. I already take , DHEA, Co enzyme Q10, pregnacare conception, omega 3-6-9, vitamin e and vitamin d. I feel that over the years I have done so much to get my body in shape but suppose cannot do anything about the ageing, just wishing we started sooner. Thanks again for the encouragement and I will keep you updated with what they say in clinic. Just need to try and pick myself up and stop crying now xxx
Hi Believeinmiracles82, sorry you are going through this. I also have low AMH just 39 now, went from 5 PMOL to 1.98 after a laparoscopy, then went on 2 months full supplement plan with It starts with the egg 3rd edition and increased it to 3.16. We’re actually getting pregnant naturally but have had 4 losses now and will go through IVF privately (also based in Scotland and don’t have time to wait). Recommend to get that book as it talks about low ovarian reserve for IVF too. I bought the book because it discusses recurrent miscarriages and egg quality. No harm looking and not too late. In the platform (the app) one of the ladies got 7 blast from the 3rd cycle after following books advice. Gives us some hope!!
I had low amh but qualified for ivf as my fsh was below 10 perhaps check your local policy about this? Also have you tried timed intercourse with mira. That thing may save you the nightmare of ivf. I failed 2 rounds of ivf and got pregnant naturally within one month using mira. My doctor told me if I had low amh the only option is ivf it's actually the opposite. You have a better chance naturally. X
I have had a Google search for the local policy but cannot find it. My letter says AFC of 4 and AMH of 5.4 which is why I thought we would be refused, fingers crossed we will get one chance. I have a look into Mira as we could even try that whilst looking into our options - good luck with everything x
I’m sorry to hear this, it’s very tough. From my own experience, I tried using my own eggs, the odds from outset were not good but I wanted and needed to close that chapter before moving on to donor.
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