Hi, we have been refused for IVF on NHS for my low AMH which come back at 1.25pmol/L (0.18ng/ml) and had to be a minimum of 5.4pmol/L. She also mentioned that my iron levels were high and didn’t ask if this could cause low AMH due to the upset. Do you think these could be related?
She said the chance that IVF would work is very slim and I will unlikely achieve a pregnancy naturally. She suggested we go straight to donor eggs privately.
I have been looking into the idea of tandem IVF in Prague. I am open to the idea of donor eggs but feel I need to try with my own first because I know I would regret this if I didn’t try.
Could anyone give any advice how this would work. I would rather the consultation be online and only travel for egg retrieval and transfer. How easy is it to arrange for medication to home country and arranging scans during stims? Also if anyone know how much it would all realistically cost approximately. I am based in North East England.
Do you think the NHS would give us all our test results so we don’t have to pay for them again
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I feel my head is all over the place and cannot think straight.
Xx
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Believeinmiracles82
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When I was given my low AMH result of 5 I was told I had better chance with IUI or trying naturally.
The AMH is only an indicator of how you are likely to respond to IVF stims.
Can't comment on going abroad but I live in Northern Ireland & my clinic is in Manchester so the travel and logistics does add stress on especially if you have to have multiple goes.
Sorry to hear about your situation. We moved from the NHS to private and they moved all my files over to the private clinic with no issues. The private clinic ran some additional tests, which we were charged for. I know it's not ideal and it is expensive, but, even with a high egg reserve and no obvious fertility issues, the NHS standard procedure wasn't working for us. Suggesting you go private might be a blessing in disguise. I'm now pregnant after many failed transfers on the NHS. Good luck!
Thanks for your reply. That sounds encouraging and would like to try with my eggs with PGT. I’m trying to be realistic in terms of costs.’That is cheaper than I thought to be honest. Pleased it worked out for you. Congratulations on the pregnancy
Happy to help! We have a fantastic consultant based in the NE (we did a lot of research looking for the right fit for us). If you want any details, feel free to message me (I know you aren't allowed to put the names of consultants or clients on here), but I couldn't have asked for a better, more emphatic person who genuinely cares. Based on my experience, I would honestly get a second opinion on your results.
Also look into access fertility. They do packages which include meds. For low AMH they are likely to throw the highest doses at you. My meds invoice came to £2400 (I had it in my 2 cycle package thankfully which was 12k for my age group)
If the tests were done at the IVF clinic, you can just request all the info they have on you. They’ll give you a form and after a few weeks they’ll email or post all of the results and scans they have for you and your partner. People tend to do that before going private so they’re very used to it.
If it was all at your GP office in prep for the IVF referral, you can see all of your results in the NHS app if the practice has activated that feature. If not, ask reception or the medical secretary of the practice for these specific results. They should be able to help. More info here: nhs.uk/nhs-services/gps/vie...
Thank you-I will give them a call today to get the ball rolling. I did have some initial bloods by GP but are not showing on the app but my most recent ones were done in the clinic
Oh then it will be super easy to get them from the clinic. They do it all the time. Best of luck on the private route! The answers around here sound very encouraging!
I didn’t go through the NHS, I went privately and paid for my consultation tests (I appreciate not all people can do this) and found I too had very low amh.
However the doctor, was lovely about this and gave me some medication to go away for 3 months to take and then to come back and start ivf with my own eggs may I add.
I retrieved 4 eggs, 1 died 2 were frozen and I had 1 fresh embryo transfer.
That first transfer resulted in my now nearly 7 year old daughter! I then went ahead a few years later for a second, my 2nd egg didn’t work but my last egg resulted in my 2 year old son!
I appreciate privately is hugely expensive and we were very very lucky to get 2 children out of 3 eggs.
I just wanted to relay my story in the hope it will give you some belief that it can work despite the low amh. I was 31 at the time of this diagnosis so quite young .
This gives me hope. I keep telling myself it only takes one egg so hopefully it could work out. So pleased you managed to get have success with 2 on one round. I know it is so expensive with no guarantees. Do you mind me asking what medication you were given beforehand as I will try and get some. Just bought some DHEA a month or so ago
hey, i credit everything to the DHEA tablets I was taking. 3 a day at 25mg. I did this for 3 months prior to any treatment starting, without these I don’t think I would’ve been so successful. I tiook a prescribed dosage of folic acid, high in MG and an over the counter vit d tablet which again was high in MG and a general vit e tablet. I can’t remember the name of the vit d tablet but it wasn’t on the shop floor I had to request it from behind the counter.
Sorry I couldn’t be of much help with the names but please take the DHEA regularly I’m
Just wanted to 2nd DHEA. I took for 4 months prior to egg collection (also low ish AMH) and ended up with 13 eggs collected and 4 high quality 5 day blasts. I now have a beautiful 10 month old and contemplating a sibling next year. There's loads online about DHEA but I read about it in 'it starts with the egg' book. Good luck x
Thanks l, I’ve heard great things about DHEA. I paid for a test to make sure my levels were not high before taking and they will right in the middle of normal. I’ll take them for 3 months and check again as I don’t want it to be too high
I know exactly how you feel right now and I know how lost you must feel but back in 2021 we was also refused IVF on the NHS due to low AMH. 3.4.
I was on the waitlist for a laparoscopy as I’d been having painful periods for some time, so we decided to have that then seek our next step into private.
As it had taken almost a year to get to that point (surgery showed I was all clear and only had mass fibrous tissue from previous abdominal surgeries) I had to have my AMH tested again. We was going to go through access fertility and pay the mind boggling 12k a round.
My AMH was all of a sudden 9.8. I’m no spring chicken either at 37! So we got granted NHS funding.
When I got told my about my AMH I changed everything, my diet, my entire lifestyle and most importantly (what I believe was the issue) is my vitamin intake.
They never told me I was deficient in anything but I believe I was. I started taking high dose vit D, omega 3, coq10, folic, vit c vit e and many more.
I’ve researched to the high heavens that AMH does not reflect your ability to become a mother and it does fluctuate. I am living proof of that. Try not to be disheartened about your AMH level, if you have time - take action and remember AMH does not define you as a person.
Although my journey has still not been easy - first round only 4 eggs and chemical pregnancy, we were of course still given that HOPE that we all need struggling to conceive.
And hope is all you need to keep going and that’s why I felt it was so important to tell you my story. 😘
Thanks for sharing - we definitely need to keep going and not give up. It’s so difficult when you feel you have given it your all, changed your lifestyle and still doesn’t seem enough. Hopefully it’s all worth it in the end
Please don’t take this news as gospel, low AMH only predicts that you’ll respond poorly to IVF. It tells you nothing of your ability to conceive naturally, and it’s uninformed that the doctor told you you won’t conceive. You don’t say how old you are or if you had a baseline scan looking at your follicle count. Also have your Vit d and your thyroid been checked? If both these are not optimal it could push your AMH a bit lower. I’d also recommend working with a fertility acupuncturist who can help you make sure everything is at it’s optimum. There will be IVF clinics that will work with you if you push to have own egg IVF or IUI. But they will encourage you to move to donor eggs, you will conceive faster going that route. It’s just they it isn’t your only option.
I conceived at 39 with an AMH that was 0.4 5 months prior to conceiving. I’d had 3 failed IVF cycles beforehand.
I did conceive naturally. I honestly don’t know how. I had just started using Softdiscs every time we had sex, but I don’t think it was them as have been using them for 2 years now and haven’t had any luck again.
I’ve just turned 42 last week. She said that as we have been trying naturally for over 6 years the chance of it happening now is slim. She also said if it were to happen then there is a good chance the baby would have genetic problems. Follicle count showed 2 on left and they were unable to visualise my right ovary. Vitamin D and thyroid were normal as well as all the other bloods done apart from high iron and low AMH. I really need to try with my own eggs first just so I have no regrets
I’m 43. Our chance of a chromosomally normal baby at our age is a lot lot lower yes. But people do have healthy babies at our age.
I would be getting another opinion as this doctor is not on your side. Maybe tell us where you are and people might be able to privately message recommendations for doctors to get a second opinion from.
I also re-read your post. Your high iron level should be investigated.
Thank you. I agree, I felt she just dismissed us and wanted us to try for donor eggs. I think that as I have never tried with my own eggs, that was a bit unfair. I am from north east England and our CQC says we are not eligible on AMH alone. Yes I’m going to call GP surgery on Monday, I was borderline anaemic 3 years ago as I haemorrhaged during miscarriage so not sure why it’s showing high now, I don’t really eat iron rich food either x
The thing to remember is that it’s a business for them based on stats, you are more likely to conceive with donor eggs which for them is a win for their stats. I hate that that is the awful reality.
Where I live there was no IVF entitlement at all (that has changed and there is now one round) but low AMH is generally a reason for refusal in all CCG’s. It’s rubbish.
You are entitled to ask for all your records from the NHS. You usually fill in a form with proof of ID and submit the request. It can take quite some time but it varies depending on your area and how busythey are. There might be other tests that the private clinic requires but the NhS does not do, so be prepared for having to pay for some.
I think it is hard to come to terms with needing DE.
Despite most people -if not all -that move to DE never look back I think every one would agree that they would regret not giving their own eggs a chance first.
A tandem cycle sounds a reasonable action.
I don't know about costs in Prague. In terms of the Logistics of treatment abroad you can do all tests here and only travel for retrieval and transfer. travel one more time for the tests before treatment is also an option. Your clinic will advise you what they recommend. They might work with a clinic here to accommodate your monitoring.
I had treatment in Greece. In a retrieval cycle my clinic prefered if I was there the latest day 8 of stimulation.
I’ve got the forms to fill in to get records so going to submit these over the weekend. It’s really hard decision but I am coming around to the idea of donor eggs if my eggs are out of the question. How did you get the medication from Greece. Did they give you a prescription to get medication from UK? I think Prague is the same, have to be over for on day 8 of stimulation
The clinic works with a pharmacy in UK. They send the prescription and then the pharmacy sends me a link to pat and arrange a delivery. People say that you can shop around for a cheaper price. You will need the original prescription with the doctors signature for this. I checked another pharmacy but in the end my clinics pharmacy was cheaper.
Also AMH is not a guarantee. I had a more than good AMH for my age at the time when I started and yes I got many eggs in my retrievals but none has given me a baby.
Hi Is it possible to get your AMH retested? I ask because I had mine tested at 2 different clinics about 8 months apart the second test my AMH was much higher and the clinic couldn't explain why. In regards to you test yes you are in titled to a copy of all of your medical records and you can make a request through your GP practice.
Hi I have just found out I am pregnant naturally with an Amh of 1.24pmol(checked in Sept).I will be 42 nxt month.I just had my daughter 9months ago after my second round of ivf in Gennet in Prague.I was devastated at the result and we had decided to go for another round of ivf in May although in my heart I thought it will never work as even with an Amh of 7.6pmol when last checked before ivf cycles I was a very poor responder and got 5 eggs and 4 embryos over the 2 cycles.I started back on all my vitamins again when I got my Amh result as I hadn’t taken any since my daughter was born.It is still very early days and we are quite honestly in total disbelief and it may not work out for us but we will celebrate for now.Wishing you the best of luck and hoping my story gives you some hope.xx
Oh wow, congratulations. This really give me hope. Your AMH is very similar to mine. Would you mind letting me know what vitamins you took and how the treatment was in Prague. I am a little anxious about getting medication, whether they speak good English and what it was like overall. Gennet is on our list, we have another one we are interested in too xx
Wow, congrats.. I will turn 42 in April this year and I have gone through 3 ivf cycles all failed. Last time I had one embryo and we did pgt it came 100% aneploid. Now I am doing egg stimulation for another cycle. Can you tell what vitamins you took?
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