Egg Quality

[Greenleaves1]

God I feel old today! I had my consultation with my clinic regarding my latest negative test & she pretty much said it's simply the egg quality because of age.

I'm 39 next month with an AMH of 8.5. Both cycles I've been getting around 3 or 4 mature eggs. Only 1 blast each round.

I have 2 more rounds left in me - mentally & financially.

Supplement wise I'm starting DHEA & NAC. I'm restarting CoQ10 & continuing with prenatal & Vitamin D.

My diet needs an overhaul - I'm so bad at eating fruit & veg plus extra bad at keeping hydrated.

I've just got stuck in a rut & finding it hard to shake myself after this recent failure. But, we move on. I have a 2 year old keeping me on my toes.

If there's anything else magical you think I'm missing, please shout lol.

[44carrots]

I’m 44 but i had ivf when I was 29’and 30’and now starting to use the frozen ones I have 7 down to 5 but I know ure feeling my dr said no chance to do a fresh and we have a cut off age of 44 so this is it for us .. not the same but I feel ure aging pain

[Twiglet2]

I’ve been told it’s my egg quality for years now and as I only get 1 or 2 blasts per collection I’ve just had to keep going with them to try and get that viable embryo! Makes you feel very old at the consultations (I’m 42) but it’s defo not impossible just takes a few more rounds than it would have done when we were younger to find that little miracle embryo🤗 xx

[Greenleaves1 in reply to Twiglet2]

How many collections have you preserved with?

I hope I find that little miracle embryo soon lol xx

[Twiglet2 in reply to Greenleaves1]

I’ve had 5 collections after my son over the past 2.5 years. I’ve fell pregnant but lost it a few times but currently 8 weeks pregnant from a FET from the last one where we got 6 eggs and 2 blasts and everything looking okay so far this time 🤞🏽🤞🏽xx

[Kcoxy]

The Mediterranean diet, worked for me going on it 3 months prior to egg collection and is widely reccomended by the go to fertility diet.Is it worth totally investing in a food overhaul for a period of time it may be the positive step you need?

[Greenleaves1 in reply to Kcoxy]

It would definitely be worth it but I honestly wouldn't know where to start.

[Kcoxy in reply to Greenleaves1]

Google is your friend. Also the NHS website. If you view your food as medicine you wil be more inclined to go with it. That mentality and rationale helped me keep to it x

[Greenleaves1 in reply to Kcoxy]

Thank you! I'll start having a look - I'll see if there are any batch cooking recipes as that'll keep me on track if I've somethings already prepared.

[IVFat40 in reply to Greenleaves1]

Just to jump on I also felt a diet overhaul made a big difference to my egg quality, at 40 (along with supplements like DHEA). I saw a fertility nutritionist which helped as she set it all out for me, in very basic terms it was low (or ideally no) dairy, gluten, refined sugar, alcohol, or caffeine, and loads of veg and high protein, plus some specific things she recommended which I've largely forgot but included beetroot, a brazil nut a day etc (for particular hard to get nutrients I think). All the best of luck.

[Greenleaves1 in reply to IVFat40]

Thank you! This is positive. I'll maybe see if there is someone local that can help me put it down. I did the Brazil nuts and beetroot for my recent transfer but didn't think about it for egg quality itself xx

[Beclp]

I agree diet is a big one in the months leading up to epu

I followed an auryvedic diet and at 43.5 it worked. Only 7 weeks so far but after 4 years and 43 eggs taken out it’s the only one that stuck.

I was also taking supplements and I saw a homeopath and kinesiologist before this transfer.

Best of luck 💕

[Greenleaves1 in reply to Beclp]

Congratulations - I hope it all goes well for you. What supplements were you on? I'll maybe look into a homeopath and kinesiologist to see if there are any near me. xx

[Beclp in reply to Greenleaves1]

For that cycle I took coq10, high dose b vitamins, vitamin e and a fertility supplement from the US. The brand is heart and soil and it was called her package. It was expensive and when you read what’s in it, it might put you off but I thought it was worth a shot. Might of helped, who knows 🤔

I’ve read a lot of stories where women are so healthy and don’t get pregnant and then they give up and start eating what they want and drinking and they do fall pregnant.

Maybe we all have a few good eggs in us and it’s just about getting to that one. It all costs time and money and it’s an emotional roll coaster but I always believed it would be worth it 💓

[Greenleaves1 in reply to Beclp]

I've read beef liver supplements are really good for you but they are really expensive. I know I keep telling myself I've got my son so I'm already blessed. I know I'll have a limit for myself.

[Vassi in reply to Greenleaves1]

Yes, my friend who got pregnant at 43 and again at 45- naturally, swears by beef liver and bone broth daily!

[Vassi in reply to Beclp]

Congratulations, this so gives me hope ❤️

[Vassi]

Ahh I totally feel this, trying so hard to eat well but after each failure just want to binge eat all the things lol. And i suck at staying hydrated so i drink electrolytes in my water. I second a Mediterranean diet. Also been trying for a sibling for 2+ years, naturally at first and then ivf.

Just wanted to add some supplements that were recommended by my clinic for egg quality that I'm currently on- coq10, melatonin, myo inosotol, vit c, vit d, vit e, lipoec, acetyl l carnitine, ubiquinol, folinic acid and a prenatal.

Good luck you got this x

[Greenleaves1 in reply to Vassi]

Thank you! Do you take melatonin every night or just leading up to retrieval?

[Vassi in reply to Greenleaves1]

I take 4mg every night about an hour before bed. I take it together with myo inositol and magnesium and it really helps with my sleep.

[GranolaHippo]

Do you follow emma the embryologist on Instagram? Well worth it. She discusses whether, statistically, issues are more likely to be male or female based on what point in development things stall.

I'm also 39, got all the 'it's your age' fobbing off and, actually, looks more likely due to make factor. But zero research and treatment for that...

Just don't be fobbed off and make sure the evidence fits what they are saying. Ask what can be learned from embryo development and don't be afraid to switch clinics.xx

[Greenleaves1 in reply to GranolaHippo]

It's so funny you say that because I have read previously that after 3 days the sperm is more involved in the eggs arresting. I asked my consultant and she said absolutely 100% of the time the egg is the problem. She said there's men at 60 with poor sperm that are able to fertilise good quality eggs due to the egg fixing the sperm.

I was quite taken back by this as I did ask "how do we know it's not the sperm causing the problem".

Yes I do follow Emma the embryologist

[GranolaHippo in reply to Greenleaves1]

Mmmm... I'd be tempted to ask for a second opinion and/or discussion with the embryologists... Sounds like she may be a bit biased.

There's also lots of 'young' women who don't get pregnant because of male factor...

[GranolaHippo in reply to GranolaHippo]

We were also told by our genetic counsellor that, statistically, whole chromosome errors tended to originate from the egg and those with partial deletions most likely came from sperm. She gave me a research paper to support this (my background is in psychology research).I'd be truly astonished if a consultation could categorically state that issues were 100% due to egg quality without PGT-A...

[Greenleaves1 in reply to GranolaHippo]

Yes I think my main point to the doctor was that I'm paying £1200 per sperm sample to fertilise 4 eggs so how do I know the frozen sperm isn't the problem. I was surprised at her saying 💯 is the egg quality.

[GranolaHippo in reply to Greenleaves1]

I mean, I may be cynical but... If I was part of selling sperm for profit, or advertising the sale of it, I'd probably say there wasn't a problem with my product either... Especially not if I could then sell eggs... Maybe I'm too cynical!

Either way, the ability of the egg to repair sperm DNA decreases as you age, yes. but that's because it uses that energy to repair itself. It doesn't mean the egg is bad, it just doesn't have the resources to expend on the sperm. So you need higher quality sperm that doesn't need fixing!

I think she's confusing that with egg quality -which should be about the egg's ability to reproduce and have the correct chromosomes, not how well it responds to the sperm it is mixed with!

There's next to nothing known, because next to no research has been done (when compared to female factors) on how sperm impacts development of embryos and babies. So I cannot understand how such binary statements could be evidenced based...

[Beclp in reply to GranolaHippo]

I will say I had this experience too. Was always told it was my eggs etc but my ex partner was not healthy and getting him to change any just caused more stress. We never had any good results.

We split and I moved to donor which is where I got this embryo that has worked at I’m 2 years older that I was when using his sperm.

Go figure. They never once tested his sperm.

[Memacha]

I kept getting told my issue was egg quality, even when I was 34 and when trying again at 36/7. I had a consultation with a clinic abroad who had a different approach and said that the stims meds can impact quality. UK clinic rubbished this argument and said protocol makes no difference. I went abroad and changed protocol and whilst I didn’t do pgt everything that fertilised made it to blast. So it does seem that different meds affected the outcome. Second opinion was free so nothing to lose. Also I think the change of scene helped us feel like a different result was possible. I haven’t tried it yet, but considering Chinese medicine to see if that makes a difference as it’s a completely different type of assessment really trying to address the root cause of the problem and very individualised.

[Greenleaves1 in reply to Memacha]

Can I ask what your meds were?

She's just putting me on exactly the same as I was on before Pergoveris. She said I could use Meriofert (same as my first round) if I wanted as there wasn't a massive difference.

[Memacha in reply to Greenleaves1]

I did a combination of meriofert and gonal f plus a double trigger. Also they used zymot as well as icsi to really pick the best sperm despite not having a known sperm issue.

[GranolaHippo]

I also heard about too high a level of stims making more eggs but lower quality ones.

[Greenleaves1 in reply to GranolaHippo]

I heard this too and after my first round suggested something lower to see if it made a difference. They changed it slightly. I did get more mature eggs and one blast but not a massive difference.