Should AMH be tested?

[Tiger37]

Hi,

We were referred for ICSI after TTC for 2 years due to my husband’s kryptozoospermia. I am 38. We’ve had 1 full cycle where we got 6 eggs, 5 mature, 3 fertilised and 2 progressed to blastocysts, unfortunately neither transfer was successful.

As we are moving from NHS to self funded, before trying again my husband has seen a private urologist to see if anything can be done to improve the sperm count - short answer probably not. However the urologist asked what my AMH reserve was.

I rang our fertility clinic who initially said you will definitely have had it tested as you’ve used your own eggs, but when they went through the NHS paperwork they had tested FSH and LH but not AMH. My question is should I now be asking for this tested?

The clinic have counted my follicles and we know how I respond to the drugs - in fact my eggs grew too quickly they had to trigger me early so they hope to get more eggs on a slightly different protocol next time. It feels like I’ve had everything else tested - thyroid, vit d, lupus anticoagulant, beta 2 glycoproteins, cardiolipin, progesterone… wondered what others thoughts were on whether knowing the AMH makes any difference?

[Lelllow]

Hi, sorry to hear the first round didn’t work out for you. Fertility is such a complex matter - so many things can impact it and vary from cycle to cycle.

I’m really surprised that NHS didn’t test your AMH as this is a crucial test not just for IVF in general, but for NHS funding specifically. Could they just have lost your redord? Either way you will likely test your AMH in preparation to the next round (as it changes as we age and quickly), or you can do a private AMH test for the peace of mind - it’s not too expensive.

As on the sperm quality, I believe there are some life style changes and supplements that can help to improve it in 3 months (apparently this is the timeframe for the changes make a difference) - talk to your consultant for some recommendations. Th best of luck in the next round xx

[Skittles11 in reply to Lelllow]

Interestingly this was not the case for me. NHS in my area did not fund an AMH test. They would do the FSH test but not the AMH. As it was I didn't have my treatment through NHS in the end but for me the AMH had to be sorted privately if I wanted it x

[Lelllow in reply to Skittles11]

Wow interesting! In my case NHS basically was making the funding decision based on the AMH level that need to be above certain level (5.5 I think) and it was the last point after all other tests and provisional case approval.

[Twiglet2]

my AMH been tested every few years it’s just an extra piece of the puzzle for them when deciding stims and protocol to consider and I really like knowing it actually! I first had it on nhs but more recently self funding it only cost £120 blood test results within a few weeks xx

[Redcativf]

Hi Tiger37, i am sorry to hear about your unsuccessful experience. I am 34 now and i was 32 when i did my nhs cycle and i am as fertile as you (so about 6 eggs). I don’t think you should be worried about your AMH levels as not much changes even if they do the test. Even my nhs trust didn’t the test and my private clinic did, but nothing changed in the outcome. Is mainly for the clinicians to know how fertile are you, something that they know from the nr of eggs. They should try and boost your egg quality anyway, so that we can have a better outcome.

[LittleSmall]

hello! We are having our first round with ICSI and our GP did most hormone tests before referring us (ie FSH, LH, Estrogen, Progesterone) but we didn’t have AMH tested until our first IVF appointment (and that result isn’t visible on my regular online patient record). It might be that you need to double check with each person you’ve had tests done with?

Aside from that my AMH result didn’t correlate as expected with my follicle count and the dosage and process was informed by follicle count anyway so it may not make a huge difference to have your AMH test - but that’s only from my personal experience 🙂

[Vassi]

Hi, I'm also surprised they didn't test this as it determines the amount if stimulation for ivf cycle, I actually read a post about this today by thenaturaldoctor_ on instagram if you want to have a read. She also talks a lot about sperm issues which may be useful. All the best with your next cycle 🙏

[Tiger37]

Thank you all, really helpful to hear other people’s experiences. I guess it sounds like it would have been helpful had they tested it prior to our first cycle as I responded too well to the stims, but doesn’t seem much point testing now as they already know how to adapt the dose from the first round!