Hi everyone,
Please let me know if you have similar experience or/and if you have any suggestions.
I'm 38. Infertility 10+ years. First went to a RE 4 yrs ago (34 at the time). Did lots of testing, didn't find anything wrong with me, my AMH at the time was ~ 2.3ng/mL, the only thing that was off was my husband's morphology (1-2%). At the time, we couldn't afford the IVF expenses, and I really hoped that if we tried hard, it could work. It didn't.
Now at 38, I went back to my RE hoping to proceed with IVF. My AMH dropped to 1.03ng/mL, FSH on day 3 was 9 mlU/mL, which I was told was normal for my age. My RE never gave me false hope, but mentioned that he hoped that we could get ~10-12 eggs... which I thought was great.
He put me on Gonal F (300) and Menopur (150) after the baseline ultrasound/bloodwork. No BCP or estrogen prepping before that. I was to come back on Day 5 for ultrasound/bloodwork. When I came, they never gave me the number of follicles they saw, but mentioned that I had some fluid "there" (still not sure where) and that they wanted to check my progesterone to make sure I didn't ovulate. I was so confused after this apt, and had a really bad feeling because I didn't have any side effects from stimulation. The same day, they called to let me know that I had to increase my Gonal F to 375 since my E2 was rising somewhat slowly. Menopur stayed at 150, and I added Ganirelix the same day.
On day 7 during my u/s, the nurse/technician told me how everything looked great and that I had 2 follicles on one side, and 2 on the other with the biggest one at 17mm... I got so upset to hear that, but she kept telling me that I should "trust her experience", and how everything looked great. When I came home, my husband told me to text my RE which I did. My RE called me back and suggested to cancel this cycle or convert it to IUI if we wished because he didn't believe we could get more than one good egg this cycle. I was relieved that at least he didn't try to convince me that everything looked great. He suggested to try the Microdose Lupron Flare protocol next time. He said that it's the most aggressive protocol they could offer, and that they couldn't offer anything else. We did cancel IVF (converted it to IUI, which I have no hope for). They offered a refund, so basically we lost the money we spent on meds, but not the IVF money. They also said that they could keep the money in case we decided to proceed with a new protocol.
I looked it up, and as far as I understood once you're a "poor responder", you are most likely going to respond poorly next time as well. Considering my age, I really don't know if I should even care to try. I so got used to know that I can't get pregnant and see my AF each month; but going through this IVF attempt brought a new level of pain. I was somewhat ok at this point not to have kids, which took me years to train myself to feel like that, but now my pain is so raw again, and I don't know if I can go through this when inside of me I don't have any hope that it's going to work, and I feel like it will break my heart again and again.
Would you try IVF with a new protocol in my situation? Do you know anything about the Lupron Flare protocol for someone with AMH of 1.03ng/mL? Do you think it's worth getting a second opinion? We're paying out of pocket, so I really don't care who to pay, but of course it's more convenient to stay with the same clinic not to lose time trying to find a new one and starting all over again.
Thank you.