73 replies to this topic

[Jessica99]

Hi there
I am 35 and am devastated as I was diagnosed with DOR. My AMH was 3.3, FSH 18 and AFC 6. Has anyone else been diagnosed with similar results at a similar age and if so what was their experience with IVF? How many eggs were produced and were you able to fall pregnant and carry to term? Also, does anyone have any idea how long it is still possible to have children for with these fsh, amh and afc levels? Finally, is there a particlar clinic that has the best success rate for people like me?

[leigh14]

Hi Jessica,

There are many of us on here with a DOR. I did my last cycle at age 38 and I did get pregnant with twins. However, both babies stopped developing and I had a missed miscarriage. My AFC before going into that cycle was 11 and I had 6 follicles that developed. Five eggs were retrieved and four were mature. Although my outcome wasn't good, there are lots of others on this forum who have had success when their numbers didn't look that great. Remember that you're not a statistic. You will have a better sense of how things are going for you once you try a cycle. There is no way of knowing how you'll respond to medications until you try them. Some REs recommend DHEA to increase egg quality and numbers of follicles. Some women swear by it. Protocol is also very important for women with a DOR. I think that many women with DOR don't do well with the long protocol (Lupron) and many of us seem to have problems with protocols where too much suppression is involved. So you really need a doctor who is willing to tailor things just for you. Also, it might not be a bad idea to see a naturopath who could recommend some supplementation that might help. Acupuncture can also be helpful.

Good luck to you!

Leigh

[Tracy1234]

Hello Jessica! And Leigh, great post!!

I've also got a DOR, my FSH is slightly elevated and I've never had an AMH done. My AFC was 5 on each side and, unfortunately, I didn't have anywhere near enough info when we first started on the IVF journey. Had I known better, I would have fought against being put on the BCP. Though, I didn't do much better on a natural start. I had better quality embryo's the second time but that was likely the result of the menopur. We ended up with 4 follicles each time but only got 3 eggs and decided to go forward anyway. And I'm glad we made that choice, because we got more information out of both cycles. And if we end up with only 3 embryo's this next cycle, we'd go ahead with so few once again...because that's possibly the best we'll ever do. However, I have hope that the quality and response will be better yet as I've been on DHEA since the end of December and we're hoping to cycle within the next couple of months. Also, I've been going to an acupuncturist regularly and just came back from an appointment with an herbalist. He gave me a foul tasting concoction that I'm hoping will help as well.

Good luck with where the road takes you!

[jb1974]

(pg ment) I had DOR at age 31 (and DH has severe male factor as well)....anyhow, my amh was really low...2.5 if I remember correctly...my AFC was 6 when I went into my second IVF/ICSI.

They retrieved 7 eggs, only 3 were mature, and of those 3 one pronucleated while dividing, one stalled during day 2 and so I was left with 1 embryo.

That 1 embryo took hold...so it can happen.

We might try one other cycle, but I fear now at 36/37 that my fertility has dropped to zero, so we might have to pursue other options. If I had the means I would keep cycling until I reached my goal, but that is not the case for us. I think with DOR, if possible, you could keep going through treatment (if you can emotionally and financially cope) as you will eventually succeed.

[Lisa1995]

My good friend was told at 37 that she was going through POF as her cycles were shortening and her FSH and estrogen were elevating. Before she tried IVF she decided to see a TCM Dr that had helped another friend. The TCM Dr regulated her cycles and within a few months she was pregnant naturally. The RE she had consulted with told her she would probably need donor eggs based on her stats. She now has a 3 month old baby boy. Here is a link to the TCM Dr she saw: http://www.angelawarburton.com/

Good luck.

[leigh14]

Just wanted to chime in to Lisa's last post...I also see Angela Warburton and she's fantastic!

Good luck!

Leigh

[marcia123]

Hi Jessica,

I've had two IVF cycles with FSH levels of 16 and 12. My first IVF (36 years old) was long protocol. I had 10 follicles, but only 1 egg was retrieved. It fertilized and we had a 3 day transfer. Unfortunately it was a BFN.

Our second IVF cycle (37 years old) was short protocol and 10 eggs were retrieved, 5 fertilized and 3 made it to day 3. We transferred 2 and the third was cultured to day 5 and frozen. I was absolutely flabbergasted by the difference between the two cycles. We did end up pregnant. We had 7 lovely weeks of the excitement of being pregnant and then went to the 7 week ultrasound. The ultrasound showed one blighted ovum and an ectopic. Fortunately the ectopic was caught early enough that surgery wasn't required; just a shot of methotrexate. But on the bright side, we did get pregnant! My first BFP ever :-) We're currently waiting for my cycle to return to normal and then we're going to proceed to do a FET.

Don't give up hope! I think it's important to ask questions about your protocol and why the RE chose it. I didn't ask many questions during my first cycle and I really wish I had. In our second IVF I had my DH bring a list of questions, as I often got a bit worked up and flustered during the appointments and forgot what I wanted to ask. And the RE seemed to respond better to my DH than to me, so now he asks all the questions. :-P

Good luck :-)

[Talula]

I'm 35 and in the same boat. Is there hope for women with low reserves and ivf? My fsh was 10.6, follicle count 4 and my doctor made it seem as if time was really of the essence and ivf was the best route to take, no need for iui attempts.

[wannakid]

There are many people in the same situation, with DOR, in the Forum for Poor Responders in the new Area 51 section of this site (under Cycle Buddies). You need a password to enter to protect the privacy of members.... message me for the password, as all members are welcome to join our thread.

[Whammo]

You can be succesful with DOR; don't give up hope. I was finally successful on my 4th IVF attempt in Aug./Sept. 2009. At the time I was 38, FSH was running around 11 and AFC was about 8. I was on the patch protocol. The patch protocol is typically used for women who are poor responders to gonadotropins. Even with this protocol I only had one follicle that was developing well; my RE actually suggesed we cancel the cycle b/c it was looking unlikely that we'd get more than 1 or 2 eggs at retrieval. Thank heavens for DH who said it only takes one and said we should keep going! I ended up with 4 eggs retrieved, 3 mature, all 3 fertilized and went to Day 3. I transfered all 3 - a 7 cell, a 6 cell and a 5 cell rated between 2-3 (where 5 is best). And one of those became my DS last May. I second what marcia123 says, it's important to talk to your RE about the protocol they chose for you and why. But staying mentally positive I truly believe is a major key.

[sassygurl]

Just wanted to pipe in and say that i was diagnosed with low ovarian reserve and while i dont remember the exact number of my AMH i can tell you that my RE Dr. Hannam said it was VERY LOW and that are odds were slim. My fsh was just unde 10 and i cant remember what my estriadol was on day 3.

We did our second round of ivf with him and we got pregnant! I am due May 8.

I just want to make it clear to anyone with DOR or LOR that there still is hope!

Dont give up!!!

[SweetPea33]

I am not giving up either. I'm going to run faster than my biological clock if I have to run a marathon. I was diagnosed with a low reserve at the age of 32. Absolutely devastated. I have hereditary factors. Family member with POF. MY 3 day FSH was tested twice since I am relatively young my doc wanted to confirm with a second test. First time tested 17, second time 23. My 3 day basal u/s showed 5 follies on my left ovary and 0 on my right. When I did my first IVF I had 2 follies on my left and 0 on my right. Who told my right ovary it could retire!!! Not me any how.I'm going to keep fighting and I wish all of you fighting this all the best of luck. xoxox

[aprilbaby]

After 7 years of unexplained IF I suddenly had an FSH of 10-12 with AFC at total of 8 at age 33 years. My cycles were also shortening and then starting to lengthen. We did a NAtural IVF cyle and got pregnant with a beautiful baby boy. Quality is much more important tham quantity and you are still young!

[JenniferKM]

I was trying to find my results. I had testing done and it was ok, they thought I might be going into early menopause b/c my cycles started going wanko and my results weren't great, they re-did them again a couple months later and they were much much better. I wish I could find where I wrote them down at to share. If you've only had it tested once, I'd re-do to get an aggreate too. Based on one of my results I had just decided not to do it. I wasn't diagnosed with anything since my results were good last time.

[Spirit68]

Hi Gang!
I'm new here but I'm in the same boat. I was told that I have a DOR. My doctor's seem to have had a pretty high success rate. I've basically decided not to go anywhere near IVF as it's just too costly and out of our leage. I am in 600mg of co-q10, folic acid and 3x25 mg DHEA per day. I've done a 5 day run at Letrozole (aka femara) per cycle as well. Seems like they can't pin point my ovaulation days yet...like a guessing game. I'm most likely perimonoausal as well and that doesn't help matters.

I'm starting to wonder if I'm dreaming about getting pregnant when we've ruled out IVF...
Wishing everyone well on their journey! Keep up all t he positive thinking and good energy!

[conky]

I found out I had DOR at age 33...just before turning 34. I had actually been worried about it after reading about infertility andm y symptoms online and it was really devastating to have it confirmed. My AMH wasn't exceptionally low (12.4 i think) but it was low for my age and my first AFC (before I got my AMH result) was 8 and I knew what that meant without them telling me. I'm not really aware of what my FSH results were because they didn't really focus on FSH at my clinic, they focused more on AFC...as well, my day 3 estrogen was almost always elevated which makes FSH results unreliable.

We only managed one IUI cycle (natural) because even when we intended to try IUI with meds, my day 3 hormones were always out of whack and I usually had really early follicle development (aka cysts), so we could never get a cycle off the ground. We decided to go for IVF instead (I was 34 by now) and I was going to be on an antagonist protocol with BCP for suppression. When i had my baseline blood and ultrasound done after being on BCP, I had a bunch of cysts and whacked out hormone levels, so we scratched that and my cycle was cancelled. Unusually for someone with DOR, I was put on basically a long lupron protocol (though not completely standard) without BCP right in my next cycle. I ended up being on lupron longer than planned because it took time to rid my ovaries of cysts and to get my progesterone down (and have my period come), but once I was good to go, I started my injections of Gonal F and Luveris. My AFC for that cycle was 11 to start and then two more follicles came out of the woodwork for a total of 13 (though they were of no consequence). In the end we retrieved 9 eggs, 7 were mature and 6 fertilized with ICSI. We took the embryos to day 5. I was SO SCARED that none would make it, but three did. We transferred two and froze one. Both took and I'm now 34 weeks pregnant with twins.

I was shocked that it worked. I knew it could or we wouldn't have done it, but I still didn't really expect it. I think I was going through everything in large part because I needed to know that even if it didn't work, I'd know we'd tried everything we could. I feel really, really lucky.

Oh, I should also mention that we have male factor issues at play too.

She might come by herself but SIlverdollar (among others) on this forum ended up successful with a very low AFC and egg retrieval number.

To be honest, I think a lot of it is just the luck of the draw...combining the right protocol with a lucky cycle. DOR doesn't mean you can't get pregnant. It just means getting good numbers to work with is more challenging. it's important to have a doctor who is willing to tweak things based on your body and what it's doing/how it's responding. That being said, it is a wake up call to get things moving as quickly as possible because youdon't have the luxury of waiting around. I don't think anyone can tell you how much time you have left based on your numbers...I think it's still a bit of a mystery and it seems DOR in younger women has only received significant attention in recent years, though that may just be my false impression.

My doctor didn't have me on DHEA but he did have me on 800 mg of CoQ10/day (400mg x 2). I was on that for a few months before doing IVF. I don't know if it helped, but it seems not to have hurt.

Good luck, and definitely check out the Poor Responders thread. There are wonderful women on here who are a great source of information and support.

[glamb]

I truly hope there is still hope. My numbers are worse than you guys and my AMH is lowering fast. My last bloodwork was AMH 0.7 and FSH 12.8 and E2 31.0 on cycle day 3. I just finish one IUI this feb 8. Going for bloodwork for Beta tomorrow. Since no menstrual yet. I only produced one follicle. I was on gonal-f 300 and lupron 10units in AM and gonal-f 300 and lupron 10 in pm. This was my first cycle with this doctor. My last doc wanted to move to donor eggs and I never was on high dose. He even said I was on the max dose (225). I decided to find another doc. Please give me some hope that there is still a chance with these numbers. It not pregnant going to try another cycle. Please let me know what seem to work for you guys. I bringing options to the table with doc.

[silverdollar]

There is still hope. Every month is different, and your response can vary even with the same protocol.

My FSH was in the 13 range or probably even higher some cycles. They didn't bother with AMH because it was obvious I had significant DOR even in my early 30's. I had a low AFC, and not all of my follicles would respond to high doses of meds. From two little eggs that we got to work with when I finally made it to retrieval, I now have a little daughter sleeping on my lap. It is possible. If I had to try again I would probably have opted for a low dose cycle as I seemed to respond the same to lower doses as I did to higher ones. Again everyone is different.

[dmctremblay]

Hi gang!
My situation is pretty bad. My FSH levels have varied from 23 to 12.5. My first IVF attempt resulted in 2 baseline follicles on day 2 and 4 eggs retreived after stimulation. Only 1 matured to a 6 cell 2/5 quality embryo. Unfortunately, I got a BFN. I am 41 almost 42 and my doctor is pushing me to go with donor eggs. He says that I have less than 10% chance of live birth with my own eggs. We have decided to try one more IVF cycle with my own eggs, short protocol with Femara, Gonal F and Luveris to stimulate. If this cycle doesn't work, DR. wants to use donor eggs. I want to be optimistic but I feel that this is my last chance! Are there any success stories with my statistics out there ? Should I get a second opinion or should I start looking for a donor now? My 2nd IVF is scheduled for June 2012, I will officially be 42 by then

[babedow77]

Hi. I am new to this forum and have DOR.
This is my history:
Tubal reversal
BFP in Feb 2011
Ectopic march 2011
Ivf #1 cancelled
IVF/icsi #2 Retrieved 5 fertilized all but only 3 that divided. Transferred all 3 on day 2 and had BFP but miscarried.
I am getting ready to do my 3rd cycle in April.
I'm soooooo sooooo glad to see success in you ladies with low embryo numbers!!!!

[Hawker12]

Hi,

I am new as well to this site. My RE said I have a "compromised ovarian reserve". FSH levels were normal, AF count low-normal, but AMH at 10.0 was "low for my age". They way it was explained to me is that I may have lots of eggs remaining, but they are most likely of poor quality. I am in the middle of IVF#3, so here's hoping that I've stimulated some good ones!

It sounds like it's just going to be luck of the draw for a lot of us. Remember, it only takes one good egg!

[aprilbaby]

Update: I am 35 and am 4 months pregnant from a natural cycle. Fsh only means you wont respond well to drugs...your eggs should be good.

[babyGB]

I had DOR at 31 and POF at 38. My fsh varies from 10 to 20. Recently, there is only 1 follicle found at my right side. I don't know if it is possible that my Dr. accepts me to do IVF...... She suggested donor eggs last time

If anyone knows similar case in Vancouver, please let me know to give me some hope. Thanks!

[greta11]

Hi,
I am 38. My last FSH was 20 and AMH 5.6. Our first attempt at ivf resulted in only 2 follicles with no eggs in them to retrieve so it was cancelled. Dr. suggests we try low dose stim protocol ivf and icsi or natural ivf. I have started the search for donor egg which is not easy and not very promising so far. We are going to try one or two more ivfs and then, well, not sure what we'll do. I am on 75mg a day of DHEA, and 600mg CoQ10. Was doing acupuncture from January til April but not sure if I will continue(learning I only had 2 follicles after being on 300mg Gonal F and 75 of Menopur didn't help). Any encouraging words are welcomed!! Thanks.

[Hope_123]

Hi,
I also have DOR and am trying to stay hopeful that there is a chance for pregnancy with my own eggs. I am also taking Co Q10, DHEA, and doing acupuncture. It is great to read about the success stories of others with DOR because the doctor's appointments can be so discouraging. We have also been told to consider donor eggs or adoption but we haven't really tried any protocols yet so I don't know how I will respond. I'm scheduled for an AFC in May and we will see where things go from there.

Any words of encouragement, advice about protocols and/or things to ask the doctor at our next appointment would be much appreciated!