High FSH and advanced maternal age

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February 25th, 2018, 02:18 PM
BlueSunnySkies

High FSH and advanced maternal age

Hello, Got my CD 3 numbers and they reflect what we were anticipating, unfortunately, that my ovarian reserve does not look good. My AFC was 5 TOTAL and FSH 13.5, estradiol 23, LH 7.6. Still waiting on prolactin and AMH numbers. Husband and I are both 39 years old and conceived our first and only child immediately about 2.5 years ago.

Does anyone have experience going through with IVF with numbers like this? We can afford it, although it might mean not taking a big vacation this year, but I'm not sure at what point it's not worth it for me and my family to put that stress on ourselves. I've been eating basically the boy diet; taking folate, one-a-day, ubiquinol, brewer's yeast, vitamin D, and iron; and doing moderate exercise daily for about 6 months.

Has anyone tried fertility massage or maca? Any other suggestions?
February 26th, 2018, 01:00 PM
atomic sagebrush

FSH can vary by month so it may be better in other months. your AMH is much more important than the FSH so that will tell you more about what your chances are.

IVF is not a great chance for anyone at 39, just giving it to you straight here. Would you consider donor eggs? That will really help boost your odds of success.

NO MACA. It is not any kind of miracle cure regardless of what people claim online, it may interact with IVF meds, and has caused some very weird side effects for people taking it (such as hallucinations!)

Fertility massage is fine, but it's not going to change age-related egg quality issues.

Are you eating lower carb? That may help - keeping your carbs healthy (whole grains, fruit, and veg) and then keeping them to 30% of your overall diet.
March 1st, 2018, 11:41 AM
BlueSunnySkies

Ugh - got my AMH results last night and they are *abysmal* - < .03. I'm thinking IVF is not good for this situation but have a consult with Dr. Potter March 7th and will see what he suggests. We'll probably just see if anything happens the "natural" way, even though unlikely. We're unlikely to pursue a donor egg unless it's from my identical twin. The downside is that her eggs might not be great either. She's never needed to be tested.

Fortunately we have our beautiful toddler - it looks like we had one just in time! I'd be open to hearing anyone else's stories or thoughts with how they proceeded with numbers like these (FSH 13.5 and antral follicle count 5 total).
March 2nd, 2018, 01:40 PM
atomic sagebrush

Agh I'm so sorry to read this - not what anyone ever wants to hear. As I'm sure you already suspect the odds are pretty high your twin's AMH will be similar to yours.

But you can absolutely still TTC naturally. You may make fewer good eggs and may have to try longer, but you can still catch "Goldie the Golden Egg" even with poor test numbers. It's just that you're not a good candidate for IVF.
March 4th, 2018, 04:44 PM
BlueSunnySkies

Thanks - in a weird way it's kind of a relief to know before spending time and energy going the IVF route. I'll see what Dr. Potter says. I've been reading interesting articles about how identical twins have a 5x rate of premature ovarian failure, theoretically because one twin gets more eggs at the very beginning or maybe they're split between 2 and basically run out sooner. Some fascinating cases of ovarian tissue transplantation from one twin to another by Dr. Silber. Has anyone worked with him or have any thoughts on the mini-IVF? I think I read somewhere it wasn't recommended?
March 4th, 2018, 05:15 PM
SoFullofHope

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March 5th, 2018, 06:11 PM
atomic sagebrush

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueSunnySkies

Thanks - in a weird way it's kind of a relief to know before spending time and energy going the IVF route. I'll see what Dr. Potter says. I've been reading interesting articles about how identical twins have a 5x rate of premature ovarian failure, theoretically because one twin gets more eggs at the very beginning or maybe they're split between 2 and basically run out sooner. Some fascinating cases of ovarian tissue transplantation from one twin to another by Dr. Silber. Has anyone worked with him or have any thoughts on the mini-IVF? I think I read somewhere it wasn't recommended?

Agreed - it is MUCH better to know before investing the money.

Just to clarify, ID twins split before eggs develop (sometime between days 2-6, and eggs don't develop till the 16-20 week mark of gestation) and also some studies have found fraternal twins also have menopause sooner too.

My understanding of the ovarian transplantation is that it's beneficial for those women who have had POF due to cancer treatments and not age (so one twin is still fully fertile and the other is not). I'm just not sure it would work the same way given your age, sorry to say. Good luck and keep us posted!
March 5th, 2018, 11:26 PM
2blue1pink

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueSunnySkies

Thanks - in a weird way it's kind of a relief to know before spending time and energy going the IVF route. I'll see what Dr. Potter says. I've been reading interesting articles about how identical twins have a 5x rate of premature ovarian failure, theoretically because one twin gets more eggs at the very beginning or maybe they're split between 2 and basically run out sooner. Some fascinating cases of ovarian tissue transplantation from one twin to another by Dr. Silber. Has anyone worked with him or have any thoughts on the mini-IVF? I think I read somewhere it wasn't recommended?

Silber has done some revolutionary stuff but I am not a fan. I know lots of people who have cycled with him (he's in our area) and only one that was successful (and then she got pregnant again without any fertility treatments at all after many failed ivf cycles so...)