Low AMH

[landmermaid]

I've been posting in the TTTC board but I started lurking here a bit too. I was hoping I could borrow some of your expertise.

A little bit of background on me. Been TTC #3 for a year and a half, started when I was 33 and now I'm 35. My children were conceived and carried in my late 20s without any issues. I've had three miscarriages now with attempt for #3. I started to see a RE back in November after my last MC, and just recently got my results.

All my labs came back fairly normal, except my AMH: 0.56ng/ml. This is low, right? I had 9 follicles during my CD3 ultrasound one cycle after my MC.

I'm sitting here upset and wondering where to go from here. Any insight or success stories?

[Mushe]

I love to weigh in on this kind of thing, because I have a happy ending. 😄

I had DS (2.5 when we started trying for #2) when I was 33. When I did Day 3 testing about a year later, my AMH was 0.24 and FSH was 16. The suck. I did four IUIs, two IVFs, and had a slew of losses there. One for sure was genetically normal. I got pregnant with DD on my own (we also had MFI) when I was 39, and she’s perfect.

The results for folks with low AMH or true diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) like me are all over the place. I took CoQ10 and fish oil to improve egg quality.

There are a bunch of us here who struggled with DOR or low AMH, so I bet you’ll get a lot of input. Are you willing to do treatment?

[pinkpeony08]

I was surprised to find out during my RPL work up that my AMH was 0.235 given I had not had any trouble getting pregnant. I was 36 when the lab was done. It's been a little more than 6 months since the test. My mother didn't hit menopause until mid 50s and my dad's sister had both her children after 40, so it doesn't make a lot of sense. I was told that AMH was really a measure of how well I would respond to IVF meds (not well) and an indication that I likely don't have a lot of remaining eggs. (Makes me nervous as we try to decide what to do next that the clock is ticking.) I hope you the rest of your RPL work up gives something that allows you to have a clear plan. Sending good wishes your way.

[pandora89]

Another low AMH success story after doing IVF. I was on supplements for awhile (a lot of them) and after a year ish, my AMH had gone from .43 to .98. I responded significantly better with IVF #3 then I did with IVF #1, which we jumped right into. We have 8 month old DS from our 3rd cycle (2nd retrieval cycle).

[landmermaid]

Thank you Mushe and pandora89. I'm very happy to hear of success stories like yours. It gives me hope, but also makes me so happy for you!

I don't know if IVF is a road for us. My H has outright said he wouldn't be on board for that. I don't know if I have it in me either. We are already so lucky to have our children. But we'll have to sit down and figure out what we truly want now.

Thank you for your words of support and hope ❤️

[landmermaid]

pinkpeony08

Thank you. Gosh, our stories are so similar. I was so surprised at my numbers too with how easily I conceived these last three pregnancies. My mother had four children, never miscarried and had her last at 36. She had her tubes tied after the last one. I'm sure she would have been able to have more otherwise. I feel like there's more behind these numbers that we don't understand yet.

I'm desperate for another one, but now I'm realizing it really might not be in the cards for us. It's devastating. I don't know what the right answer is. I want more, but am also scared we're just opening ourselves up for more heartbreak.

Thank you for the good wishes. I'm sending so many back your way. I hope you find your path as well ❤️

[pinkpeony08]

Jan 9, 2019 20:04:42 GMT -5 landmermaid said:

pinkpeony08

Thank you. Gosh, our stories are so similar. I was so surprised at my numbers too with how easily I conceived these last three pregnancies. My mother had four children, never miscarried and had her last at 36. She had her tubes tied after the last one. I'm sure she would have been able to have more otherwise. I feel like there's more behind these numbers that we don't understand yet.

I'm desperate for another one, but now I'm realizing it really might not be in the cards for us. It's devastating. I don't know what the right answer is. I want more, but am also scared we're just opening ourselves up for more heartbreak.

Thank you for the good wishes. I'm sending so many back your way. I hope you find your path as well ❤️

You articulated how I am feeling as well- really wanting another yet with this most recent loss, I feel like I am grieving a loss of a potential third child in addition to this pregnancy.   Yet I can't bear the thought of another loss.  I hope we can both find a path that we feel at peace with. 

[cactuscookie]

I'm another low AMH success story. But my issue was infertility, not RPL. My AMH was 0.63. I attempted IVF but didn't respond well to the medications, so we converted the cycle to an IUI. It was successful. Three years after that, I conceived again with no fertility treatments, and I'm due any day with that baby.

At my RE's recommendation, I started taking CoQ10 (400 mg per day) when I was doing fertility treatments several years ago. After I started taking them, I noticed a significant decrease in the debilitating foot cramps I used to get, so I kept taking them, although only 100 mg per day. So maybe they're magical and actually helped with fertility? It sounds too good to be true, but who knows.

[landmermaid]

Thank you, cactuscookie. These stories really help ❤️ I'm hopeful that maybe one day we can catch that one good egg. I'm doing 200mg of CoQ10 right now, but I think I'll increase it. Thank you!

[landmermaid]

((pinkpeony08)) ❤️

[landmermaid]

Mushe, May I ask what fish oil supplement you used? I've been using Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega. It's ingredient is deep sea fish oil, but I just want to make sure I'm covering my bases. Thank you :-)

[woowoo]

I also have a success story although it does involve IVF

My AMH was only marginally higher than yours (.72) and I was 38 when I started treatments. We really only wanted one baby because of our age, and because of this, my age, and my AMH he very much felt a mini-stim cycle was our best bet.....going for quality of eggs vs. quantity. Our clinic had been seeing good success with mini-stim cycles, and when reviewing their statistics, DH and I agreed. (I should note that the verdict is still out with regards to any extensive proof that mini-stim cycles truly produce better overall results, so many clinics do not do them).

One round of IVF later I am almost 19 weeks with a baby boy. We only retrieved 6 eggs (again, a small number of higher quality eggs was the goal), 2 made it to day 5 for PGS biopsy and freezing, and one was PGS normal. The Dr. did offer to do another round before transfer, but insurance wouldn't pay for another round until our existing embryos failed, so we went for the transfer and were successful. We got lucky in a lot of ways - we had definitely prepared ourselves for at least one more round.

Bottom line - if you do decide to do IVF, find a clinic who will customize your protocol based on your total picture and goals. If we had wanted a bigger family, my Dr. would have likely recommended two back to back cycles of more aggressive stims to get as many eggs as possible. Because of my previous loss, he also wanted to do a frozen transfer to give my body time to heal after transfer, a uterine biopsy to confirm progesterone doses, etc. Make sure you ask questions as to why they are making the recommendations and decisions that they are giving to you, ask for the evidence, etc. It will help you feel more confident in the process.

I will also add that my H and I weren't entirely sure we wanted to do IVF ourselves as we are also very willing to adopt and get fantastic adoption benefits through work.  But after meeting with the clinic and understanding the statistics, we felt that doing a round or two for our own baby was a realistic and doable option.  The mini-stim protocol was also very appealing because of how much less taxing it would be on my body. 

Good luck!

[landmermaid]

woowoo thank you for sharing what you've been through. It's great to hear all sides. It gives me lots to consider. I'll definitely be asking those questions now. Thank you. I'm so thrilled for you on your pregnancy! Many congrats!

[shauni27]

I wanted to chime in with another positive story for you; though mine also included IVF. I do not have time right now to double check my AFH but it was much lower than yours. We moved on to IVF as soon as we heard that and though we had a bit of trouble getting to a successful egg removal, once we DID, it worked and I have a beautiful and perfect 1.5 year old now.

[landmermaid]

Jan 10, 2019 12:38:20 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

I wanted to chime in with another positive story for you; though mine also included IVF. I do not have time right now to double check my AFH but it was much lower than yours. We moved on to IVF as soon as we heard that and though we had a bit of trouble getting to a successful egg removal, once we DID, it worked and I have a beautiful and perfect 1.5 year old now.

thank you. I'll take all the positive stories 😊 It means that all is not lost for us. I'm very grateful for the hope!

[Mushe]

Jan 10, 2019 8:46:08 GMT -5 landmermaid said:

Mushe, May I ask what fish oil supplement you used? I've been using Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega. It's ingredient is deep sea fish oil, but I just want to make sure I'm covering my bases. Thank you :-)

I just did a high quality one from Costco. Let me check the name when I get home. I started that at the tail end of treatments, and kept it up actually through my pregnancy, but read something about how it might upset baby’s tummy. It had awesome positive effects for overall health!

[donthasslethehoff]

Good, but long story here. AMH was something like .03 so literally non-existent. I got pregnant twice on my own but both ended in MCs. After the MCs is when I decided to head to the RE. AMH was .05 in the original testing, did 6 IUIs per the requirement from my insurance. Had to do testing again after a year and my AMH was even lower. We determined I had DOR. Did 1 round of IVF, only got 3 follicles, went for my egg retrieval and they retrieved nothing. IVF # 2, tried a slightly different protocol, ovulated through my meds and cycle was cancelled. IVF #3,basically did protocol 1 with a few timing tweaks. Got 3 eggs, all 3 fertilized, transferred 2, froze 1, and have beautiful 6 month old twins.

[claireasmud]

I was 36 when DH and I started TTC (his first child, my 3rd). My other two children were conceived naturally and very easily in my mid-late 20s. After 2 losses, we met with an RE who did all the tests and bloodwork and I was Dx with low AMH (.5) and DOR.
I started DHEA and CoQ10 and we did two egg retrievals that resulted in 5 eggs the first round and 6 the 2nd round. We did chromosome testing and of those 11 eggs, only 3 were genetically normal. 
We transferred the normal embryo from our first retrieval, and miracle of miracles, it worked! I'm 36 weeks pregnant right now and am 39 years old, so I'm glad we got going on the process when we did