Ghost -3rd IVF - same protocol but v poor response this time

[santa]

I am in my 2ww during my 3rd IVF cycle. The first IVF, I had a MC at 6.5 weeks and the second IVF was a chemical pregnancy.

I am very upset because I only produced 1 follicle that luckily contained a mature egg (thank God it fertilised!). On my first IVF, I had 4 mature eggs (2 fertilised) and on my second IVF, I had 5 mature eggs (3 fertilised).

I have just done a HPT (9DPO, which I know, I know is too early!) but I am very worried that this protocol is no longer working for me or that my ovaries are simply packing up. I was on 450iu of Menopur with 21 days of downregging on Synarel first.

Any advice?

ps Ghost, thanks for rejoining the board, you are an immense help to everyone and we have all learned so much from you

Santa

[lynniecat]

My second round was like this round. Luckily my 3rd and 4th round were more like my 1st. Not sure what happened, but I suspect it was some meds I was taking (only on that bad second round). But we will never know. Did you take anything, even vitamins that was different this time?

[santa]

Hello Lynniecat, no I did not do anything different for the 3 protocols, exactly the same thing...

My RE said that it is random how ovaries perform any given month, some months they produce more follicles than other months, no reason why.

Very frustrating.

Congrats on your BFP !

[Ghost]

I am in my 2ww during my 3rd IVF cycle. The first IVF, I had a MC at 6.5 weeks and the second IVF was a chemical pregnancy.

I am very upset because I only produced 1 follicle that luckily contained a mature egg (thank God it fertilised!). On my first IVF, I had 4 mature eggs (2 fertilised) and on my second IVF, I had 5 mature eggs (3 fertilised).

I have just done a HPT (9DPO, which I know, I know is too early!) but I am very worried that this protocol is no longer working for me or that my ovaries are simply packing up. I was on 450iu of Menopur with 21 days of downregging on Synarel first.

Any advice?

ps Ghost, thanks for rejoining the board, you are an immense help to everyone and we have all learned so much from you

Santa

First off, don't give up! You have a chance.

If it does not work out, you have options. Some have advocated flare cycles for low responders. These could be done with Synarel, but your RE might prefer Triptorelin or similar for the flare.

Another idea out there is to prime with DHEA. I'm sure your RE has heard of this. It has not yet been proved to work in truly convincing studies, but maybe... There are also testosterone patches for priming. The idea is that these substances (androgens) make the follicles more sensitive to FSH.

Also, keep in mind there is some randomness going on. One cycle can get 10 eggs, the next gets 2, and the next get 10 again. It's not all that consistent, and a factor of two or more variation from one cycle to the next happens all the time.

They could increase the Menopur, but your dose was already pretty high. Of course, if you do the flare cycle, you also get to use some of your own FSH to add to that expensive FSH from the pharmacy.

Anyway, fingers crossed for your little one.

[KayCe]

Hi Santa. I know exactly how you feel, I am a poor responder too. I've never had more than 2 embryos to transfer, but I got pregnant with just one embryo on my first IVF!! I'm trying now for number two and the doctor is not changing the protocol after two consecutive failed IVFs. So trust your RE and try to stay positive, try not to worry, that's most of what you can do, everything else is not in our hands!!! Good luck...

[lynniecat]

My last successful cycle was estrogen priming...I wore an estrogen patch for a couple days before I started stims...my ovary definitely responded quickly that cycle.

I did 450 follistim PLUS 150 menopur, adding another 75 menopur on day 6 to a total of 225 menopur.

But yeah I had 5 eggs (5 fert), 2 eggs (2 fert, but really low quality), 3 eggs (2 fert), 4 eggs (3 fert).


SO it does vary. All stims were for 11 days except for round 2 which was 13 days, my follies did not even show growth till day 9 on that cycle!

[karenvancouverisland]

i only produced 1 follie 1st cyle- was cancelled, 2nd cycle on flare protocal- did 450 ui gonal F daily.(highest does my clinic ever does). started stims day 4 of cycle....produced 2 mature follies..(POOR response)....got pg, - m/c...

3rd cycle..i did DHEA first for 2 months, started 450 gonal f again, on day 3 of cycle...produced 7 mature follies, got 4 good embies, i'm 35 wks pg today (miracle)...have 2 frozen.

don't give up!! my clinic kept recommending donor eggs, but i just wasn't ready to give up yet.

[to_have_fun08]

Praying that this cylce works for you. If it doesn't get a second opinion. If the second RE concurs with the first then you know you are on the right path. There are some clinics that give a free consult and they can do it over the phone. Only thing you would have to do is have your current RE send your paperwork. So many RE's have different views on how to get a good cycle so check around to find your options.

Good Luck!