Low AMH/High FSH Cycle Buddies - Part 7

[Helenbeau]

Hi ladies,
Sorry not been posting for the last couple of weeks. I’m 11dp5dt and been getting positives on Frer. Had beta done today and it’s 70 and Progesterone 9ng. I’m a bit worried now. My Progesterone was 18ng on transfer day. I know Klik you had low levels, maybe others did too. I’m really nervous about this doubling by Friday. What progesterone were people put on the increase the level? Was it the Progesterone in oil and how much did you take? I only have 3 Lubion 25mg vials, not sure how this compares. Waiting to here from Penny. Nervous! X

[FertilityFriends]

[queenie123]

Helenbeau,
Firstly - massive congratulations!

The reason I take 400mg (2 x 200mg) ultrogestan on a natural cycle if I think there is a chance is because this is what Penny put me on last time I had a natural IVF transfer cycle with her.   

Are you sure your progesterone is 9ng?  Do you have Penny's direct e-mail?  pm me if you want it and don't have it.

I haven't taken Lubilon, but I know it is often used to supplement ultrgestan at a dose of 1 injection a day, I don't know about more than that.   If it were me I would take 1, but hopefully you will hear from Penny soon.

[Helenbeau]

Hi Queenie, thanks my love but I don’t feel very congratulatory. Yeah my P was definitely 9ng unfortunately. Why would it have gone down so much? I expect this pregnancy is over as fast as it started. Penny said to take 3 ovitrelle trigger shots, 1 every 2 days and to test again on Friday before taking my 2nd ovitrelle shot. If the HCG has risen on Friday then it will probably just be from the ovitrelle. I don’t really understand it. Is it not just delaying the inevitable?
She told me to increase utrogestan by taking another 400mg orally but I told her I had some prontogest 100mg so she said I can use that 1 day.
This is so not a fun game! Xx
Klik, I think you had similar experience this time but then you weren’t in any supplementation. Would love to know how your P rose and what you took xxx

Briss, só sorry you’ve had such a terrible time if late. Everything on top of each other is just too much. I’m meant to be starting a new job on Tuesday and also have an interview for a really great career opportunity tomorrow but now my mood is not exactly conducive to ‘shining’ at interviews and actually I’d rather crawl into a hole. Hurrah for the hubby stepping up to the mark though! Let him take the reins! Lots of love.

Babyhooeful, hope you are well!

Shady, thanks for today xxx
Katkat, I’m coming over now! Xxx
Love all these ladies!
Hi to everyone else will catch up proper soon when I’m not running around like a loon! X

[queenie123]

Helen - Please do not give up yet.  My DH tells me off every time I say that even though I am only d9po.

It's not over - there are lots of reasons you can have low Progesterone.

Particularly on an IVF cycle where they take the cells from your ovaries which are needed to make the progesterone. 

Take the meds,  drink lots of water and do lots of walking, your little one needs blood flow. 

I also take L-argenine and Vit E for implantation (thanks Katkat) and a little ubiquinol. 

[klik]

hey, gals!

1am here so just a quick one for Helen:

my progesterone was 2nmol (0.6 ng) on the day I found out I was pregnant. Beta was 15. My best guess is, this was 14dpo. For me, it was a combination of obviously very late implantation with me having a short-ish luteal phase (12 days on average)--so beta only started rising after the progesterone had precipitously dropped, ready for a period. What kept me from bleeding the lining and embryo away was that I was taking norethisterone (which prevents the period from happening but doesn't change the serum progesterone blood levels that we normally get checked). I'd say this is a textbook example of why progesterone levels mean very little about the viability of an embryo--so I have hope for you yet, for this cycle!

Upon getting these blood results back, I was put on 2xCyclogest + 2xCrinone per day. Progesterone was so incredibly low that Dr Ozturk considered putting me on Lentogest as well, but the Crinone and Cyclogest (and my own body realising it was pregnant and upping its progesterone production) were enough in the end.

Dr Ozturk is very sold on vaginal delivery of at least some progesterone--my understanding is, even when women are getting intramuscular shots of progesterone in oil, the current recommendation is still to take some Crinone vaginally (though I personally never did both at the same time so I may have misunderstood this). But honestly, my experience with norethisterone saving the day makes me think that the most important thing is just having enough progesterone there to keep your body from giving up too fast on the embryo, and all the other details about progesterone and even oestrogen are potentially helpful but perhaps less crucial...

Good luck, Helen. It seems you're not feeling it, but this one may well be the one that sticks, finally!

[odashwood]

Hello all!

I haven't been here for a couple of days and see that quite many posts had appeared here.
How are you doing?

I didn't proceed with a mitochondrial donation because I had my FET a few days ago with my last frozen embryo. Everything went good and now I am on 8dp5dt. Patiently waiting for my OTD.

On the other forum, I was lucky to find a woman who is 41 and who got a positive result after mitochondrial replacement. She had many failed IVF cycles and low AMH and now she is on the 18th week of pregnancy if I'm not mistaken. It is good news I can say) It means that this treatment works.

[Helenbeau]

Hi Klik,
Thanks for the message. I’m going to take a prontogest shot at night plus 400 cyclogest in the morning although I’m wondering if I should take 400 x 2.
I read that progesterone suppositories get absorbed directly into the uterine circulation before being absorbed into the general circulation so the level is far higher in the uterine environment than in the blood. So tests can be low with suppositories. Opposite with injections. I guess that’s why Dr Ozturk wants vaginal delivery too. Makes sense.
Until blood test tomorrow though who knows where I’ll be at with HCG. I took the ovitrelle trigger shot last night and have to take 2 more 2 days apart. I don’t really know why or how this helps.
Until tomorrow.

[queenie123]

Helen,

There isn't that much evidence, but it helps to stop the Corpus Luteum from stopping going.  It makes it a bit harder because you don't know about the natural HCG level.

With Ultrogestan or equivalent Uterine progesterone goes up and comes down quickly, so that is why they often mix it with an oil based injection.

With all the meds your on the blood test won't tell you that much unless it's very low or very high - so try not to read too much into it.

  for you

[katkat2014]

Having had the opposite just recently ie progesterone being too high, I was told the following by my doctor: if the level is between 30-120 pmol then that's fine (mine was 140pmol). Please note that progesterone level is very instable in the blood and the value is only informative' . Also ' 70 morning could be in fact 100 afternoon or 30 afternoon.' So basically it fluctuates depending on time of day.

[Babyhopeful]

Odashwood - I enquired about the mitochondrial donation research at the Institute of Life Greece. Unfortunately, I don’t qualify to take part as I’m getting close to 40 (they only accept women under 40) and they need to collect at least 10 eggs, which as a low responder would be very difficult to achieve over the next few months prior to my 40 birthday. I don’t know about the criteria for other clinics, but I get the impression my age may be against me. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for your FET results!

Katkat- I’m so pleased that your lining got to 9mm and that you went ahead with transfer. After so many months of trying to get to that stage I think you did the right thing by seizing the opportunity. It’s unfortunate that the timing does clash with work commitments. I often fret about my work commitments when going through this process, but I do try and put my treatment first where I can. So many people in my work cancel or rearrange things due to illness, child care etc., I feel less guilty now when I have to rearrange something. Thank you for the information about progesterone. That’s interesting to hear that we can have too much. I’ve deliberated about what to do this cycle. I only have 400mg of cyclogest, so I can’t split the dose over 24 hours. If I had 200mg I would err on the side of caution and use that twice daily. As it is, I’m using 400mg twice daily. I have low natural progesterone anyway, so I’m hoping I’ve done the right thing.

Shadywheat - I’m sorry to hear about your fainting spell, it was lucky that you had your cousin with you though. I’m so happy for you that otherwise everything is going well! It sounds sensible to me to wait for your 12 week rather than do the NIPT, as the scan really isn’t that far away now!

Catladyttc1 - I think your amh and afc both sound promising. I’m sorry to hear about your rubbish clinic. Sadly the NHS clinic I used wasn’t very good and I feel there was a lot of time wasted. Hopefully once you have found a good clinic you will have better results.

Klik - I hope you’re enjoying your holiday and although you’re not sleeping much you’re getting the chance to relax. Thank for the information about progesterone. I had a smiley face on my opk Monday morning, but I was still getting a small amount of EWCM Thursday, so to be on the safe side I started progesterone Friday morning. I’m not sure how much of a chance I have as DH felt some performance pressure this time. We BD a few times after the smiley face, but I always fret whether we have BD enough!

Briss - I’m sorry to hear about your fertilisation report. Is there a way you could do the pergoveris cycle again and perhaps freeze any embryos and transfer when your hormones have resettled? I’m wondering if my unsettled hormones contributed to the failure of my most recent cycle. Your DH sounds like a star! I’m glad that you have the support you need at the moment.

Msj - Thank you for the good luck wishes. I know there’s only a slim chance naturally, but it’s still a chance. I hear what you’re saying about treatment taking it’s toll. It does take me a little while to bounce back especially now I’m using prednisolone after transfer. I would listen to your body. I didn’t feel ready for a cycle last Sept, so waited another month and ended up with a BFP. Last month I went into a cycle feeling run down and it just didn’t go that well.

Queenie123 - Good luck for this cycle. I had slight cramping a day or two after ET and around the time my period was due when I had a BFP. However, we are all different, so symptoms can mean something for one person and not for another.

Helenbeau - I hope you’re doing okay? I think I have problems absorbing progesterone, so when I used lubion on its own in the past I had an early bleed, so I always use it with cyclogest now at 400mg x 2. Hopefully your progesterone levels will start rising now with the further supplementation. I’ve not heard about having a hcg shot after a BFP, but there must be some reasoning behind it. I’m sorry you’re going through such an uncertain time. I’m keeping everything crossed it works out xx

Hi to everyone else. I don’t mind meeting up, although I’ll have to have a bit of notice if we meet in London x

Afm - I’m continuing with my healthy regime of yoga and swimming. I seem to have a lot more energy and my libido this month has gone through the roof. Poor DH has struggled to keep up, as he’s exhausted with work. We have a week away at a holiday cottage next week with my parents. I’m hoping that it’ll give us all a chance to relax and recharge.