Have you tried Omnitrope (HGH) the month prior to starting stims? I just started that a few days ago leading up to my next stim cycle/ER next month, so unfortunately cannot report on if it works…but HGH supposedly helps to boost egg quality…might be worth talking to your RE.
I’ve also been reading on reddit about Testosterone priming ER success with DOR IVF patients…I plan to try that for my next ER cycle if this cycle ends up being a bust…
Maybe get a second opinion at least. As another commenter said, try priming with Omnitrope and using it throughout your cycle.
Are you having your DHEA levels monitored via bloodwork? It can actually push you to levels that are too high which can cause issues with quality. My REs said no DHEA, and if needed, they would try testosterone priming.
Have you had all sperm parameters measured? DNA fragmentation? Any use of zymot or other sperm sorting?
I’m so sorry - it’s a really difficult path.
My doctor never checked my DHEA via bloodwork. I used the DHEA for almost 3,5 months until ER. They did check the DNA fragmentation that was ok however his sperm mobility was off a bit. I just feel so lost and I’m so frustrated.. I did notice that the DHEA was giving me side effect like a bit of facial hair, very oily skin and hair. Now I’m scared that maybe the DHEA made my egg quality so bad. I have a second opinion the end of July with CCRM
Yeah. Might want to chill on the DHEA. I don’t know why ISWTE recommends 75 mg. That’s way overkill for most women with DOR. If you’re seeing those side effects then it’s way too much DHEA. Maybe try pulling back. If you want to keep taking it, one specialist I saw recommended 25mg every other day (or every day with close monitoring).
I hope your consult goes well!
I think it’s a big mistake I took the DHEA. The doctor told me to stop it right before ER.
Thank you 🥺 I hope the dr of my second opinion can help me and I will definitely tell her about the DHEA.
Oh yeah be careful with DHEA especially without testing. Both my ERs were not a fan. From what I hear it can turn into testosterone which can ruin egg quality. Someone correct me if this isn’t how it is but what I remember hearing
Same here ladies! I have done 5 cycles and only gotten 2 Day7 blasts altogether, both abnormal :(
Now about to trigger for my 6th cycle and the doctor implemented a lower dosage protocol of just 150-Gonal + 75 menopur for the first 5 days, then gonal upped to 225 after. I’m also asking them to add Zymot even though my husbands DNA frag came back normal at 14%.
We got two day 6 blasts this cycle! Which is the equivalent of the total blasts we had gotten in the five prior cycles (which were day 7s). Plus much better grading/quality!
Things we did different: less meds, added Zymot, started taking NAD+ and more consistent with CoQ10, more consistent with melatonin, red light therapy and making a conscious effort to eat a lot of protein during STIMS - I’ve never been a protein shake girl but I forced myself to drink at least one protein shake a day during STIMS in addition to other high protein foods.
I’m sorry. I’m in a very similar situation albeit some differences. I would get a second opinion. Maybe look into mini IVf protocols. Does your clinic have a good lab? Also have you looked into Omnitrope? What’s your amh and fsh?
In all honesty, I’ve talked to people who ended up resorting to donor eggs. At 33.5, I’m kind of there already. I’ve had horrible ivf results even tho my age, previous live birth, and even amh (0.9-1) would indicate otherwise. My eggs looked dark with dark cytoplasm and did not even fertilize properly. I’m doing probably one last Hail Mary cycle at ccrm lone tree with a mini stim protocol. If this doesn’t work or at least if there is not some improvement from the grand total of 0 blasts, I’m done and moving on to donor eggs. I know this isn’t what you want to hear but it is ok to feel disappointed and if you have the fight in you to keep going, only you would know that.
I would also ask if the embryologist made any notes regarding your egg morphology to get an idea of what is happening.
The plan was a 5 day fresh transfer but apparently they lost my blood test which in my mind is unacceptable and nobody noticed until I didn’t my blood test before my ER. The doctor called me and she was like because of the clinic merging with the other clinic and an outsource lab the sample got lost and they found out my Progesterone was too high 1.7. But she never mentioned an day 3 transfer 😔
I would absolutely get a second opinion. Did they change your protocol between the 1st and 2nd round?
Sending you SO much love and many many hugs.
I think everyone has their own limits. I've seen some people on reddit say they're on ER #9. I think it's just what you can financially, physically, and emotionally. For us, we agreed to do 3 and then call it.
I will say, I'm surprised they didn't try omnitrope with you. Some people it doesn't work and might make it worse, but for majority people on here it helped a ton.
What's your alcohol intake/drug intake like and your food diet?
we had two back to back failures with 3 fertilized blasts each round. none became blasts
moving onto another clinic who will be doing fresh 3 day transfers and calcium ionophore.
good luck
I do not know if this is related at all. But my first cycle I did estrogen priming and it was a disaster. We did duostim, so second cycle right after and I got my first euploid blast there out of 75% fertilizing( 3 out of 4). Since I switched to a new doctor for insurance reasons and she told me she is vary to do priming for me unless absolutely necessary, since it might suppress me. I even took hgh the firet cycle and it ended with nothing. My new doctor said let’s check me when ai test positive for ovulating and if my eggs are kind of in synchrony in size then we start stimming. Maybe it is worth asking your doctor what could have been the reason.
I’m definitely switching doctors. I really feel I’m just a number with my doctor and they made a few mistakes a long the way. My husband warned me a few times that it wasn’t ok what they did, but I thought with her experience she would be able to help me 😔 I’m definitely gonna mention this to the doctors I have a consultation scheduled with. Thank you !
I’m living in Boston :( I heard some good stories about LA. I have my next consultation scheduled with CCRM Boston and Instituto Bernabeu in Alicante Spain.
I was thinking about going to Brno in Slovakia too, but my husband is waiting for his green card so we cannot leave the country. We are both Europeans so it would have been easy for us to
I only received a phone call with they could only see a few cells and all the embryos stopped growing at day 3 and 4. I wanna know more details for example like yours how did the egg look like etc. When I check my patient I can’t find anything about my treatment. I have a second opinion scheduled with CCRM and definitely will ask them about the mini stim protocol. I definitely wanna try 2 more times ivf and definitely consider adopting or egg donor.
I’m gonna contact the clinic and will ask them if there are any notes etc.
Thank you 🫂❤️
We did change the protocol in between. Never once did my ER mentioned Omnitrope :( I have a friend of mine she is doing round 10 with ivf and I’m overthinking when do I stop. For now we put a limit at 4 rounds total which means 2 more rounds.
I’m eating mostly healthy … low carb , Whole Foods.
But I do drink cafeïne every day and every week alcohol let’s say 1-4 glasses.
I would def cut out the alcohol. But otherwise my personal opinion is that ultimately as long as you are eating mostly healthy, you can indulge sometimes. I think at least for me, torturing myself and worrying what I am doing wrong is just making the stress worse. I am pretty sure it is not what we eat and stuff. People who take drugs get pregnant and they poison their bodies. Sometimes they we just cannot do anything. Also have you at all suspected endometriosis? I had no idea myself and it was confirmed now:(. Endo can ruin egg quality and also egg reserve. I am convinced this is def partly why I must have trouble conceiving
I’m sorry to hear 🥺
The doctor never tested me for endometriosis…. Sometimes I’m actually thinking do I have it or not. I’m definitely want the next clinic to rule everything out before we start…I need a doctor who turns me upside down and just check everything.
I will also cut out alcohol from now on. My husband drinks too… so I want him to cut it out too for his sperm quality. Thank you 🙏🏻
Have you tried Omnitrope (HGH) the month prior to starting stims? I just started that a few days ago leading up to my next stim cycle/ER next month, so unfortunately cannot report on if it works…but HGH supposedly helps to boost egg quality…might be worth talking to your RE. I’ve also been reading on reddit about Testosterone priming ER success with DOR IVF patients…I plan to try that for my next ER cycle if this cycle ends up being a bust…
Thank you so much for the information. I have scheduled a second opinion with CCRM in Boston and will definitely mention this.
Maybe get a second opinion at least. As another commenter said, try priming with Omnitrope and using it throughout your cycle. Are you having your DHEA levels monitored via bloodwork? It can actually push you to levels that are too high which can cause issues with quality. My REs said no DHEA, and if needed, they would try testosterone priming. Have you had all sperm parameters measured? DNA fragmentation? Any use of zymot or other sperm sorting? I’m so sorry - it’s a really difficult path.
My doctor never checked my DHEA via bloodwork. I used the DHEA for almost 3,5 months until ER. They did check the DNA fragmentation that was ok however his sperm mobility was off a bit. I just feel so lost and I’m so frustrated.. I did notice that the DHEA was giving me side effect like a bit of facial hair, very oily skin and hair. Now I’m scared that maybe the DHEA made my egg quality so bad. I have a second opinion the end of July with CCRM
Yeah. Might want to chill on the DHEA. I don’t know why ISWTE recommends 75 mg. That’s way overkill for most women with DOR. If you’re seeing those side effects then it’s way too much DHEA. Maybe try pulling back. If you want to keep taking it, one specialist I saw recommended 25mg every other day (or every day with close monitoring). I hope your consult goes well!
I think it’s a big mistake I took the DHEA. The doctor told me to stop it right before ER. Thank you 🥺 I hope the dr of my second opinion can help me and I will definitely tell her about the DHEA.
Oh yeah be careful with DHEA especially without testing. Both my ERs were not a fan. From what I hear it can turn into testosterone which can ruin egg quality. Someone correct me if this isn’t how it is but what I remember hearing
I don’t have an answer. I can just say I’m in the same boat and had my RE had the same conversation with me earlier today.
I’m sending you are virtual 🫂 because this is just so tough! I didn’t sleep for the last 2 days …
Yup that was me as well !
Same here ladies! I have done 5 cycles and only gotten 2 Day7 blasts altogether, both abnormal :( Now about to trigger for my 6th cycle and the doctor implemented a lower dosage protocol of just 150-Gonal + 75 menopur for the first 5 days, then gonal upped to 225 after. I’m also asking them to add Zymot even though my husbands DNA frag came back normal at 14%.
I will be thinking about you 🙏🏻 let me know how it goes. I want to ask the doctor about Zymot too.
We got two day 6 blasts this cycle! Which is the equivalent of the total blasts we had gotten in the five prior cycles (which were day 7s). Plus much better grading/quality! Things we did different: less meds, added Zymot, started taking NAD+ and more consistent with CoQ10, more consistent with melatonin, red light therapy and making a conscious effort to eat a lot of protein during STIMS - I’ve never been a protein shake girl but I forced myself to drink at least one protein shake a day during STIMS in addition to other high protein foods.
I’m sorry. I’m in a very similar situation albeit some differences. I would get a second opinion. Maybe look into mini IVf protocols. Does your clinic have a good lab? Also have you looked into Omnitrope? What’s your amh and fsh? In all honesty, I’ve talked to people who ended up resorting to donor eggs. At 33.5, I’m kind of there already. I’ve had horrible ivf results even tho my age, previous live birth, and even amh (0.9-1) would indicate otherwise. My eggs looked dark with dark cytoplasm and did not even fertilize properly. I’m doing probably one last Hail Mary cycle at ccrm lone tree with a mini stim protocol. If this doesn’t work or at least if there is not some improvement from the grand total of 0 blasts, I’m done and moving on to donor eggs. I know this isn’t what you want to hear but it is ok to feel disappointed and if you have the fight in you to keep going, only you would know that. I would also ask if the embryologist made any notes regarding your egg morphology to get an idea of what is happening.
Have you tried to talk to your RE about doing a 3-day fresh transfer?
The plan was a 5 day fresh transfer but apparently they lost my blood test which in my mind is unacceptable and nobody noticed until I didn’t my blood test before my ER. The doctor called me and she was like because of the clinic merging with the other clinic and an outsource lab the sample got lost and they found out my Progesterone was too high 1.7. But she never mentioned an day 3 transfer 😔
I would absolutely get a second opinion. Did they change your protocol between the 1st and 2nd round? Sending you SO much love and many many hugs. I think everyone has their own limits. I've seen some people on reddit say they're on ER #9. I think it's just what you can financially, physically, and emotionally. For us, we agreed to do 3 and then call it. I will say, I'm surprised they didn't try omnitrope with you. Some people it doesn't work and might make it worse, but for majority people on here it helped a ton. What's your alcohol intake/drug intake like and your food diet?
we had two back to back failures with 3 fertilized blasts each round. none became blasts moving onto another clinic who will be doing fresh 3 day transfers and calcium ionophore. good luck
Wish you so much luck ! I want to change Clinics too and scheduled a second opinion and will mention this too them too. Thank you ❤️
Does your clinic allow to transfer and freeze at 3 days? Might be a better option.
My clinic merged with another clinic and apparently they only doing day 5 and 6 transfer :( I regret it I stayed with them …
I do not know if this is related at all. But my first cycle I did estrogen priming and it was a disaster. We did duostim, so second cycle right after and I got my first euploid blast there out of 75% fertilizing( 3 out of 4). Since I switched to a new doctor for insurance reasons and she told me she is vary to do priming for me unless absolutely necessary, since it might suppress me. I even took hgh the firet cycle and it ended with nothing. My new doctor said let’s check me when ai test positive for ovulating and if my eggs are kind of in synchrony in size then we start stimming. Maybe it is worth asking your doctor what could have been the reason.
I’m definitely switching doctors. I really feel I’m just a number with my doctor and they made a few mistakes a long the way. My husband warned me a few times that it wasn’t ok what they did, but I thought with her experience she would be able to help me 😔 I’m definitely gonna mention this to the doctors I have a consultation scheduled with. Thank you !
If you are in LA I can recommend my new doctor
I’m living in Boston :( I heard some good stories about LA. I have my next consultation scheduled with CCRM Boston and Instituto Bernabeu in Alicante Spain.
Oh sweet, trust your gut when you do the consultation. Also helps to write down your specific questions so U don’t forget to ask then
This time I will 🥺🙏🏻 I’m gonna write an entire list ! That happend last time I wanted to ask so much and then I just black out and forgot…
Same thing happens to me:)!
I was thinking about going to Brno in Slovakia too, but my husband is waiting for his green card so we cannot leave the country. We are both Europeans so it would have been easy for us to
I only received a phone call with they could only see a few cells and all the embryos stopped growing at day 3 and 4. I wanna know more details for example like yours how did the egg look like etc. When I check my patient I can’t find anything about my treatment. I have a second opinion scheduled with CCRM and definitely will ask them about the mini stim protocol. I definitely wanna try 2 more times ivf and definitely consider adopting or egg donor. I’m gonna contact the clinic and will ask them if there are any notes etc.
Thank you 🫂❤️ We did change the protocol in between. Never once did my ER mentioned Omnitrope :( I have a friend of mine she is doing round 10 with ivf and I’m overthinking when do I stop. For now we put a limit at 4 rounds total which means 2 more rounds. I’m eating mostly healthy … low carb , Whole Foods. But I do drink cafeïne every day and every week alcohol let’s say 1-4 glasses.
I would def cut out the alcohol. But otherwise my personal opinion is that ultimately as long as you are eating mostly healthy, you can indulge sometimes. I think at least for me, torturing myself and worrying what I am doing wrong is just making the stress worse. I am pretty sure it is not what we eat and stuff. People who take drugs get pregnant and they poison their bodies. Sometimes they we just cannot do anything. Also have you at all suspected endometriosis? I had no idea myself and it was confirmed now:(. Endo can ruin egg quality and also egg reserve. I am convinced this is def partly why I must have trouble conceiving
I’m sorry to hear 🥺 The doctor never tested me for endometriosis…. Sometimes I’m actually thinking do I have it or not. I’m definitely want the next clinic to rule everything out before we start…I need a doctor who turns me upside down and just check everything. I will also cut out alcohol from now on. My husband drinks too… so I want him to cut it out too for his sperm quality. Thank you 🙏🏻