[houston]

Originally Posted by lvtchr

Hi! I'm new to IVF and to this board and would like some advice. A bit of history...I'm 32, DH is 31; TTC for 3 yrs. Did 2 IUI w/injectables and both BFN. Up to now we've been "unexplained". We started an IVF cycle in early June (BCPs then Follistim/Luveris) but I only made 5 follies. Doc says that my FSH was elevated this month (17.8 vs. earlier results between 3-5) so that combined with my poor response makes me a "poor responder" and means I have lower quality eggs.

Does this make sense? Does a one-time high FSH value and lack of response mean my eggs really suck? For our next cycle she wants to try the microflare protocol w/lupron but she's already talking about a potential need to use donor eggs in the future if this cycle doesn't work out. This seems extreme to me since we haven't even officially tried IVF. Advice???

I had the same thing happen. I knew I had a slightly elevated FSH (10.4) prior to my 1st IVF cycle. I had a horrible response and had zero fertilization with ICSI. They told me it was poor egg quality. I had another FSH done which was 18.something. They also mentioned donor eggs for me, but I wanted to try IVF a few more times with my own eggs. I was successful the second time with a microdose lupron protocol. One hundred percent fertilization with ICSI (I only had 4 mature eggs).

A one-time high FSH value usually does mean you have decreased ovarian reserve and can mean you have poor quality eggs. However, I believe the protocol has a lot to do with the quality of the eggs retrieved. The microdose lupron flare protocol worked for me, but sometimes EPP is best for poor responders. I would at least give both protocols a shot before moving on to donor eggs.

How do they know the quality of your eggs is poor if your cycle was cancelled? You are still young. A lot of physicians say that when you are young with high FSH this means decreased quantity, with some decrease in quality, but not as drastic as someone who is older.

I would make sure prior to trying IVF I consulted with a couple of REs (they can do this over the phone). I consulted with CCRM, Cornell, and SIRM (the ones I heard were the best for poor responders). I decided not to use SIRM and was in between CCRM and Cornell. I ultimately decided on CCRM because of their success rates. They were very cautious with me about telling me of the poor chances with my high FSH (10%), but both CCRM and Cornell were willing to cycle me. I really had a much better response with my cycle with them and I cannot stress enough how much of a difference a new RE can make.

I also took wheatgrass and tried accupuncture. I don't know if it helped, but it may have.