# test results confusion!



## old bird (Aug 8, 2009)

Hi there
Could you help me?  Ive now received all my tests results and i don’t know what to make of them.  Im 43 and single, so hoping to conceive via donor insemination.  The results were:
Day 21 progesterone  46.4
Day 3	FHS 5.6
LH 3.6
Estradiol 300 and something (cant remember exactly).
The doctor simply said these were ‘satisfactory’.
What does that mean though?  Can i try and conceive with my own eggs or do i still need to consider donor eggs?  Can i go for IUI or should i try with IVF given my age?  Im so confused.  If anyone can help i would be truly grateful!
xx


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## indekiwi (Dec 23, 2008)

Hi OB,

Not sure about the rest of the results, but the FSH results seems spectacularly good given your age (very close to mine by the way!) Looks good enough to try own egg IUI / IVF.  However, the stats for IUI over 40 are particularly poor.  You might want to consider IVF as a way of maximising your chances of falling pregnant quicker.  That is simply my opinion, and others will no doubt express a different view.  

It is chat room night tonight for the singlies so come join us if you have time.  

A-Mx


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## suitcase of dreams (Oct 7, 2007)

Rose has summed it up pretty nicely...

Your FSH is good, but this is only an indicator of how you will respond to the stimming drugs - ie will you produce good numbers of eggs? Probably yes.
Are those eggs good quality? That it can't tell you

I have good/low FSH and have always responded well to stimms and produced good numbers of eggs. However I have now discovered that the quality of my eggs is so poor that I am pretty much wasting my time with my own eggs and have moved to DE

I do know though, that I would not have been able to go straight to DE without giving it at least a go with my own eggs. But that's me personally, others feel quite differently and as Rose says, you need to think about time and money too....

I think a consultation (or even 2 to get a couple of different opinions) would be a great next step. Then you can digest what you've been told and come to some conclusions about the best approach for you personally

Best of luck,
Suitcase
x


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## indekiwi (Dec 23, 2008)

Rose and Suity have made excellent suggestions about consulting with professionals who focus on treating older women.

Just one other thought about donor eggs.  Yes, the chances of falling pregnant are much greater simply because those eggs are younger than your own - however, they are not 100% guaranteed to make you pregnant.  I have only had the one donor egg cycle so far (coming up to no 2 very soon  ) but unfortunately it didn't work for me first time around.    It's really important to manage expectations from the outset when deciding to use donor eggs - there are some clinics claiming a 60% success rate, but most do not, and although for women of our age the results are much better than using our own eggs, there are clearly more people who fail than succeed in each cycle.  

Good luck in your deliberations.   

A-Mx


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## suitcase of dreams (Oct 7, 2007)

Good point A-M

I guess the way I look at it now is that with OE I have a less than 5% chance of success. With DE my chances are hovering somewhere around the 45-50% mark, a little higher if I (or the clinic) are being optimistic with the stats...

So relatively speaking, the odds are good, but of course in absolute terms, it's still only 50/50 and possibly even lower than that...so DE isn't a guarantee for sure, but I know which odds I'd rather have  

Suitcase
x


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## Felix42 (Oct 14, 2007)

Hello there, just wanted to send you  and agree with the others comments. I started out at 42, and optimistically had a couple of IUIs before moving to IVF. In retrospect I wish I'd used that time (and money) to go straight to IVF as after that my FSH went much higher. I did manage one IVF with my own eggs at 43 but I didn't produce any eggs despite having 3 (from memory) follicles. I felt I needed to try though before being comfortable about moving onto DE. 
With DE, I've had 4 tries. The first two (fresh and then frozen) were unsuccessful, while the third one (fresh) ended in miscarriage and then the frosties from that last cycle resulted in my current pregnancy which is feeling very precious and a little precarious still as you can imagine. 

I guess if I was in your position, what I'd do if I could afford it is have one IVF cycle with your own eggs asap and then  that will be successful for you or produce frosties if not for another go. Failing that and dependant on how your IVF goes, take advice as to whether to try another IVF or go on to DE. With the latter tho, its worth getting onto a waiting list asap. Hopefully you can then cancel from a happily pregnant state. 

Wishing you lots of  and  to achieving your dreams however that might be. 

Love & hugs, Felix xx


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## blueytoo (Oct 5, 2003)

Your results both seem very good, particularly for your age. It isn't just the individual numbers that are important but the ratio between the two as well, they should be as close to being the same as possible. 

It may be worth considering having an AMH test too before deciding on whether to go for IUI or IVF but to be honest I would personally go straight to IVF. I wished that even at the age of 28 I hadn't wasted my time with two IUI cycles.

If you go straight to IVF you will have a good idea of whether your eggs are "useable" so I would try that first before even thinking of DE, after all plenty of women get pregnant naturally at your age and older. IUI won't give you any idea about the quality of embryos you make and embryo quality is just as important as egg quality and numbers.


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