# GP & AMH testing



## Hoppity (Mar 19, 2012)

Hi ladies,

I know this must have been posted a hundred times, but I've tried searching and trawling through but can't find the answer.

I don't have much faith in my GPs to be honest, after telling me my very first bloods were fine when it turned out they were not.

So I'm wondering will they know what I am talking about if I go asking for this test? 

Am happy to pay for the cost, but a rough approximate price would be helpful!

Many thanks in advance.

J


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## Dream come true (Feb 22, 2012)

my gp was the same, i had to pay for my amh which was £70 it took 3 weeks to come back and they told me it was normal, when infact it isnt normal at all. it was 9.3. i knew it was normal from googling it and then consultant told me it wasnt too. my gp surgery also had to phone the pathology up and ask about this test also..
hope his helps and sorry for it not being positive 
xx


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## Dudders (Jun 18, 2012)

When I asked my gp for it he just looked at me blankly and didn't have a clue about it!

Tbh I'd just try some private clinics, I paid £85 and some places about £100 is normal, but you get the results quickly and with specialist interpretation of the results.  Most places would hopefully let you self refer for a blood test.  My result took less than a week and that was with a 4 day weekend in between!

Good luck xx

Ooh and might be worth mentioning where you are in case anyone has a recommendation for you


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## Hoppity (Mar 19, 2012)

Thanks everyone, very helpful indeed.

I'm in Nottinghamshire so I assume Care & Nurture are my choices.

Don't think I'll bother with the GP.

Not entirely sure what I hope to gain from knowing my result or how quickly the level may deteriorate, we can't afford icsi until at least September/October I just feel that I need to know.


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## Dudders (Jun 18, 2012)

Good luck hunny - I would think that with the PCO it's likely to be on the high side so starting later in the year should be fine x


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## Tiny21 (Jul 24, 2007)

I managed to persuade my local clinic to run a stand alone AMH for me - we have now ended up going with them and they charged £50 for it. 

Care might do it for you (we were with Care). Where are you thinking of going for tx as they would probably do it for you? 

Having recently moved clinics I have also had my antral follicle count - which they say doesn't change much and the 2 together will influence my treatment and drugs so might be worth seeing if you could have that done as well?


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## Hoppity (Mar 19, 2012)

Dudders you will never believe this but I had never ever before made the connection between PCO & AMH-yet it seems so obvious now!

At my one and only scan I was told there were at least 12 follicles both sides and the feeling was this was a bad thing-yet I'd read that if I ever wanted to egg share then I'd need an antral follicle count of 14 (I assume after stim) so I am still so confused! My consultant told me that as my periods are regular and my LH was ok I don't have PCOS (LH around 4 or 5, FSH 8.9) and started me on clomid-naturally I was very excited as with all these follicles I might have twins! However my 6 months are up and I suspect my bfns are due to DP count (2mil) rather than PCO. My consultant told me that despite the follicles, my prog tests show I don't ovulate them (repeatedly around 20) without clomid. 

I was hoping the AMH test would reassure me regarding time frames-so thank you Dudders for making things clearer


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## Hoppity (Mar 19, 2012)

Thank you Tiny21.

Do you know if the antral follicle scan and the TV/TA scan used to identify PCO are pretty much the same thing or am I getting the wrong end of the stick entirely?

We are most likely going to go with Care yes.


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## Dudders (Jun 18, 2012)

Hi hoppity,

Glad that's put your mind at rest a bit.  It would sound to me like your antral follicle count at that scan was 24 - even with PCO you rarely naturally get more than one mature follicle each month, obviously sometimes two as that's how fraternal twins exist!  It's actually quite rare as well with Clomid to produce more than 2 or 3 follies too - it does happen but not often, ergo I'd be confident that the scan was your AFC number rather than active follies - so in that respect no issue for egg share.  During the egg share process they monitor how many follies then actually mature and generally most clinics will want 10 eggs from you to proceed with the sharing.  All is not lost if you don't as what usually happens is that you are given the choice to either not share and pay for treatment in full or to donate all to the recipient and have a complete new cycle free of charge where you then keep all the eggs.  I do digress a little there, but hopefully that makes egg sharing a little clearer!

Actually 20 isn't the worst number I've seen for a progesterone level, mine were usually all nought point something! Above 30 is what they look for on a medicated cycle.  From what I understand that figure actually demonstrates some form of ovulation rather than none, and it's either a poor ovulation or it may be that you have a progesterone issue, some ladies need progesterone support even on Clomid - it's not strictly only an IVF/ICSI thing.

How many SAs did hubby have?  A decision shouldn't really be made on just one - sperm are temperamental and are affected by illnesses and even simple colds.  Plus today's sperm started life between 2 and 3 months ago so you wouldn't even necessarily put 2+2 together on that if you didn't know.  I'd have a look on here for some of the threads about improving sperm as it has happened for some couples to the point where they can go for straight IVF on the day which is something that will save you around a thousand pounds at your average clinic!  So I reckon it's worth a shot!

What I'd suggest if I were you is to firstly contact your GP for copies of your notes.  Contact the clinics and ask if they offer a free consultation with a fertility nurse.  They generally really know their stuff and will be able to talk you through the tests they require to proceed with treatment (they all have slightly differing requirements) and may browse your notes and discuss them with you which should help with lots of your questions.  This is also a really good way to get a feel for the clinic, ie how much time they give you, what the communication is like etc.  Also depending when your tests were done some clinics want them to be no more than 3 months old at your initial consultation - although others allow longer.  The fertility nurse will know this so it may turn out that it's worth having your initial consultation now and specifically plan for treatment later in the year in order to save yourself from having to pay to repeat tests.  Plus confirm they will take screening results from elsewhere as there's sometimes the chance your GP can help with these - ours did and saved us £400.

Anyway I've waffled enough and probably left you with more questions than answers!  If you do have more questions though, please feel free to ask and I'll gladly help where I can


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## staceyemma (Jul 30, 2011)

hi Hoppity I was lucky that my GP did my AMH for free but you can order the test kit from Duo Fertility for £45

http://www.duofertility.com/product/amh-home-test-kit

xxx


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## Hoppity (Mar 19, 2012)

Dudders thank you-I feel like I understand a lot more than I did before! Have so many questions about egg sharing so your advice has really helped. We have a form and questionnaire to fill in to apply for egg sharing so first things first. 

DP has had 3 SA. Lowest was 2mil others 3mil with very poor motility and mobility and almost 95% abnormal. The Dr said 0.8% of the 2mil were doing what they should.  We haven't had any other male tests. He saw a urologist who didn't have any advice on supplements so he is taking the usual and eating brazil nuts. Mild exercise, little alcohol, never smoked. 

Feel like I have more of a focus now after your advice thanks again  

@staceyemma thanks for that I will investigate!


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