# Advice sought and appreciated



## annacameron (Dec 16, 2008)

Dear Ladies, 

I was diagnosed with unexpalined IF a few years back and we did various IVFs with no success. Our patternw as always the same - good egg nos, a few blasts then no implantation. My FSH was always around 7 or 8 and my AMH dropped from about 20 to 15 to 10. To be honest, I found it all quite draining and gave up to save my relationship with my DH. 

This was three years ago when I was 39. I am now 42, obviously, and we would like to think again about it. We have the money and are in a better place emotionally to cope with a few cycles. I am out of the loop though, having avoided FF more or less since then deliberately (!). 

I am looking for advice on the following:

1. 3 years ago, UCH and Lister were the best places. ARGC also vg but I don't have any of the issues Taranissi treats (so well) so forget that. Where is recommended nowadays for over 40s.? (I defo need somewhere with 3 egg transfer and will not go anywhere that does not allow this.)

2. Polar biopsy - any good?  what is the latest view?

3. DHEA - any more statistically supported evidence of it working?

4. 3 years ago, AMH was about to be accpeted as a measure of egg reserve. has anything changed on that? 

We would also go abroad if a clinic is good - eg the Spanish ones.  

Many thanks for your thoughts and good luck all. 

Anna

edited as i pressed send by accident....


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## Oceana (Aug 31, 2010)

Hi Anna,
I can take a go at a few questions for you.
I'm in Australia so i have no idea of England clinics so can't help there.
DHEA: the statistics I have seen all seem to revolve around the USA trials. My specialist stated that there isn't the research behind it proving how or why it works, I take it this is why it isn't common practice with ivf, that said I did fall pregnant at 43 naturally on it after only taking it a few weeks, though I didn't use the USA trial amount or type of 25mg, I used a homeopathic 3mg version and i combined this with lots of other changes at the same time.
What I would recommend is to look into having tests done first though to find an explanation for the implantation failures. I only got one egg each ivf attempt and it was of low quality so I always got the you need donor egg speech ( though at the time they failed to mention I coked go overseas for that) when I did my own research and went overseas for donor ivf it didn't work. I decided rather than say it was bad luck and I was on the wrong side of a 50/50 bet I went to my doctor armed with a series of immune tests I wanted done. ( you will find the level 1 list on this forum in the immunes section.) I also did lots of reading and decided to go gluten free, I was already doing acupuncture, took baby aspirin ( can aid implantation as increases blood flow to the uterus) and started DHEA. I got my immune tests results back the day before my pregnancy result and I tested positive for an autoimmune disease. What I had done naturally had reduced inflammation once I tested positive my specialist then gave me medication for the first trimester to combat inflammation of the uterus which could cause a miscarriage. Greece can do up to 4 egg transfer but the usual amount is 3 they transfer  
Good luck to you. 
Immunes is just one possible scenario. Some of ladies here have had the hidden c test and have tested positive to hidden c and a number once on antibiotics for that have fallen pregnant. I didn't have the test but I went to Serum in Greece and they use the antibiotic protocol there if you haven't had the test done just incase. I didn't fall pregnant then as I stated but I did the following month naturally, so I couldn't discount their protocol being affective.
If you get a good aqua scan ultrasound done this should be able to tell the state of your lining. 
Polys, scar tissue etc can all stop implantation.  A small operation called a hysteroscopy can fix these issues. There is a lot of information about this on the Greece thread as a number of women have gone to Greece for this operation from England and the consensus seems to be they are more advanced in this area. They can even add implantation points to make it easier for eggs to implant.
Sorry I haven't looked into the Spanish clinics, Greece is cheaper so I looked there and chose Serum based on the excellent feedback of members on these forums. I couldn't speak higher of them. They were wonderful and I chose them also based on the fact that I noticed that a number of women who had failures elsewhere around the world seemed to end up there and finally found out what their fertility issue was and got success. I didn't know at the time that I also fit that category as I had always just gotten the " it's your age" speech elsewhere and wasn't aware of my other issues. Serum also used baby aspirin as a part of their protocol and again I hadn't used it before but wondered why no one else had suggested it once I did some research and saw the benefits of it.


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## mfmcmoo (Jul 16, 2010)

Just like to reiterate the point about immune problems, - worth going for the tests. As you can see by my signature, I took DHEA for 6 months (75mg per day), plus various other supplements and had started taking aspirin for a month (75mg per day) when we got a BFP.  Various other lifestyle changes like no caffeine, lots of water, limited alcohol etc. I had also just been diagnosed with immuneissues and blood clotting issues.

Look at the DHEA thread - lots of good stories as well as some new research. Look at the immune section issues - my doc reckoned that even though my AMH was very low, the main cause of infertility was blood clotting issues (probably blood clots killing off any embryos causing very early miscarriages). I can only say that I think it was the DHEA which improved my egg quality (plus various other supplements) and aspirin which helped thin my blood and prevent blood clots that did it.

Good luck


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## ♥JJ1♥ (Feb 11, 2006)

re over 40's I had cycled at ARGC with oe and immune issues and then when i was planning my surrogacy (before the surrogate droppped out) with own eggs I did the rounds of ARGC,Lister and CRGH- I was looking for cgh testing.
The Lister and CRGH do CGH testing, but I dont produce enought eggs, so went back to ARGC.
ARGC don;t use AMH - mine was 0.7 but they weren't bothered my FSH was 8-9 ish so below their magic threshold.
Also have you considered CARE in Nottingham? they also have great success with older ladies and do cgh.

I cycled in Spain for DE but it was more expensive than DE here to be honest


Wishing you luck
L x


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## annacameron (Dec 16, 2008)

many thanks ladies for your time adn thoughts. 
I forgot to say in initial posting that I have had the full panoply of immune tests done and all were fine. this is bad and good in that at least, if an issue, immunes can be fixed but poor egg quality is far harder to do anything about.

Many congrats Oceana!  fingers crossed. 

Hidden C I will investiagte now. 

DHEA - I don't understand how it can improve egg quality and this is what I need to get to the bottom of. 

Any other thoughts?


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## mfmcmoo (Jul 16, 2010)

Have a look at these links for DHEA info: 
http://www.fertilityfriends.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=200859.0

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100701145535.htm

/links


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