# Normal FSH but low AMH



## lucymorgan (Nov 2, 2007)

Hi,

just been tested at UCH recently and my FSH level was fine (6.5) but my AMH was low (9.3 - satisfatory is over 15.7).  Does anyone else have low AMH and has anyone been successful with these kind of results ?  I'd really like to hear from anyone in a similar position.

Just about to start GIFT, 1st scan on Thursday.  Once I start stimming I will find out how well I respond to the drugs.  Fingers crossed.

LucyMorgan xx


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## Jo (Mar 22, 2002)




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## sandee2002 (Jun 24, 2003)

hello lucy

my amh was 0.79...fsh 5.1. British doctors said it would be a waste of time doing icsi as i had v little egg reserve
I am going to jinemed, turkey for icsi in dec. I told them my result but they wanted to know if i had many follicles, which I did and they are willing to do one icsi for me.
Miranda also had a v low amh...0.69 she also went to turkey for treatment, she is now pregnant. Hope this helps


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## INCONCEIVABLE (May 1, 2007)

Just to warn you if you do get less than 5 follies they won't allow you to do gift...You will be converted to IUI.  I was short of 1 follie...  AT 8.9 you should be fine really as it's not that low regardless of what they tell you...  

I think I wrote to you once before..but not sure... It's better if you do ivf as gift is a v. outdated procedure and you have to go under ge... Nobody does it anymore really... The lister would do ivf with those kind of levels and they have good stats....


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## Tosh (Nov 21, 2007)

I too had a low AMH 1.9 and was advised against IVF - only do it if all else fails was what my consultant told me 
I was advised to try Natural cycle IUI and got a BFP at nearly 43 !!
I couldn't believe it- unfortunately I miscarried 2 weeks ago at 6 weeks after seing the baby with a strong heart beat
at 5 1/2 weeks 
I'm just waiting to have another natural cycle and at least I found out I can get pregnant which means a lot

I would have a go with the IUI 

xx


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## INCONCEIVABLE (May 1, 2007)

The UCH is the most conservative clinic you could have picked...  Your fertility is not bad at all... It is not suboptimal....  The girl at the poor responder thread got pregnant naturally with 8.9 amh...


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## lucymorgan (Nov 2, 2007)

thanks everyone for their replies it does make me feel more reassured.

Inconcievable thanks for your reply and I do hear that you really dont think much of the UCH or GIFT.  They explained that as fertilisation takes place in the natural env't its more likely to suceed if your eggs aren't as good quality.  I guess also as I have been pregnant before I know my body can do the fertilisation bit.  When  asked them why more places dont do it they said it was more specialised and was therefore less prevelant.  Also as it requires surgery fertility treatment centres are less likely to want to use it.  I have also checked out the internet and what they said seems to hold water.  Despite this I do still have some reservations but I am going into this cycle feeling positive.  However if it doesn't work out I will get a 2nd opinion at the Lister.  What i'd really like to see are some stats on number of people who have had GIFT and success rates, i'm going to ask if they can provide this.

Are there any other reasons you are so negative about UCH and GIFT ?  Apart from that you think its outdated and not used anywhere else.  How do you know UCH are the most conservative clinic ?  

Tosh - sorry to hear about the miscarriage its heart breaking isn't it.  Intersted to know why your consultant advised against IVF.

LucyMorgan xx


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## INCONCEIVABLE (May 1, 2007)

Stats are not collected for Gift so they won't be able to give you the figures... They push people into gift if they don't meet their criteria either fsh or amh wise...and thus they don't spoil their stats.  If you check the uch thread you will notice that there are hardly people who cycle there who are over 35 or they are in a v. tiny minority...one or two people if that.  If you check the Lister thread and the ARGC quite a different picture emerges... 

At the end of the day it's your choice, your decision and etc...and I wish you good luck with whatever you decide...  I just wish smb warned me before I wasted my time, emotions and money ... Had I gone to the Lister I would have qualified for IVF treatment and would have done my first ivf at 39 i/o at 40 and 1 year in fertility is long.  Even months count... Also I  think that it's more difficult to cope if surgery under GE doesn't work than going through IVF..  Tehre are also greater risks associated with the surgery than with ivf...

Also if you check all the top clinics in the States, who are the leaders in the infertility field you will find that nobody uses GIFT anymore.    I know that they say that things are better in the natural environment, but these days culture mediums are sophisticated enough to provide nutrients for the embies.... It just strikes me that more clinic would be doing gift if it was so significantly more successful...

More likely reason is that it just doesn't count towards the HFEA stats...

At the end of the day you have made your decision.  It just may, may be a good idea to do a consultation at another clinic and make a more informed decision before you commit yourself.  Good luck with your cycle whatever you decide to do and I hope it works for you...


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## ♥Tamsin♥ (Jun 29, 2004)

Hi there

I had a Day 2 FSH/LH done recently, but don't recall AMH being part if it?  Should i get retested and ensure that it is?  By the same token, i don't believe E2 was measured either 

Thanks

Tamsin


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## INCONCEIVABLE (May 1, 2007)

it stands for anti-mullerian hormone test and it predicts what your ovarian potential is...


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## MrsPoogs (Nov 7, 2006)

Hi Lucy and everyone else...

I am at UCH as well and have been to ARGC and not sure about possibly going back there at the moment...

I am 39+ and will be 40 next March and I am waiting to have the ovarian stress tests at UCH as on my last cycle I was a poor responder with only 2 eggs where both outer shells were damaged thus no fertilisation.  The AMH test was not offered to me only the OST which are a combination of an internal scan and other bloods.  Yesterday was Day 3 for me and I went to the UCH only to be told that I had a cyst on my right ovary and couldn't have the OST test and would have to wait another month and go back late December - anyone else had this?  My FSH tests were 6.0 in February and in August they were 13.0!

I am extremely stressed and fed up with the wait now and don't know what else to do. I am considering donor egg abroad but feel that perhaps I should have the OST test before making any decision.  I am concerned as well that I am possibly in the severe minority of over 35's at UCH......

Poogie xxx


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## INCONCEIVABLE (May 1, 2007)

Do yourself a favour and go to another clinic... I had ius and then was hit by cycsts for two months... and then when I finally had my attempt at GIFT I made 4 follies and they won't consider you for treatment if you don't have 5... They only did my amh test following my abandoned gift... In retrospect they could have done this at the beginning and had they told me the result and I would have run for treatment rather than wasting time and money on IUIS...  You will just waste time like I did and at 40 you can't afford it.. You should definitely have another go before considering donor egg...

So go to the LIster as the ARGC is v. expensive or the ARGC if you can afford it and have an ivf... I did ovarian stress reserve in July ...it consists of antral follicle count + fsh/estradiol and they can see what your response to drugs... Your didn't seem great and I think you won't qualify for gift by the sound of it, so use the time whilst you are waiting to get a 2nd opinion...Aslo Create is great for poor responders but there is a wl of 2 months to get a consultation... All the best....


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## lucymorgan (Nov 2, 2007)

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Inconcievable you are certainly getting me thinking about what i'm doing which is great but I can't agree with you on everything you say about UCH.  I have found them really friendly and supportive.  

They are much smaller than Lister in terms of numbers of women cycling and this will really impact how many people chat about them on this site.  If you look at last years IVF figures,  Lister has 25% (342) cycles for 40 - 42 and 19% (250) cycles for 39 while UCH has 12% (33) for 40 - 42 and 20% (55) cycles for 39.  UCH does have less women in the 40 - 42 range but the numbers are much smaller and can be easily distorted.  Also if you look at success rate UCH had 9 out of 33 for 40 - 42 (27%) while Lister had 12%.  So yes they had a smaller % of women in this range but they were more succesful with their treatment.  

I asked UCH for GIFT stats for this year today and in the 1st 6 months they had 1/2 for < 35, 2/22 for 35 - 37, 0/1 for 38-39 and 2/4 for 40 - 42.  The embologist was pulling this together when I asked so these figures aren't released yet.  Hard to get stats from such a small sample but it looks encouraging.  I am going to ask them for stats for the year before so I can see a fuller picture. 

Thanks for your responses and it has been really useful to hear what you say.

LucyMorgan xx


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## INCONCEIVABLE (May 1, 2007)

It's your call Lucy... It may work for you... All I was saying is that gift is not listed in the HFEA league tables or any officially published stats and these figures don't feature in any comparisons you can make with other clinics... But you seem to have made your mind up... and if you feel good about it, good luck to you..

I wish I had known what I know now as I just wouldn't waste 6 months with them only to be given a donor egg speech at the end.. They could have done my amh test to start with and then I certainly wouldn't bother with IUIs... They cost me a lot of money and wasted a lot of valuable time... And then I was barred from treatment just bcs I needed an extra follicle whereas the Lister wouldn't have barred me from ivf for example... They barred me from ivf initially and recommended GIFT based on my fsh result and again this was just for 1% point so I wouldn't spoil their stats....


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## Tosh (Nov 21, 2007)

I saw my consultant again on Thursday and asked again to explain why I should not try IVF 
The reason is that women with Low AMH do not respond at all well to overstimulating and 
you wont get many follicles. He told me to GO FOR IT !!! again and not give up which was 
much more reasuring than when I saw him before the IUI when it was a bit doom laiden
He said the AMH level did NOT mean I was going into menopause or that the quality of eggs was poor just the not responding
The AMH test is quite new and not offered on the NHS as it costs too much
I only found out about it when I went to the Zhai Clinic and Dr Zhai makes everyone have it before you begin treatment 
Even although I am going private at Hammersmith it wasn't offered there either. 
On a different subject my next door neighbour had IVF twins the week after her 43rd birthday earlier this year 
she went to the Lister and Im very happy with Hammersmith 

xx


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## Miranda7 (Feb 12, 2007)

Hello!

I saw the topc and thought, oo, better reply, but it seems I'm already on here!  

My AMH is 4.something on the scale you were tested on Lucy, (0.69 is on the scale of measurements they use at the Lister) but my FSH was between 4 and 5. And as Sandee says, I got lucky on my second cycle.

In actual fact - and I don't know who said the test is expensive - the AMH was half the price of the FSH at the Lister. £57 compared to £114 for the FSH. It's just a newer test and the NHS generally - not everywhere - are back in the dark ages when it comes to fertility.

I wouldn't discredit Gift though - a lady on the poor responders board is expecting triplets after Gift, so it can't be completely outmoded? Still, Inc knows her stuff, she really does. And as for me, I've never found out properly what Gift actually IS!

I think your results show you have good quality eggs, but not very many. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it!

Good luck.

xxxx


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